If you want a trail rig I think that jeep looks fine. If I wanted a nice jeep it would take alot of work

To tell if you have a cracked head/blown head gasket look at the oil and coolant. The oil should be oil colored, not milky. The coolant should not be milky or have bubbles (check when engine is warm and running). To be sure, you can send an oil sample off for analysis but that would take some time.

Thx-Ace

 

I would walk away from this one their plenty more Xjs in the sea!!!!!

 

thanks for the tips man! It would definitely be a trail rig, prolly pick up 2 doors from junkyard, run the trails with the doors off. Yeah theres nicer XJs with beautiful scratch-less paint but ide never take it off road. Like i said, i just want it to be mechanically sound. Im going to look at it saturday, we are meeting, but it will be at operating temp when i see it. Isnt it a bad idea to remove the radiator cap when the engine is at operating temp? i could still check oil, but how else would i check for blown HG at operating temp. Yes i plan on crawling underneath it as well to check the floor pans and for any bad external leaks.

EDIT: apparently there is a tool called a block tester that can be rented from autozone, but it is necessary to purchase a fluid seperately that is 8 bucks. Remove radiator cap, stick tool in top of radiator, fill with blue liquid, and it "sniffs" for traces of combustion gas. If the liquid turns green, there is a leak somewhere in the engine allowing combustion gases to mix with the coolant. Definitely gonna take this with me. 25 bucks to rent, all money given back when tool returned. 8 bucks total and ill know indefinitely if it has a blown head gasket or not.

 

I start the engine with the radiator cap already off. If the engine is not "hot" you should be able to remove the cap when warm.

I have never heard of the tool you describe but it sounds great.

Good Luck!

Ace

 

alright guys i went to look at the jeep today! Its quite a truck. First thing i checked was the unibody. It was EXCELLENT. from the front all the way to the rear where the trailer hitch connects was in great shape! no rust and looked very straight! Got to drive it, drove great besides the walking the big tires give. Strong transmission! Went into gear in a split, no delay no slipping.

It was around 37 degrees outside when i cranked it up. It cranked up first time, and blew white smoke out the exhaust. But the smoke didn't smell sweet like anti freeze. While i was driving it i kept an eye out for the exhaust smoke, and it went away shortly after starting the drive. When it reached operating temp there was no smoke at all. It idled for a good 15 minutes after i drove it and no smoking at all. Motor sounded pretty healthy, had a little noise it was making when it idled but i revved it and didnt hear any rod knock or anything. Checked the oil, it wasnt new but didnt have any water or anything in it. Looked like perfectly normal oil. No foam or buildup on bottom of oil cap either. overall i like it. here are some more pics i took. The tires are BF Goodrich and are brand new

 

got the cherokee today. Drove it home. Drove like a car even with the 33"s, even at 70mph. Only thing is the tires are too big for the current amount of lift (only about 2inches im thinking). When i go up a hill sideways and get the back to flex, it tucks the tire up in the fender and makes it rub. Also the front tires hit the inner structure when turning when flexed out. And one other problem is the transfer case shifter needs to be adjusted, in 4wd Part time its actually in 2wd, in 4wd full-time, its actually in Part time 4x4, and in 4x4 Low Range its actually in neutral.

 

I think you did good but only time will tell. Let us know how it goes! Thx-Ace

 

man this whole tire rubbing thing is killing me. every time i take it up a hill or try to turn it sharp its rubbing. What do i need to do to fix this? how much lift would i need to run the 33s? any newby tips you can give me is greatly appreciated!

 

Hey there. I lost you, still working on my "thread management" skills. Oh, just...here in CA you can always go through the process, "application for title" and inspections and what-not to get a clean current title. Academic at this point anyway. Slick761 did a trick job cutting out his fenders and having it look, well,,,Slick!

 

question, i was reading about extended shackels to get some lift... Opinions? I have 2 inch lift blocks in the rear, what if i left the 2 inch blocks and bought extended shackles designed for 2inches of lift? Would that work? would i need anything else besides new shocks on the rear? This whole lifting a vehicle is new to me so im close to clueless thanks!

Edit: i should add i just discovered the lift blocks are made from very thick aluminum or steel, dont know which one

 

Jeep has been doing great so far. Ive been driving it quite a bit and have had no problems except it loves its oil (about a quart every 100 miles) and smokes sometimes. My dad (mechanic of 30 years) seems to think it has a minor cracked head, but nothing too serious. It drips oil pretty bad leaves a puddle underneath it. has enough power to spin the 33s on dry pavement. I put plugs/wires in it and did a few things to it. Fixed the rubbing by bending the body seam that was rubbing. Still have a little hesistation/miss on acceleration and under load at high speeds when the torque converter is locked. Took it offroading a few times did great on climbing steep hills. not been in much mud yet.

oh and my rear leaf springs are sagging pretty bad, especially the passenger side, might be getting some lift leafs


before the roof rack^

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=38101cf5e5

 

That XJ will have to have at least some lift to run 33's under it, even with the wheel wells cut out. 33's will usually rub on both sides on the sway bar ends near where the sway bar bolts up to the sway bar links. My '95 XJ has a 4" lift and I'm running 31's, and they still touch a little once in a while if I have the wheel three turns over.
To run 33's I'd say you need at least 4.5" 0r 5" of lift.

 

yeah it has 2 inches of lift under it (coil spacers and lift blocks) The rear tires only rub when bottomed out because the previous owner removed the bumpstops. as far as rubbing, they barely, and i mean barely rub the front sway bar, only when turning as sharp as possible and moving. Also they rub the inner wheel well a bit when turned as far as possible while the suspension is flexed out. It needs more lift, im shooting for 4 inches max. And im pretty mechanically inclined (i do all my repairs), helped build motors, and fully swapped a 2.2L subaru impreza motor into a 2.5L subaru outback, after installing new cams, seals, etc...

 

Sounds like you can handle it without any problem.

 

i hope so haha ima run it till it absolutely has to be repaired though because it runs pretty good now. Theres a few low mileage engines for dirt cheap floatin around the classifieds here. The car i traded for this jeep i bought for exactly 1600, but that was because i didnt know it had a salvage title. The fact that it had a salvage title was attracting the low-ballers and so i opted to trade it to someone who actually wanted it to drive and could fix the little bit of body damage. But the body on this jeep is pretty rough but the frame is in perfect shape with absolutely no rust. And to further my knowledge, what # head should i look for? will renesis heads or 96+ fit my engine? and yeah my dad seems to think the head is cracked because the symptoms dont quite match a head gasket, but he said it would probably go quite a while with a cracked head

thank ya