What was done to your rig this week?

Getting the XJ ready to say goodbye.
A few years ago, I bought this XJ at an insurance auction because it was cheap and used it as a support vehicle for our logging and farming operation in Oregon. It ran great and never got stuck; although I tried. Over time, we picked up several Dodge 4x4s to do it's job (trucks haul stuff better) so I pulled the battery, tarped it and parked it under a ceder tree for several years.

Recently, I found out that my little brother wants a Jeep after I took him wheeling last summer in my JKU, so I'm delivering it to him next weekend. Today, being unusually nice for this time of year, I uncovered the XJ, put in an old battery from the shop (only showed a 10V charge) and it fired right up, old gas and all. Between now and next weekend, I need to install a new Smitty-built front winch bumper, a used X20 winch and a class III trailer hitch I bought from a local pull-n-part. All this stuff was just lying around the place and I don't even remember what I paid for the bumper.

Anyway, I'll post up a couple of pictures next week after I trailer it to my brother's behind the JT.
 

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Getting the XJ ready to say goodbye.
A few years ago, I bought this XJ at an insurance auction because it was cheap and used it as a support vehicle for our logging and farming operation in Oregon. It ran great and never got stuck; although I tried. Over time, we picked up several Dodge 4x4s to do it's job (trucks haul stuff better) so I pulled the battery, tarped it and parked it under a ceder tree for several years.

Recently, I found out that my little brother wants a Jeep after I took him wheeling last summer in my JKU, so I'm delivering it to him next weekend. Today, being unusually nice for this time of year, I uncovered the XJ, put in an old battery from the shop (only showed a 10V charge) and it fired right up, old gas and all. Between now and next weekend, I need to install a new Smitty-built front winch bumper, a used X20 winch and a class III trailer hitch I bought from a local pull-n-part. All this stuff was just lying around the place and I don't even remember what I paid for the bumper.

Anyway, I'll post up a couple of pictures next week after I trailer it to my brother's behind the JT.
love it when they fire up like that (y)
 
Getting the XJ ready to say goodbye.
A few years ago, I bought this XJ at an insurance auction because it was cheap and used it as a support vehicle for our logging and farming operation in Oregon. It ran great and never got stuck; although I tried. Over time, we picked up several Dodge 4x4s to do it's job (trucks haul stuff better) so I pulled the battery, tarped it and parked it under a ceder tree for several years.

Recently, I found out that my little brother wants a Jeep after I took him wheeling last summer in my JKU, so I'm delivering it to him next weekend. Today, being unusually nice for this time of year, I uncovered the XJ, put in an old battery from the shop (only showed a 10V charge) and it fired right up, old gas and all. Between now and next weekend, I need to install a new Smitty-built front winch bumper, a used X20 winch and a class III trailer hitch I bought from a local pull-n-part. All this stuff was just lying around the place and I don't even remember what I paid for the bumper.

Anyway, I'll post up a couple of pictures next week after I trailer it to my brother's behind the JT.
Gotta feeling your brother will enjoy his new ride.
 
coilover swap before leaving to EJS
got creative getting the Jeep high enough without it being too sketchy.
Rear, the hitch worked great to get enough height to allow the coilovers on both sides to fully extend.
20250408_132129.jpg

Maintenance?? ohhh not every 4.5 years?
20250408_133020.jpg

front removal started out easy enough on the driver side, except trying to get a wrench on the upper nut hidden where a hand barely fits.
the passenger side, wtf spawn from hell decided no welded nuts on the backside of the upper towers... 2 hours trying to get that passenger upper nut off before I finally figured out how to keep a wrench on it, dafuq...
the rock rails turned out to be a great spot to lift each side enough to easily have room to allow the shocks to fully extend
20250409_122725.jpg

ran out of time to do the bump stops, after getting the driver side front done I figured the passenger side would be about the same amount of time but fuck no...
I flipped the bolt on the passenger side, next time will be easier to remove.
 
coilover swap before leaving to EJS
got creative getting the Jeep high enough without it being too sketchy.
Rear, the hitch worked great to get enough height to allow the coilovers on both sides to fully extend.
View attachment 423473

Maintenance?? ohhh not every 4.5 years?
View attachment 423474

front removal started out easy enough on the driver side, except trying to get a wrench on the upper nut hidden where a hand barely fits.
the passenger side, wtf spawn from hell decided no welded nuts on the backside of the upper towers... 2 hours trying to get that passenger upper nut off before I finally figured out how to keep a wrench on it, dafuq...
the rock rails turned out to be a great spot to lift each side enough to easily have room to allow the shocks to fully extend
View attachment 423476

ran out of time to do the bump stops, after getting the driver side front done I figured the passenger side would be about the same amount of time but fuck no...
I flipped the bolt on the passenger side, next time will be easier to remove.
Lol, damn Joel, that’s awesome! And kinda sketch! 😂
 
Lol, damn Joel, that’s awesome! And kinda sketch! 😂
I pushed on it and surprisingly it was pretty solid... I wouldn't push hard on it lol

the long ram jack on a wide base plate worked great, much better than the 2x4 stack I used balanced on top of a floor jack when attempting to adjust the coilover ride height, that setup made all kinds of sketchy noises each time I touched the Jeep so I scrapped the idea.
 
I pushed on it and surprisingly it was pretty solid... I wouldn't push hard on it lol

the long ram jack on a wide base plate worked great, much better than the 2x4 stack I used balanced on top of a floor jack when attempting to adjust the coilover ride height, that setup made all kinds of sketchy noises each time I touched the Jeep so I scrapped the idea.
Good thinking. Better to be safe than sorry..
 
Just curious if anyone with a Gladiator has come up with a slide mount for a 12v fridge that doesn’t require drilling and bolting to the bed? Something that mounts to the molle panels is what I’m trying to accomplish.
I’m all ears.👍
 
Just curious if anyone with a Gladiator has come up with a slide mount for a 12v fridge that doesn’t require drilling and bolting to the bed? Something that mounts to the molle panels is what I’m trying to accomplish.
I’m all ears.👍
sounds like a load of weight to be mounted to molle panels but i could very well be wrong. Is removing one of your seats to put goosegear out of the question for you?
 
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