b16gsr

After several long months of searching for the right Jeep Cherokee XJ I found one.

I had specific requirements that I was after:

• Decent miles (130k-160K)
• Good ownership history with records
• NO RUST, none not even a trace, no accidents
• Southeast or west/southwest previous residence
• Priced within my budget
• Unique combination or options
• White or Gunmetal Pearl exterior
• Non smoker

I was really looking for a XJ Wagoneer and had one found from a collector in Atlanta, we agreed on a price and he forgot to pull the eBay listing and it went for higher than we agreed, so he honored the bid. So the hunt continued. I continued to look for another Wagoneer and added 2 doors to the list.

And then there was one.

• 1998 Cherokee Sport 2 door
• 153k miles
• CarFax showed good maintenance history
• one owner from new in California, moved to Maryland in 2014, no accidents
• Priced above my budget by a little
• Its a 2 door Sport with window wings, pretty odd combo, even has working OEM Keyless
• Gunmetal Pearl
• Non smoker

Pics from wholesaler.







Pretty much hit the list of wants, outside of the budget. I can handle that. Crazy turn of events as I found it Monday late, called Tuesday early AM and owner said he wasn't sure what he wanted. I made an offer he said no, a couple hours passes and the phone rings. He and I chat some more and he throws out an offer less than I originally offered.

I told him get me some specific info and I ran a CarFax(thank you Dustin Bailey at WK Chevrolet for all the pestering). It all checked out, so I listed it on uShip Tuesday afternoon and got some crazy bids, with crazy timeframes. The I got a message from a company asking what I wanted to spend. I told them and they said they were a couple hours away and if they could pick it up Wednesday morning they would deliver it Thursday (Christmas Eve). Damn talk about short times to get this all done. So Wednesday am comes, I wire the money, dispatch them and they are on the road from Maryland Wednesday afternoon. The stars aligned.

Locked and loaded.



At our lakehouse for the holidays, before it rained.







Interior is clean, don't mind the steering wheel cover, I have a replacement wheel at the shop. Already installed the Rugged Ridge mats, thanks to my brother callie454 for the kick *** Christmas present.





Pinch welds have ZERO rust.




The only exterior issue I can find is the CHEROKEE emblem and 4X4 emblem are missing from the driver side, but shows zero signs of paint repair. And then this. WHY OH WHY.



Following the path of a former build I had some parts already in mind or bought that I would do. It was a 98 Classic.

• 3" Superlift on the way
• TJ Rubicon MOAB Reps already have
• 245/75/16 Kanati Mud Hogs already have
• Rugged Ridge floor and cargo liners (thanks to my brother callie454) already have
• Side molding delete
• Full color match, bumpers, caps, flares
• 35% tint front 3 windows
• Depo Smoke front signal and corner marker on the way
• Depo Smoke and clear tail lights on the way
• Truck Lite LED head lights on the way
• Oneway LED interior light kit on the way
• LED bulbs for all exterior lighting on the way
• LED pods or 7" bars in the OEM fog location
• KL Cherokee Gunmetal badging on the way
• Python remote start alarm on the way

Eventually I will load all of my ole school stereo gear in it and buy a Safari Rack.

Thanks for following along.

b16gsr

Couple updates.

Tires arrived and I got them mounted and balanced on the MOAB reps. Tires look very similar to the old style Goodyear MT/R which is what I was after.





I was impressed with the quality of these wheels.





They balanced well, ready to roll.





Tossed the new wiper blades on.



First tank calculation, not bad.



Got our first snow of the season, but cleaned it back up after a drive through the slop into town.

Heap'99

So will we be seeing this on "shipping wars" anytime soon? Lol. Nice grab and that's super clean too!

JandDGreens

Wow what a nice 2-dr. I am so jealous!

b16gsr

Haha. You know this was a smaller outfit and I did find them through uShip.

Thanks it is pretty clean.

Thank you.

Finn

I need the little love eyes emoji for that Jeep.

b16gsr

Haha. I agree, love me an XJ. This is number 8.

OmgNoWai

So clean. I dig it.

b16gsr

thank you

b16gsr

So this past Monday we got some snow. Luckily the XJ delivered on Christmas Eve, so I could park the truck and save it from any salt and snowy weather. Anyhow Monday night rinsed all the filth off the Jeep as I thought the weather was gone, nope came out Tuesday morning to this.





More parts started arriving, so time to hang one of them. As most know the OEM headlights in the XJ are terrible, so after tons of research I decided that the TruckLite full LED replacement housings were needed. I had done HID kits in new housings and full projector retrofit HID in former XJ's, but never was really satisfied so I decided to try these. Albeit spendy, but well worth it after cruising around tonight.



Before


After


Definitely changed the look








Washed her up again after the install


Lows


Highs


No lights


Lows


Highs


I am seriously impressed with these, and would buy them again. Crisp clean light.

Drilled a hole in my driver side Rugged Ridge mat to catch the factory hook


Filled up for the second time, still doing pretty good

b16gsr

A huge thanks to Prolific(Casey) for the hook up on a set of ZJ 5.9 hood vents. I have been looking for a set and sent him a message thinking he just might have a set and he does. See you this week.



Also decided to break out my Flex and give the roof a good polish, as it was really cloudy and didn't look that great.



Pulled the rack and removed the cross bars, going to a Surco Safari soon anyhow



Taped off the trim





Looking better



Put on a heavy coat of Collinite 845


Not too bad

cbs_24

Nice Jeep!

OmgNoWai

I dig this rig. Very clean!

b16gsr

Thank you both.

Well Happy Birthday to me, this is how I started my day. I had went out and loaded a few things and started the Jeep as it was 20* this morning. I guess since I was shopping eBay for OEM key blanks this morning, I locked myself out.

15 minutes of this and I was able to hit the passenger window switch



Cold enough to freeze the moisture out of the tailpipe



Stopped and got the key blanks



A few more parts trickled in

rjp4419

I see you've only had the trucklites a few days but have you had any issues with the lenses freezing over from snow/moisture?