What should be the first modifications to an 87 XJ 4x4, with 4.0L, automatic?
I heard you should remove the rear sway bar?
Just bought an 87 XJ, previously owned 79 CJ7.
What would you recommend as minimum modifications?
Thank you

 

yes remove rear sway. Put on a suspension lift, not a bugdet boost. Tires, armor, and lockers. Then your pretty much good to go.

 

no, the first one you should do (i have the same one you do) is buy a bored throttle body from www.strokedjeep.com. this will make all your other mods not feel like they are a waste because putting hte lift on and using tires as small as 31s, like i have, made my jeep feel like a dog getting on the highway or anything. it felt so slow. i was going to regear to 4.10s but once i put this bored tb on, i can make the tires break free sometimes and i have no worries of being rear ended going up the on ramp anymore.

get one, world of difference. and jeff, the guy who makes them, lives in houston so shipping is cheap.

 

What if he doesnt want to lift it?

What if he doesnt need lockers?

Do what YOU want, or you can give us a detailed explanation and all we can do is help you out.

 

Thanks, I will remove rear sway bar.
I forgot to mention I will be driving this xj mostly on the street.
But would like to get the most out of it for off road with the minimum amount of expense.
Not thinking about spending on a lift right away.

 

true, lockers are not really needed any where around san antonio. the bored tb will help even on a stock jeep though. it will make it fee like a high output motor

 

just get decent tires then. lifting is not required for fun with this jeep. i went off road in mine stock and had fun with all the lifted jeeps and i went through everything they went through.

but, hat bored tb is something i am doing on every 4.0 i own from now on because of the change it made. i am getting one for my wife's 93 wrangler. i spoke with jeff yesterday about what he thought would be the best choice for that, since his is a 93 also and he said hte largest bore is what he ran for three years in houston daily traffic. the bored tb is the best mod you can do for a daily driver cherokee with a renix motor, which is what yours is.

i lived in san antonio for two years while going to college, i know how the driving and traffic is there. you will much more enjoy the tb then any other single thing you do to your jeep since its a daily driver.

 

if you're removing the rear sway bar, get the rear brake line form a '96 dakota to replace your stock one. It's about 4" longer so if/when you do go off the beaten path, you don't stretch and snap your rear line. Front lines from a '95 YJ work well too (3" longer than stock) if you ever do quick discos for the front. If you do these two things, you'll truly be amazed what your XJ can do stock.

 

Sounds like the throttle body upgrade is a great upgrade.
Do you have to change anything else to use the TB upgrade on the stock 4.0L?
Have you noticed any fuel mileage change?

 

Thanks for the brake line info. I will be changing the hoses.
What quick discos are recommended? I heard the JKS are good?

 

JKS are good and a lot of people will back that up. I'm currently running a home brew set up for mine, but I'm ordering JKS's next week.

 

nope, you will get the new one in the box. you pull your sensors and put them on the new one and then reinstall and adjust the sensor with a multimeter. thats it. you will love it.

i had my 5" lift on only one tank prior ot the tb being put on so i don't know what the mileage change was from the lift but i get about 15 in town with a 5" lift, 31" mud tires, and the bored throttle body. seems pretty good since some guys with way less lift are getting worse mileage then i am.

i think on a stock jeep, you could probably get almost 20, if not 20 mpg, if you had it tuned up and ran the bored tb on it. takes less pedal to go anywhere so less air equals less fuel. the only reason i can imagine it getting worse is that you might want to floor it more since its so much faster

 

What's the reason for removing the rear sway bar?
Won't that degrade the way the rear suspension works? At least for normal road useage. Not sure for off roading, does it interfere/limit the movement of the rear axle to much?

Jeroen

 

WOW hey guys tell him the first mod should be to make sure the jeep runs right, tune it up check the suspention out and fix any problems with it buy going with heavy duty parts fix all rust and etc.I would do all that plus the rusty floorboards so when I lift it if I want to I dont fall as far thru the floor.

 

x2 on the tires. Then get a bit of ground clearance by installing a 2inch spacer/shackle lift. That will probably hold you for a little while. GL