So pretty shortly here in atleast a good month i am planning on overhauling my jeep big time.

New front end rebuild kit from moog along with sway bar bushings, upper and lower control arms, wheel bearings, U joints, shocks and then a new entire exhaust system, Brakes front and back with new calipers, hoses and drum brake hardware (no im not doing the disc conversion....yet) and maybe springs but mine feel fine. First question.... of many. What tools will i need for all of this? Second. should i go with struts or just keep my spring and shock setup in the front. I was gonna go with bilstein shocks. And then for my brakes i was gonna buy everything at napa with mid grade quality stuff. Then with the u joints and all the bushings and that i listed should i buy from moog? Then also some suspension parts have different measurements on their website such as the sway bar bushings and the wheel bearings. Mine is the 99 cherokee but i know they changed a few things mid way so i have no clue what exactly my jeep is in termsof parts to buy with the measurements. Then My exhaust system im getting new 02 sensors along wiht them but should i also buy a header too or just keep my original one? I dont know its condition or if its cracked or what. This is my major list with the odds and ends being later such as a tiny coolant leak somewhere around the front of the engine. Then i was planning on doing an injector upgrade but that will be way later i want a mechanically sound jeep first. Any recommended parts or brands would be appreciated in this as well. I do have death wobble but with bad tires or when i hit my brakes at 60+ mph so i want that fixed first it doesnt show up with new tires. Then for the u joints anything worth noting about the process? And then a steering dampener any specific brand i should get? Im getting the one moog has listed but a better one would be suggested, I dropped my upcountry wish and wanna keep things stock for the moment. Also should i replace my leaf springs as well? I noticed when my jeep was on a lift the driver side tire was raises a little more than the passenger side so im sure its worn right? Again mid gradeish stuff i dont want cheap parts that will break or wear quickly i plan on keeping my jeep for a while and for the moment can afford them as i wanna keep it going till i get through college and get a newer car..... And also before you say NO!!!!!!! i am NOT getting rid of my best friend lol.

 

Good lord my man! That's a lot of questions.

This is what I have to say for now: buy spicer ujoints. I prefer the non-greaseable ones but they're all good. I would probably buy spicer ball joints as well. Rubber bushings and steering linkage go Moog. Wheel bearings, Timken. I recently went with Centric premium rotors and semi-metallic brake pads and I'm very happy with them, but I'm sure NAPA has good stuff as well. Can't go wrong with Bilstein, IMO. I've done most of the same stuff in the past year, so if you have any specific questions, fire away.

 

Don't be like me and wish new leafs were put on while the breaks and shocks are out of the way. I'm suspicious that the mechanic who replaced my breaks and shocks only looked at my rear springs when it was up on the lift. I want to stick to stock but expect I'll be happy with a noticeable but natural lift when the new leaf springs are on. I'd suggest new brake backing plates would go a long way in finishing off all of that new hardware you're getting. I've found them pretty cheaply and easily online.

 

How did your jeep feel afterwards? I mean mine feels somewhat tight after i replaced the track bar but i know it needs alot more work than just a bandaid fix. And how much would it cost to replace all the u joints in my jeep? Its 4wd so 6 joints? And thats what i suspected if i replaced the leaf springs and front springs itll give my jeep a little more lift, But if they arent to bad there wouldnt be a point to replace them right? Also backing plates? you mean the little shields behind the front discs? Never thought about those and also would it be worth it to invest in some rust protection for my new parts as well and anything else? I live in florida and not in snowy areas so rust wouldnt be a big issue correct? And yeah im planning on dumping about 3 to 4k in my jeep but to me it feels like its worth it as it isnt like a disposable car today. Thats why i kept it in the first place lol.... Just wish it wasnt an angry drunk with gas

 

My Jeep is riding great after new shocks, sway bar, brake pads, rotors, front hub assemblies, and u-joints. Still need the spring because mine are nearly flat. U-joints average $200-250 at the shop. I'm sure you can clean up those brake shields easily if they are all there and not rusted out like mine. Revisit the rustproofing threads to decide what you want to do with that. Like for me, you can decide on that after you complete the overhaul.

 

If you have a stock drive line (no custom rear drive shaft) you will have 7 joints all together. 2 axle joints up front, 3 on the front drive shaft, and 2 on the rear. They will cost about $25-35 for quality name joints (think Spicer) give or take and any sales you might find.

For those with a slip-yoke eliminator and a custom rear drive shaft, they will probably have 1 additional joint in the rear drive shaft.

Every joint on the XJ can be changed in about 3-4 hours for someone that is a bit new to things. I think someone who has done them before could do every joint in about 1.5 hours if they hussle. It is rare to have to do them all at once though.

If the front drive shaft is being redone with joints, it is wise to also replace the centering yoke that sits in the cardan joint (that strange joint on the front drive shaft with the 2 u-joints next to eachother). That is typically in the $50-85 range (depending on source and sales).

If a shop gets $250 to do a rear drive shaft u-joint, that is a pretty good margin job for them. Because they could have that joint replaced in about 15-20 minutes. Axle u-joints I could see being a little longer because of getting things like calipers and rotors out of the way. But I understand that many folks get very nervous when it comes to things like u-joints.

But if a person has ever done brakes before, then I guarantee that they can do every joint on the vehicle. After you do just one, they are quite simple and go pretty quickly.

 

I was going to say, 200-250 sounds pricey for u-joints. Spicer joints on Amazon are 20-25 each depending on which ones.

I found the u-joints to be super painful doing myself the first time. I think that I'd have an easier time nowadays. Also I was dealing with New England rust, so it always makes things a real pain.

 

Mine were all 20 year original factory joints. New York rust throughout. The first time, I was VERY intimidated. It took me WAY too long to get them out, because I didn't know what I was doing.

Now, I can get the worst joints out in about 2 minutes.

Keep one of the u-joint bodies (remove the caps and toss them) as a tool after you do them. They are wonderful for knocking out other u-joints. You basically grasp it in your hand and place it on a cap of the joint to remove, then you hit the other end of solidly with a mini-sledge. I usually hit the joints with Kroil first and let them sit for about 2 minutes in hopes that some of it will get in.

For some reason, due to their density (joints are made of very dense heavy steel), they transmit force extremely well. So even the most stuck joints can not resist a good whack. I use a c-press as well (too much hassle getting it all situated, then backing it off after each joint), so the u-joint-as-a-tool method is my preferred way now.

In any case, unless someone does a lot of wheeling, joints are not an all the time kind of thing (every couple years perhaps). So a few hours to save hundreds and hundreds is a pretty good investment.

 

I helped my dad replace his u joints on his chevy blazer and had to heat up the sucker to remove that plastic retaining pin but im kind of afraid to do this myself as my jeep is my daily if i had another car then yes i would just throw myself at it lol but wouldnt it be worth it to get everything done at once since i would have all that crap out of the way? I may even take all my old parts to the scrap yard and maybe get some cash back lol. and 206k miles im sure all my stock parts are well worn and want to replace them. I am just clueless on exactly what i kind of need tool wise and extra small part wise. wonder how much it is to rent a car if it would be an option for a week.Also 7 joints? I didnt take a peek under there yet to check but i thought it would be 6.

 

I rebuilt almost the entire underside of my XJ over the first year that I owned it. I had never worked on a Jeep before, and had never done suspension work. After having done it, I can CONFIDENTLY tell you that I would never pay someone to do suspension work for me on the Jeep.

Because it is just too easy. Their book times (what they charge you for) ends up being too inflated for the XJ. They would be making a killing off me if I took these jobs to them. I'm not just saying that. Also some of their parts pricing is just ridiculous. They wanted over $300 each for steering knuckles (and we aren't even talking about labor yet). I got one side for $50 (thank you amazon warehouse deals) and the other for about $100 (basic amazon purchase - everyday price). Steering knuckles are just cast chunks of low quality steel with a little machining, and no moving parts, with about as much metal by weight as a good brake drum has.

The shops know people are intimidated by it, and fair enough on some vehicles they can be more involved and harder, but the XJ is quite simple in its suspension and steering components, and once you get over the fear of "hurting" it...the suspension ends up being one of the easiest facets of the vehicle to work on. It requires very little finesse to work on, the tools are basic, and the parts are relatively cheap even for good name brands. Heck, even my very first "at home" alignment using nothing more than a couple pieces of wood and a tape measure got me to within a few hundredths of the specified settings (I had a computerized alignment done after to check my work). On a stock-ish suspension XJ, the shop literally adjusts 1 item during an alignment (2 if the steering wheel is crooked).

My XJ has been an 80/day daily driver since the day I bought it. It has never missed a day of work, and like I said, I have rebuilt almost the entire underbody (including leaf springs and a small lift). Of course, I broke the work up into manageable phases so that each job could be done safely before the weekends were over. But that also helped me take advantage of sales on the items I needed.

If you can't or don't want to. I respect that. But if you want to...but are unsure of yourself. I encourage you!

 

Like Jordan suggests, it might be easiest to break it down to smaller batches of jobs.
For example, you can do the front brakes, hub and axle u-joints at the same time.
Then do all the tie-rods, track bar and stuff another time, etc.

 

Considering how easy it is to pull the driveshafts, if you want to get the joints swapped by a shop, it might behoove you to take the shafts out and bring them the shafts and new Spicer joints.

If you have 4wd, you have 2 joints in the front axles (behind the hub), 2 joints at the end of the front driveshaft (I think.. unless the cardan connects to the xfer case), 2 in the cardan joint on the front shaft and two on the rear driveshaft.
If there's a cardan joint in the rear shaft then that's extra, but typical rear shafts is just the 2.

 

You have an extra joint in there. Lol. But hey, its good to have a spare on hand the first time you do them right! (the front shaft has 3 all-together. 2 of which are in the cardan - which yes - connects to the transfer case).

 

I have to agree that the joints don't fail that often on a non-wheeling/DD type Jeep. I put 305k on my TJ and never had a u-joint go bad on the front shaft. I did the axle joints once and the rear driveshaft once.

On my 95 the axles have 295k on them and both the axle joints are tight and smooth Spicer's - I don't know if they're original or not, but they're not recent.

 

This made me LOL