Lockers in the axles and armor (skids and body armor).

 

Pretty much was 93gc40 said...
1. Change ALL your fluids
2. Change your filters
3. Change your spark plugs

These 3 things alone will save you headaches in the future. Start it all fresh and just keep up with preventative and regular maintenance. A haynes/chilton's manual can go a long way.

4. Research and "build" your jeep before you buy any type of offroad related product. By this I mean plan it out. Research short arm lifts vs long arms; lift sizes; tire sizes; bumpers; winches; armor; lockers; gears.....all of it. Know what you want to do and go from there.
5. Buy/build some armor for the diffs, t-case, and gas tank. Also invest in recovery items (minimum of a hitch with a d-ring tongue, front tow hooks, 2 tow straps).
6. Wheel it stock. You'll be a smarter, better offroad driver if you learn and drive it stock for a few trips.
7. Finally allow the addiction to take over and build it. Just remember, there's ALWAYS something more you can do to it.

 

So 4 hi gets me part time how do i get full time?

 

4lo

 

Full-time 4WD is only available on the NP242 transfer case, Chrysler called this the "Select-Trac" option. "Command-Trac" is part-time only and the shifter has 2H-4H-N-4L. In 4H and 4L both front and rear drive shafts are mechanically locked to spin at the same rate. 4L reduces gear from 1:1 to 2.72:1 (well, in my model, or something like that) for extra torque

Also, grats on the XJ and welcome to the forum! Pay attention here, I have learned lots!

 

OK, what are lockers in the axle and what do they provide?

 

Air lockers, skid plates, etc. Stock suspension is a Jeep is still pretty tough unless you're going to be crawling vertical faces or something like that, and I probably wouldn't pick an XJ for rock crawling.

Lockers in the axle(s) provide you with traction on every wheel even if one wheel loses traction and spins. You can engage/disengage lockers depending on the type--air lockers, mechanical, electronic, etc.) Ever get a RWD car stuck in snow, where one wheel spins and you get no traction out of the other one? If that happens in a mudhole or on a gravel slope you are stuck.

 

It's 12 years old, even with low miles. Start with changing the fluids, give it a tune-up and then drive it like you stole it.

 

can i take wheels and rims from liberty and work on xj?