DZRT XJ 2.0

[Dzrt.XJ]

I’m not sure why I’ve procrastinated this long to create a build thread, but here I am! I’m so glad to finally have an original style forum to do build threads again!


Time for a little history on DZRT XJ. Before I left SoCal and moved to NC I had a 99 XJ that I was building into a Jeepspeed style prerunner. It was a super clean 2wd 5 speed that I put a RE 5.5 long arm kit, Fox 2.0’s, 4.10’s and 33’s. That Jeep saw a ton of dirt miles, but as a high school/college kid I could never do everything I wanted to it. I ended up selling that Jeep before I moved east and have regretted selling it ever since. This is where the story of DZRT XJ 2.0 starts.

Here’s some photos of my old 99’ featuring some glamour shots with the mouse back in the day.

 

[Dzrt.XJ]

Time for a quick update on version 2.0. After trying to hunt my old jeep down and buy I back I decided to just build a new one. Years later I’ve decided to build another one, and do it the right way. This thing is going to be a little more of a crawler than the last one, but still with a ton of west coast and Jeepspeed influence.

I picked up this pretty clean and rust free 98’ for $1200 with a blown motor. The interior and body are in pretty good shape considering it has 240k on it. This old motor was completely trashed and overheated to an extent that I’ve never seen before. I built up a brand new 4.0 with help from a friend of mine that is a leader in the performance Jeep 4.0 industry. This new engine is 100% freshly built. It’s .030 over, .030 decked, aftermarket pistons cut to deck height, a Newcomer Racing cam, and a built head with some port and chamber work. I got it installed early last year and now that the tune has been dialed in with HP Tuners it’s a whole different animal now. At this point it was finally time move onto actually building this thing.

 

[Dzrt.XJ]

This is where the parts hoarding started for the first phase of the build.

5.5 Rubicon Express long arm
Barnes full frame stiffeners and axle brackets
XJ Dana 44 I found on marketplace
4.56’s
ARB’s front and rear
ECGS chromoly rear shafts
Method MR304’s with 33x12.50 KM3’s