Decided to make a build thread for my 1998 Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0, i picked it up last march from a friend of a friend for $200. It had 270k miles on the clock and a blown up Np242, shortly after purchasing the jeep i ran to the junkyard to find a replacement np242 and later that same day i installed the new to me 242 and had a running a driving jeep for a total cost of $260 from that time till about a few months ago i had just planned to keep it stock and daily it to keep mileage off of my 2001 Trans am which had been my daily. But recently i have lifted it slightly consisting of 2" spacers up front and some V8 zj front coils in the rear and found a decent used set of Cooper Discover AT3s which i mounted on brand new pro comp steel wheels. I plan to keep the jeep as my daily but i also plan to make it a very capable rig off road, so any mods that i do im going to keep street friendly . .

List of modifications i have done so far:

- Upgraded tie rod to V8 tie rod
- Stock tcase skid and warn skid on dana 35
- Added Trailer Hitch for recovery, shackle hitch and tow strap
- 2" BB up front, V8 coils back
- Zone Shocks
- IRO Adjustable Control Arms
- 31x10.5x15 Cooper Discover AT3
- CB Radio and Antenna
- Trimmed front bumper
- Painted grill/ dash/ rockers satin black and debaged

Some near future modifications that i have are:

- Swap out dana 35 to ford 8.8 (Dana 35 is on its way out so i plan to do this very soon)
- Level front suspension to rear (3.5" coils should do the trick)
- Lock dana 30
- Swap out front seats for WJ seats (current seats are shot)
- Redo falling headliner
- 33s

 

This is the jeep the day i bought it . .



The bad tcase



And here is how it currently sits . .









And one of my trans am

 

Some pics of what ive done already . .

Skids, Hitch, Shocks, F>R Coils, 31" AT3s


Tj gas bezel, CB antenna


Painted wood grain black, Sony headunit


Cobra CB under dash

 

Some wheeling pics from last weekend

 

Nice, Id add some sway bar dqs to your list. cheap and easy

 

Thanks! i forgot to mention the rear has no sway bar and the front i may brew up some DIY disconnects, for now i just unbolt the links lol . . i really need to extend bump stops in the front as well

 

Nice i too got my ZJ for $200 but it needed a trans. I also have a link to my build thread in my signature lol.

 

Haha nice! i just checked out your build, i see you are swapping in an 8.8 so ill be following haha i think im going to go the same route with the IRO kit, im debating now if i pull an 8.8 with 3.55s and run it and worry about regearing down the road or if i pull an 8.8 with 4.10s and just regear the front of swap in a d30 with 4.10s . . . hmmmm

 

i am keeping mine at 3.73 for now because it wont be driven on the road. if i step up to 35's i'll regear to 4.56 or 4.88.

 

Yea i think im gona find one with 3.55s and LSD and run it until i go with bigger tires then ill worry about re gearing

 

good luck, the axle code your looking is D4.

 

Not a big update but took some time today to mount a maglite in the jeep and also added a mount for the cb mic

 

Nice!! Love seeing those cheap builds.

 

Haha thanks!

 

So tomorrow i plan to pull the 8.8 for the zj, decided i will pull one with 3.73s and LSD, for the front axle ill be pulling a 93-95 ZJ d30 with matching 3.73s as they are plentiful at the junkyard . . Although last time i was at the junkyard i found a few XJs with the v6 auto, does anyone know off hand what gear ratios were commonly found in the v6 cherokees?