offroad_co

I've had this XJ for a while now and have been slowly building it up. Time to start a build thread. The goal is to make this XJ do it all




Recently I've done a fair amount of work on it and here are the specs:

1998 Jeep cherokee sport 4.0L

Engine and Transmission:
99-01 intake manifold
cold air intake
703 fuel injectors
B&M Transmission cooler with fluid temp gauge
Brown dog poly motor mounts
JB converstions SYE
CSF 3 row radiator

Suspension, Wheels and Axles:
4.5" rubicon express superflex (upgraded to adjustable lowers when I messed up the superflex joint rebuid)
Adams rear drive shaft
4.56 HP dana 30 front axle
4.56 Chrysler 8.25 rear axle with detroit locker and G2 hammer diff cover
ZJ steering upgrade
ZJ disc brake conversion
JCR steering spacer
Durango steering box
Ironman4x4 shackle relocation brackets
American eagle wheels
285/75/R16 Cooper STT pros

Armor:
ARB bumper with Warn 8000 and random lights
JCR sliders
JCR vanguard rear bumper with tire carrier, rotopax mounts, and high lift mount

Miscellaneous:
removed carpet and bed lined interior
H4 headlight upgrade
50" lightbar
Replaced ashtray with accessory switch panel
hood pins
trimmed front fenders
cut and fold rear fenders

offroad_co

The shackle relocation brackets and bumper were only installed last month, and was probably one of the bigger projects i've done. Before I started the project, I soaked all the bolts in pb blaster for a week. I was lucky and all my bolts came out relatively easily.

You can see that installing the shackle relocation brackets meant i had to disconnect a lot or the rear suspension. New shackle angle is significantly better than before, which was pretty much 90 degrees.


Only issue i have is that after install, the passenger side shackle appears to be a little crooked. I'm not sure how to fix it and but I've been driving it like this for a few weeks. So far no noticeable issues


JCR bumper attaches to stock bumper points and then has additional frame tie ins that connect to the JCR nutstrip. Here i had to change things up a bit because the ironman 4x4 shackle relocation brackets needed to be installed right up against the frame. That meant the JCR unibody ties ins were shifted down and away from the bumper. JCR unibody tie ins dont seem to be reversible anymore, so I had to put a stack of washers in between the bumper and unibody ties ins to make sure there was a solid connection So far bumper is good, but the tire carrier does rattle over bumps.

offroad_co

Also did some maitenance recently. This includes a new coolant bottle, door check, driver switch panel, axle u joints, hubs, turn signal switch, and ignition pin. Door check was completely broke and missing a pin that holds the whole thing together. Coolant bottle was nasty and I could barely see the level. New one was only $23 and super easy to replace. U joints and hubs definitely needed to be replaced, as you can see. One thing to note when installing the ignition pin is that little piece in my hand. Its not held in by anything and can easily fall out and get lost. Not exactly sure what it does, but you probably don't want to lose it. My girlfriend keeps telling me that soon I'll have replaced everything on the jeep.

offroad_co

Yesterday I checked the local salvage yard to see if they had any new cherokees for me to raid. I pull up their website and find this:




It was a nice clean 2001 cherokee and from the pics it looks like someone invested a fair amount of money on it. It had a winch bumper, at least 2 BFG all terrains, upgraded headlights, and if you look closely, a roof rack. The bad news is that it had been in the yard for a week, and by the time I got there all the good stuff was gone So i started grabbing the stuff that I actually needed since I already have better tires, bumper, and roof rack. I picked up a door check, fan shroud, and some grab handles. Buuuut, trip turned up some pretty nice surprises! I found a throttle body spacer and a 3 switch panel with OEM switches! Switches and spacer were $9 each. Im not convinced the throttle body spacer will actually make a difference, but for $9 I'll give it a chance.






I found a throttle body spacer and a 3 switch panel with OEM switches! Switches and spacer were $9 each. Im not convinced the throttle body spacer will actually make a difference, but for $9 I'll give it a chance.

RegularGuy

Nice, i cant seem to find many XJs in boneyards around here, and the ones that are are picked clean husks and pre-97s.

let us know about the TBS. i think thats a more hotly debated topic than AAL vs Shackles for a budget lift.