I thought guys always called their vehicles by a feminine pronoun like she. I think "RAD Barroness" sounds good. Then it won't matter what color she is!
Your family is THE reason i bought my xj, imma be doing recovery jobs here in El Paso Texas. Ive ran into some issues health and work wise but after i get past these roadblocks I'll be on my way to complete my dream. My xj is red too, well what's left of the paint lol. I ain't got no videos of it yet, the only video i have posted was of my rc crawler years ago, i gotta learn a of new stuff. I'll be here watching and living vicariously through you
The Rad Beron sounds great 👍. Rudy you have become quite the fabricator. You do great work, the dropped rear you did on your brother's truck was amazing.
Okay Rudy, you got 2 rear axles........... Vote for Red Baron as well. I want to wish Rudy, Janelle and Zack a very happy and safe New Years . Shoot all most forgot about Higgins as well.....
Looks great! Thanks for showing the details of the axle. I always wondered what was so different about the 9 inch and also wondered what a third member was... thanks again!
Another vote for RAD Barron. It sounds crazy to me, but Engine Masters proved on a dyno that dented exhaust and headers don't really hurt performance. The new exhaust sounds awesome though. Love the channel. Keep up the good work.
Rosie is a good name. No doubt about it that 4L is one of the best sounding 6-cylinders out there. I've had a few. Oh I'm so looking forward to seeing you guys building Rosie out on the lake bed and then race it. Great video as usual Rudy keep em coming!
What a nice rust free Jeep you scored. My '98 has so many leaky gaskets and seals it looks like new oil is just poured on the outside to be obsorbed by osmosis.
Looks like a good start! Have you ever considered wrapping the headers? That can help reduce temps under the hood, as well as increase gas flow for better exhaust scavenging. On that Jeep 6 cylinder, it might help by reducing heat in the intake, as well... since it's right above the exhaust.
A few months ago . There was a Jeep xj the same as yours same colour same interior a 1998. On a classic car website for sale . 1 owner from new full service history . Not a scratch on it basically showroom condition with 19000 miles on it . Up for sale at £25000. Whether it was actually any good having been driven 700 miles per year on average . Happy new year folks . From the UK x
On my XJ, I installed a flex joint and V-clamp setup where the exhaust pipe crosses under the bellhousing. Makes it alot easier to work on suspension linkage, trans and t-case when you need to get the exhaust out of the way.
For future reference, when working on intake/exhaust manifolds, you can gain some working room by removing the air filter housing assembly. Hope this helps in the future.
Ambitious project. Best of luck but hard not to think how the Cooper build ended up. Get serious, get ahead of schedule and stay there. You've got the skills.
You and your dad, so alike! Just watched him checking free play on the front end of the Morvair and he just eye balled with the "eye-crometer" then asked LT to come check his work. He was really close. lol
Please tell us what the rules say regarding getting a stock jeep ready for a stock class race as you go along. It doesn’t seem very stock if you can upgrade the axels, differential, gears, steering and so on. What can you change and what can’t you.
You need to retain the stock engine block, stock transmission case. I have to keep all the body panels on and functional. I can’t cut any of the inner fenders. I can only put holes in the floor to put roll cage through. Only one mono tube shock per corner mounted to the axle, and I have to stick with stock suspension types. I.e. Leaf springs have to stay leaf springs, links have to stay links, independent suspension has to stay independent. That’s pretty much the gist of the rules.
I hope you get the red XJ done in time to proof-test it for a week before running KOH. I think it'd give you a better chance at completing the race but that's only around 20 days from now.
This is quite an ambitious idea. I really like it and its going to be fun to watch. I love Cherokees. As someone who is very familiar with Cherokees and what it takes to build a Cherokee that is strong that wont tear itself apart over time i think its going to be a little tough to build how or where you want to build it in the amount of time but i suppose thats part of the fun. Also in my experience you need more than just the standard stiffener kit there's some extras you can buy and some things that need to be made or done yourself. I know a lot of people build Cherokees then eventually they will scrap the body and start over with a new body but sometimes i don't like that i prefer to make it so the unibody is much stronger and lasts with maintenance. Also theres problems with unibody flex that will break radiators and things even with a standard stiffener kit installed. I have tons of tips i could give like using a yj steering box over the Durango it has 4 bolts 3 line up like stock and you can choose to add a 4th when you set up inner and outer frame stiffeners. What i did to the unibody on one of my Cherokees i want to last is i stripped it to a completely bare body literally everything and removed all the factory seam sealer inside and out then stitch welded the chassis like a race car then went back with modern 3m 2 part seam sealer and tons of sound deadening in the end after everything but sound deadening and that stuff is unnecessary for race jeep stuff. Then i installed a standard stiffener kit plus i installed plating over the front and rear frame crossmembers behind the bumpers its important to do both but the front is extra important because this stamped frame crossmember can twist and even buckle and crack with off-road use and the flex around this crossmember and up front is what causes radiator leaks in Cherokees. Then i have inner frame stiffeners up front and rear and gusseting some homemade some bought. Also track bar bracket braces are important or if doing 4 link without a track bar its still important to have a sturdy bar tying the frame together there. It's also important to use a stiff bumper to help with flex and im even running a steering brace that i would run no matter what even if i had full hydro for the piece that ties the frame sides together it's really important to get that stuff tied together in as many spots as possible but im running hydro assist so the Ironmanfab steering brace is quite nice and fits with the psc big bore yj pattern box. Then if you keep rear leafs its important to beef up the leaf mounts a lot i like replacing the front leaf mounts with Ironman mounts but rustys makes a weld on kit to beef up the front leaf mounts or you can make something then i usually keep the rear stock mounts and use a drop kit or something but i do extra welding and gusseting on the rear mounts because they peel off incredibly easy they are spot welded to the floor and thin rear frame so they need addressed and beefed up. Then the rear portion of the unibody frame is important to stiffen on the inside because its so thin you can leave the middle stiffeners on outside and bottom but the fronts and rears are good to get the inside on both sides plus that behind the bumper stiffener plate that welds on connecting both sides like the front is great. Its also important to upgrade engine mounts to something like the brown dog mounts and brackets with all the extra bolts because ive seen blocks break under heavy use with the stock 3 bolts or however many they have. Theres just so many things id want to do to a race jeep xj and most are from finding things out the hard way. This comment got stupid long, but if your building a racecar out of a Cherokee and you want it to last a long time through nasty things i would go deep into stiffening the unibody even if in stages. It's also best to do it before fatiguing the body too much its impressive how much of a difference it makes plus a good cage always helps. I cant wait to see what you do no matter how you do it Cherokees are tons of fun.
Here's an idea, while you're there make a short course and put baseline time and do it again for every modification you put in the jeep to see the improvement of every modification you put into it. RAD Barron gets my vote
When changing your engine mounts to a material with a different durometer than stock, you need to change your transmission mount with the same durometer, or you are going to crack your bell housing, as your engine and transmission mounts will be flexing at different rates.
My guy. Buy some tools to set up Diffs. You got all those High end parts. It takes an inch lb dial torque wrench and a dial indicator to make sure they are set up properly. You can't " feel " the difference between 20- 50 inch lbs of preload on that pinion. The difference is one is in spec and one is gonna heat up and kill bearings.
Hey… Love the show… Hey, I have a 98 Jeep Cherokee that had the same issue shifting into overdrive. I change the solenoids and didn’t fix it. Then I noticed the neutral safety switch didn’t work when I changed it. The transmission shifts fine now. Just thought maybe you might try that.
My transmission had a broken accumulator spring. Got a kit from Cascade Trans Parts (not sponsors cascadetransparts). Came with everything I needed to get the transmission back into proper operation condition.
A thought on heating: .... The metal wall behind the stove will heat up and the air behind it will be trapped. If you cut two vents at the top near the ceiling, that would draw Cold air from the floor and heat it from the back side of that metal panel. I would Make two 3-in vertical cuts, about 6 in apart, then cut horizontally between the bottom of the two vertical cuts.. like this: l_____l then you could push the bottom of that back in so airflow gets brought back into the room. One of these on either side of the stovepipe would allow for greater circulation and pull the cold air from the floor.
Glad you use the the Holly headers and not banks torque headers I went through three of them they all cracked in the same spot, Banks does have a good warranty. 😂
WOW!! Those are some impressive axles you're putting in!! Looks like this is going to be a truly awesome build!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE RAD CREW!!! I'm kinda digg'n the RAD Barron suggestion from Leland. Or whoever came up with it first??
The RAD Barron.
Came to the comments to post this as well
Was just going to say.
I thought guys always called their vehicles by a feminine pronoun like she. I think "RAD Barroness" sounds good. Then it won't matter what color she is!
Dude! I got on here to say the same thing! Couldn’t agree more.
Great suggestion! Hope they pick it!!❤
Rad Barron for the win!!! Need Rad Barron logo for the sides. Maybe a picture of Higgins with flying gear on. Like Snoopy!
Another vote for "RAD Barron"
RAD Barron gets my vote
Oh yeah, the RAD BARRON, good luck, Rudy.And Happy New Year to you and everyone there.
Don’t forget the oil in the differential
😂
Too soon?
@@MatthewJustice-bc7kb Right.lol
Oof
It the RAD Baron...
I am super stoked for this project. I love the flomaster sound. Looking forward to the next video. Those axles look sweet!
Your family is THE reason i bought my xj, imma be doing recovery jobs here in El Paso Texas. Ive ran into some issues health and work wise but after i get past these roadblocks I'll be on my way to complete my dream. My xj is red too, well what's left of the paint lol. I ain't got no videos of it yet, the only video i have posted was of my rc crawler years ago, i gotta learn a of new stuff. I'll be here watching and living vicariously through you
Don't forget to put gear lubricant in
I like their RAD Baron. That's perfect! Happy New Year to you guys!
The Red Barron is an excellent name for the KOH build.
Happy New Years RAD crew, can't wait to see what ya have in store for 2025!
Definitely you need to call it "Rad Baron"
I think Rad Barron is cool as well. Have a Happy New Year!
I appreciate that you provided a lot of info about the axles and the steering box and not just a video of wrenching and cutting and welding.
HEY! Hello Rudy and Janelle! Happy New Year to everybody!!
The Rad Beron sounds great 👍. Rudy you have become quite the fabricator. You do great work, the dropped rear you did on your brother's truck was amazing.
Okay Rudy, you got 2 rear axles...........
Vote for Red Baron as well.
I want to wish Rudy, Janelle and Zack a very happy and safe New Years . Shoot all most forgot about Higgins as well.....
As for me, I love the sound headers make when installing them. Those clanks mean better torques and horsepower! 🙏❤️😎🤙
It's coming together. Best of luck on the build and race.
I keep thinking I'm listening to other Mr. Wetzel when I'm away from the tv 🤙🏼 thats a compliment ❤
So excited for this build and race. Keep it up Rudy.
Looks great! Thanks for showing the details of the axle. I always wondered what was so different about the 9 inch and also wondered what a third member was... thanks again!
Another vote for RAD Barron. It sounds crazy to me, but Engine Masters proved on a dyno that dented exhaust and headers don't really hurt performance. The new exhaust sounds awesome though. Love the channel. Keep up the good work.
Although I can agree with that test, I’ve seen the Dyno chart differences using this header over what I removed. There was definitely a gain.
Rad baron sounds good 😎👍
Happy New Year. In the old days, 4-wheeling did not start until you broke something. Of course, that was 60 years ago. Keep up the good work.
Janelle sounded so excited about the exhaust tone.
so looking forward to seeing you start something you'll never finish! Let's go!
I 💌 R.A.C.D! (Rudy's Adventure, Comedy, and Design)
Exhaust sounds good. Nice to hear from the camera person.
Thanks for the great videos in 2024!! looking forward to what's coming in 2025!!!
The completed exhaust sounds flipping awesome! 👍👍
Excited for the new build Rudy!
Been through the desert on a Jeep with no name - LOL.
How about calling it a “Jeep with no name”
Rosie is a good name. No doubt about it that 4L is one of the best sounding 6-cylinders out there. I've had a few. Oh I'm so looking forward to seeing you guys building Rosie out on the lake bed and then race it. Great video as usual Rudy keep em coming!
While I’ll watch every video, this may be the silliest thing to do in the hole wide world . Have fun and good luck.
I am really looking forward to this build
What a nice rust free Jeep you scored. My '98 has so many leaky gaskets and seals it looks like new oil is just poured on the outside to be obsorbed by osmosis.
Looks like a good start!
Have you ever considered wrapping the headers? That can help reduce temps under the hood, as well as increase gas flow for better exhaust scavenging. On that Jeep 6 cylinder, it might help by reducing heat in the intake, as well... since it's right above the exhaust.
Liking those axles. Wish you a very prosperous new year. God Bless Y’all 😊
RAD Barron gets my vote. Happy new year RAD family and fans. Keep grinding and wrenching ✌️✌️🇰🇪🇰🇪
Can’t wait to see this come together. Better be quick though, KOH is only 3 weeks away!!!
RadCon (Rudy's Action Designed to conquer). Sounds great. Tons to do still.
Rudy is a master fabricator 👍🏼🤙🏼💪🏼
He makes it look simple
Great job again.
A few months ago . There was a Jeep xj the same as yours same colour same interior a 1998. On a classic car website for sale .
1 owner from new full service history . Not a scratch on it basically showroom condition with 19000 miles on it .
Up for sale at £25000.
Whether it was actually any good having been driven 700 miles per year on average .
Happy new year folks .
From the UK x
I wish I could find one in that nice a shape, even the truck version. That's a nice design on the axle housing. Like a built in rock slider.
Hell ya....
❤
Happy Happy New Year's everyone
On my XJ, I installed a flex joint and V-clamp setup where the exhaust pipe crosses under the bellhousing. Makes it alot easier to work on suspension linkage, trans and t-case when you need to get the exhaust out of the way.
For future reference, when working on intake/exhaust manifolds, you can gain some working room by removing the air filter housing assembly. Hope this helps in the future.
I'm trying really hard to be optimistic. Rudy I watch and love all your videos but I just hope you get her finished in time.
Not a chance
Could have a point
Looks good, sounds good ! 👍
I literally just had a dream last night where I had an XJ that I put super duty axles with 40s and a 5.3 LS.
That fan clutch delete may affect transmission shifting.. or it may not. Just speaking from experience. Good luck! I love those axle housings.
Ambitious project. Best of luck but hard not to think how the Cooper build ended up. Get serious, get ahead of schedule and stay there. You've got the skills.
do not use those stock motor mount plates on the 4.0 they can shear at the bolts or crack the bolts out of the block
I had that happen after I upgraded motor mounts then I bought new block mounts
That’s exactly what I thought of when Rudy said Red Baron!! What else but RAD Baron!
Should be the RAD Barron
You and your dad, so alike! Just watched him checking free play on the front end of the Morvair and he just eye balled with the "eye-crometer" then asked LT to come check his work. He was really close. lol
Please tell us what the rules say regarding getting a stock jeep ready for a stock class race as you go along. It doesn’t seem very stock if you can upgrade the axels, differential, gears, steering and so on. What can you change and what can’t you.
I could be very wrong but I think it means everything is bolt on, not custom fabricated.
You need to retain the stock engine block, stock transmission case. I have to keep all the body panels on and functional. I can’t cut any of the inner fenders. I can only put holes in the floor to put roll cage through. Only one mono tube shock per corner mounted to the axle, and I have to stick with stock suspension types. I.e. Leaf springs have to stay leaf springs, links have to stay links, independent suspension has to stay independent. That’s pretty much the gist of the rules.
I hope you get the red XJ done in time to proof-test it for a week before running KOH. I think it'd give you a better chance at completing the race but that's only around 20 days from now.
This is quite an ambitious idea. I really like it and its going to be fun to watch. I love Cherokees.
As someone who is very familiar with Cherokees and what it takes to build a Cherokee that is strong that wont tear itself apart over time i think its going to be a little tough to build how or where you want to build it in the amount of time but i suppose thats part of the fun. Also in my experience you need more than just the standard stiffener kit there's some extras you can buy and some things that need to be made or done yourself. I know a lot of people build Cherokees then eventually they will scrap the body and start over with a new body but sometimes i don't like that i prefer to make it so the unibody is much stronger and lasts with maintenance. Also theres problems with unibody flex that will break radiators and things even with a standard stiffener kit installed.
I have tons of tips i could give like using a yj steering box over the Durango it has 4 bolts 3 line up like stock and you can choose to add a 4th when you set up inner and outer frame stiffeners. What i did to the unibody on one of my Cherokees i want to last is i stripped it to a completely bare body literally everything and removed all the factory seam sealer inside and out then stitch welded the chassis like a race car then went back with modern 3m 2 part seam sealer and tons of sound deadening in the end after everything but sound deadening and that stuff is unnecessary for race jeep stuff. Then i installed a standard stiffener kit plus i installed plating over the front and rear frame crossmembers behind the bumpers its important to do both but the front is extra important because this stamped frame crossmember can twist and even buckle and crack with off-road use and the flex around this crossmember and up front is what causes radiator leaks in Cherokees. Then i have inner frame stiffeners up front and rear and gusseting some homemade some bought. Also track bar bracket braces are important or if doing 4 link without a track bar its still important to have a sturdy bar tying the frame together there. It's also important to use a stiff bumper to help with flex and im even running a steering brace that i would run no matter what even if i had full hydro for the piece that ties the frame sides together it's really important to get that stuff tied together in as many spots as possible but im running hydro assist so the Ironmanfab steering brace is quite nice and fits with the psc big bore yj pattern box. Then if you keep rear leafs its important to beef up the leaf mounts a lot i like replacing the front leaf mounts with Ironman mounts but rustys makes a weld on kit to beef up the front leaf mounts or you can make something then i usually keep the rear stock mounts and use a drop kit or something but i do extra welding and gusseting on the rear mounts because they peel off incredibly easy they are spot welded to the floor and thin rear frame so they need addressed and beefed up. Then the rear portion of the unibody frame is important to stiffen on the inside because its so thin you can leave the middle stiffeners on outside and bottom but the fronts and rears are good to get the inside on both sides plus that behind the bumper stiffener plate that welds on connecting both sides like the front is great. Its also important to upgrade engine mounts to something like the brown dog mounts and brackets with all the extra bolts because ive seen blocks break under heavy use with the stock 3 bolts or however many they have. Theres just so many things id want to do to a race jeep xj and most are from finding things out the hard way.
This comment got stupid long, but if your building a racecar out of a Cherokee and you want it to last a long time through nasty things i would go deep into stiffening the unibody even if in stages. It's also best to do it before fatiguing the body too much its impressive how much of a difference it makes plus a good cage always helps. I cant wait to see what you do no matter how you do it Cherokees are tons of fun.
Restruction is a great word. Patented for the RAD channel.
vids are getting much better!!
Happy new year to you guys . This is going to be a sweet build can’t wait to see it in action.
Still say Zach is the best part of the channel.
Yeah but I think Rudy brings out the best in Zach
I sure hope Rudy doesn't catch Janelle giving Zach a New Year's Eve kiss ! 😬😜🎉
You must be Zach's mom...
@@jeff-s3f Shhhhh !
Don't tell anyone 😉
Here's an idea, while you're there make a short course and put baseline time and do it again for every modification you put in the jeep to see the improvement of every modification you put into it. RAD Barron gets my vote
Happy New Year y’all!
Keep you with the good work love watching your videos on TH-cam God bless have a good new year
Snoopy’s RAD Baron. Would love to see Snoopy on it either way. Think he would be a random fun addition.
When changing your engine mounts to a material with a different durometer than stock, you need to change your transmission mount with the same durometer, or you are going to crack your bell housing, as your engine and transmission mounts will be flexing at different rates.
nothing better than a 609 front.. cheers. and happy new year.
Finally, someone is using the best. I've been telling everyone for years
Can’t wait for the next episode!
Okay. It's just to darned obvious that it must be the RAD Barron. It doesn't even need to stay red.
Great job guys. Rad Barron. Thank you 😊
This jeep puts the "brrrratt" in Rad Barron!!
My guy. Buy some tools to set up Diffs. You got all those High end parts. It takes an inch lb dial torque wrench and a dial indicator to make sure they are set up properly. You can't " feel " the difference between 20- 50 inch lbs of preload on that pinion. The difference is one is in spec and one is gonna heat up and kill bearings.
90 weight gear oil does not give a shit. It will be fine!
Rudy,
Paint the jeep a drab/toad green with your signature purple and call it "TOADALLY HAMMERED"
If Rudy is building it call it Rude Barron
I love this stuff
Haha nice Napoleon Dynamite quote, shocks, pegs.....lucky!!!
Hey… Love the show… Hey, I have a 98 Jeep Cherokee that had the same issue shifting into overdrive. I change the solenoids and didn’t fix it. Then I noticed the neutral safety switch didn’t work when I changed it. The transmission shifts fine now. Just thought maybe you might try that.
My transmission had a broken accumulator spring. Got a kit from Cascade Trans Parts (not sponsors cascadetransparts). Came with everything I needed to get the transmission back into proper operation condition.
How about RAD RUNNER as a name
I like the more sneaky "RAD Herring"...
The RAD Barron for sure!!!
A thought on heating: ....
The metal wall behind the stove will heat up and the air behind it will be trapped. If you cut two vents at the top near the ceiling, that would draw Cold air from the floor and heat it from the back side of that metal panel.
I would Make two 3-in vertical cuts, about 6 in apart, then cut horizontally between the bottom of the two vertical cuts.. like this: l_____l then you could push the bottom of that back in so airflow gets brought back into the room. One of these on either side of the stovepipe would allow for greater circulation and pull the cold air from the floor.
The Blue/Red Dynamite, Mess with her, you'll get a BANG!!
Happy new yr. Good to see you've had an introduction to a normal diff centre!
Although still no drive flange 🤨
Since it will be in a desert area i think the name "The Rad Runner" will fit the car.
Glad you use the the Holly headers and not banks torque headers I went through three of them they all cracked in the same spot, Banks does have a good warranty. 😂
❤ ford 9" is a good choice for quick change in a pinch for gear changes ❤
Really like the race jeep 💡, something different. Good 👍 for U,an happy new year 🎊.
Друзья, это прераннер? Всех с Новым годом.
Happy new year Rad crew 🎉
Baron Von RAD
You should name it the ongoing project
WOW!! Those are some impressive axles you're putting in!! Looks like this is going to be a truly awesome build!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE RAD CREW!!! I'm kinda digg'n the RAD Barron suggestion from Leland. Or whoever came up with it first??
RADio Flyer
But really RAD Barron is legit.