Project "Apache Resistance".

[Zullock Holmes]

Bilstein 5100 series shocks will run you about 90 bucks a shock. Honestly these will be your best bet, they are a great gas charged shock and they will last for a good amount of time.

I wouldn't waste my time with the white hydro shocks, they ride like crap and if you ever decide to drive like a moron offroad, you'll blow em up pretty fast.

5150's aren't garbage, you just know someone that hates them lol.

[Dirtyjeep92]

love the rig man. did you use some type of rubber liner on your fenders?

[Hudson]

Bilstein 5100 series shocks will run you about 90 bucks a shock. Honestly these will be your best bet, they are a great gas charged shock and they will last for a good amount of time.

I wouldn't waste my time with the white hydro shocks, they ride like crap and if you ever decide to drive like a moron offroad, you'll blow em up pretty fast.

5150's aren't garbage, you just know someone that hates them lol.

If i was to replace the rear shocks, i'd assume i'd have to replace the front ones at the same time or else my ride would be half super smooth, have super rugged, correct? I don't know if i'm willing to drop 360$ on shocks right now. I still want to get some cosmetic stuff done before i upgrade my shocks. I'm really looking to get some more lighting on this thing. About to do an H4 conversion, and get a light bar and some fog lights on it.

love the rig man. did you use some type of rubber liner on your fenders?

Thanks man. It's a fun project.

As for the fenders, when i got done cutting them it actually looked pretty good, but after putting on that liner it just looked that much better. I don't actually know what the stuff i used is called. I told my dad i was trimming my fenders, and when he saw the end result he just brought that stuff home and said he thought it might make it look better. He said they used it for sharp edges at work. It's like a "V" shape, and you put the fender in the "V", and it's got this metal in it, and you squeeze it and it locks onto the fender. Works perfect.

I think i have some extra in my garage, if i can find it, you can have it, if you want it.

Does anyone know anything about trimming the rear fenders? Has anyone ever done it before? I know you need to use the "Cut n fold" method, but does anyone have any pictures or detailed instructions on how it's done. Is it even worth it?

Here's a close up of it. Oh, and you see that crack to the right of it on the bottom there? If you scroll up a little, you can see i fixed that as well.

[Hudson]

I'm going to be buying some fog lights for the winch light bar, then a light bar on the roof with 4 driving lights.

Does anyone know of any good lights i should buy that aren't super expensive?

What is the best way to wire these? i want to wire them into the battery directly, and i want to have a switch in the jeep that when i flip it, then go on and off, does anyone have any diagrams? What gauge wire should i use? That kind of information. Thanks.

[Hudson]

I bought a roofrack yesterday for 50$. It wasn't as big as i wanted it to be, but for the price, i figured i could easily make it work. So far i mounted my Hi-Lift, and an axe to it. I'm not sure what else i want to put on it, but i think it adds a new style to the jeep. Tell me what you guys think of it. Here's some pictures of it.

[92xjlaredo]

good to see progress on this so far. i got a question regarding the brakes on the rears. as ive changed my mind(again ) and for what i do at the moment, my 8.25 is just fine.....but specifically what was involved in doing the rear disc swap...from what i see its basically, rear lines, all the brake components, and you gotta pop the rear shafts out? or am i mistaken and you can just throw it on there after you get the drum setup off? i know i can get my hands on the stuff for relatively cheap. just need to know what to buy at the JY for it.

[Hudson]

good to see progress on this so far. i got a question regarding the brakes on the rears. as ive changed my mind(again ) and for what i do at the moment, my 8.25 is just fine.....but specifically what was involved in doing the rear disc swap...from what i see its basically, rear lines, all the brake components, and you gotta pop the rear shafts out? or am i mistaken and you can just throw it on there after you get the drum setup off? i know i can get my hands on the stuff for relatively cheap. just need to know what to buy at the JY for it.

Apologies for the delay buddy.

Anyways, let me explain.

Rear disc swap was easy, like really easy. I thought i was getting in way over my head, but really it's simple.

You don't have to re-do the rear brake lines, but when i was doing the rear discs i figured i might as well redo them as they weren't looking so happy. It cost like 12$ for the hard brake line and i already had the double flare tool to flare the tubing so it was basically free.

Oh, and a sidenote. When i bought mine from the Junkyard the guy wouldn't just sell the parts for the swap, he made me buy the entire axle. I'd try to get the entire axle so you have all the hardware and what not, but it's up to you.

What you actually need to swap to discs is this;


-Backing Plate (Honestly the only thing you need from the ZJ. You can buy the rest brand new from an auto parts store.)
- Calipers
- Brake Pads
- Internal Drum Brake Pads + Hardware Kit (For Handbrake.)

That's it. Just make sure you get all the bolts and accessories and what not.

I was also reading somewhere that the ZJ lug nuts are longer than the stock XJ ones, so if you're running steel wheels you might need to put on longer lugs.

I personally knocked all the lugs out of the ZJ axle shafts, then knocked all the ones out of my XJ, and put them on my XJ shafts. They are a bit longer, and i don't think i needed to do it, but who knows. It's easier to change them with the shafts out.

I welded the soft brake line on the caliper to the axle tube, and then met it with the hard line on the tube. You can see it in my pictures. Not sure what others do.

Oh, and you need to file the backing plate to make it bigger to fit over the 8.25.

If you actually need the procedure on how to put it all on/together, feel free to ask.

[92xjlaredo]

bingo. thank you sir, if i ever get it running right this will be the next thing on my "to-do" list

[Hudson]

Haven't updated this in a while.

Got back to working on the jeep and it's starting to take on a whole new look.

Been mostly wiring up stuff and what have you, but there is also some other things going on.

Brother pulled 95 ZJ power seats out of a ZJ his friend had. I attemped to swap them into the XJ only to realize that the frames were different and if i swapped the ZJ seat onto the XJ frame it wouldn't be power.

Long story short, i decided that saturday im going to go to the junkyard and buy WJ power heated leather seats and swap them in up front.

Put a toggle switch right next to the hand brake with 12v in it for when i do put the heated/power seats in the power is right there i'll just need to hook the seats up to it and done.

My dad saw me wiring all of this up, and told me that they had (4) 12v lights at work that they were throwing out and asked me if i wanted them. Needless to say, i told him yes, and now they're sitting in our garage. They work mint. I'm not sure why they were throwing them out.

Bulbs in three of them are shot, but my dad can get replacements, so tomorrow i will have all of them up on the jeep wired up. Ran all the wires through a relay and fuse tonight to a toggle switch next to the handbrake. Soldered every single connection. I must say, it seems like everyone hates doing electrical work, but i love it. I think it's fun wiring stuff up. Drilled a 3/8" hole through the roof in the back to run my wires down through the roof. Ran them through and caulked up the hole. It looks really neat. The one light i did put on it super bright (they're all going to be backup lights) and once all four are on i'll be able to see everything behind me. \

One light is pretty damn bright. Now imagine four.

I also trimmed my rear fenders.

Here are some pictures of all of it;

[Hudson]

Oh and the brakes are being bled today along with new pads and the proportioning valve is either getting swapped out or I'm removing the o-ring from my current one. Haven't decided yet.

[Hudson]

Got the other light last night. One sits higher than the other, and i don't like the way it looks. I have another one of the lights on the right and i might swap the one on the left with it just so they look balanced. Or should i just put all three up there? They make backing up a lot easier. Going to run the wires for the front bumper lights and the light bar tonight when i get home. Got another 500' roll of 12 Gage. Should be set for a while.

I also bought 3 red led toggle switches from advanced auto on Wednesday. Going to pick them up tonight and make all the wiring look organized. Also going to buy some relays so the switches don't have full power 24/7.

One light looks brighter than the other, and i'm not sure if that's because 14 gage wire can't handle both of those lights or the fact that the picture isn't centered and the angles might be messing it up.

Birthday was yesterday and my dads was on Thanksgiving, so i have to go out to dinner tonight with some family friends so i'm going to not have as much time as i'd like to work on the jeep tonight. Currently sitting in school in a "computer applications" class waiting for the day to be over so i can work on the jeep.

The brakes are going to be bled either tonight or tomorrow, and i'm going to the JY tomorrow to buy WJ heated/power/leather seats to put in the XJ. Also going to buy power XJ seats for the frames. Going to sell my stock seats and ZJ seats and i should be able to break even.

The red toggle switch you see in the picture is already wired up and has power so when the WJ seats come in i just have to swap them in and bolt them down and run about 4' of wire from both seats to it. Should take about ~10 minutes to wire it.

[Hudson]

Well got another update.

Painted the rear fenders today to stop the rust from coming on. Don't have pictures of that, but will post them soon.

My jeep didn't shift into 4lo, so i figured that the T-Case linkage was out of whack. Instead of just adjusting it (which i didn't understand how to do for the life of me) i just decided to rebuild the entire linkage.

Thanks to the help of Ian, i think i've finally figured out how it's done, but i'll probably still have a few more questions before it's finished.

Anyways, i used a sawzall to cut off all the old linkage, took the paddle off the actual T-case, got a scrap piece of 1/4 metal and put it on a bridgeport and knocked out a new paddle with the slot reversed. Should work like a charm.


Here are some pictures.

[Hudson]

Well we might have a problem. The new paddle isn't standing straight up when it's in 2wd. It's a little off. Is this going to cause a problem? Should i make a new piece? Then my other problem is that i lost the damn nut that holds the paddle onto the T-case and i have no clue what size or what type of threads it is. Does anyone know what kind of nut holds that on?

I'm talking about the nut that screws onto the bolt you can see in these pictures.

Oh, and i also don't think the actual shifter is going to extend down far enough to make me able to put a level connector rod between them. Should i weld a piece of metal onto the shifter and drop it down like 4 inches to make it level then connect it? Does that even make sense?

Pictures are related.

[Ruepart Hoaxley]

Ask Zullo, he built linkage out of small heims.

[ninetysix-ex-jay]

Yeah i bought that case off Zullo. If you want a pic of the linkage let me know.