by "Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
Published 09/14/2017 at 23:03
by "Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
Published 09/14/2017 at 23:03
No Tags
STARS: 18
So I bought this 91 XJ in California about 5 or 6 years ago because they’re cheap and un-rusty out there. I grew up in Michigan, and have since lived all over the country. Rust is a way of life in Mitten Land. It’s part of the car culture. People in the West simply would not understand the twisted sense of pride one gets from cracking a rusty brake bleeder screw without breaking it off in the caliper! It’s a relief like no other. Anyway, this old machine has developed quite a character, and I’m pretty happy about where it’s taken me. I’ll share some of my misadventure with you!
After several years in Northern California, I decided to shift professional gears out of the government sector and into the automotive industry. My new company graciously moved Rommel across the country to Michigan (my ancestral home land). I am certain they spent more to ship this thing than I paid for it!
Anyway, bought a house with a garage to keep my junk in. Rommel moved inside for the first time in its life.
So here is where the story gets a little sad. I bought another jeep. A purple Jeep Grand Minivan. And then a silver JK. Sadly, Rommel was left behind the family race shop for over a year. Never started, never washed, never opened, still with a CD wallet on the passenger seat and the dune flag zip-tied to the roof rack, getting bleached by the sun. I’m not really sure what I was thinking. I mean, I had what might be the last rust-free XJ in the state of Michigan and it was just sitting out in a commercial back lot next to my engine-free W123 Mercedes with 2 flat tires and a dead battery. I didn’t really think about old Rommel much at all for a good while. Out of sight, out of mind. God I feel terrible for abandoning it out there. She was a good jeep and she deserved better.
Suddenly, in July of this year I had an epiphany... er, well actually I got drunk, remembered I owned an XJ, and started buying internet parts like a crack head buying... well, crack. Six-inch-lift coils and leafs, some fancy shackles, 33 inch KM2s, some cheap shocks (Ranchos?), Tom Woods rear driveshaft, slip yolk eliminator, and a few other odds and ends. I had made my decision, committed to my course: Rommel would rumble again. This time, I wanted to build it into a trail and quasi-overlanding rig.
And that’s pretty much where Rommel stands today. I drive it to work once or twice a week, chase my dad’s dogs with it, park it on curbs at the grocery store like a real bro, and generally enjoy the weird culture of The House of XJ. People wave at it (only dudes, really), my neighbors hate it, and my garage floor will never recover from the oil/antifreeze/trans fluid/diff dope that constantly oozes from pretty much everywhere. I think I’ve had this thing longer than I’ve owned any car, and that’s quite a feat. Pretty sure I’ll keep it for a while longer.
So what’s next for Rommel? Repaint and a new beating heart, I suppose. I learned a lot when I painted it all those years ago. I can do it again, better. As for that heart transplant... well, I spent a fair amount of effort freshening an old Mercedes diesel and mating it to a Jeep transmission. Then I wrapped it in plastic and pushed into a corner in the shop. It’s ready to go in, whenever I get tired of listening to this billion mile 4.0 rattling away, hammering the intake valve seats ever deeper into the head. One day I’ll just freak out and pull the motor. I’ll try to remember to dump some pics when I do.
"rillweid - Now with more TRD and less TDI" (rillweid)
09/14/2017 at 23:10, STARS: 1
I LOVE XJ’s, and that thing is awesome. I have to suggest this as a new rear suspension idea. https://www.ironrockoffroad.com/product/xj-4-link-rear-long-arm-kit.html Love the diesel idea too.
"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
09/14/2017 at 23:16, STARS: 0
Thanks! Are you an XJ veteran?
That IRO rear suspensions is super rad but $1.5K!! I’ve actually thought about grabbing the rear suspension and D44 out of a wrecked JK and just building the pick-up points on the XJ. It’ll be a job and a half, but I’m a cheap bastard with time on his hands!
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
09/14/2017 at 23:36, STARS: 5
...the twisted sense of pride one gets from cracking a rusty brake bleeder screw without breaking it off in the caliper! It’s a relief like no other.
PREACH
"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
09/14/2017 at 23:42, STARS: 2
We suffer together, friend!
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
09/15/2017 at 01:12, STARS: 1
I’m sad you got ride of those twisty Hotwheels wheels.
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
09/15/2017 at 01:13, STARS: 2
Can I get an amen!
"Tristan" (casselts)
09/15/2017 at 02:28, STARS: 1
I have installed IRO’s steering, trac bar and front long arm on my XJ... I now have stock ZJ short arms, V8 ZJ steering and a JKS trac bar. Everything I ever got from IRO was terrible, and they never stood behind it. YMMV.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
09/15/2017 at 06:36, STARS: 0
No.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
09/15/2017 at 06:37, STARS: 1
Correct. IRO sucks.
"XJDano" (xjdano)
09/15/2017 at 08:16, STARS: 1
My jeep is in the middle stages of yours. I went to Silver lake & Moab Utah in 05, and really haven’t driven it since. I got frustrated with a hodgepodge lift I had and ordered a 5.5" RE long arm kit. Got that installed, then tired of dealing with a junk yard Dana 44, had a 9" built. So now it sits. Waiting to get back out. 2011 was when the plates expired. But since then my kids have grown up a bit and will be able to ride along.
We’ve done family vacations to the beach, but I’m ready for the mountains. Colorado or Utah.
I had a similar look on my fave when I was working on jeep and bump d my head on the LCA mount and started bleeding....
"Milky" (jordanmielke)
09/15/2017 at 09:30, STARS: 1
This made me miss being 16 and taking my XJ to silver lake. Thats all.
"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
09/15/2017 at 09:42, STARS: 0
Lol, I couldn’t get rid of those fast enough!
"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
09/15/2017 at 10:00, STARS: 0
You’re hard core! Built 9 inch, winch, and gnarly front bumper means business! Oh, and I have a hard hat you can borrow :)
"XJDano" (xjdano)
09/15/2017 at 10:21, STARS: 0
Yeah that was all prior to dating my wife and the kids. So that kind of money is exactly floating around any more.
"rillweid - Now with more TRD and less TDI" (rillweid)
09/15/2017 at 11:30, STARS: 1
I am. Is the JK D44 the same width? I feel like I remember reading about them having a different track width.
"rillweid - Now with more TRD and less TDI" (rillweid)
09/15/2017 at 11:30, STARS: 1
My IRO long arms seemed to hold up pretty well...
"adamftw" (adamftw)
09/15/2017 at 11:31, STARS: 0
No, its wider.
"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
09/15/2017 at 13:21, STARS: 0
This seems to be the story with everything in the auto-internet. Most people (like you) are quietly and happily using parts from all sorts of companies without problems. But then one guy either botches an install or overreaches the capabilities of his parts and flames the shit out of them in every forum he can find. Next thing you know, IRO is the devil and they shatter like glass while sitting in the garage overnight! I know when I lived in CA, I saw every brand of Jeep part imaginable in the Rubicon. All companies. And 95% of all those trucks made it up just fine. Nobody could say “every IRO or RC equipped rig shat the bed before leaving the parking lot”.
I will say that as an engineer I like the IRO 3-link solution. Damn simple. Of course, I have no personal experience with it, but generally the simplest solution is the best solution.
"Justino6969" (justino6969)
09/15/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 1
This hurts =[ I need to sell my XJ but keep neglecting to do it because I really don’t want to get rid of it.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
09/15/2017 at 13:40, STARS: 0
Yeaup, I parted mine out before I got engaged. 44/60, 35s, exocage, hydro assist, blah, blah. Don’t miss it.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
09/15/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 0
Single 10mm UCA bolt and that dinky adjuster? No thanks. Any radius arm solution is better than that.
"XJDano" (xjdano)
09/15/2017 at 13:43, STARS: 0
I haven’t missed working on mine. But it’s there when I’m ready. My wife wants to go out with it and stuff. Soon
"adamftw" (adamftw)
09/15/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 0
If I lived closer to where I could use it more often, I would maybe miss it, but then again if I lived out west I probably wouldn’t have that sort of rig. I don’t miss driving four hours to go rock crawling, beating the shit out of my Jeep all weekend, then another 4 hours home. My first XJ was 3" and 33s, built super well with decent suspension and a rear locker. I should have just built the 98 like that one. But then again, I probably still would have sold or parted it too.
"Tristan" (casselts)
09/15/2017 at 13:56, STARS: 0
You’re right. I converted my XJ from a 2wd/auto to a 4wd/AX15, but I botched the long arm install. 15 bolts that can only go in one way...
The geometry is awful. The upper bushing is in a constant bind and therefore fails completely after about 3 weeks of daily driving. The 3 link system lacks stability and places 100% of that responsibility on the trac bar. The trac bar has very poorly cut threads and poly bushings that last a little bit longer than it takes to brush your teeth. The steering joints wear very quickly and squeal like crazy when turning no matter what you try to lubricate them with, and the tie rod flops a around on every little bump on the road. All of that looseness makes the jeep just wonderful to drive. I put about 10,000 miles on my jeep in the 5 years I had that setup. In that 10,000 miles I replaced all of the bushings in the front end 3 times and the steering joints twice. The damn jeep would practically change lanes on its own even with a proper alignment. Their stuff is welded together with some big, thick steel, yes, and would last a lifetime if only used on trails. On the road? Unsafe at any speed.
I agree that people do things wrong and post all over the internet flaming the company, but the overwhelming consensus with IRO is that they make a garbage product that they won’t stand behind.
"Rock Bottom" (rockbottom81)
09/15/2017 at 14:24, STARS: 1
The good news is there are a million of them out there. When you have time/space/patience later on, you should be able to snag another one easy!