The MountainX Build

harryron

The Grumpiest of Mid-Westerners
Location
ohio
Got some new shoes for Denali today. Was hoping for some 33x10.5s, but stuck with 31s till next spring at least.
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What did you end up going with?

sent from the middle of a corn field.
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
What did you end up going with?

sent from the middle of a corn field.
Ended up going with the new version of the Cordovian Mud Claws. They have more lugs on the sidewall than the old version. Haven't had a chance to try them out yet except for on some dirt roads. Hoping to get them on a trail soon.
 

Joey

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Indianapolis
Trucks looking nice, what is your plan for the motor? Are you going to rebuild it or get a different one or ?
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
Trucks looking nice, what is your plan for the motor? Are you going to rebuild it or get a different one or ?
I determined the problem to be a valvetrain noise, so waiting till I get a chance to take them down and see what the issue is. I'm thinking it's a lifter noise.
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
Took another trip to Tucker County, WV this past Monday to get out and enjoy the snow some. Deepest I found was about 10 inches or so.
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Did FR18 from the Parsons side of the mountain into Thomas.
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Then attempted Canaan Loop road from Canaan Valley into Blackwater Falls State Park.
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I turned around here, not knowing the road conditions the rest of the way, which I later found out were clear, and I was about 2 miles from Blackwater Falls.
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This trip definitely has me itching for some more snow to land in our area and finally get out and do some snow wheelin!
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
Had a fun ride yesterday with some guys from the Overland Bound Forums in Vinton County, Ohio yesterday. The X definitely impressed me. Had one small spot I had to be winched out of, but other than that had a great time and look forward to riding with these guys again!

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This was a pretty tight spot, but no damage to the X.
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This is definitely one of my favorite pictures of the X so far. One of the guys from the group got this shot.
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Joey

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Indianapolis
As much as you like to wheel you should look into a front auto locker. I have one in my first gen and its been night and day difference in it wheeling capabilities.Its not cheap but does make a huge differences. If you ever make it over to the west side of Ohio, shot me a PM. I'll go wheeling with you.
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
As much as you like to wheel you should look into a front auto locker. I have one in my first gen and its been night and day difference in it wheeling capabilities.Its not cheap but does make a huge differences. If you ever make it over to the west side of Ohio, shot me a PM. I'll go wheeling with you.
I plan on a locker of some sort, along with manual hubs if I go with the auto locker for sure. I hope to eventually make it to western ohio. Vinton County is nice because it's kinda in the south-center of the state. I think we had two guys that came from Cincinnati area, and they had the same drive time I did from Marietta.
 

Joey

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Indianapolis
Because of how the 4 wheel drive system is set up on the first gens. Manual hubs are not need. The front only turn's when the 4 wheel is engaged. A lot of people go with the manuals because they are stronger, but is that really what you want? Auto hubs are all full easy to change version an axle or drive shaft.
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
Sorry for the lack of updates the last few months, new phone, forgetting to download Tapatalk, then realize XN is no longer on Tapatalk, then forgetting to do other things.

Anyway, not much has happened. That valvetrain noise, yeah it was a valvetrain noise. It was the sound of cylinder 6 slowing pounding it's way out of the side of the block, which finally happened back in March. She's sat ever since, and back in June I finally picked up a JDM motor and have been in the process of pulling it. Crank was snapped so I had to pull motor with torque converter still attached. Yeah that was fun. Anyway, hopefully have the new motor in by the end of the month (work, an ornery 3-year old, and lack of help have kept me from working on it). I'll try to upload some of the pictures if I can do it from my phone.

Hopefully after that, I'll return to the mountains of WV to assist with a weekend overland trip. Fingers crossed.
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
A little backstory to the motor replacement and what finally started it.

Had to drive into town one night back in March to get some cold meds, and when I went to get back on the highway and was getting back up to speed, I noticed that as I pushed the accelerator down, I was still losing speed. Then out of no where came the most good awful thumping and banging I had ever heard. Got it to the shoulder and coasted as far as I could, and when it stopped I shut it off. As soon as I shut it off, smoke started filling the inside. Got out and there was a small fire underneath. I had cleaned the inside out and forgot to put my fire extinguisher back in (insert face palm going through the back of my head here). Got home and a few days later went out to look, and found that there was a rod through the block and oil pan from the front of the motor. Eventually after tearing the old motor down while getting ready to pull it, found that I had blown the complete side of cylinder 6 out, and broke the crank at cylinders 5 & 6. Yeah, I done screwed that one up.

Eventually got a JDM motor back in June from a shop in Cincinnati, OH and went through it and everything was still in good shape, and added a set of DANA headers from Amazon. Been fighting small issues here and there, but at this point in time, the new engine has been re-gasketed and is ready to go, and a few nights ago I bit the bullet and just cut both sets of cats out after trying to get the first set off to clear the headers. Hoping in another week or so to have a buddy come over and give me a hand getting the motor in and ready to go.

Can't wait to have this thing going again. I need to get out and show all the Jeeps in my off road club how it's really done.
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
Quick update:

Finally have the motor in and running! Just waiting to take it to the exhaust shop later next week and it should be good to go. My off road club came over and helped me set the motor in, and then about 2 days of working in it off and on got it done. Hopefully after exhaust is done I can drive it to see if anything else needs done, then I'll be going trail riding with end of next week!
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
Quick update:

It's on the road finally! Still working out a few issues, considering putting hood vents on the hood to help with the under hood heat because the headers feel like they let out and I feel it may be affecting how it's running. I did adjust the distributor timing and may do a little more, I have it set to 10° btdc but may try a few more degrees more. Also when I was getting the exhaust done, I discovered the fuel filter was leaking so that got replaced (what a PITA that is). Other than that, it seems to be running good.

Other things I've done over the course of the last two days are new lower bumpstops, LED headlights, raised my diff breathers, and made a small guard/grille type thing to protect the lower part of the AC condenser and radiator as I took the lower plastic part of the bumper off. Once I can figure a way out I will post some pictures.

Trail ride coming up this Sunday, can't wait!
 

XMtnman02193

Test Drive
Location
US
Sooooo.........its been a while XN! I don't have any pictures to add at the moment, but a lot has been done to the X in the last year and a half or so. So, let me reach through the cobwebs and see what all I can remember.

Engine Swap: Everything has been fine since the swap. No issues out of it, running fine and performing good apart from the usual maintenance.

Alternator: Upgraded to the Quest alternator and it is doing fine. With plans to add more electrical accessories in the future, I felt this would be a good upgrade and happy with it so far. Also, with the mud and occasional swim, I periodically spray it down with a waterproof silicone spray (I believe its the WD40 brand that I use)

Hood vent: I used an aluminum soffit vent from Lowes ($3) and placed it in the rear center section of the hood. I cut out two sections from the hood and the two outer parts were able to cover this. I didn't make it any bigger because the support runs down the middle. Helped run a little cooler temp and vent definitely works as I can feel the heat coming out of it.

E-fans: I originally had one fan on the front of the radiator and that was it. However, I added a second fan under the hood to one side of the vent (albeit its about a 5" hole and I used a 10" fan i had laying around). The hood fan is wired into an existing harness that I had for an old set of lights, so it turns off with the key off, but the radiator fan is direct to the battery so I can have it on when the vehicle is off while I'm on the trail or parked. However, I may add the radiator fan to the hood fan wiring (originally used for two lights, so there is an extra plug in available) and then rewire it directly off the battery to be able to run both of them constantly.

Leaf springs: Broke the third leaf down on a total of 3 different packs. Not sure how or why, probably from over flexing. The current springs have held up fine with the setup I did. Took the main leaf off one of the old sets, cut the eyes off and shortened it, it is now the third leaf down. Effectively raised the rear about 3/4".

Tires: Went through two different sets of tires since my last update. The first set were Goodyear Wrangler MT/R Kevlars, staying at 31x10.50-15. they performed good and I was really happy with them. I can't recall the mileage i got out of them, but they had a bit of life left still when I swapped them out. It currently is sitting on 33x10.50-15 Dick Cepek Extreme Country's. I've only had the tired since early March but so far impressed with them. Had to trimmed the front fender slightly (plastic trim was already removed), and removed the rear plastic corners. Did turn the front torsion bars up about an inch and with the rear spring packs I built, it does fine. Tires still rub but other than that no other issues.

Hitch flip: Did the hitch flip mod, but without the body lift. Had to trim a lot, but for the trade off of not bouncing my hitch off everything, it was well worth it.

Other mods I've done include limb risers, new LED pods on the front bumper, new CB radio (Cobra 29LTD Classic, peaked and tuned by local CB shop), rear Dep molle panel, roof rack mount for Hi-Lift Jack.

Future plans include to add some type of lighting to the inside of the hatch, and definitely upgrade the shocks. Also need to add rear bumpstops. I have new ones and attempted to put them on, but broke the very first bolt on the stock ones that I hit with the impact gun and called it quits. Also need to replace my rockers, I have the replacement ones, but may be looking at going a different route with them. Another will be a winch mount on the frame rails behind my narrowed lower section of bumper (trimmed to just barely be wider than the frame rails), or build a new bumper completely.

As far as wheeling and trips go, no major trips have been taken. This past February I did drive to Dayton, Ohio to the off-road expo where I won "most trail carnage" for a dent I got in the fender trail riding with a buddy. Haven't ventured out very far from my local area for any rides, but have had some good rides with my club and found some spots that I have really been impressed with how well the X has performed.

Will try to update this more often again, and try to add more pictures with them as well!
 
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