Constantine

This here is my first Cherokee.
1991 2 door 4wd.
5 speed, 4.0L
A little over 192,000 miles.

And yes she's a Heep Cherokee.

Very little maintenance has been performed. Which also equivalates to not many BS repairs.
The only thing I see new anywhere on it is the Leaf springs & shackles.

I purchased it yesterday, couldn't test drive it bc the slave cylinder was out, had to crank it in 1st to drive it on the trailer.

My youngest son and I unloaded it and started tinkering.
I didn't take it to my shop bc I had suspected with my level of skill I could have it drivable by nightfall.




And so I did, with in the first hour of my ownership it was back in business.

So far,
the shocks are present but non functional.
Track bar is shot at both ends.
All tie rod ends are really bad.
Gets so hot under the back seat that it melts plastic.
Needs full tune up and compression check to start with the engine.
Coolant temp & oil press. Guages don't function. (#1 priority)
Stay tuned ya'll this jeep, perhaps for the first time is now in good hands and will be getting some attention.

unidentifiedbomb

Does it get hot under the passenger side bag seat? Muffler is right there. I'd check to see if you have a hole in the floor there.

Constantine

Yeah that's the problem.
I crawled under there and washed everything really well, insulation was resting on the muffler.
Also the muffler has a turn down attached to it instead of a tailpipe going over the axle.
Should I be concerned about exhaust fumes even with the hole patched?

Constantine

After getting to test drive it some yesterday, we planned to make a trip around the property.
Didn't get to take many pics but it did good for the amount of attention it needs.
E-brake cables are cut at the drum so have to use other methods to hold it in place while running.


After we smoked the passenger area up with the melting rubber floor mat
We came home and I washed the entire underside so I could get under there and find the aforementioned hole over the muffler.
Converter and muffler were extremely hot, like glowing red hot.

Constantine

I noticed stickers and part numbers yesterday.
Looks like it has the Skyjacker 2" value lift with 1.75 red poly spacers upfront,
shackles are 6" hole to hole.
929-301 dorman leafs,
coils are new but can't find a number on them.
Sway bar links and bushing look to have been replaced with Moog chassis components,
have the blue thermo plastic or poly parts,
I forget what Moog calls it.

Have alot of parts on the way to my door for it.
Going to get it back up to speed with stock style front end parts.
I know it's boring but I'm mainly posting in this thread for my records.

I know it's going to nickel and dime me to death for awhile so noy going to dump alot of money into upgrades until I feel it's dependable again.

It does have what appears to be a D35c rear axle.
Ratio is 3.07:1... something must be done about this.

unidentifiedbomb

You probably have a clogged cat or muffler if it's getting red hot. Might as well order a new cat back system while you're working on it. Rockauto sells them cheap.

Constantine

I figured that was the deal.
I found a new MagnaFlow cat back system on one of the local Face Book groups today for $75.
Even includes a piece to bypass the converter that he had made.
Really depends on the muffler body size for me though.
I just don't care for the 25" long mufflers.
I'd rather have something smaller even if it gives more sound.
Muffler bodies are like heating elements.
The more restrictive they are, the more heat they hold with in.

Constantine

Decided to pass on the exhaust, was just some random stuff he had put together.
Will take my old exhaust to my usual exhaust shop and have them recreate the old system with a 2 chamber muffler so I can bring it home and weld it in.
Not going to worry ab a converter, this old jeep won't see any road time in the near future, the floors are too rusty to be safe.
The driver's side front pan is a slow children at play sign... SMH.

Constantine

Today's ride:





Sorry ya'll, I've never owned a solid axle 4x4.
Amazed at what it can do with both sway bars still intact.
That's going to be the last ride until all my parts come in and the new exhaust is in place.
Death wobble has the speed limited to 30mph.

Going to wash on it for a few more hours then take it to my shop and put it on the lift.
Going to replace:
All tie rod ends, steering stabilizer.
Track bar.
Lower control arms with adjustable ones.
Will replace uppers if the bushings are worn.
Shocks w/ factory jk pull offs, BPE's front & rear and the rough country rear shock nut ribbon thing.
Full ignition & filter tune up.
Replace all fluids and coolant.
Oil pressure sender, oil filter adapter o-rings.
Valve cover gasket.
Coolant temp sender.
Exhaust, as discussed.

Is there anything else I should look into?
Going to look into doing some floor pan work as well.

As far as the clutch issue goes, haven't had to add any fluid whatsover.... master cyl. Looks like it could be new.
What I'm thinking is the installer didn't bench bleed it.

Constantine

All my parts came in today.
Put a few things on after work.

Installed some RCX lower control arms with flex joints.
3" coil spacer.
RCX bar pin eliminators.
Front JK shocks.
Low mileage TJ coils from my step dad's TJ wrangler.

I know the spacer isn't the best... kind of the poor man's way of lifting and bump stopping at the same time.
Brought traveling speed up to 40mph.
Eliminated all clunking noises on the trail.
Greatly increased ride comfort and neck vertibrate longevity.
I forgot to order sway bar discos so I have it tied up atm.

Before:
Notice the bottom of the spring being pulled toward the rear of the vehicle with stock arms.
Also, shock nut is completely removed, wasn't allowing the axle to fully drop.



After:
Axle position has been corrected with adjustable control arms.
Bar pin eliminators allowed the shock bushing to touch the mounting point without mounting hardware installed.

I measured the stock shocks side by side to the JK shocks.
They were only 0.5" longer.
Should be a total of 1.5" droop added with bar pin eliminators and the extra half inch in length.

unidentifiedbomb

What did you do for the rear lift?

Constantine

The rear was already lifted that much.
Has some dorman 929-301 replacement leafs and some skyjacker xj55rs 6" shackles installed by a previous owner.

Constantine

Well had an unsuccessful day wrenching on my Heep.

To start, front tire was flat when I walked up to it, found it to be leaking in the bead.
Had to take it to local tire shop and have them put sealer on it.

Removed all tie rods/ends + damper and the track bar.

Whoever did something with the track bar previously didn't put a cotter key back in so it was loose at the mount.

New track bar seemed to fit well in the frame mount though.
So, installed new track bar and a cheesy bracket to center the axle.

The drag link that I purchased from Rock auto was ab 18" too long and just obviously not made for my vehicle in many ways.
Had to order one at oreilly.
Tie rod adjuster for dr. side knuckle to drag link was football shaped in the threads on one end, had to order it as well.
Will report back sunday with progress.

unidentifiedbomb

Your jeep is I believe in the middle year of when they changed the drag link/tie rod lengths. Older models have longer links while newer have shorter. Not sure why they did this, Chrysler thing I guess.

Constantine

I suppose that could be the case.
The one I received didn't have a steering damper provision.