Pilot68

I'm new to this forum but not car forums. I recently picked up a 96' Cherokee with 210k miles on it from a friend's dad. He had it sitting for about 3 years in his backyard until I rescued it.

The gas tank was pretty much empty (probably rusted out now) so i added a full tank along with some seafoam. Did an oil change. Replaced the starter and battery. It fired right up on the first crank, no smoke, smooth idle. No tire rot and positive brake pressure. It drove the 30 miles home just fine but the front end seems to sway and wobble a lot and there's a bit of a grinding noise.

After jacking it up the front drivers side wheel hub seems to have a lot of play. I ordered two Timken wheel hub assemblies. Hopefully that will fix what I'm feeling.

It is lifted but I don't know what all is stock and what's aftermarket. I believe the lift was done in 2006. I'm not familiar with Cherokees. I'm assuming some of the bushings and joints need to be replaced and wanted to do them along with the hubs but I don't know if they're stock parts or not.

They're not great photos but does anyone have any idea on what's been upgraded here? Recommendations?

Already ordered and plan to replace front rotors and pads, spark plugs, wires, distributor, fuel tank, fuel pump, fuel filter, surpentine belt, lift gate supports.

Pilot68

Pilot68

Pilot68

LACK

Looks like the older style Skyjacker suspension. Those control arms, coils, etc all look like it. I don't know a whole lot about them, but theres definitely some good parts on that jeep, looks very clean too.

Cajun1

Wow! Nice jeep for one that's been sitting a while. I agree with Lack that it looks like some kind of skyjacker kit. Looks like springs, shocks, sway bar links, and upper and lower links were part of the package. Can't tell if the track bar is new or not but it looks like a track bar relocation bracket has been welded on where the stock one was. The play you feel could be the beginning of "death wobble". Easiest way to check it is to have someone turn the wheel side to side while you watch and look for any loose connections at the tie rods, track bar (usual suspect), pitman arm, and ball joints. Also, if you do have an adjustable track bar, make sure its adjusted correctly where everything is in line. Axle should not be pulled to one side. That's about the limit of my knowledge on the subject. LOL.

Pilot68

I guess these are all OEM stock parts since the thread got moved to the OEM section lol... I would have thought a question about aftermarket parts would have gone in the modified section.

I want to replace the joints but don't know if OEM will fit these aftermarket parts. Anyone have any idea?

nujeepguy

you might want to lift carpet to see how much rust is there . usually a lot

Pilot68

Surprisingly there's almost no rust anywhere!

Will OEM joints work with this setup?