What parts to keep?
 

I am just getting back into off roading after about a 15 year break. I bought two cherokees, a 1987 and 1988, from my inlaws. The 87 had a bad motor and my brother in law wrecked the 88. I just swapped out the motor and now have the 87 running and I am about to scrap the 88 to make more room move all my other "projects to come" to my shop. I am leaning toward making the cherokee a 95% off roader eventually so I will be changing things as they break to more heavy duty later. I guess the question I have is on these year cherokees, are there any sensors, computers, steering parts, or just whaterver, that I need to hang on to? I already plan on dropping the front and rear end, and the trans/transfer out, windshield, and the 4 doors( 87 is power window and 2 of the motors are already bad). Any info would be great. I will post pics when I figure out what my wife did with the camera.

keep every thing thats good

windshields arnt worth the trouble to pull out... i have yet to get one out without cracking it... there only $80 new not installed... the doors arnt worth keeping and better off as scrap as well... there a dime a dozen and unless you want mechanical instead of electric they arnt worth keeping... just go ahead and swap them and scrap the other 4... keep the drivetrain... indoors if you can... keep the steering column as well and the power steering gear box... columns are GM and bolts like to come loose inside and its almost easier to replace then to fix... if you already have one its better just to swap... keep the battery and front fenders... front fenders cause they get damaged the most and if you make any cuts in the future for larger tires you can reverse this with the other fenders... thats probly about it... the rest is cheap and a dime a dozen... are both cherokees automatics?

Well thats what I kinda guessed on which big parts to keep. Yes both are automatics, and yes the 87 is power window and the 88 manual. I was thinking about keep the power windows and gutting them to make half doors with. I will try to get pics on today. Thanks for the info.

you could make half doors i guess if you wanted... me personally dont understand half doors when you can go doorless so easily but if your in a state that actually has a doorless law then i can see it... research going doorless on a cherokee... youll want to keep the manual locks and window doors for that... maybe 25min on each door to mod...

Heres a few pics of both of the jeeps

if there is anything good left of the grill on the white one you can get some money from them... thats the wagoneer which is pretty rare... people are always needing the grills... sell on eBay... thats where youll make the most... they are interchangable with the regular cherokees although you may have to swap or play with the wire harness...

Does the 87 Waggy have the Dana 44 rear axle? If so, then great score for you.

I havent looked to see which rear end it has yet. I will look today and see. Is there an easy way to tell just by looking?

Yep and this should help. There were only 2 rear axles offered in 87, the Dana 35 and the Dana 44. The Dana 35 was the standard axle with the D44 being the option. Also the D44 was only an option from 87-89 so check both Jeeps.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/attach...-jeepdiffs.jpg

It looks to me like I have one of each! That is awesome! Im really glad I posted this cause I didnt even know that they had d44's in that model. :lol:

what the freak... that is a Dana44... there pretty hard to come by... could be sold for $350 alone the way it is to any cherokee guy... not many had them! lucky dawg!

the OEM license tag on the front of the white one is kinda hard to come by as well... maybe not real hard but maybe as common as a trailer hitch...

PS you cant give away the D35 so its better off being scrapped...

Man now Im excited! I only gave $300 for both of the jeeps! Im hoping to sell some of the parts Im not going to use to pay for my lift kit.