ABJ's XJ project....
 

ok so i guess i should start a thread to put everything in one location...

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/we...rigger-208726/


well i have been wanting a cherokee for quite a wile now. pretty much after my son got his and i got to messing with his xj a few years ago. time was finally right and i bought this 2000 2 door sport. has 200k on it but it is a tight vehicle. bought it from the original owner.


plans for it..

for now i think i'll just put a new set of tires on it and enjoy it. just not sure what i want to put on it at this time. thinking bfg all terrains but not sure what would be best. i want something that is good for a 5 hour street drive and some off road use in the jersey pines.

down the road as money allows i think i'll put 3.5" lift on it and a set of 31's. thats plenty for us and our intended usage. i just have to figure out what lift to use. i was looking at the rubicon express kit but wonder if its worth the money over some of the cheaper systems. i have no issues with spending the extra money as long as its worth the extra money.


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haven't turned any wrenches yet but i have been shopping ( a little too much)..lol decided against buying new stock tires just to lift it down the road and need tires again in a year.

big thanks to serious offroad for all the help (answering the thousands of questions i have) and fast shipping on the parts i have ordered from them.

so here is what i ordered so far..

rubicon express super ride 3.5" lift.

rubicon express adjustable track bar with double shear bracket.

zj steering components.

a stock set or alum rims.. have to repaint them but all in all in good shape. couldn't beat it for $120.

and a set of good year dura trac tires.. 265/75-16. they come out to 31x10.5. look pretty bad *** for an A/T tire..

now i just have to install this stuff. getting excited.. :)

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may look into frame stiffeners in the near future also.

Mopar A bodies rule

lol.. we have one of those too.. :)


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Cool! Interested in seeing where this goes! All I see on here is mint looking cherokees and everything i see withing driving distance in Minnesota is either an absoloute rust bucket or expensive.

rust wise its clean.. paint has quite a few imperfections but looks good in pictures.

Looks like fun. The dura tracs are kind of in between a an AT and MT. It's a tire designed for offroad commercial vehicles that will be on road regularly. The only real drawback is it has a softer sidewall than some of the MT tires you see out there. But a nice balance especially for real world use, considering most guys running around on swampers spend a lot of time on pavement.

sounds good..

Duratracs have been amazing for me. I've had mine for about a year and a half and have put on over 7000 miles on them, mostly 5+ hr 300+ mile trips from school and home for breaks. The tires still look brand new and have impressed me multiple times offroad in every condition i've put them through.
On a side note, love the car. My dad has a 1970 Dodge Cornet Superbee.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...66ab0d4ec7.jpg


He recently sold his '72 Cutlass

oh i love thos 70 coronets. thats a love it/hate it year. wouldn't be kicking that olds out of the garage either.


glad to hear that about the tires. i want to do 6 hour trips up to lake pacid ny with it.

Nice Jeep! Looks like the setup I'm planning. I have a 3" lift and I want 31" duratracs for my stock wheels. I have the same ones. They're known as Icon wheels

icons.. cool.. i lucked out and found them on craigslist. i like the style of them.. can't wait to see them on.

ok so i'm a bit slow moving on this thing. trying to get the dart ready for a long outing in july.

i had the wheels sand blasted. then a friend put them in epoxy primer for me...

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went to till paint and got them to mix me up a jeep wheel paint color in a polyurethane paint. its nice, they put it in cans for me. the hardener is on one side and paint the other side of the can. you puncture the hardener bladder and shake well. then just spray it..

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i have to say it sprayed really well... its so close to the primer color that it was hard to see where i painted.. its hard to catch in a picture but they are nice and glossy and the metal flake pops in the sun.. should look good on the jeep if i ever get around to installing the lift. :)

there is one run that i noticed. it was in the primer. i figured the rims were gonna get beat up in the woods anyway so i didn't bother fixing it.. plus it won't be all that noticeable once mounted and all on the jeep.


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