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Slo-Mo Rebuild

92K views 497 replies 65 participants last post by  JohnnyJ 
#1 · (Edited)
A few people asked me to do a build thread so here goes. I skipped through some of the details so if you want them just ask.

The XJ joined my life as a clean 72K mile stocker in January 2003.



Quickly made some changes… long arm lift, tires, wheels, gears, lockers, steering, brakes, etc.



Wheeled it for a few years and had a lot of fun, made bumpers, skids, etc.
Then decided to get more serious.

Out came the rockers, in went sliders.



I also spent a long time researching and designing a hybrid cage. I took my plans to JCR and they agreed to build the cage and some rear doors for me.



Then I put some paint on it - Hemi Orange.






I drove it around and wheeled it like this for a while and started to become unhappy with the “performance” of the 4.slow. I was never impressed with the stroker motors for the gain vs. cost and about this same time a friend put a 5.7L Hemi in his JK and another friend put an LS1 in his XJ. I drove them both and was instantly hooked, I HAD to have a V8.

I could not find an LS1 that was reasonably priced and I wasn’t thrilled about putting a scoop on my hood to cover the LS truck motor intake so I looked and read, looked and read and looked and read some more. Finally, I learned that an LSI intake could be mated to the 5.3l and with some accessory rerouting it would stay below my hood line.

Pick this up from a friend at Premier Auto Parts in Cedar Springs. It’s a 2005 5.3L 45K miles and all accessories, PCM, harness, TAC and pedal.



Found an LS1 intake with injectors and fuel rail on ebay and dropped it on top. That’s when I learned the water pump would be an issue too.



I picked up and LS1 water pump and started playing around with accessories rerouting and came up with this. I was never thrilled that the upper hose was captive, but it worked and I was up against the clock to get something done.



One of the things I really wanted to do was keep the Jeep instrument cluster. I spent a great deal of time searching, reading and experimenting but I was unable to make it work. Edit: The details start on post 95.

Ultimately this is what I ended up with and I am pleased with it.



Somewhere around this time I bumped up to 35’s. So, I was enjoying my new V8 and wheeling with a D30/8.25 with stock shafts. Although I never broke anything, the Internet made me think I would every time I went out.

Picked up a D44/9” from a ’75 F100 for 200 bucks and went to work narrowing and building them. OX/Detroit, alloys, 300M joints, 35 spline rear, 5.13’s, high steer, and hydro-assist. I did a write-up on those and you can find it here.
XJ: Narrowed D44/9" Swap - Great Lakes 4x4. The largest offroad forum in the Midwest


Everything was going great, trails were getting harder and harder and I was having a blast when the Internet again made me think my transfer case would never hold up to the abuse I was giving it. I started researching upgrades and decided to build my 231J into an HD version using a 6 planetary gearset and a wide chain. I did a write-up on that and it can be found here. 231J HD Transfer Case Upgrades - Great Lakes 4x4. The largest offroad forum in the Midwest


So, that pretty much brings it up to date. However this week I came across these babies! 38X12.5X15 Super Swamper SX, thanks Daryl.



So, now I know what I will be doing for my winter project this year…
 
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#275 ·
I am sticking with the radius arm set-up for this axle too. It allows me to keep a decent flowing exhaust behind the 5.3L and when I remove the passenger side upper link it works very well on the trail. So, I started building the truss to mount the uppers to.











That’s where it sits now. I’m waiting to hear back from a couple places. I really want to get a diff cover that is designed to tie into the truss. Ballistic as well as BTF has them but they are part of their truss/cover kit. Worse case I can get a cover from Ruff Stuff and weld a bracket to it to tie into the truss.
 
#278 ·
I had planned to work on my D60 today, and then this appeared :bdr2: :bdr2: :bdr2:
Atlas 3.8 and the price was way too good to pass. I got it in today, but I need to do a little shaping on the floor under the driver's seat. I had to drop the rear of the trans about an inch to get it in and I would like to push it back up.







 
#279 · (Edited)
I finished up the Atlas install and I'm VERY happy with the way it turned out. I spent a lot more time on the floor and the shifters than I anticipated, but it was worth it. Took it out for about a 20 mile test and everything is working great. I also bought a tire groover and did a little work to my Swampers. They are about 1,000,000x better on the road than before. I had been considering selling them, but now I think I will keep them.





 
#281 ·
I finished up the Atlas install and I'm VERY happy with the way it turned out. I spent a lot more time on the floor and the shifters than I anticipated, but it was worth it. Took it out for about a 20 mile test and everything is working great. I also bought a tire groover and did a little work to my Swampers. They are about 1,000,000x better on the road than before. I had been considering selling them, but now I think I will keep them.

Please elaborate on improvment.
 
#280 ·
Just catching up on this so a few short comments.

I think you should have a spare tire carrier for when you are on long trips. 1) You don't need it that high. Draw a line from the bumper to tangent to your rear tire. Project it up and you don't need the spare any higher than that. 2) If you are only running the spare for long trips, typically a longer trip is not as hardcore so a departure angle is not quite as important........ unless you will be doing ditch crossings where a bridge is out, which we do alot in Canada. 3) as a side comment, I prefer a swing out carrier as opposed to swing down. Too hard to handle by yourself or in steep & off camber situations.

You will love your Atlas!

I was worried about my lower zerk fittings too. Oddly enough, after 8 years, I've never broken either one. :d:

Tires look good.
 
#282 ·
Thanks, I'm still working on the spare tire mount idea. although I'm convinced I need to have capability of carrying one I'm not sure how I want to do it. I don't have any long trips planned for this year so it will get to keep riding on the trailer.

Please elaborate on improvment.
It behaves much better and doesn't wander like it did. I was constantly working the steering wheel back and forth before and now it has been minimized. Well worth the time and effort.
 
#283 ·
I picked up a set of Warn lockouts to replace my blown Mile Marker's for road and dune trips. When I installed them I am unable to put the small snap ring on the end of the axle. The lockout is right up against the end of the spindle. I did some research and it seems lots of people have run into this issue due to the Warn's being thicker. A couple people shorten the spindle by 1/8" to get the snap ring on but most people just run it without the snap ring. I am running it without the snap ring now but I haven't run it in the locked position. Any thoughts on this?



 
#285 ·
Not sure why it was being difficult, but I took everything apart to re-grease the bearings and the c-clips fit on the ends of the stubs afterward.

Took the family up to the dunes yesterday and everything worked perfectly. Engine was running really well and cool, trans stayed cool and was shifting awesome and there were a few good jumps. Very happy with how everything was working, it was a good day.





 
#286 ·
It’s been a little while since I updated. After the dunes in April we used the Jeep to get a lot of ice cream, putting about 1000 miles on it this summer. I did a lot of work with the tuner and it’s running very well and strong. I can lay down a 4-5’ patch on my 1/2 shift now with the 38” tires :rock:

We did make a trip to Rocks and Valleys a few weeks ago with my boys and my 16YO did some driving, it was a good day. By the way. the Atlas is SUPER awesome to have.

Winter plans did include building my D60 front with a 5x5.5 wheel pattern to match my 9" rear, but I changed directions. I picked up a 14B FF and will now be going that route. I will be selling both the D44 and 9" in early November.

Here are some pics from R&V. Everything worked really well except I popped out a front spring and a brake line loosened up. Doing the parking lot crawl is interesting with no brakes, LOL.







My 16YO – Happy boy

 
#288 ·
He was and it was a good day.


Okay, I need some opinions on this 14B I picked up. Once I got it all cleaned up I noticed there is significant pitting around where the u-bolts and plates were sitting against the axle. The pitting is a good 1/8" deep and on both sides about the same amount. I've been doing some research but can't a lot of info it. The little bit I did find said to fill in the area with weld and grind it smooth. I realize the tubes are 1/2" thick and my mind says this method would be satisfactory.

I just want some other opinions to help me decide what to do with it. Here are a couple pics of the area. What do you guys think?





 
#294 ·
I found another housing, thanks @fabricator
It's a SRW housing in good condition and I transferred my C&C hubs/axles onto it so I still have the 63" WMS. The guy I plan to buy my brake kit from offers a "SRW housing and C&C hub" bracket so brakes will be easy too.
Doing more research it seems the corrosion is common with the C&C housing due to using a weird clamping system to attach the axle to the leaf spring. Anyway, I should be getting started on this soon. Just want to squeeze a few more miles out of it before the weather turns.

 
#297 ·
Me too!

Awesome! Doing anything different in the rear? I'm thinking of going with coils
Keeping the leaves in the rear. I have been using a set of BOR springs I bought new several years ago and they work great on the street or the trail. I will put a new set of bushings in them while it's apart though, they are a little loose.
 
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