XJ Blog

The Mission, The Success.

2012-02-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

Hey all, Matt here again.

This is going to be about the last couple of weeks I have spent on the XJ and what Dylan and I did. Was a decent couple of jobs and made the Jeep run 100% better. Firstly, as the previous post explains, I was having some major problems turning the car on and we suspected it was the NSS, so we took that apart and cleaned it then found out it was the starter motor so took that apart and cleaned that and everything was good from there on it.

From day dot of owning this XJ I have noticed some over heating problems, that isn't uncommon in these cars. It's almost mandatory to have a stock jeep XJ in aussie-land to over heat unless you have done some work on the cooling system. Anyway, I had a list of things I needed. I needed a new belt, a new fan shroud and a new water pump, thermostat housing and a thermostat (Mind you, it didn't even have a thermostat in it at all). One weekend me and Dylan got to it and took the whole front of the engine off and cleaned every bit we took off, every bolt, every nut, ever seal.. Everything.

In one day we got, new water pump on, new thermostat and hosing on, new belt and fan shroud, new top hose, flushed the radiator and put new coolant in it, cleaned and did a small repair on the clutch fan and put it all back together and working. After doing all that I was still aware I needed a new radiator but figure after doing all that I suspected it would run a lot cooler due to it being clean, flushed and new coolant but I was wrong...... (FUCKING CARS) and found my radiator now had a small whole in it. I ran down the road and got a bottle of that Stop Leak and a new bottle of coolant and flushed the radiator again and ran the stop leak through it with the coolant but had no luck.

Yesterday my new full 24 tube radiator came with copper tanks (Not those shitty plastic tanks that come stock) and me and Dylan got it installed yesterday afternoon, I took it for a drive after about 3 hours of topping it and running the car until the block or radiator had no air pockets and it drove perfect, never went close to over heating. I drove it to work today and found it got over 100Deg F (Should sit under or near 100) so I might have to give it a look when I get home tonight and make sure it is full, I almost might need to top it up with some coolant again.

Tonight I have got my Pop to get some Aero-Alloy (Aeroplane wing metal) and the screws / bolts they use to fit it and he has cut it to a perfect size and I ordered $11 plastic vents from eBay. We are going to cut my bonnet tonight and install the vents so that the hot air getting trapped under the hood will have a place to escape and hopefully make it a little cooler in the long run - One can hope.

Now, for the price.. I did everything listed here plus a couple of other things (Breaks, oil filter, spot lights (Small ones I mounted to the roof rack), etc) for all just under $500. I got a quoted price to do everything I did including labour and parts prices for $2, 600... Just attempt it your self first guys, a lot of the major stuff that happens is quite an easy fix.

Matt's Problems

2012-01-19T14:57:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

Thought I would do a little write up about the stuff me and Dudzy have done on my jeep the last couple of days.
Here is the back story, my car started becoming hard to start, lagging puttering, being a pain basically until one night couldn't get it started at all, so Dylan came around we both had a look and he hit the NSS while I was trying to start it and it worked, so we figured it was NSS either broken or just really dirty so the next day, pulled it apart (ONE BIG PAIN IN THE ASS!!!) cleaned it and put it back in but still had no luck, my 'younger' brother happened to be walking past and noticed a tone of oil on the starter motor and he gave that a bit of a clean and it worked so we knew what we wanted to take apart next.
This brings up another problem though, where is the oil leak coming from? I HOPE it's the oil filter, easy to replace and cheap too. The most likely scenario is it's my rear main seal and this isn't good and something I most definitely did not want to hear. It is possible to do a back yard job and repair it but there is a high risk your slight oil leak could becoming a massive one.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the starter motor getting cleaned and little clip I filmed from my iPhone.
To do this, I used http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/ and ausjeepoffroad.com (Forum Post) to help me with this. Dudzy had never taken his starter motor off before either so it was new for everyone.

This is the Starter motor just after we pulled it out

And this is it pulled apart and dirty as shit!

This is after we got it cleaned

This is it back together and cleaned! :)

Dylan, chilling out.

This is the video I took while putting it back together.

New Video: Mashup #1

2012-01-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hey all, It's Matt here. Good news! I finally finished editing a new video for you guys! :) Hope you all enjoy.

First video was very recently (Couple of weeks ago) at Glass house, the second song is 2 different trips to Glass House, a couple of months ago and the last song is footage from my 21st Birthday Party at Rainbow Beach Inskip.

Share with anyone you can! :)

The plan

2011-11-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

Hey all, I have been doing a lot of budget shopping / pricing today and thought I would share what I found.
I have a list of things I want done on the car and ill go from cheapest to the more expensive mods and upgrades.. It's not a very big list but I'll give as much information as I can on each of them. Most of these prices and parts will be around the same price where ever you go but I did go local to Brisbane, Australia.

I have always been told from the start that the first thing you get is a good set of recovering gear, first aid kits, survival gear, etc. Just take that into account before you go off spending thousands of dollars on mods and upgrade and going out and getting stuck..

First off, Spotties! Spot lights are obviously very handy in any off road driving. High beam head lights vs high beam head lights and 4 extra 100w spot lights? The price varies from brand to brand, quality, size, etc not including the mounts and other nic nacs you may need to fit and wire them.
What I found on price average for a cheap set of spot lights is about $120 - $200. I plan on getting 4 in total of the cheaper style spot lights as it will be YEARS before I need anything more. For $200 you can get quite a decent set but the price of them can go upto $300 - $400 for the extreme lights. Not to mention you can get spot light kits that I have seen for $1000+ that gives you like 7 spot lights, all the mounting gear and wiring gear etc.. Obviously the price differs from brand to brand, size to size and good to shit. If you go no brand no name cheap lights you can properly pick up a kit for under $100 but in my eyes it isn't even worth it.

Second, is a snorkel. Even the very beginner tracks have water on them at some point, never enough for the need of a snorkel but to my knowledge snorkel's don't just allow your car to drive in deeper water but also increase power and fuel economy as they are ram air intake. The reason I personal put this second on my list is for cosmetic purposes. They aren't VERY expensive for what they allow your car to do either, for example if you spent the money you could do a hell of a lot harder tracks and a hell of a lot more adventurous tracks and trails.
I found snorkels anyone from $120 for the kit it's self up to $500 for a kit. I went searching for places around my local area able to completely install and seal, rust proof and fit the kit if I supplied it and found that most places don't like doing that. ARB for example will fit a supplied kit but it costs a fair whack more then if you bought the kit from them and then got them to install it. I was told by ARB that in total I could spend $580 for the kit and it being installed, not too bad considering they will have a 100% professional job done with warranty and quality parts, etc but I could supply a kit I found on Ebay for $130 odd but I would be paying $200 odd for them to install it. I myself went to a company I work quite closely with that just happen to be a panel shop and asked them if they where able to do it as a favor to me and they said they can cut, fit and seal for me even if I do supply the kit for a lot less then $200. They have yet to give me a figure but they did inform me that it will be under $200. So for snorkels, just shop around and it's all up to personal preference.

Tyres / Wheels are next on my list, there isn't much to say about tyres as it's all up to what you personally want to use the car for. Where I live combined with the XJ's body and design I personally can't go over 235/75 15R tyres for legal reasons. Obviously if I had a huge lift (3" +) I could get bigger but for the XJ a 2" lift is the max legal height I can go and I am unable to do a body lift at all. I am personally going to go with the 235/75 15R MT tyres and once again for cosmetic looks as of now. Eventually when I am doing harder tracks they will come in handy and in any type of muddy off road or even loose surface they will help with traction.

Lifts! Once again, isn't much to say about lifts in general as it's different for every car but in this case, with the XJ I will be going with an OME 2" lift (Old Man Emu) and most properly done through ARB again. They are quite expensive but for something like a lift I would rather pay the extra money for the peace of mind I would get for it. The reason I am going with a 2" lift is because it's the highest I can go legally in my state. Price wise, from ARB they quoted me just under $2, 000 but I am sure if you want to find somewhere cheaper you will be able to almost half that I reckon. Once again, it's all up to you what you want to do with and in your car and also legal road rules etc.

Flares are a massive part of making your 4x4 look awesome. Not much to say here so I'll just let you know what I am doing to my XJ in the case of flares. I plan on getting a set of the full cut out bush whacker flares as most people do. They are a very common flare but they are common for a reason.. THEY LOOK AWESOME yet quite expensive. You can hunt around and get them cheaper online but from what I have seen shipping is the killer. As for installing them you can find tutorials if you are confidant enough to do it yourself but I am just getting the panel shop to do it for me on the cheap. I have found them from $400 upwards to about $700. They do serve a purpose though, they give you the extra width to put bigger tyres on legally. Once again this applies for my state not sure about anywhere else.

The last thing on my list at the moment is lockers. I have been looking, once again at the ARB air lockers, they are conventionally the same as regular lockers but instead of a power source needed you need an air compressed that comes with the lockers when you get it fitted by ARB. I'm not 100% sure on the following statement but I have it in my head that ARB are one of the only ones that sell Air lockers and I think they designed them. I don't have much knowledge in lockers but I do know what they do and how very needed they are in most situations. If you have any type of lockers in your car or have ever had the privileged of using them you know what I am talking about. The quote ARB gave me fell short of $4000 by a couple of hundred, I found this quite cheap really. If you can let me know that would be great.

New Video - Random Unused Footage

2011-11-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

Hey all, Matt here.

Just threw this together today from unused footage we had laying around from the other videos and random other times we have been out.

Sorry we haven't posted in a while been busy and Dylan is having problems with his XJ, not good. He is going to be posting something about it with some pictures and maybe a video not sure what wrong with it yet. He seems to think it's the transmission.

I'll post the pictures from the video and a couple of others later on for you guys.

Jeep History

2011-10-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

I think it's time for a little bit of Jeep History.

Willy's Quad

In June 1940, with World War II on the horizon, the U.S. Army solicited bids from 135 automakers for a 1/4 ton "light reconnaissance vehicle" tailored to Army specifications. Only three companies responded - Bantam, Willys, and Ford - but, within a year's time they collectively produced the template for the vehicle known worldwide as the "jeep".
Willys-Overland delivered the prototype "Quad" (named for the 4X4 system it featured), to the U.S. Army on Armistice Day (Veteran's Day), November of 1940. The design was completed in a remarkable 75 days.
Only two prototypes were made.

Willys MB

The mighty Willys MB emerged out of the cauldron of war ready for peace-time service. The legendary G.I. workhorse of World War II was converted by Willys-Overland into a CJ with the aim of putting farm workhorses out to pasture.
According to Willys-Overland, there were 5.5 million farmers in the U.S., and of these, more than 4 million had neither a truck or a tractor. The rugged and versatile CJ-2A was marketed by Willys-Overland as "The All-Around Farm Work-Horse". It could do the job of two heavy draft horses, operating at a speed of four miles per hour, 10 hours a day, without overheating the engine. The CJ-2A "Universal" was to serve agriculture and industry all over the world in a thousand different ways.
Willys-Overland also advertised the CJ-2A as "A Powerhouse on Wheels", pitching it as a work vehicle and mobile power to the masses. A variety of farm implements and industrial tools were devised for use in conjunction with an onboard power take-off unit. A belt-driven governor was controlled from the instrument panel, allowing regulation of engine speeds from 1,000 to 2,600 rpm. Sales were brisk despite the glut of MBs on the war surplus market.
Cash awards were offered by Popular Science magazine for "Ideas on Peacetime Jobs for Jeeps". The contest stimulated America's ingenuity and innovative nature. Soon, Jeep® vehicles were used as the platform for hundreds of applications. Of particular note: from 1949-1964, either a complete Jeep vehicle or chassis was used on all Zamboni® ice resurfacing machines. In 1949, the Model A took 10 minutes to do a job that used to take over an hour-and-a-half.
A much modified version of the MB, the 1945 CJ-2A (MSRP: $1,090) had "Willys" embossed on the hood sides and windshield frame. It was offered to the public with better shock absorbers, springs and more comfortable seats for added comfort, revised transmission and transfer case gear ratios allowing low-speed hauling and highway speeds as high as 60 mph, beefier clutch, better cooling, a tailgate, side-mounted spare tire, larger 7-inch headlights, an external fuel cap, a reinforced frame for greater rigidity, and an automatic windshield wiper on the driver's side.
CJ-1 and CJ-2's (1944-1945) were pre-production models notable for their cast-bronze "AGRIJEEP" hood emblems--used at agricultural test stations around the country.

Jeep M-38A1 (MD)

The M-38A1, also known as the MD, the design would later be the foundation for the classic CJ-5. The M-38A1 featured a two-piece windshield, longer wheelbase, softer ride, more powerful engine, and new, more rounded body. The "round-fender" Jeep® vehicle would eventually become the foundation for the CJ-5.
In 1951, Museum of Modern Art declared the Jeep 4x4 as a cultural icon and saluted it as one of the world's eight automotive masterpieces. In 2002, a 1952 Willys M-38A1 was added it to its permanent collection of significant vehicles, describing it as the best Jeep vehicle ever built.
The M-38A1C, a specially modified Army Jeep 4x4 produced through 1971, was designed to transport 106mm and 105mm recoilless rifles. A unique channel opening in the windshield allowed the barrel of the rifle to rest on the front hood.
What was the most "powerful" Jeep vehicle ever built? Some would say the M-38A1D — it was equipped with a Davy Crocket missile launcher that could fire tactical nuclear weapons. The user could launch the 279mm 1-Kiloton-yield atomic projectile to a range of 2,000 meters from its 120mm recoilless gun.
The M-38A1 was one of the most enduring military Jeep vehicles. Some called it the last "true" military Jeep vehicle.

1977 Jeep CJ-5 Universal

Beginning in 1973, all Jeep® CJs came equipped with AMC-built 304- or 360-cubic-inch V-8 engines. Renegade models typically featured a 304 cubic inch (5L) V8 engine, stouter drivetrain, alloy wheels, and a Trac-Lok limited slip rear differential.
Many special editions were offered, including the 1964-1967 "luxury" Tuxedo Park, the 1969 Camper, the 1969 "462", the 1970 Renegade I, the 1971 Renegade II, the 1972-1983 Golden Eagle, and 1973 and 1976 Super Jeep. A two-wheel driver version DJ-5 was offered through 1974. A popular and enduring legend, the CJ-5 has probably logged more trail miles than any other Jeep vehicle. Spanning thirty years, the CJ-5 had the longest production run of any Jeep vehicle.
The CJ-5 / camper was marketed as a new camping concept. It featured a unique industry-first detaching system that made removal of the camper a simple operation.

Jeep Cherokee Story

After its own market research convinced AMC that the future lay in compact SUVs, the automaker pumped $250 million into the design and production of the new compact XJ Cherokee and Wagoneer sports wagons. XJ designs date back to 1978, when a team of AMC and Renault engineers drew sketches and made clay models from the existing SJ Cherokee, but the all-new XJ series finally made its well-received debut in 1984, when it scored an unprecedented sweep of the "4x4 of the Year" awards by three primary off-road magazines.
The 1984 Jeep® Cherokee was a revolutionary vehicle: 21 inches shorter, 6-inches narrower, 4 inches lower, and 1,000 pounds lighter than the full-size Wagoneer (SJ). It was built with a revolutionary unibody instead of a traditional chassis-and-frame.
The XJ was the first vehicle with two available 4X4 systems: Command-Trac® part-time and Selec-Trac® full-time 4X4. XJs have proven enduringly popular with 4X4 enthusiasts for their off-highway abilities and wide availability of aftermarket modifications.
Until 1988, the Cherokee was the only compact SUV to offer both two- and four-door models. Originally fitted with the choice of a 2.5L four-cylinder engine or a 2.8L V-6, the venerable 4.0L inline-six engine debuted in 1987.
There were 14 trim models throughout the years: Base, SE, Wagoneer Limited, Briarwood, Pioneer, Pioneer Olympic Edition, Chief, Sport, Country, Classic, Limited, Laredo, Freedom, and 60th Anniversary Edition.

Jeep Wrangler (YJ) Story

The Jeep® Wrangler (YJ) replaced the long-lived CJ Series. It had a wider track, angled grille, rectangular headlamps, and a modernized interior. All this made it a very "civilized" Jeep Wrangler.
Although the Wrangler shared the familiar open-body profile of the CJ-7, it contained few common parts with its famous predecessor. Mechanically, the Wrangler had more in common with the Cherokee than the CJ-7. The Wrangler YJ had square headlights, which was a first (and last) for this type of Jeep vehicle.
Wrangler trim levels included: Base ("S" or "SE"), Laredo, Islander, Sport, Sahara, Renegade, and Rio Grande.
On Aug. 5, 1987, about a year after the introduction of the Wrangler, American Motors Corporation was sold to the Chrysler Corporation and the popular Jeep brand became a part of Chrysler Jeep / Eagle Division.

Hope you Enjoyed the read.

Quick Update

2011-10-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Sup everyone,

Matt here again. Me and Dylan are planning on going to a new track this weekend (Saturday hopefully) Map
Should be good, we will get some footage and edit it up and upload Sunday most properly so keep an eye out.

The Jeep's are running fine, mine has not over heated but ordered a new Brass / Copper radiator the other day through one of my sister companies at work for $210 Inc, also picked up a water pump for $34 that I will fit the same time Dylan and I do my radiator.

Just a quick question for everyone: Please tell us some good tracks within a 3 hour drive from Brisbane North. Have a couple of meet ups and stuff and have some fun.

Thanks for your help.

The Chicken Trail

2011-10-17T01:16:00.000-07:00

Hey all, Matt here again.

Well, interesting story on our little adventure today. After I arrived home from work Dylan and myself went to check out a track that the previous post explains and happened to come home with two new pets.

After looking at the track in the previous post we thought of another one that was close by (Near Deep Water Bend) and went to check it out. Looking for a way in we found some Camery in a dark dead end road that leads no where and the drive was rushing to the car and drove off quite fast, as we got closer to the end of the road after the car had passed us I spotted two chickens randomly wondering around the road. Saw one was pure white and the other just normal I had to have the white one and we figured the lady had just abandoned them there as it was a dead end street a few Km away from any house. So we took them.

They are currently rocking around the back yard pissing around with next doors chickens.

All up, we found no track but did obtain two chickens - Good night.

Video up soon.

First Suggested Trail

2011-10-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Matt here again, one of my mates has been following the XJ blog and suggested another trail around the same area. Me and Dylan have tried to find a way into this trail with no luck but with this new information hopefully we can find a way in. :)

Going to go check it out tonight and might take the camera. If we don't, we will go back there another day and get some footage for ya's.

Here is a link to the map.

Radiator flush

2011-10-14T02:39:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks, Dylan here.

After Matts XJ overheated on him yesterday I decided to keep his car for the day and flush his cooling system and re-fill it with a proper coolant.

I used Tectaloy XTRA cool concentrate. You can pick up a bottle that treats 10litres for around 13-15 bux. I used the same coolant in my XJ and has never once over heated on me while using it; and my AUX fan doesn't even work!

So lets get started on the 'Lazy Mans Flush' !

First thing I decided I would do was remove the skid plate.... nope! Turns out Matts Skid plate was only being held on by 3 bolts and two of them came out rather easy but the last one was a nightmare and I was unable to remove it. So I was forced to work around it, which ended up being pretty easy.

First thing removed was the top radiator hose from the thermostat housing.

Then I removed the bottom radiator hose from the radiator.

After they are detached I let it all the water flow out of it, blowed on the top hose a few times. Then the lazy stuff starts :P I rammed the garden hose in the top hose and turned her on, let it flush out some dirty stuff and continued for a few mins blowing in the top hose a few times to try and create a bit more pressure. Now the way I add the coolant concentrate was taught to me from some fellow XJ owners. Re-attach all hoses and make sure they are done up properly! I then poured the concentrate straight into the radiator opening and left 100ml in the bottle (the last 100ml goes into the overfill bottle and then topped up with water to the full mark).
Once the concentrate is in, top the system up with distilled water. Start the car with the radiator cap off and you will notice the water will go down eventually, this should be the TStat opening up. Pour more water in until you cant add anymore and be careful it doesn't start boiling over. After all this is done I just go for a quick drive and then come back and let the car cool down completely and check the fluids again.

Cheers
Dylan

Matt's First Problem

2011-10-13T01:43:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Had my first problem with the jeep tonight. Driving a mate home just before I was going to take some footage / pictures of the new exhaust and it overheated fairly bad. When I looked behind me I found that as far as the eye can see was a massive trail of what I thought was coolant but later found out was dirty water.

...... Previous owners = Fucking stupid.

Got it home with no problem after I let it cool down for about 30 - 40min and filled it with clean water.
Poor Cherokee! Going to leave it at home tomorrow and Dylan is going to go pick up some coolant for me and semi flush it for me and put some real coolant in it. He will be posting some pictures and more on what he finds.

This is going to set me back a fair bit from what I originally planed for the jeep. I need to pick up a new radiator with a copper bucket. Should set me back around 2 / 3 weeks. hopefully not too much more then that.

The problem with these type of cars is they are designed for snowy climates and we are driving it around in the Australian Summer - Bit of a different.

Matt's new exhaust system

2011-10-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Morning all,

Matt here again, I dropped the jeep off at a place called Rob Bliss Exhaust in Geebung, Brisbane. I just got a call form them telling me it's ready to get picked up. The whole thing only cost me $580 and for that I got a complete new system excluding extractors and they mounted my Pod filter for me properly, for free!

The system includes, a full sports exhaust system with full flow cat. Completely done and checked over.

I highly recommend Rob Bliss Exhaust, they work quick and from what I have heard they do a good job. Dylan got his done there last year sometime and it hasn't failed him yet.

Sorry, I can't post pictures of a video tonight. I just had the jeep overheat. New post explaining what happened.

Just got the car back from Rob Bliss and god am I happy with it - Very very good and quick work. The mount for the pod filter is 100% better then I ever expected as well.

New upcoming play track

2011-10-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

Afternoon all,

Matt here again, after having that good play last night I thought of other places we can just go to play around in. Something to get dirty and have some fun, and learn some stuff. There is a massive open VERY hilly steep field near my Mum's place that we might go have a look at this weekend. We will film and put some more information up about it but I do believe it's public land and it's not a play grand or anything like that.

Here is a link to the map: Everton Park Hilly Field

We will keep you updated during the week.

New Video - Playtime!

2011-10-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Matt here again. Went out today and had a play at the Deagon trail. Got a little muddy and had some mad fun. The girlfriend came along this time and seemed to have fun - Haha.

Took a couple of shots but this one is my favourite:

I made a little clip of the afternoon so take a look!

Jeep Resources

2011-10-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

Morning everyone,

Matt here, just thought I would post some good resource sites I have found over the last couple of weeks trying to learn the art of XJ modification. I'll post a link to the site and a little description on what I think of the site. Here it goes!

First off, Aus Jeep. This site is the biggest and nicest Jeep community I have found and Dylan has been a member for a couple of years now. I have never once been flamed and there is always someone on there that can help you out. Very nice and knowledge people and are very willing to help you out with spare parts and / or working on your jeep. Asking on Aus Jeep you will find what you are looking for in a short amount of time, either someone will be able to help you or at least point you in the same direction. Chances are, if you are having a problem with your jeep, so have 50 other people on aus jeep.

Second, Wooders. Wooders is a store for Jeep parts and accessories and very well known in the Aus Jeep
community. Very good prices for a jeep store in Australia. You will be able to find cheaper prices online from over seas and maybe some wreckers but when buying from over seas most parts will cost you well over $300 in shipping so just remember that. Being located in NSW's they can ship almost anything (Within reason) for a fairly good price. I have bought a 3.5" Cherokee lift kit from them and the shipping was less then $200.

Thirdly is a wreckers, Jeep Parts Recyclers. I have gotten a couple of little things of them like air filter gaskets and wire housings and such for cheap. They are located in Harvey Bay, QLD and for shipping to me (Brisbane) has only cost me around $40 for the bigger items. They always seem to be carrying stock of what ever I need.

Fourth is a fairly big company, ARB 4x4 Accessories. I would very rarely buy parts from these guys as they are quite expensive but I do use them as a last resort. I also recommend (If you aren't the most mechanically minded person like myself) getting work like lift kits, etc done by these guys. It might be a little more expensive (Some times a lot more expensive) but they are good at what they do and I plan on getting my kit installed by them.

These are some of the places I use personally and have been told to use by other jeep owners in Australia. Hope this helped someone out.

Clutch Fan pulleys!

2011-10-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks,

Dylan here and I just wanna run through a little problem I had a few weeks ago with my clutch fan ( the clutch fan aka mech fan is the fan that gets powered by the belt drive system ).

Well I guess I'll start from problem one, the power steering pump pulley (what a mouthful).
This pulley for some reason was sitting way to far out and was making the belt not sit on the fan pulley properly and because of this I shredded 2 belts and at about 50 - 80 bux a pop it was getting pretty annoying. At first I did not know about the power steering pulley being offset so I tried my own little remedy ( always a bad idea ), I put 3 spacers behind the fan pulley to try and make the belt line up properly; see below.

This worked fine and I was happy with how the car was going.....BUT
I recently had work done on my jeep at a mechanic workshop because I was having problems with the ECU or Computer which ever you call it. While at the shop they noticed the power steering pulley was out, so they kindly replaced the whole unit! well after getting my XJ back I forgot about my little home job spacers behind the fan pulley and because those pulleys are balanced and the surface area was not completely flush flat ( you can see in the above photo ) this decided to happen; see below.

The fan pulley did not have to be spaced anymore and as the new power steering pulley was trying to pull it back towards original position BANG, I started the slow limp home from McDonalds.
Luckily for me many of the members over at Aus Jeep keep many spare XJ parts, so in cases like this we don't have to go without our XJ's while we wait for the 'Stealerships' to source out the most expensive part possible for us....

This was just a minor set back but still an annoying one to happen, but damn I love this car and working on it always brings a sense of achievement aswell.

Cheers
Dylan

First Video's

2011-10-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I'm currently uploading all the videos that we made today. Three different videos, First of Matt's XJ, First of Dylan's XJ and the service road "trail" around the corner from us.

Here is a link to the XJBlog channel: Youtube Channel

Check out the video's and subscribe to the channel. Make sure to comment and like them too!

Here are the first 3 videos of our blog:

Matt's Update

2011-10-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

Afternoon all,

Just an update on what I did on the weekend with the jeep. I'm pleased to say, she has lost her mud spray virginity. Around 2am on Saturday morning me and Drunken Dylan went for a drive checking out some "off road service roads" used by the council around my area. Very easy trails, you could take a two wheeler through SOME of the trail but there are some parts where a 4x4 would be needed mostly because of the rain fall the last couple of days made the tracks very muddy. No hope of getting bogged if you take it slow though.

We hit two trails, the first one was around the Boondal Entertainment Center in Brisbane. Service roads just off the main road that takes you into the complex even if the gates are locked. Lots of security there though, so be careful. Here is a link to the area around the track. It's hard to explain where to get in but you have to go into the first gate of the complex (Round about) and take your first right and gutter hope onto the main service road, this is blocked by a gate but if you drive up to the gate and look right, you will see an track into the bush.

Map Link

The second trail was only JUST down the road from the Boondal Entertainment Center. This track was a little more difficult. I don't think a normal car would be able to drive this one without at least some problems. You come down Sandgate Rd at Deagon heading north east and under the gateway motorway overpass turn off to your left onto the dirt patch. There is bridge going over Cabbage Tree Creek. Take that and follow it all the way around. If you do brave it and follow it the full way around it will take you back out to the right of the bridge. Fairly easy but a little risky in the wet.

Map Link

I also took a decent look under the hood for the first time sense I got the Jeep and I found that the air filter was basically dust. So I went out and got myself a B&R Pod Air Filter and some flexi tube from Auto-Barn. It was fairly cheap (Around the $120 mark for everything) and they helped me out a lot with what I needed. Once I got home though, I found out that stock air box has a nipple to allow for the carbon emissions system to re-filter it's self through the air box and back out into the exhaust system I also found out that the gasket that was that air seals the resonator box to the engine was broken in half so I went looking for one of them with no luck (Ordered one from Jeep Recyclers in Harvey Bay today) so I pulled some MacGyver shit and used a stubby cooler to air seal the flexi tube to the engine. (Will be replacing once I have the real gasket). This air sealed it but can't take it off road until I get that real gasket. (WARNING: Be careful when using Pod filter off road, they are not as safe as a panel filter)

The second problem I had when installing the Pod was mounting, they gave me a mounting bracket that I bent and drilled to get to work (Kinda) but I still used around 7 zip ties to hold it fairly in place, it works but once again. I'm getting my exhaust system re-done completely this week and have asked them to see if they can weld a mount up and fit it for the Pod Filter. If I can't, I think I'll be reinstalling the panel filter for off road use.

I'll have some videos and pictures uploaded tonight hopefully about this post, for yous to see rather then read.

Only one type of Jeep - XJ

What is this about?

2011-10-09T20:07:00.001-07:00

XJ blog is about Dylan and Myself (Matt) working on our Jeep Cherokee XJ's. Both XJ's are close to stock cars, Dylan's having a modified exhust system and a 2" lift. Mine being stock as a rock. Both of us will be showing you (at first) local trails around the Brisbane, QLD area and basically a blog about us upgrading and having some mad fun 4be adventures. Obviosly we will be starting with very beginner tracks and working our way up with these two cars. Hopefully people looking to get into 4x4 will be able to watch our adventrues and follow in our footsteps, learn by our mistakes and hopefully have as much fun as we do.

The point of this blog is to allow people to watch us work our way up from stock cars to something more, recriational. We will be doing reviews and write ups on our blog about products and modifictions to the car that we have bought or got done. People can watch and read these reviews and decide for themseleves to see how it will go.

We are not by and means professional four wheel drivers. We are just two guys with a hobby.

Hope you enjoy.