Basslicks

...wins the race. At least that's what my dad always said. That and measure twice, cut once.

I digress.

So anyway. This is by no means a sick build, by no means a monster of a jeep, and by no means a moneymobile... well not any more than any other jeep I guess

This is a 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo 2wd - that's right 2WD. Don't worry it's not staying that way.

A little back story... My brother in law liked going in the woods hunting and wanted a good vehicle to do it in.

He bought this...



1983 Jeep CJ7 w/ an AMC 4.2L straight six, 4 on the floor. Some ridiculous amount of lift and 33" tires... I say ridiculous because he could have had 35's or trimmed the fenders and fit 37's.

Anyway, he brought it over one day to have me to some accessory wiring on it. I looked at how simple the wiring was and how accessible it was to get to everything. Not to mention jeeps are... well, ya know.

So I started looking. I almost got my hands on a '77 CJ7 exactly the same as my brother's that was listed for 3000, but I had was he wanted in trade plus 1500 bucks. he wanted cash.

Long story short, I switched tracks to Cherokees, started looking around, ran out of time and ended up with this...



























(The door signs are for a side business I had for a little while)

The specs:

Drivetrain:
4.0 Liter HO straight six
K&N FIPK
165k miles on the clock (which I later discovered was inaccurate)
AW4 Transmission
D35 rear w/ 3.55 gears

Suspension:
Stock - but worn and saggy

Wheels/tires:
15x8 American Racing Baja
Cooper Cobra 255/60r15

Interior:
Power EVERYTHING and it all works.
Cruise control - works except for the resume/accel
Working rear wiper - washer tube dry rotted and fell off
Rear window defroster works
All power windows and locks work
Sentinel headlight system works too (headlight delay-off after turning the jeep off with the swtich on)
Has infinity speakers front and rear but they were all blown
Came with a Pioneer flip-out touchscreen DVD player... which looks completely ridiculous 'cause it doesn't fit

Exterior:
Lots of chrome which I originally liked and wanted to complement it with limited and waggy trim - then I got over it.


My plans at the time were a 3" Skyjacker value flex lift, 33" tires, bushwacker flares, a D44 rear and a D30 front, custom front and rear bumpers, winch, tire carrier, and exhaust. Of course, a 4wd conversion as well.

****EDITED 04/14/2015 for record purposes****

I know this first post was already kinda long, but I wanted to include the build sheet on the first post.

Q7 Cloth Low-Back Bucket Seats
ADAP Light Group
APAS Monotone Paint
ARCP Rubicon Group
ARNP Laredo Decor Group
AWHP Power Equipment Group
BARP 90 Amp Alternator
BCDP 500 Amp Maintenance Free Battery
BGAS Power Front Disc/Rear Drum Brakes
CACP Low Back Bucket Seats
CDBP Reclining Front Seats
CFMS Rear Folding Seat
CKBP Floor Carpet
CKNS Cargo Compartment Carpet
CKTS Cargo Tie Down Loops
CKVP MOPAR Third Row Cargo Bins w/Table
CLCP Front Floor Mats
CSAP Spare Tire Cover
CUFP Full Length Floor Console
DGB All 4-Speed Automatic Transmissions
DGSS 4-Speed Automatic AW4 Transmission
DHAS Lock-Up Torque Converter
DHSS Floor Mount Automatic Shift Lever
DMDS 3.55 Rear Axle Ratio
DRJS 175MM Rear Axle
ERH 4.0L I6 Power Tech Engine
GBBS Tinted Windshield Glass
GCBS Front Door Tinted Glass
GEDS Tinted Rr Drs/Qtr/Liftgate Glass
GEHS Fixed Door Vent Glass
GFAP Rear Window Defroster
GRBP Left Mirror
GSBP Right Convex Mirror
GTBP Power Heated Mirrors
GXMP Remote Keyless Entry
HAAP Air Conditioning
HGDP Deluxe Insulation Group
JAYP Instrument Cluster w/Tach
JCAS 85 MPH Primary Speedometer
JHAP Var Intermittent Windshield Wipers
JHBP Rear Window Wiper/Washer
JJAS Cigar Lighter
JPAP Power Windows
JPBP Power Locks
LAJP Headlamps On Warning Chimes
LBBP Courtesy Lamps
LBCS Glove Box Lamp
LBDP Ash Tray Lamp
LBEP Cigar Lighter
LCDP Map/Dome Reading Lamps
LDAP Underhood Lamp
LDBP Cargo Compartment Lamp
LHDP Headlamp Off Time Delay
LMAS Halogen Headlamps
MBUP Painted Front Bumper
MBZP Dark Gray Rear Bumper w/Step Pads
MCAP Carbon Rear Diffuser w/o Strakes
MDA Front License Plate Bracket
MFMP Black/Bright Grille
MHBS Bright Windshield Moldings
MMCS Rear Qtr Solid Window Insert
MMGS Belt Moldings
MWAP Roof Rack
NAAS Federal Emissions
NBKS EVAP Control System
NFAS 20 Gallon Fuel Tank
NHMP Speed Control
PW7 Bright White Clear Coat
QW7S Bright White Clear Coat
RAAC All Radio Equipped Vehicles
RAFP AM/FM Cassette Radio
RCGP 6 Speakers
RDCP Power Antenna
SBAS Power Rack and Pinion Steering
SCES Alcantara Wrap Steering Wheel
SFAS Standard Duty Shock Absorbers
SGAS Rear Shock Absorbers
SUAP Tilt Steering Column
TBCS Compact Spare Tire
TBLS Inside Mounted Spare Tire
TMWP P215/75R15 OWL All Terrain Tires
TZAP Goodyear Brand Tires
WJNP 15" Aluminum Wheels
WLZC All Aluminum Wheels
YAAS Build To U.S. Mkt. Specifications

Index:

Pg. 1: Purchase, Kenwood CD player swap, first couple wheeling trips, CB radio, HID headlight install, rear swaybar removal

Pg. 2: Beginning of "body work", more interior woes, 4 channel amp purchased, 1st attempt at OE suspension overhaul, Yakima roof cross bars, 235/75r15 Tires, full-size spare, 1st homebrew design of roof top light bar

Pg. 3: Wifey's WJ, misadventures of overflow hose, misadventures of driver's door falling off, purchase of black d-window steelies, Jeeptoberfest 2012 and 1st time on Jeeptoberfest course (front swaybar removed for event), front tow hooks, discovery of body cancer, popped a tire, install of d-windows and "new" tires, Dukie Discos

Pg. 4: Parts teaser, 2nd overhaul of OE suspension, 1st fender trim, MOAR WHEELING!!!, carpet delete

Pg. 5: Custom cargo carpet caper, wheeling vids, Jeeptoberfest 2013, more parts teasers and suspension mods, Brown Dog Motor Mounts purchased

pg. 6: Windshield replacement, Aluminum windshield trim delete, dash painting, more fooling with floors, dome light retention mod, Brown Dogs installed, bought crappy welder and started laying down crappy welds, Duralast Gold group 34 battery, the start of interior painting

Pg. 7: Headlight stone guards, fenders trimmed and bedliner applied to quarters and rockers, straight-piped exhaust

Pg. 8: 2wd spindle bearing replacement, 31x10.50r15 BFG KM1s on TJ Canyons, extended brake lines

Pg. 9: Champion spark plugs, S.O.A.R. 2015 and the ripped off straight pipe, more crappy welds

Pg. 12: Prepping used suspension components for lift, to-do list, 6.5" Sony door speakers, FelPro valve cover gasket, painted valve cover and trac bar

Pg. 13: 31s swapped onto the steel d-windows, lift going on, death wobble woes

Pg. 14: 195* T-stat, "The Loaner XJ", rear stubby cut bumper, mod to leaf packs, exhaust fixed, new muffler welded up, poser driveway flex

Pg. 15: Parts for maintenance, 4wd swap donor jeep, new wheels and tires, D30 axle swap, bump stop extensions properly installed, TB and IAC cleaning, 4WD swap complete

Pg. 16: V8 ZJ Steering upgrade, donor jeep donates roof (in exchange for HiLift), 1st time wheeling w/ 4wd, stubby cut front bumper

Pg. 17: Stuck, shackle bolt extraction, extended shackles, removal of pressed-in end link studs

Pg. 18: NGK plugs, DUI cap & rotor, Carter fuel pump, AC Delco plug wires, MOAR bedliner, JeepBeach 2016

Pg. 19: Bosch fuel pump, trailer axle swap, light bar round 2, CB relocated

Pg. 20: Broken tools

Pg. 21: B-day wheeling, wheeling with the Gainesville Krawlers

Pg. 22: Wheeling video, HID headlight removal

Pg. 23: Impending front clip swap, Accel ignition coil install and relocate, ZJ door harnesses, homebrew toolpack holder

Pg. 24: Trimming the new fenders, Airsoft BB Tire balancing info

Pg. 25: Lower rad hose, Front clip swap complete

Pg. 36: Cracked corner lens

Pg. 27: HCV delete, fooling with the ignition system

Pg. 28: Fuel pressure woes, new tools, the final death of "The abUsed"

Pg. 30: Sony CD player

Pg/ 31: Re-wired radio harness, soundbar install, alternator kaput

Pg. 32: 136 amp alternator, Meanlemons.com cables (XJwonders cables), 2016 Jeeptoberfest, extended LCA install, doorless mod

Pg. 33: C8.25 27 Spline axle w/ KJ disc brakes, MOPAR water pump

Pg. 34: Valve guide seals, LED dome light panels

Pg. 36: Oil pan gasket, header, fan hub bearing

Pg. 37: Broken header stud, head removal, bolt extraction, head gasket and head install,

Pg. 38 MeanLemons.com nutstrips, XJ correct hitch, MOPAR pump fail, fan hub flange fail, there's probably more failure in there that I'm missing

Pg. 39: Compressor/fan hub bracket, moar parts, new upper hose, new belt

Pg. 40: Lightbar #3 - the final cut

Pg. 42: Fabbed HiLift mounts on front bumper

Pg. 43: Upgraded CB Radio, axle u-joint misadventures, tire woes

Pg. 44: Fiddling with Flowmaster, New Treadwrights, More wheeling

Pg. 46: Acquisition of Rusty's steering

Pg. 47: 97+ Center console swap, ZJ front seats, "The Hooptie" branding

Pg. 48: More on the Rusty's Steering, steering knuckle caliper mount repair, front doorless mod, Dash clock install,dash bezel paint

Pg. 49: Fender trimming final phase, wheeling

Pg. 51: Hurricane Irma 2017, Fuel Pump woes, an idea never implemented (liftgate lights)

Pg. 52: FPR woes, fuel tank skid, Jeeptoberfest 2017

Pg. 53: MOAR Jeeptoberfest 2017

Pg. 54: Wheeling, trail breakage, Chrysler 8.25 swap prep

Pg. 55: Stop complaining about my turn signal lens now dangit!, 29 Spline TracLok 8.25 installed, JK Disc brakes installed, don't be a tool unless you're pressed into it

Pg. 56: Doing work WITH the Jeep instead of ON it, stole me a bumper

Pg. 60: Paint on the steering, Rusty's steering installed

Pg. 62: 'Smor wheeling, Mike's caged out XJ

Pg. 63: Fur sail, painting and pretty-fying

Basslicks

In case you guys couldn't tell, I named this build slow n steady because I'm not rushing to get this thing built. There's a lot of homebrew and lowbuck mods. I do have bigger plans for this, but it's gonna take a while to get there... slow n steady.

So as far as I knew, everything was good to go with my jeep so I wanted to concentrate on the sound system.

First order of business was to get rid of this tardo thing...





I would have probably liked it if it fit... or I had a show car. I just didn't really feel like it belonged in my jeep and the display wouldn't go back all of the way because of the dash so I got rid of it... later I found out that if I would have moved the AC controls I could have made it work. Meh well...

Got me a kenwood -



This looks much better. Sounds better too... probably. Can't tell through the blown speakers.





The drivers went out in the 3 ways...

These were in the front - cone completely separated from the surrounds... I tried repairing them with some speaker glue from parts express... turned out the drivers were still working, but messed up. Someone apparently didn't understand the concept of bass blockers or crossovers.





On a positive note, I ended up finding the original build sheet in the passenger side door when I took off the panel.



Doors were going to look like this for a while as I was waiting on speakers to be shipped. Went with a set of 3-way Sony Xplod 5.25's that I found on propertyroom.com for a song (no pun intended).





Ended up salvaging one of the original 5.25" infinity component speakers and I put it in the driver's side door.

I found a 6x9 and threw it down-firing style in the rear hatch just for something until I got my speakers in...





In case anyone is wondering... no, it doesn't sound good.

Speakers finally came in and I put the 5.25's in the front doors and the 1 component speaker in the hatch and 86'd the 6x9. Don't have any pictures of that, but I can dig up some pics of the 5.25's that I got if anyone really wants to know.

Basslicks

Took me a little bit to figure out what this was...



Quick search on here showed me that it was the IR receiver for keyless entry... in case anyone reading was wondering.

I don't have the remote and don't care to, so I moved on.

Found another guy at work that drives an XJ... so I provoked him



Flash forward a couple of weeks... came out from work for a break and found a little puddle of green under the Jeep. Yes I freaked out... I assumed the worst.





Finally tracked the source down to the water pump... it was coming right out of the weap hole ::whew::

Took me quite a few hours, but I got the water pump out and new one back in. Turns out the old one was the original chrysler pump. Lasted for a-hundred-sixty-some-odd-thousand miles... not bad. I had to replace the water pump that was in the 88 camaro that I had after about 87k miles.

Basslicks

We ended up having to move out of our house because the landlord was a deadbeat and the rent we were providing him wasn't being paid to the mortgage company. Turns out, our landlord was an employee of Taylor, Bean, and Whittaker... had like 3 properties. Ended up forfeiting two of them in his bankruptcy. Jerkwad.

So of course, I used the XJ in the move. It didn't have a hitch, so I picked one up at the JY for 40 bucks. Turns out it was for a Grand Cherokee not a Cherokee... frame rails are the same width, but the ones for the Cherokees have the down supports for the crossbeam on the inboard side of the rails so as to clear the shackle bolts... I remedied this by turning the bolts around so that the bolt heads were inboard and the nuts are outboard. Makes it a bit of a pain to change springs out because you have to drop the hitch - but oh well. I'll change it out one day. I did have a picture of that, but I can't find it.

During the move, I strapped a gate to the roof and wound up thinking I had a brilliant idea to make a roof rack out of it... gave a few people on here some good laughs when presented the idea. Wound up laughing at myself about it when I really thought about it... here's some pics







Turns out it functions much better as a gate... go figure

Basslicks

Got a set of near-useless cupholders from quadratec... sent a free sticker along with them.



Tried flexing on the dirt road that leads to my in laws' place... I failed miserably.... heres' the stupid gate on the roof again lol.





Decided to do some wheeling to see if I could do any better... didn't find anything to flex on, but it was a ton of fun. Here's a video that I took - I love laughing at my wife freakin' out on me... it's hilarious.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-u...520628.3gp.gif

On the road out, I thought it would be funny to drive at crusing speed through a puddle on the side of the road and cover my wife's side of the jeep with mud.... the puddle had other plans. It swallowed that half of my jeep... D'OH!





aaaand the aftermath... not bad for a stocker with 2wd and street tires.









I was addicted at that point. Wanted to go again.

Basslicks

A week later, I went out again. It was sloshier this time

Sorry the first pic is so small...





I didn't get stuck in this hole... but this ford did. I went through it before he did... picked a better line



But then later on in the trail, we came up to a section that was under a few inches of water, had a pretty soft bottom, and went around a curve. I kept up a pretty good amount of momentum and almost made it out... but 2wd, open diff, and street tires found its limitations. My front wheels were actually on solid ground at this point. That's how close I came.



Got a little bit dirtier this time around.

Basslicks

Decided I needed a cb and a good place to plug it in at...

My father in law gave me a Cobra 19 LTD Classic and I had a 5' Firestik that someone gave me. So I bought a spring for it and bought a custom fabbed mount that someone on here made and was selling (he's no longer on here though)

I also bought a cheapy 3 way multi-tap and USB port and hard-wired it up. Best part was that I did it because I thought the OEM port didn't work. Didn't find out until two years later that it only works with the jeep turned ON... should have known - it's a chrysler product.





Thing looks kinda goofy being so tall... but it gets out so that's all that matters

Basslicks

Well that's all I have time for right now... I'll post up some more tonight... there's mods coming, I promise.

PocketsEmpty

Nice! First mod.....ditch that d35 lol. You got quite a project here with 4x4 conversion and all that!

Basslicks

Thanks!

Yeah trust me... it's on the list I'm converting it over to 4wd before I worry about the D35. Won't be putting bigger tires on it until much later on so the D35 will be fine with my 235's for a while. Once I think about lifting it I'm either doing a built 8.25 or 8.8. Whichever one I can get the best deal on 'cause they're both awesome when they're built... and my rig will be fine with either one 'cause I'm most likely not going to wind up seeing anything too hardcore.

94XjSport94

4wd swap FTW

Basslicks

Heck yes!!! Can't wait to finally get the front axle doin' some work!

So I said there'd be mods coming... I wasn't lying.

It's nothing major, but we all know how crappy the OEM headlights and headlight wiring are.

It's even worse when you park next to this...

low beams


high beams


His aren't HID's either... they're similar to E-Codes and he beefed up the wiring with a homebrew wiring harness and relays.




Same concept as the Putco harness - he just used marine grade wiring and found his own relays.

Some more comparison pics




Then he left and I decided to play around with a 55w halogen hand-held spot/flood that I have that plugs into the cig lighter





So since even my handheld light overpowered my headlights, I went home and immediately started searching for lighting upgrades.

In the meantime - here's an easter egg for you... literally.

We had an egg hunt during easter and someone hid this cool camo one on my mirror. No one found it and it rode around right there for about 2 weeks until I was talking to someone out near my jeep one night and stopped mid-sentence when I spotted it.



Gotta love it

Basslicks

Okay, so like I said, I started researching lighting upgrades. I've always liked HID headlights. First vehicle I ever saw them on was the Lincoln Mark VII in the late 90's. No projectors... just headlight housing with excellent light output.

So I found a set of MSR headlight housings on the cheap on eBay and then found a set of HID's. Unfortunately, I hadn't researched long enough to realize I need the bi-xenon kit... but oh well

Here's what I ended up with:



Between the kit and the MSR's I was out a total of 140 bucks.















I did have to modify the ruber gaskets of the MSR housings to be able to fit the HID bulbs...



Overall result was amazing... I didn't upgrade the wiring, just the housings and the kit









I didn't get any pictures comparing it to my friend's but even he said he was thinking about switching to HID after seeing mine... he even went out and bought a set for his wife's honda. He got the bi-xenon kit though so he actually had hi-beams. I've found that these put out enough light that I don't need high beams

I know the question is coming up, so let me go ahead and pre-empt it. No, I don't get flashed all of the time driving down the road. I probably get flashed a few times a year... which isn't any more than how much I've gotten flashed just by driving a taller truck.

I love the way these work... I've had them for over 2 years now and surprisingly, they've never given me any problem. I do need to redo the wiring at the battery terminal though. If I had it to do over again though, I would have just upgraded my harness, converted over to the composite housings and gotten a set of H4 halogens... then saved up for a set of Trucklites. Too much controversy involved in the HIDs

Basslicks

Here's a shot of the front end with them on... and a little gratuitous poser flexing







Head on view looks like it's painful, but that's only 'cause the little mulch pile my front end is parked on is angling the jeep right up into my face.



Seeing this picture kinda depresses me a little bit. It's a powerline easement that has a huge backfill pile at the end of it. Was a pretty cool place to go play around, but illegal dumping has plagued the area so badly that it's almost no fun going down it anymore.



Extreme mulch flexing... any further and I would have rolled it



EDIT: They've cleaned up and bulldozed the easement, roped off either end of it and created a large debris berm as well as a trench on the other side of the berm preventing unauthorized entry. They have also began trucking out the backfill... perhaps in a construction project elsewhere. This is what happens when you act like an idiot and throw trash all over the place

Tread lightly my friends.

Basslicks

Heard everyone talking about removing the rear swaybar. Me being a former driver of pickup truck and being used to leaf spring in the rear with no swaybar, I couldn't even fathom why there was a rear swaybar on these... I looked under the jeep and sure enough, there it was. GONE! Didn't even hesitate - didn't make sense to have it.

I wasn't yet brave enough to remove the front one. But I had to test out the flex results:





Stuffed the rear tire... I really like this shot






If only I had the front sway disconnects then... I would have had the front left stuffed too... Unfortunately this little asphalt pile isn't there anymore





::END POSER FLEX::