utfan

at the moment i have a 96 Cherokee with the 4.0L and 5 speed, but it is only 2 wheel drive. and i was just wondering what kind of a difference in traction i would get by putting in a locker, would it be sufficient for just going muddling and driving around in loose sand or should i look for a 4x4???

Gatchmo5710

It will help aton... but 4x4 is still better. others will argue but thats cuz they have POS 2wd car.

93gc40

I had a locker in one my ZJs it was a 2x4 wheeled the heck out of it. Yes 4wd is best offroad, but a locked 2wd can go along way. Besides it adds some challenge. Was always fun to see 4x4 guys stuggle up a hill or some obsticle. I would do the same hill or obsticle with my locked 2wd, easier, only becasuse I took the time and effort to find the best line. I don't do mud, but have seen plenty of 2wd mud trucks.

utfan

hmmmm so it seems that a locker would be nice, paired with some decent 31's or something for what im hoping to do. is there anything else that i would need to do a little wheeling aside from tires and lift? and im just wondering what kind of a difference in low end power would i have from an atomatic compared to the manual 5sp, because i can find some decent deals on 4x4 with the automatics but nothing with a 5 spd (which i just like driving more)

o and all this is because im curious of what i can to do my jeep , im not holding myself to spending money on this.

fishtaconc

with a locker you will have the same amount of traction as a 4x4 with open diffs, as stated along with some good tires, you can do a lot

2door97

i have fun 2wheelin stuff with a locked rear. i have more fun in 2wheel then in 4wheel at times

superj

i don't even put it in 4x4 while off road. the only time i ever use it is if the guy in front of me had problems. here, in corpus, no one in a cherokee uses 4x4 on the beach. cherokees just float on top of the sand

utfan

:O cool so if i were to go with the locker what is a good relatively cheap ($1500) set up??? like for tires, good lockers themselves, lift even.


and on a side note what are some good ways to get a bit more power, when i got my jeep last year it surprised me by how much torque i had, but lately it has started to feel kind of well...just less, and that is something i would like to fix relatively soon

and on a side side note :P anybody have some tips on making or how to get a cheap rear tire carrier??? i really how they look

fishtaconc

On sand youll be fine with a locker, AIR DOWN!, I have a 4wd tacoma and go on the beach here in NC , my buddy has a Tacoma prerunner with the Elocker he has no problems as long as he airs down. X2on the XJs floating on the sand mine can so the beach in 2wd as well

superj

junkyard for the tire carrier. where are you at? austin? good junk yard on the south side of san antonio. pick n pull/


rough country series ll 3.5 inch lift is only 400 or so. a locker, no idea. find a wrecked liberty and look for the writing on the rear diff cover. i think it says lock or something on it in grease pencil. i forget what my wife's says on it but its from the factory like that. weld some perches onto the tubes and there you go

spittinimage

Zone offroad 3 inch $330, aussie locker about $300 depends on if you have d35 or chrys 8.25

utfan

ooo nice turn out :P

i like the look of that rough country lift kit, ive only seen positive things on those. and i have the c8.25 rear axle, so whats good for that?? im looking at the aussie, lock-right, and powertrax lookers. which one of those is the the best for the money??? and those can all be installed with average tools right??

also i live in san antonio so ill definitely check out that pick and pull this weekend and see if i can find some nice toys


last side note (i promise) my dash does not have a tachometer in it and its normally not am issue but every since i put in a new sound system i lose track of how high my rpms are when the music is up. so im just wondering if Cherokees have hook ups for a tac already in them somewhere, cause i would like to put one in, or get a new gauge cluster from that pick and pull place.

thanks for all the great info

fishtaconc

Aussie for the 8.25, search gauge cluster swap there have been may threads I believe a couple of wrtie ups on this subject

utfan

oh ya search feature, forgot about that :P

still please keep comments comming

utfan

when i was locking at lockers i saw that some say "work with 29 spine" how do i tell if i have that, and will something like that also work with 27 or 28 or whatever is stock?

edit: nvm i think i found out that i have a 27 spline from http://jeephorizons.com/tech/xjstockspecs.html can somebody please tell me if that is correct