Project XJ Gets a Serious Makeover 

900 is a deal. I had the exact same XJ a few years back. Full build. With almost 300K miles on it still sold to the first serious purchaser and made money. Great platform. Nice start. Good Luck.

The inner OCD in me loved this. I've been here with project cars before, and this is a GREATTTT first step to ensuring you love your project car, and that you continue to care for it.

Best platform for a budget Jeep build. Add bumpers, sliders, winch, and 33s. Done. Mine has been built that way for years and been all over Moab. Have fun with it!

damn that jeep cleaned up surprisingly well

4.0 with a ax 15 is a dream xj !! 91 wrangler 2.5 ax 5 here. Can't wait to see more video's

Low key you're slowly making it into a doomsday vehicle. The 360 lighting reminds me of i am legend 🤣

That's a factory track bar mount - Rough Country makes an adjustable track bar with bushings on both ends (instead of the tie rod on the frame end) and it comes with a new, beefier mount. It's around $150 plus shipping. They have two options. 1 for 0 - 3.5" of lift and another for 4 - 6.5" of lift. Choose wisely! But yeah, it's good to replace that. The holes tend to wallow out which causes some pretty severe death wobble. You might look into replacing the axle side track bar bracket as well with a beefier one. The stock bracket is made of pretty thin metal and it wallows out easily as well.

Lincoln lock the rear, lunch box in the front, 1 ton steering, steering box braces, winch , and a cooler full of beer and shel be aight

They make rubber carpet for those, I'd switch to that if your going to be wheeling a lot.

That console on this pile is exactly why I don’t allow and food or drink, besides water, in my cars and truck. Looks like it was a dog hauler as well. I would take this thing to the car wash and have at it inside. Taking out the whole mess will do it as well. Well done!

Great thorough cleaning! Bedliner paint is great for protecting in the wheel wells/bumpers. Looks great, looking forward to the next video

Jeep looks soooo much better! cant wait to see some footage of some trails when its ready!

A realy informative and good video as always!Jeep starting to look nice! The inside looked like it had Aids, but now it's a 1000 times better. Keep up the good work!

Don't worry about the water with the intake. The way it is designed it should stall before it sucks water past the filter. Also, keep a steady pace on water crossings, make a wave in front of the vehicle (if standing water) and push that wave thru until the exit...this helps keep the water low around the engine.

That is a factory track bar mount on the frame side (I'm a Jeep XJ guy). Most aftermarket front bumpers have frame tie-in brackets (a heavy plate to sandwich the frame rail), look at getting a steel spacer for under the steering box, the factory aluminum ones typically crack, and there's a brace for the steering box that mounts to the opposite frame rail with a clamp around the round part of the casting near the sector shaft (output shaft). That thing has surprisingly good looking floor boards, that's quite the find. Oh, and I see you're going the light bars before lockers route..... Shame! You can still put the 33x12.5" tire on the 15x8 rims, in fact they work better when you are aired right down for wheeling, but you've already ordered the 10" wide so, oh well.

The common denominator of all these XJ videos... The guys are smart enough to own a garage or pole barn. One more year wrenching in the yard on my end and securing tools from the hood - I might have to switch to golf. God help me if that happens.. 🙏

I got the spartan lockers for both my front and rear on my XJ! I’m loving them, they’re cheap and put in work

Thanks for the video! Out of all the youtube videos yours are the only videos I actually enjoy watching to the very end. Great content! Peace.

Steering I have the JCR box plate and spacer and a MORE cross brace, the stock spacer is pot metal and once it fails you get those unibody cracks. Get the unibody stiffeners on there while you are at it, or make your own. The stock bumper mounts are not enough on their own if you need to recover. That is the stock trackbar mount, Iron Rock Offroad as others suggested is a double sheer, and get their adjustable bar as well. With a welder and plate you could avoid buying these parts and make your own for budget. Remove your rear anti sway bar if it is still there.

Awesome. Interior work is really inspirational.

Jeep is coming together looking good can't wait to see it with the wheels. Have a good day and stay safe Jimmy from Massachusetts

Fantastic job on the interior I was surprised how clean it turned out 👍👍

I ❤️ my white 98 XJ! I added a RE 3.5" lift & 32" KO2s. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

That inline 6 has such an iconic sound. Honestly the Jeep looks way better off with you than it did before!

Redrill the leaf spring center pin bolt hole on the rear axle spring perch one inch forward. It will move the axle back and give you more tire to body clearance .

Looks like your drill is smokin a cigar. Impressive cleaning job!

I have the twin to your XJ. I couldn't believe how dirty it was inside. I am doing the same thing as you are except replacing the carpet and uplostery. It took me 4 hours to get the dash, the console, and front door panels cleaned. I used Simple Green and a scrub brush. I think the same 24 pack of coke, plus several gallons of coffee and hot chocolate, seasoned the interior. Coffee grounds?....Wonder why that is. The cargo area looks like a mixture of motor oil and and dirt so thick that it looks brown instead of gray. My wife wont even get in the vehicle. On the plus side it has 4 /12' long arm lift with 33's and a 10,000 pound winch with synthetic cable. Fenders were already trimmed just like you did it. Oh, and it came with a boom box.

oil leak on the passenger side is most likely the oil filter adapter. It is $5 in o-rings of a solution. Super simple.

Nice job. Love the content! Keep it up. You bring a different element than majority.

Brace for inner steering box do hooligan offroad, and outer brace most that I know is on aftermarket bumpers, track bar is stock so you need a track bar drop bracket and adjustable track bar, do frame stiffners, also boomerang shackles for rear and only do lunchbox locker in front and make the rear a 8.25 limited slip and do upgraded steering parts.

You could take off the sway bar and brackets, then replace the sway bar bracket on the steering box portion with a small chunk of flat stock.

keep the suspension as stock as you can maybe add some wheel spacers or spring spacers if you need them to run 33s, throw a lunch box locker up front or a selectable in the rear if you can, one axle being locked makes a huge difference when your crossing ditches or weight is all on one side, fab up some home made bumpers and go put some miles and trails on it start stage two of upgrades in a year or two if so inclined

Them wheels and tires are gonna look 🔥🔥 love me a jeep lol

You clean 🧼 very well what a transformation 👍🏾nice build keep it going

Nice work. You got a plan!

Keep up the good work. Great detailed videos

Good workmanship! Looking great!

JCR off road has a DIY bumper kit with bracing that mounts using the steering box bolts, so its a two in one.

I have. 99 two door same color that I’m rebuilding just put a 6” rough country lift on love the xj platform new subscriber!!

I’ve been wanting a Jeep and this made me wanna get one even more!

Grandma coming in clutch with the mats👌

Hell ya looking way better...cleaned up good for what it was 👌

Don't forget your recovery gear and hook up points. Didn't hear you mention anything other than a winch. Hi-Lift Jack and frame mounted tow hooks are a must have in my opinion.

Man..... awesome video!!! Thanks for doing this budget build..... I would love to see this in person.... I do live in Colorado and I am new to wheeling

Damn buddy, you went HAM on that interior. Nice work! I'm actually surprised the headliner is still attached. That's usually the first thing to fail on XJ's.

I’ve done 3 Xjs. Looks good!

Looking good man. Hope all is well out there!

Cleaning the interior was a HUGE difference 👍

I’m not a Jeep guy but buying this thing was a great decision might be a clap box but hey this jeep means more content.... more videos.... bring it..... I love watching this shit..... 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Run a 15x8 wheel. Don't have to worry about knocking a bead off with an 8 inch wheel. Plus they still look great!

Love what you did to it so far

I know this sounds crazy but for stain removal, use Opti-Free Puremoist saline solution. It takes stains out of everything. Don't dilute it just squirt it on the stain run it it. Let is sit for a one once you have the stain completely saturated. Then scrub the spot adding some squirts of saline when needed. No rinsing necessary.

Damn good job on interior

They also make frame stiffeners that you can look into as well

Get the THOR cowl intake for it. Raises the intake level and completely eliminates the factory air box so you can run dual battery setup or compressor, or anything else you may want

Looks great! I'd add some paint to those front fenders where you cut them. Also put that bed liner on the step rails... that'll help to clean it up really nicely!

Good shit man, look into a shackle relocation bracket, that will help with better flex in the rear and ride quality.

Nice work on the seats!!

Steering box from a 99 durango. Pretty much exactly the same just bigger and stronger. Front end stuff. Keep the death wobble away

It’s looking so much better already, the front bumper would look good with the ends angled back to follow the body line more closely 👍🏻

Sick shop!

Nice work!

also the triple fan upgrade is nice upgrade did that on mine

Not a bad looking Jeep! I would definitely run 33x12.5 on 15x8 over 15x10 though for the extra security while airing down.

Affordable Offroad makes some pretty good bumpers that come raw so they will need prime and paint but easy to do !

Throw a thrush welded muffler on that thing. They sound boss

Sure someone has said it, but do a DIY cowl intake with Spectre 3" mounts. Knocked it out in 30 minutes, uses the stock airbox and brings a hose up into the cowl on driver or passenger side (passenger side is drier, but driver side is way easier to route) Great videos man! Would love to get in that beautiful shop.

Watching you rip that trim off was oddly satisfying lol

I know that the 4.0L is an absolutely AWESOME engine, but I personally think that this Jeep would be unstoppable with a good suspension setup and a 4bt under the hood with an upgraded pump, injectors, and a bigger turbo. I'm sure you could get that 5 speed to bolt up to it somehow. I'm sure there has been V8 swaps into the XJ chassis before, MAYBE you could do a LB7 or LBZ swap...😉

I’ve always ran an 8” wheel with 12.5” tires. I’ve seen a lot of guys pop a bead with the wider wheel width.

That is the oe track bar mount... And I I know jcr has a good steering box bracket I believe they sell it on its own. Like the direction of this jeep👍🤙

I can't wait to see the bumper

With what you have done so far you just made yourself a Jeep worth thousands more! Elbow grease goes a long way!

Nice build! Doing the same myself with a XJ low cost build! And really want to hear how new tires are because they are what I was going to put on.

Maybe a air snorkel intake?? Good work dude. Impressive

Love the progress, the only thing i ask is that you record more of it

Just picked up my first jeep, always been a SAS toyota kind of guy. But I got a good deal on a 96 Cherokee, so I'm excited to try something different. I'm located in Colorado but on the western slope. It's cold but it's still rona season over here 🤘

Wow! Big difference! I was pretty sceptical after seeing the first video, but it sure cleaned up pretty nice. One thing you might look into as far as the oil leak is concerned is to check the oil filter adapter. The O rings on the four liters are notorious for getting hard and crusty and leaking between the block and the adapter. You can get the o ring kit for a few bucks on Ebay. They're kind a pain to change, but it's worth it to not have oil leaking everywhere. Good job so far by the way.

Love the videos, wish I didn’t have to get rid of my Jeep

Despite being goofy as hell, you do great work. I really enjoy your channel

Love this year of jeep! Tdi Diesel swap it

Bro looks pretty good 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

tie the front bumper in to the steering box bolts with some 1/4inch plate, there are matching bolt holes on the other side will help the box and if you use only the bumper bolt holes you will rip it off at some point its not strong enough for a winch. most after market bumpers come with brackets that tie in to the same place. same for the rear just look up some vids its easy, yes if you are going to keep the coil springs and 4 link you should probably run a steering box brace and yes that is the factory track bar mount. I would up grade its not that much to do so, you can probably make you own

I’m getting a 99 Jeep Cherokee in a week, gonna clean it up and lift it soon after... I’m in Colorado.

Lockers and steering are 1st, then add a winch. Everything else is last

Nice project

1 need to put it on the lift. And some cheap seat covers wouldn't hurt. Cover the stain. Looks good. You cleaned it up well.

Cool project man. Subbed!

Get a cheap snorkel and I highly recommend hood vents to keep the Cherokee cool on the trail.

keep putting out great content man.. love the videos, quality of quantity

That air saw is sick af

I'm over here saving money for Suzuki Jimny 2019. Can't wait to modify and rip it;

That interior could gag a maggot. Good job cleaning that up.

Earned my sub with this video. Plus I'm your Canadian doppelganger. 🤙

Damn that interior cleaned up good, no way you were gonna make it that clean with leaving the interior installed

so jealous of that shop lol

They make braces that brace the steering box and track bar and with 33’s on the stock unibody I’d highly recommend it

Me neither bro ups stay behind on my orders! Believe it or not the post office is the quickest for me most of the time

Again some more great content, no point me sharing any thoughts on the vehicle coz I got no flippin idea just enjoying the progress 😎

The biggest problem with that engine is cooling the better radiator will be the best thing u could of done nice work