XJ service in CO Springs?
- Thread starter BoneStock
- Start date
jeepmaster
New member
my grandparents live in Buena Vista and theres a couple shops in their town that always have a bunch of lifted jeeps hangin around. its a bit of a drive tho depending on what kind of service you were looking for
My 90 XJ with 169k is dripping oil, overheating too easily, and is stalling at the first start of the day. I just moved back from NJ, so that may be part of the problem. It looks like I want to do close what you have done to your XJ. I figured that while the engine probably needs ripped apart, it would be a good time to start making mods and upgrades. So far, I've been looking at Avenger and Predator. I don't want anything extreme, but I do like to take it out by myself so I wanted to upgrade it enough to make things safer (~4" lift, ~32s, winch, better cooling, internal air compressor, lockers, etc) and still have good highway charcteristics.
Mine's going to need paint, too. Where'd you go to get it done?
Thanks!
Mine's going to need paint, too. Where'd you go to get it done?
Thanks!
The paint on my xj is not done yet (it's getting rattle canned), all the rest of the stuff you are talking about I did to mine in my garage. ~4" lift, ~32s, winch, better cooling, internal air compressor, lockers, etc these are all pretty easy as long as you have the tools to do it.
If you are hitting the trails here by yourself, you are making a very big mistake. A mistake that may cost you your rig or even your life. To me the 1st rule of wheeling is never go alone. 2nd know your rig and what it can and can't do and do not exceede those limits. (The best way to get to know your rig is to build it yourself)
We should get together and you can look over my rig's and what I did to them. I would be happy to lend a hand helpping get yours done.
If you are hitting the trails here by yourself, you are making a very big mistake. A mistake that may cost you your rig or even your life. To me the 1st rule of wheeling is never go alone. 2nd know your rig and what it can and can't do and do not exceede those limits. (The best way to get to know your rig is to build it yourself)
We should get together and you can look over my rig's and what I did to them. I would be happy to lend a hand helpping get yours done.
I agree 100% about going it alone on a technical 4WD trail. When I am by myself, I only use the fire roads on the national park/forests to get to more remote trailheads for backpacking and camping (I like to do outdoor photography and get away from where everyone else usually is). Those roads, however, have turned me around sometimes due to poor conditions or weather. I just want to rig up so I can get over those types of obstacles with little worry and have the tools to get myself unstuck, if need be.
What should I do about my engine? I figure that's the first thing I should get taken care of. Have you done any mods to your engine to take care of overheating or give it more power?
Rattle canned?
I appreciate the help.
Todd
What should I do about my engine? I figure that's the first thing I should get taken care of. Have you done any mods to your engine to take care of overheating or give it more power?
Rattle canned?
I appreciate the help.
Todd
Hi todd,
Rattle can = spray paint
I did a lot to the motor in my xj to get it to run cool. I replaced the thermostat, all of the hoses, the heater core, the overflow tank, the water pump, and put in a 3 core radiator. In the summer its great but in the winter it takes a long time before I get heat or at least enough to warm it up inside the jeep. Basically I replaced the entire cooling system. Mine has 196k miles on it and I tried to replace one part at a time until I found the problem and it was the last part I replaced or some combination of parts. Right now I need a new motor for it. The bearings are shot and it sounds like a diesel most of the time and the oil preasure drops to 0 often. Once it gets a new motor it will be in great shape and will probably run for another 100k miles if the body does not fall apart.
Tell me about your oil leaks. Is it from the valve cover or is it a main seal? How much oil are you loosing?
As far as getting more power out of the motor there are lots of things that you can do. If you up the size of your tires you will put a larger load on the motor and that may not be what you want to do. I run 32" swamper tsl's on my xj and it robs the motor of power considerably (probably why I trashed some bearings).
For the types of trails in this area (Colorado Springs) a 4 banger with the right gears will more than suffice. Most of the trails close to here are true rock crawling trails and slow steady agile driving is what you will do most of the time. If you really need a lot of power for the trails you are hitting or the driving you will be doing you can always drop a 350 in it. I helpped a guy do that recently but the total cost once he was done was about $3500 and that is a little more than double the cost of putting in a stock crate motor or a long block. Anything is possible as long as the bank account supports the decisions you make.
~Curt
Rattle can = spray paint
I did a lot to the motor in my xj to get it to run cool. I replaced the thermostat, all of the hoses, the heater core, the overflow tank, the water pump, and put in a 3 core radiator. In the summer its great but in the winter it takes a long time before I get heat or at least enough to warm it up inside the jeep. Basically I replaced the entire cooling system. Mine has 196k miles on it and I tried to replace one part at a time until I found the problem and it was the last part I replaced or some combination of parts. Right now I need a new motor for it. The bearings are shot and it sounds like a diesel most of the time and the oil preasure drops to 0 often. Once it gets a new motor it will be in great shape and will probably run for another 100k miles if the body does not fall apart.
Tell me about your oil leaks. Is it from the valve cover or is it a main seal? How much oil are you loosing?
As far as getting more power out of the motor there are lots of things that you can do. If you up the size of your tires you will put a larger load on the motor and that may not be what you want to do. I run 32" swamper tsl's on my xj and it robs the motor of power considerably (probably why I trashed some bearings).
For the types of trails in this area (Colorado Springs) a 4 banger with the right gears will more than suffice. Most of the trails close to here are true rock crawling trails and slow steady agile driving is what you will do most of the time. If you really need a lot of power for the trails you are hitting or the driving you will be doing you can always drop a 350 in it. I helpped a guy do that recently but the total cost once he was done was about $3500 and that is a little more than double the cost of putting in a stock crate motor or a long block. Anything is possible as long as the bank account supports the decisions you make.
~Curt
jeepmaster
New member
how do you decide which jeep to wheel? it looks like you have 2 very capable rigs
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