Nate's crappy 93 XJ

Nate's crappy 93 XJ "Snowflake/Ice Princess"

Owners Name & City- Nate, West Jordan, UT


Make, Model & Year of Vehicle- Stripped-down 1993 Jeep Cherokee Country buggy thingy


Engine- 4.0L, HD motor mounts


Transmission- Aisin Warner 4-Speed auto, gear selection switches, big tranny cooler


T-Case- NP231, stock


Axles - HP Dana 30 front w/4.88 gears, Aussie locker, Torq-Masters Chromo shafts with JK joints
-Chrysler 8.25 rear w/4.88 gears, Aussie locker, Riddler diff cover, shaved a bit


Suspension- 3" coils + 2" spacers in the front w/custom 3-link mid-arm, center limit strap, hockey puck bumpstop extensions; stock leaf packs in the rear with additional springs added (7 total) + lift shackles, homebuilt traction bar


Wheels and Tires- 35x12.5r17 Maxxis short course stickies on Raceline Beadlocks


Winch- Guys pulling on a strap usually does it


Favorite Trails- Hell's Revenge, The Maze, Green Day, Nasty Half, Sliplock, Pritchett


Other- Cut in half; power steering cooler; Custom heim steering & tracbar; JCR skid plate; RCI Race cell with Walbro pickups; LED rock lights; Unibody stiffeners; custom boat-sides & bumpers

 

[N-Smooth]

I'm going to do my best to have some type of order to these pics. Here goes:

Bought it stock in November 2008. I can't find my pics of it in stock form but it didn't stay stock for long anyways. Got some 31x10.50r15 BFG AT's on the same black steelies it still has and sold the stock tires and wheels for more! Lifted it 2" with some coil spacers a buddy gave me and added some stock leafs to the rear with a shackle. Cut the fenders and moved the front flares. Scored an XJ Dana44 in the junkyard for $88 and installed it with a minispool. Added some awesome Walmart fogs and a pinwheel. This is the first pic of that setup in Moab at EJS 2009


Took it up AF Canyon in '09


Made the driver's door removable in '09

 

[N-Smooth]

Built a front bumper for it in spring 2010


Got some cheap 33's, upped the lift to 3", welded on some uniframe reinforcement, built rocker replacements/sliders, built rear bumper, JCR skid, built traction bar, added front-center limiting strap all in the middle of 2010. Went to Moab


Added front Aussie locker, went snow wheeling in winter of 2010

 

[N-Smooth]

Went out and ran RS & Con in spring of 2011 followed closely by a trip to MMP
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Built a rack system/cage in the back for the spare tire and storage in spring 2011
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Went to EJS 2011
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[N-Smooth]

Got my new KM2's. Had the life-changing experience of going to StG/Sand Hollow in November 2011. Broke my first window
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Went to Moab in October 2011
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Went back to StG in January 2012. Yes, I broke another window and this one was terrible.
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[N-Smooth]

Went to Moab in February 2012.
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My plexiglass window didn't work that well in Moab cause the window frame was soooo trashed. My solution was this cause I'm a dork and thought it would be funny. No, I don't drink... I just do dumb/funny stuff sometimes.
View attachment 75816

After a huge battle with my D44 and it's leaky wheel-seals I determined that it was bent, very bent. I replaced it with a 29-spline Chrysler 8.25 that already had an Aussie locker. I added Ten Factory chromo shafts.

Went to EJS 2012
View attachment 75817

 

[N-Smooth]

The only drama from EJS was that I broke my driver door glass on Green Day while backing out of this (and trying not to break all of the passenger side glass)


Went back down to StG for Memorial Day 2012


Two weekends later a buddy tricked me into going to run Forest Lake up AFC with him. He even tricked me into this mud-hole of doom and destruction

 

[N-Smooth]

The reason for this thread is to sort of make a history of my dump-ride XJ. Yes, it sucks. You can make fun of it if you like. I probably make fun of it more than anyone else ever has. I have had some ridiculously fun times in this rig and was just looking through pics and decided to do this.

This rig has been DRIVEN to Moab 12 times, StG 3 times, RS/Con 5 times, Little Moab 4 times, AFC 3 times, and MMP 1 time and all in the 4 years (almost) that I've had it. I am soooo mean to her and I'm proud of the old girl for still rocking!

I will take some pics of how she sits right now and go into detail on what she currently needs and other mods I have planned.

 

[sixstringsteve]

it doesn't suck, I think it rocks. I love how many insane trails you've tackled in it.

 

[N-Smooth]

thanks, it is a beast but it has a lot of flaws as well. wait for the current condition pics

it doesn't suck, I think it rocks. I love how many insane trails you've tackled in it.

 

[N-Smooth]

As promised, current pics and some actual work going on... YAY!


Yes, the whole jeep appears to be bent in the middle, look at the door gap.


Custom body-work courtesy of Escalator


StG really did a number on this whole area


Green Day and my driver door got into a fight and GD broke my window while it was rolled down

 

[N-Smooth]

Look at the door gaps HAHAHA


Yup, it still looks awful from this angle


It is definitely a pile but man I LOVE THIS JEEP. That's the only way to put it.

 

[N-Smooth]

Some pics from last night while working on it:


I took off my old bumper, it is time to build something new and improved

I slipped and fell while holding my grinder and this happened...

 

[N-Smooth]

I'm going to build a new bumper with the main piece out of some 2x3 .188 tubing right underneath the modified grill and make a big skidplate from the bottom of the tube to the bottom of the unibody. I'll also be trimming back the unibody to almost touch the front of the steering box and build a new crossmember. I will gain a ton of clearance over my old bumper (I took some measurements for reference) that already had a ton of clearance over the stock garbage can bumpers.

 

[filippelli]

i like it

 

[N-Smooth]

i like it

thanks, i appreciate it

 

[N-Smooth]

made some more progress on the bumper. it's hard when i just have a couple hours here and there.

threw a bunch of steel at the unibody and crossmember to stiffen it up and create a foundation for the bumper. also got the "frame" plates cut and drilled for mock-up. i need to go over them and make the final cuts and weld them on. yeah, i am going to weld on the bumper. the only reason i did the three bolt holes is to mount the steering box on the driver side and it makes mock-up on the passenger side easier. the way i see it, this is the last bumper i'm going to build for this jeep so it should be welded on.


the two marks on the plate show where the stock frame crossmember was and where the front of my old bumper was. pretty crazy how much clearance i'm gaining. i cut the unibody all the way back to the front of the steering box.





i'm pretty happy with it so far. it is taking a lot longer than i normally take on a front bumper but it's all because of the extra 1.5" i cut off the unibody and the few inches i took out of the grill and header.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I like your approach angle!

 

[N-Smooth]

I like your approach angle!

thanks! it was already decent before- anything i couldn't get tires on i would just slide my bumper up it or approach from an angle if necessary. this is going to be even better.

i need to make this thing work around the 33's since i don't see an axle swap in my near future.

 

[sixstringsteve]

the 33's haven't been holding you back at all. I agree, stick with the 33's and keep it cheap and reliable. Your driving skills make up for anything you might be lacking in tire size.