96 white xj
 

Hey Cherokee forum... So I am deciding to make a build thread.... I got a white 96 Cherokee 4 dr 4.0 HO auto.... I got it in February of 2012 and since then joined this forum and have learned a bunch!! Thanks!!! It is pretty stock besides a few misc things I've done to it...
First thing I did was replace the muffler and tailpipe since they were shot. I've changed out some misc sensors, o2's, pcv, idle air valve, 63mm throttle body, 703 injectors, a new fuel pump, waterpump among a couple other things that aren't coming to mind.
It is in pretty good shape with minamal rust... And runs great... Im planning on doing a small lift... Probably 3 inches tops and some new tires eventually... Who knows when that'll be.
By the way my name's Jeff and I'm from nh... The jeep is my dd, but I do like to take it out on the trails now and again...

Anyway I'll start the thread with some junkyard finds I got today:

junkyard finds:
spare tire on rim $40
tow hooks $25
hatch struts $20

hatch struts that work and a spare that is safe to drive on... Priceless
A few pics of the jeep and my dog and my friend jared:

but this is how far I got today putting on the tow hooks... Realized I forgot the other side of the brackets that go on the crossmember and couldn't get the bumper back on because one of the mounts on it is bent from one of the PO's hitting something. And my stickers

Sitting next to my dad's liberty... It's been awhile... But finally got around to...

Lifting....

My jeep!!!

So I ended up going with a RC 3 inch series 2 lift... And 265/75/15 firestone wilderness tires (used but decent amount of tread). I am very happy with the way the jeep sits now as far as stance wise and whatnot... Looks 1000x better than with the stock sagging suspension and pretty much bald radials.... Like my leaf springs were arched the wrong direction....

I think the install was pretty typical... I pretty much did it by myself... My dad was gonna help, but had just torn his acl.. Though he did help me get through a couple issues with things lining up and stuff... His knowledge was a big help. It took me probably total of maybe 20 hours to complete... And that includes having to run to the parts store a couple times... Running into issues with breaking brake lines and so on...

Surprisingly what I thought was gonna give me the most trouble.... The leafspring bolts.... They came out pretty effortlessly... Though I guess maybe thats because i've been spraying em with pb the past few weeks...
Then what I did was torch em with a mapp gas torch for a few minutes before touching them with a wrench. Then hitting them with a 2 foot breaker bar ( I did have to stand on the end of it on one bolt). And I finished them off with my dads 1/2 inch battery snap on impact gun (which was so nice to have/use).

Other than that... I think every thing was pretty typical... Of course all four of the rear shock bolts broke... So My dad was able to punch them out with a 1/4 drive extension and a sledge hammer... Then we fished in new bolts... Though my dad came up with a pretty genius idea since we didn't have any wire on hand... We used shrink tube around the bolt and just fished it through the hole and pulled the bolts right through.

Got a few more things to do... Front brake lines... We didn't get the new lower control arms in the bolts were seized in the sleeves on the unibody side and we didn't have any bolts to replace em... So just left those for now...

Which leaves me to this.... I'm now getting some vibes in the rear end... Not too bad... But between 25-30 mph while accelerating they're pretty bad. I've been reading up on driveline angles... And I know mine are off now. Obviously a sye and new driveshaft would be ideal... But thats not in the budget right now... So what I was thinking was shimming the rear end and dropping the transfer case a touch...
Here's a pic of my driveline and a sketch with my angles and plan on this... If anyone has any input that would be awesome!!!