s14sh3r

Looks great! What about your license plate? The police where I live would give me grief for having my tag partially covered. It looks like there is enough room in the recess to move the plate over to the right. Any plans?

sanchezcruz_20

It was my pleasure.

Just got back from a little drive around town and that Tailbone unit is ROCK SOLID. The roads here in Michigan are terrible and the new set up makes no noise at all. I really feel like the Tailbone has strengthened/reinforced the rear end of my Jeep.

I'm super impressed with the fit and finish of the Tailbone, everything seemed to fall right into place during the assembly. The install really wasn't that labor intensive and I did it completely on my own.

As far as the 2-bolt center crossmember issue is concerned, I did in fact have a completely full tank. I tried prying/flexing on that area of the tank but I got nervous laying right under it and prying too hard so I gave up and bought the smaller bolts. Either way, all is well.

Thanks for providing unparalleled customer service before, during and after the sale. Looking forward to working with you again soon.

sanchezcruz_20

Thanks!

Actually, the unit came with a license plate relocating bracket, I just haven't gotten around to installing it yet. I figured I'd wait until I get pulled over for the first time.

sanchezcruz_20

Since my factory end caps don't fit now that the fender wells are cut, I stopped out to the junkyard and picked up a couple bumper end caps off a 94 XJ. I painted them with some bedliner and drilled a couple holes in my bumper to fasten them down.

They didn't turn out awesome, but it looks a lot better than being able to see down inside the bumper. And with the Tailbone looking so nice, it gives the rear a more finished look. I sprayed 2 coats of bedliner, though, for some reason they didn't turn out that dark (compared to the Tailbone) so I'll probably hit them with a 3rd coat later this week. Also, I need to do some adjusting/tweaking of them, they're kind of lopsided.











Also took some time to remove the side moulding/trim adhesive residue so the "new" driver door looks a lot cleaner now. Still need to transfer a couple of the letters over, but it oughta look good with a little more TLC.

Picture is kind of far, but you can also see that I removed the front fender edge trim so the fender is looking a little rough. It got ripped off wheeling, so I got some new stuff to go on that has an adhesive backing as opposed to the other stuff which just slipped on. I'll try to get to that this week too.

I think the XJ is looking a little asymmetrical with the all the jazz on the rear... need something to beef up the front now. Winch?

MTLXJ

The swing out tire mount looks awesome!!! Are you going to move the license plate or leave it there?

s14sh3r

Stinger

MTLXJ

Or mount a high lift to the front bumper.

razor02097

Looks good man, I still need to figure out what I'm going to do with my rear bumper end caps... You going to take those end cap brackets off the side? When I took mine off I just drilled the 3 rivets out then filled the holes with jb weld before bondo and paint.... actually your color should be easier to match than mine... I had to use the closest color I could find.

sanchezcruz_20

Thanks man! I'll eventually relocate the plate with the supplied bracket that came with the Tailbone kit. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Yeah, I need something no doubt. I'm leaning towads a winch since the manufacturer for my bumper also makes a winch plate as an add-on. Also, winches are pretty useful when off-roading and things get hairy. I usually am wheeling with my buddy who has a winch on his TJ so I've always felt I didn't need one as long as he was with me, haha. It's come in useful for both of us on a couple separate occasions.

Yeah, I want to remove the brackets too. You did a REALLY nice job refinishing your lower 1/4 panels. That'll be another project for me to add to the list. Now that you mention it, I think I've actually seen a rattle can on the shelf at Autzone that was marketed as "Chrysler" specific colors. I'll check it out.

Thanks for looking/commenting everybody!

razor02097

Thanks man

Isn't it crazy what trim will cover up? I still cringe when I see what I started with

IZAREBL

i say 1'' spacer for the front and go to 33s

jmm0122

Great write up on the install. Only question I have is Ohio State Alum living in Michigan? Bet that goes over well. Haha. Go Bucks!!

sanchezcruz_20

Thanks for the comments.

Yeah, I'm from Ohio, went to school at OSU. Me and my wife are both alumni, we moved here a few years ago for my job. It's not so bad, but I get a lot of $hit from some of my coworkers about being a buckeye. One nice thing though, is that the Michigan State fans are pretty cool since we have a mutual enemy (U of M).

sanchezcruz_20

Been wanting to work on a couple odds and ends, get the XJ fine tuned a bit... I picked up a set of bar-pin eliminators for the rear shocks.

The factory design isn't real pleasant to work with and it's always bugged me so I decided to purchase a set of BPE's. I'm probably going to be upgrading the shocks soon anyway, so the BPE's should open up my options a bit and make swapping in the new shocks a lot easier.

The BPE's also extend your shock travel a bit and should also help preserve the life of the shock bushings. So, perhaps a quieter ride as well.

I'll toss up some pics when I get them installed, I have a few other things in the mail waitng to get installed anyway.

ivantheigor

I really hate salt.