Have been working on the jeep.

[minionsram]

Did not have the RC shipped out here to Ft Sill so I just started working on the Jeep with some of the cash I saved with the last deployment. I have a good bit left to do but here it is so far. Here is want I started with when I bought it for my wife before we left SC




Its a 1996 Jeep cherokee Country. Got all the trimings on it. I do dislike the power windows though. Gonna have to find the Pics of the build now lol

[minionsram]

I bought the wife a truck she wanted and the jeep became mine. I was going to bring my 1990 RC out here to piddle with but the cheepest I could get it shipped was 1200 bucks. So I decided to build on the Jeep. Nothing crazy something to have some fun with and still be a reliable daily driver that will run down the interstate when needed.
So here is the truck I got the wife so I could get the jeep lol

[minionsram]

and here it sits with the 3" all spring lift with some Steel wheels that I bought from a junkyard and painted black. Put some new rubber on it. I love the Hankook tires. Was able to find a set that was 30'' by 9.50. These MT tires so far has performed perfectly in mud, snow and Rain. They are not too loud on the interstate and balanced perfectly needing very little weight.

[minionsram]

Well The wife was complaining about needing a step to get in and I was not about to buy any of those thin flimsy steps so I started buiilding a set of steps/ sliders. Until recently I did not have a torch just a cut off wheel and a welder so it had taken me a bit longer to build them than I wanted to.

[minionsram]

next I needed a better rear bumper. So I bought some 6x2x 3/16'' Tubing and some 4x2x 3/16'' tubing. Started cutting and grinding away and then painted it Flat Black. I run the 2x4 inside the unibody about 18 inches and secured it by the factory bolts that you would attach a hitch with. Still want to do more to it but it will do for now. The tabs for the shackles are 12 inches long and run along the tube and welded solid. I plan on making a hitch for it that will be put into the bumper and then a Skid plate and a swing away tire carrier.

[minionsram]

Next up is showing how I got the Superwinch 8500 mounted Behind the bumper that I built. But that will have to wait because it is time to drink a beer and eat a slice of Pizza.

[The War Wagon]

Great work so far! 

[SixGun]

Yeah, that looks real nice.   

[minionsram]

thanks guys. I still have a lot to do before the front and rear bumpers are complete. Here is what I have done so far with the front.
I started with some 6'' x 2'' 18lb per foot chanell. I used 1/4 inch plate for the runners on the outside of the unibody and went back as far as I could. On the driver side I used every bolt on the steering box and extended it further to tie it as far back into the uni body that I can. Here is a few shots of it while I was building it.

[minionsram]

and here is the bumper that is completeish. I still have some more to do with it but it functions real well. I did not have the room to put the winch behind the bumper with the solenoid on the winch. So I had to take it off and mount it inside of the engine bay. While I was at it I mounted the controlls for it inside the cab. I had to remove the Cruse controll box to do it but I never used it anyhow. I am going to figgure out how to wire the criuse controll wires to power the winch. the set/accel is going to be winch out and resume is going to be winch in.

[minionsram]

Here is the bumper mounted. I still have to trim some steel off of the lower cross bracket, but I just now got a torch. It is a small porta torch but will work for now. I plan on building a grill guard on it shortly. I just aint quite figgured out how I want to build it yet.

[minionsram]

And here is the winch mounted in the area. I also took a few of the solenoid under the hood. It was a tight fit but I think I like it. We will see.

[SixGun]

I like that bumper. Clean and simple.

[The War Wagon]

Even WITH the custom bumper, I would not have thought there THAT much spare room under the front of an XJ.  NICE work!   

[minionsram]

Even WITH the custom bumper, I would not have thought there THAT much spare room under the front of an XJ.  NICE work!   

Well if you cut out the flimsy cross brace there is. I cut it out and boxed it in with some 1/4 inch material and then bolted a 1/4 inch winch plate to it and built the bumper off of that. It is tight for sure and I think I need to build a metal sheld to prevent the winch cable from backlashing and not getting into the harmonic balencer.
In the Hayday of the first XJ's you could buy a factory hidden winch mounting system from Mopar but it was only for like a 4500lb winch. I went a bit over kill with the 8500lb winch.