Here is a pic of my 88. Its running 31x1050s so its lifted a lil??? How much I do not know? Previous owner didn't either. There are lots of little things wrong with it. Stuff I can do. But the steering is awful. Loose as crap. My first question is this. How much does it appear to be lifted? Second, what all do I need to totally rebuild the steering? And if I go to a 4.5 lift will some of the steering components need to be swapped when going to a taller lift? And whos got quality parts? I kinda really have no clue on this one. Need some solid advice as Ive never done any steering work. Shes got 240k on her so Ima go out on a limb and say its time. Thanks in advance.

 

assuming your drivetrain and engine are all optimized, skid plates or rocker guards maybe? Have you done the headlight harness upgrade? If not, I highly recommend it - makes even sealed beams so much brighter. Traction aids like lockers, swaybar disconnects? Custom shade awning to clip onto that nice tophat rack? (I'd make one that rolls up and straps to the rack.)

kinda hard to be specific with just one pic and no background info tho...

 

Roadworthy stuff. Ive gone thru the coolant system and changed fluids and filters. I haven't gone thru brakes or the steerings. Much less the driveshafts or axles. I went to pull a part yest and got ssome trim and a quarter glass. The interior is mint. It runs good surprisingly. Please tell me more about the headlight harness. The driver side front blinker was working. Now I cant get anything out of the socket. Im not concerned with cosmetic stuff as of yet. Any advice on anything is appreciated.

 

Never owning a Jeep Im just trying to minimize the goofups.

 

hehe you added info while I was posting. Once you go over about 3" lift (which is what that looks like, maybe only 2") you will need an adjustable track bar, longer shocks, maybe a drop pitman arm and longer brake lines (YJ lines work nice I hear). If you are rebuilding the steering, I always say upgrade when you replace, so a HD steering setup with the tie-rod and new tie-rod-ends and stuff would be the way to go. You'll probably be looking at new ball joints at some point too. At the very least you could just put new tie-rod ends (3 of them) on the steering linkage and that ought to tighten things up a bit. Maybe replace the bushings on the control arms too if they are sloppy. New bushings and/or links for the sway bar will help a bit too and are likely in order at that mileage. If the links look stock, adjustable or extended links will help "soften" the feel of the front suspension a tad, and get you slightly better traction/articulation.

I've used Rubicon Exp. parts on my build primarily and so far they are awesome. I know there are other good quality parts out there too so I'd do a search on the particular parts before you order them cuz sometimes one brand does one part better than the rest. When replacing bushings, OEM rubber will give a smoother ride but polyurethane will last longer and be stiffer but make more noise or require more grease/attention, flex-joints or johnny-joints will give you better axle flex/articulation but can ride harsher or make more noise.

 

So if I did tie rod ends(3) and ball joints and a new steering stabilizer. Assumuming I leave the lift that's on it in place. Would that be all I need? Maybe bushings?

 

there are some good write-ups on here about the Putco headlight harness. I got mine on Amazon and it took about 20 minutes to install.

If you haven't looked at driveshafts or axles, then you will probably want to prepare for replacing u-joints. I'd take the rear driveshaft off, grease the splines on the slip-yoke (Transfercase side of shaft) and check for play in the u-joints. The front axle u-joints and front DS u-joints would be worth a check too. When replacing u-joints I have only had good luck with Spicer brand ones. I've used others, but they tend to die within a year or two and the Spicers are all still going solid after years. I got an excellent deal on a front driveshaft rebuild kit with centering yoke and everything including new u-joints from Denny's Driveshaft website.

For the blinker it sounds like bad wiring if the other works. If they both stopped working, maybe a fuse? I'd get a multimeter and start looking for where the current stops flowing.

If the brakes are crap, you'd feel it most likely. Soft pedal, pulling to one side, sticking, etc. Never hurts to pull things apart and check though. I've rebuilt both front and rear brakes on XJs and it's not all that bad. Just wear eye protection for sure!

If you haven't yet, change all fluids and replace plugs, wires and cap/rotor too.

 

Hard to say without jacking it up and seeing where the looseness/slop is coming from. Get it up on jack/stands and mess with it - see what it needs, just don't guess at it! It helps to have a friend turn the steering, or shake things while you get under there and watch all the different bushings and linkages. Look for cracked rubber bushings and excessive play in tie-rod-ends. Basically get under there, grab things and yank/shake/pull/push to see what all's loose.

 

Looks like, as potato said, about 3" of lift. Usually at this height to don't need to do much. But at the 4.5" mark you'll need a bit more:
-Upper and lower control arms- adj. uppers would be best
-adj. track bar
-SYE and shaft
-brake line ext. (can just straighten hard line and relocate)

Not exactly cheap to do it right, but that's kinda the way. Look on eBay for cheaper versions of the same thing. You can do a full HD steering upgrade, rugged ridge (and others) have them. Usually like 230-240ish..

 

This is truly gonna be an adventure.. I built a 74 Bronco in the mid 80s. High school kid with no money or tools. Now I have a huge shop, tools, Cherokee Forum and maybe a lil money. Im just hoping my patience will last.

 

Thanks guys. Ive got to get up and get busy. Ill check back tonight....When Im at work

 

well, you've got a solid platform to build on, a nice durable engine in the 4.0 and plenty of aftermarket suppliers to help provide the parts. Not to mention tons of experience and info on this forum as well as others! My first jeep was a 96XJ with a crappy 3.5" block lift and 170K miles - it taught me tons, most importantly that when I replace it I should get a newer XJ - which I have now done and couldn't be happier!

I find the 4wd to be particularly reliable since there are no vaccuum seals to go bad, unless you have the old disconnect front axle which is easy to remedy. The only vehicle I've ever had that even came close to this level of satisfaction and fun was my old 89 4runner.

Also, I'm particularly a fan of how easy it is to stick your head down into the engine bay, or up into the chassis to see things. There is so much room to work around just about everything it's often a joy fixing/replacing things. Compared to say a toyota you lose a whole lot less skin off the knuckles doing simple maintenance! I've never had to recruit a tiny-handed chick to stick her hand in down behind the engine to push a heater hose back onto it's fitting because my hand was too big to fit without raising the engine out of the car like I did on the 4runner! hehehe

 

oh, and maybe some wax, unless that's a flat red you got on there? hehe

 

Thanks again guys. Ive started a list of things I will get to later....Headlight wiring upgrade, door lock relay fix and window locout bypass. May I ask, what is the benefit of the window lockout bypass?

 

iirc, if your window switch isnt functioning for all windows (like works for driver but not any other windows) then the bypass allows you to operate them again. you talking this guy?