bRIBEGuy's 2000 XJ

[bRIBEGuy]

Yup, those would be ideal.  And might actually be cheaper than helpers/slave labor once you factor in the cost of coffee, beer, and pizza. 

[bRIBEGuy]

[Begin angry rant on the internet]

So after over 3 weeks of waiting..........it turns out that JCR never actually did ship out my replacement bolts.  FML!!!

I'm currently banging my head against my desk while JCR is promising that today will be the day the hardware actually gets shipped out.  What a stupid stupid stupid thing to get stalled up on.

So

Freaking

Mad

Right

Now.

[End angry rant on the internet]

[bRIBEGuy]

Well, the bolts arrived last week (along with a $16 brokerage charge from UPS...fml) along with a free "apology" T-shirt from JCR.  They actually sent me an entirely new set of mounting hardware, which is nice.  Spares are always handy!

Anyway.....managed to get some garage time in this weekend, and progress is back to being made.  nothing is working out right, or even remotely bolt-on mind you.......but hey, everyone tells me that's the "fun" of a Jeep.   

Pictures, and more words soon..........

[specialk]

Dude... if it were bribeguys jk it would bolt on.  Every xj is custom even from the factory back in the previous century.

[bRIBEGuy]

JK.......pfffft.  There's no school like the old school.   

It is funny how much variance there can be between two similar XJ's though.  I've found even the hardware is completely all over the place as far as sizing.  Oh well....all part of the adventure.

[TL-Iguana]

JK.......pfffft.  There's no school like the old school.   

It is funny how much variance there can be between two similar XJ's though.  I've found even the hardware is completely all over the place as far as sizing.  Oh well....all part of the adventure.

My 2001 uses brake rotors that have to be special ordered... They are the ones apparently still in use in China, and have the * next to the part number in the book.... The last few years of our rigs were kinda pieced together with the leftovers at Chrysler. Makes em all unique....

[Pookapotamus]

Angie is unique, just like her owner!

[bRIBEGuy]

Well, bit by bit this thing is moving forward.  

First up......while the quality of JCR stuff might be top notch, the instructions are terrible!  None the less, the show must go on...........

Sliders:  After mounting and removing these beasts at least 132 times, I finally got all the mounting brackets in place, and nutserts installed.  There are 18 bolts to the "frame", 22 to the pinch weld, 14 thru the sheet metal, and another 22 joining things together.  Pretty much it's a hardware party.







After this was done, I drilled an additional hole for the lower fender flare, then mocked those up to determine my cut lines.  Ended up trimming off almost an inch, and relocating two of the mounting holes.





Switching to the back side, I got the gas skid in place, and the new exhaust hanger....which, of course, took some trimming and tweaking.






After that it was starting to get back to the rear bumper.  Some of the rear sheet metal needed a bit of a trim and a bend (and then more trimming...lol) so all the brackets would clear.  




After mounting and remounting the bumper 5 times in a morning, I was finally able to start drilling holes to mount the rear quarter panel armor.




This was the only issue I had with JCR's fit and finish, as the side panels are bent with slightly different dimensions then the bumper.  No matter how the mount, there are gaps.  Some gentle persuasion with a sledgehammer (seriously...), and a few extra bolts helped...but didn't fix the issue.  Oh well.....




Pretty much at the point to start prepping for paint, which will hopefully be next weekends task at hand.  It's getting closer...........

[bRIBEGuy]

Figured I may as well give the OrFab front bumper a refresh as well, so off it came for some grinding, cutting, and bit of much needed love.




And then so began more prep work.

And so began more painting.

Clean.  Rough up.  Rust converter.  Clean.  Prime.  Paint.  Party party party........







Rear bumper, sliders, and rear armor all got painted black on the inside/mounting surfaces.  Outside surfaces got scuffed back up and bedlined.




It pretty much took two full days to do the painting.  Which pretty much sucked.  Almost forgot to drill a hole in the rear bumper for the hitch plug too.....LOL!  Luckily I remembered (you can see it in the last pic).

[bRIBEGuy]

After that, it was time for mounting.

INSTALLING
JCR
CRUSADER
SLIDERS
SUCKS
A
SUCK
LOAD
OF
SUCK

It's a good thing they look pretty badass, since it was a horrible experience.  Rear bumper was a comparative snap.







After that, it was time to rebuild the front end, with the newly shortened side pieces.





Oh ya, and put the roof rack back on (with some RTV on all the screws for waterproofing good measure).

[bRIBEGuy]

In all the cut and fold write ups I read, non of them seemed to address the fact that the factory trailer hitch harness exits thru a plug in part of the metal that ends up going away.  After some head scratching, I came up with the following.

- There is a plastic plug next to the rear taillights.  Remove it entirely (require loosening the light mounting bolts).

- Fish the trailer harness thru this hole, including the original/stock rubber gasket.

- Slide the gasket down until the correct amount of wire remains to reach your hitch mount.

-Use some RTV to seal the gasket into the factory hole (which is just a hair bigger than the inner gasket flange).

-Tighten up the light again to hold it all in while it dries.

I also fished thru some extra 16ga wire which I'll use for some aux reverse lights.  Hey, why not, right?

[bRIBEGuy]

Next up..........making Bushwacker flat flares work with all of this.

First shot was a nightmare.......hopefully this Fridays 2nd attempt will go smoother.

[TL-Iguana]

Looking good Mark! I like those rear quarters! Patience and attention to detail has certainly paid off in the end.

[bRIBEGuy]

More progress!

Spent some time in the garage last weekend, and managed to get the flares on.  Bushwacker flats do not play well with:

1. JCR Crusader Sliders
2. Cut and fold rear quarter panels
3. JCR rear bumper

Luckily I have all three of those things.  :p

Fronts weren't too bad.  Realized that one of the flare mounts didn't have any holes drilled from the factory.  Initially I was really annoyed by this, but it ended up being beneficial since I had to relocate the holes anyway.  The inner mount pieces sit on top of the JCR armor, so they are effectively mounted 5mm further outboard on the bottom.  Looks terrible until you cover it up with the flare.  The outer flare required some trimming and notching to sit flush around the armor, and then new holes were drilled.  Disassemble.  Install speed clips.  Reassemble.  Repeat for other side.






Out back, there was substantially more cutting to do.  Fronts of the mounts and flares had to be trimmed and notched to clear the Crusader sliders.  Back mounts received some heavy handed cutting.  And by heavy handed I mean very careful dremel work.





After much trial and error, the mounts finally fit fairly well.  I opted to leave on the lower screw hole, and bend it under to mount onto the lower angle of the rear quarter panel armor.  I figure more support was obviously better than not enough.








From there it was time to start trimming and cutting the outer flares.  Again, front and backs both needed work in order to sit flush.

[bRIBEGuy]

With the flares finally on, it was time to start getting some of the miscellaneous jobs finished up.

After much swearing, hammering, wrenching, and frustration, the rear sway bar came out:





Next up was getting the tire swing out mounted:





And then the OEM trailer wiring harness got buttoned up, and the plug got mounted in the new location (while friends stood back and drew clever signs...):




Last task for the weekend was to get the winch back in, and mount the aux light plate:





And then, in what was an exciting moment, I drove the Jeep home.  It's the first time the beast has been on the road since late 2014, and it was certainly nice to see it rolling again.  Now it's back home, and the work can resume in my own driveway.

More updates soon.............