85climber

Well I will be purchasing my first jeep monday, its a 1985 2dr 2.5L 4wd cherokee, its currently non running due to eating up the distributor gear after a oil pump failure hopefully I can get it running without a complete overhaul. The body is very straight and interior is in great condition, I will only have 350.00 in it so I can afford to put some money into it. To start off I have a few questions.

What all wheels from other jeeps will fit the 85?

Will I need a body lift to run 31's, can the 2.5L pull 32's at interstate speeds (70)?

I noticed that your able to lift the shifter up, how is this fixed also is it expensive?

are the 2.5L and 4wd systems in this model pretty reliable?

I found a master rebuild kit on ebay that includes oil pump,timing set, and camshaft for 405.00 shipped is this priced about right?


Thanks,
-Nathan

I look forward to getting to know you guys and making friends !

85climber

if anyone can answer any of these questions i'd be grateful

skookxj

[QUOTE=85climber;428140]Well I will be purchasing my first jeep monday, its a 1985 2dr 2.5L 4wd cherokee, its currently non running due to eating up the distributor gear after a oil pump failure hopefully I can get it running without a complete overhaul. The body is very straight and interior is in great condition, I will only have 350.00 in it so I can afford to put some money into it. To start off I have a few questions.

What all wheels from other jeeps will fit the 85?

Will I need a body lift to run 31's, can the 2.5L pull 32's at interstate speeds (70)?

I noticed that your able to lift the shifter up, how is this fixed also is it expensive?

are the 2.5L and 4wd systems in this model pretty reliable?

I found a master rebuild kit on ebay that includes oil pump,timing set, and camshaft for 405.00 shipped is this priced about right?

Well the bolt pattern for cherokee is going to be 5 on 4.5 .....so any stock cherokee wheel, a vast amout of the wranglers,and possibly, not 100%, 97 n older grand cherokees(own a 01' and i know its not a match) .....also ford rangers and exploders are also 5x4.5 bolt pattern ....any wheel on that bolt pattern thats all u need to know , alot of us move to a 15x8 or 15x10 inch wheel with a little bit larger backspacing to give to jeeps more stability bc the wheels are wider and the back spacing makes the tires sit out wider than stock, inexpensive, look great, and take a beating.

As far as getting 31s under it......with-out cutting fenders ...3 inches will get the job done...and well i cant say whether it would get up n go on the highway......ur not getting 32s under ne less than 4-4.5 inches with some trimming possibly....as far as speeds on highway.....or the highway at all....its not a sports car and ur putting larger tires on it....u would need to put gears in to make it run smoothly on highway ne ways...and your not going to want to go 70 once its lifted........motor wise your walking a fine like im not to sure about to the 2.5's but it will make the motor work a bit harder..... the 4.0 can but u have to remember its not just about the motor ...gears, transfercase ,tranny etc they all work together and without going the full mile or cutting some corners can end up damaging alot of other parts ....it all depends what your plans are with the jeep

skookxj

yea that price sounds competative.....now your rears....yeah there solid but there was many differnt opptions available and some are better than others ....crawl under n take a look.....im not sure on the 2.5 but u may have a dana35 in the rear and dana 30 up front....either way there easy to recognize the differnt rears....if its a dd for you than you'l be fine but if u want to hit heavy trails you would be going in the locker direction or maby n upgrade to dana 44's rears (1/2tons}...you need to deside what derection your going to go with ur jeep....once you make ur choice than you can build up your rig accordingly......if yor just want the look you can do it inexpensively....but also if your building one up your going to have to spend money ...if you want it to last out there......these xj's are great offroaders no question...but you cant cut corners or ul spend more time under it rather than out driving and enjoying it.....it is a process....best luck and welcome

85climber

thanks for the replies! This jeep will be my DD and I drive 30 miles a day to work and then in the fall I will be driving about 60 miles a day because I will be starting school. Im not expecting it to be fast I just need to be able to drive on the interstate without slowing people down.

I will probably just go with 31x10.50's I needs the jeep to function mainly for my daily driving needs but Id also like to take it on some light trails and mud nothing to extreme just some good ol fun.

I seen a 3" lift on ebay that consisted of coil spacers in front and shacles in the rear, is this the route usually takin for 3" lifts?? Also would I need to altar the drivetrain any to use this lift and how would it look with 31's?

thanks!

skookxj

i have 4.5 with 31s n i can burry the speedometer it'll be fine.....if your going to lift....stay away from the polybushing spacers and lift shackles its only gunna make the assend sag worse over time and its going to ride like crap.....a 3in kit with a new rear leafs and coils are abundant and afordable....shop around b4 you buy...also might sugjest looking into an adjustable track bar .....it'l catch up with you neways so its better to do it right the first time...ne q's just ask glad i could assist

85climber

Should I go ahead and buy a complete overhaul kit for the 2.5 or should I just swap the distributor and oil pump and see how well it runs.... in a way i wanna rebuild it if im gonna tear it apart but id also like to spend that money on something else if I can get by with just getting a couple of parts lol are the 2.5's reliable or trouble prone?

XJ JJT

2.5L is going to be trouble they don't have enough power and so you get alot of problems.

The price is cheap but by the time you are done and all of your time you would likely be better off getting a 4.0L.

If you get a 4.0L when you are done you will have a great jeep that can go almost anywhere.

fishtaconc

you can buy a 4.0 for about the same as that overhaul kit, if im not mistaken the 2.5 had 4.10 gears, so if you can find a 4.0 you would have a nice combo. look on car-part.com for a 91-95 cherokee engine (4.0). in my area they go for $300-$425. good luck

85climber

not very interested in swapping the complete drivetrain, im fairly confident the 2.5 will suffice my needs, 31's are not that heavy.... theres yotas around here pulling 35's with 4 bangers not saying its not hard for them but they def. do it.

thanks,
-Nathan