From a 98 XJ to an 06 LJ

[anarce]

Greetings all! I'm new to the forum and decided to start a thread about my new LJ and have a place to ask lots of stupid questions. Here's my new ride, an '06 LJ with a Rough Country lift and 35s.

I'll soon be selling my '98 XJ which was my first Jeep. I bought it 7 years ago, and took it from stock to this with a Full Traction long arm lift and 33s. It's been a lot of fun for exploring the trails of Colorado.

I was watching LJs for sale for a while, and finally found one at a good price and jumped on it. I really wanted the LJ for the extra storage space and longer wheelbase. I love the 4.0L and didn't want a newer Jeep. I bought a bikini top and I'm looking forward to getting the hardtop off and cruising around.

I first got the Jeep bug from an old co-worker who had a TJ on 33s. He took me up Red Cone (awesome trail!) and it was a blast. Here's a shot of his Jeep from that trip:

I've been lurking on the forum, and I look forward to reading and posting more. Lots of useful info here.

 

[Feralkid]

Welcome to the cult of the tj.
Now you must divorce your family and shave your head.

 

[Chris]

Nice stable there, I really like those fender flares on your XJ. Great looking TJ Unlimited too

 

[anarce]

My first stupid Wrangler question: my tailgate hinge is missing part of the plastic cover. Do they serve any purpose? Should I just remove the rest of them?

Related to that, do I need to cover the holes in the tailgate from the stock tire carrier?

What's up with the vent in the middle of the tailgate?

 

[pagrey]

The covers are for looks and to keep dirt out of there, you don't need them. I'd fill the holes with black RTV to prevent corrosion at a minimum. Most vehicles have vents that allow the doors to close and the HVAC system to work, that's what the big hole is in the tailgate.

 

[anarce]

The covers are for looks and to keep dirt out of there, you don't need them. I'd fill the holes with black RTV to prevent corrosion at a minimum. Most vehicles have vents that allow the doors to close and the HVAC system to work, that's what the big hole is in the tailgate.

Thanks! I'm still figuring out all this stuff that my XJ doesn't have. I had no idea soft tops were so complicated until I started reading up on them here.

 

[Feralkid]

You can get a replacement hinge cover from davey's jeep junk yard.

There are quite a few options to cover the vent with a plate. Jcr makes one I believe.

 

[anarce]

I tackled my first big mod today: cleaning the battery corrosion!



Much better!

I'm almost done getting my XJ fixed up and ready to sell, and then I can get going on the LJ.

Is something supposed to sit on this shelf under the master cylinder?

 

[2001slvrstntj]

I tackled my first big mod today: cleaning the battery corrosion!

View attachment 188557View attachment 188558

Much better!

I'm almost done getting my XJ fixed up and ready to sell, and then I can get going on the LJ.

Is something supposed to sit on this shelf under the master cylinder?

View attachment 188559

I think that is where the ABS module goes if equipped.

 

[2001slvrstntj]

My first stupid Wrangler question: my tailgate hinge is missing part of the plastic cover. Do they serve any purpose? Should I just remove the rest of them?

View attachment 187668

Related to that, do I need to cover the holes in the tailgate from the stock tire carrier?

What's up with the vent in the middle of the tailgate?

I think the black grommet in the tailgate is where the 3rd brake light wire came out stock.

 

[anarce]

Cool, thanks for the info on both questions. I don't have a stock third brake light, but I bought one to mount on the spare, so I need to figure out where to run the wiring.

 

[anarce]

What's this piece at the bottom of the door called? I think I need some new ones. This one fell off yesterday. It's a little rusty...

(Ignore the dirty carpet - my floor mats are on their way!)

 

[JeepZilla380]

Door edge guards. Several different kinds for our Jeeps. Congrats on the LJ. At my house ive got a 05 LJ and my Son's 98XJ. Great pairing

 

[ranger101]

Good looking LJ! For the third brake light, run the wiring down the tire carrier and into the rubber grommet in the tailgate. The “buttons” inside the back of the tub are what makes the connection for the light to work.

The trim piece at the bottom of your doors are called sill guards or entry guards. You can find them pretty cheap on Amazon. I recommend a set of plastic ones to avoid getting rust like that.

The spot under the master cylinder Is for the ABS, but most people have air compressors there for lockers, etc.

 

[anarce]

I had to rest up after my big battery corrosion mod, but after a few days off I tackled my new dash tray/phone mount! I didn't trust the adhesive on the phone mount, so I drilled some holes and bolted it on. It sits in a pretty good spot above the vent for the passenger. Hopefully the magnet holds. I spent a few bucks more to get the version with the stronger magnet. I was running a vent-mounted magnetic mount before, but my phone bounced off of that one several times when hitting bad spots in the road.

I also got a new stereo because I hate the one that came with the Jeep. I bought a Sony marine stereo, which I figured would be handy if it gets wet/dirty when I take the top off. I did the wiring harness last night, but it was too late to put it in the Jeep. Soon.

 

[anarce]

I discovered that my rusty door sill guard, or what's left of it, has destroyed the bottom of my driver's door seal and it's getting worse, so add that to the list of replacements. Plus my windshield cracked the other day.

On the plus side, I managed to tighten up the hinges on my hard top window and eliminate some rattles, and I replaced my passenger side mucket seal (who made up this name?), so the Jeep is riding quieter now. One of the previous owners apparently had an aptitude for losing bolts and screws - or maybe they just rattled out, this Rough Country lift is indeed rough. I keep finding missing hardware everywhere I look. When I unbolted the hard top to put in the mucket seal, I also found that one of the bolts had been ruined by someone using a hex bit instead of torx. Probably the guy I bought it from who also damaged the hinges and door pins trying to get the doors off with his neighbor. This poor Jeep has been abused, but I am trying to nurse it back to health like I adopted a stray puppy.

Only had time over the weekend to tinker with a few things, but I got my new stereo in:

Great upgrade so far! The Pioneer stereo that was in it was ok, but the faceplate was loose and would fall off when I hit a hard bump. I picked up this new Sony, and I'm so excited that the Bluetooth actually WORKS unlike my old Sony I put in my XJ which is a pain in the butt. I like to listen to podcasts, so this is great that it automatically connects right away without a multi-step process.

 

[anarce]

More mods! I got this Bestop rear seat off craigslist for $100. Seemed like an easy way to get rear headrests for my kids without having to modify the stock seat. It's in great shape too.

Getting it installed was kind of a pain though. There are little plastic shims/spacers where it attaches to the floor brackets, and I broke them on both sides. I modeled and printed some copies with my 3D printer, but they're not too strong.

I reached out to Bestop to order replacements, but they only have them in a bag with the floor brackets and other stuff, which is $42. That's a lot for the 2 pieces of plastic I need, so I will probably stick with the 3D printed copies even though they aren't perfect.

One of my seat belts looks like this. Is this a common thing, and is there an easy fix?

I wish Quadratec and Amazon would hurry up with some of the other parts I ordered.

 

[anarce]

Time to play "What is this broken/loose/missing part on my Jeep?" again! I'm tracking down multiple rattling sounds from under the Jeep. First was the transmission skid plate that was missing the bolts on one side and banging around. I was suspicious of the exhaust because it's been replaced with a Flowmaster muffler, and sure enough I found a spot where it can bang against the side of the gas tank skid, so I need to fix that. While I was under there, I found a loose bolt on my rock sliders:

The head of the bolt is up in the body somewhere, but I couldn't find it from above with a quick search by hand. The nut is stuck in place, and the washer sits about 1/2" below the skid, and the bolt spins and tilts freely. How do I get to the top of this nut to tighten it down?

And yes, my rock sliders are quite rusty. I plan to pull them off soon and clean them up and repaint them. Somebody gave them a quick touchup with a black rattle can and the rust is already coming through it on the sides, but it was obvious even with the black paint over it, so I knew that when I bought it.