so i've had this guy nearly three years now. i had thought along the way about doing a thread, but didn't think it was worth it. but it's about to turn 30, and now i think it will be a fun way to kind of journal on the new hobby that i've really enjoyed learning. when i got this XJ, i had never even changed my own oil. i was handy with tools and had some carpentry experience, but wanted to demystify cars. i was bored of my honda accord and thought life was too short to drive a boring car. also had just moved and bought our first house, so having a garage and tool space was finally a possibility. while my first love will always be 90s JDM SWB 4x4s (Pajero Jr, 2dr LCs, Patrol, etc), i saw this cherokee on craigslist for $5495 and couldn't pass up the Bright Jade. went right up to Co Spgs and bought and drove it home to ABQ. i knew only enough about these cars to know they were hardy and simple to work on. at a gas stop on i25 i realized i was leaking 'some' oil.

bought this to be my DD. my wife has a 5G 4runner, so that's our camp and adventure mobile. i didn't have plans to turn this thing into a crawler--just preserve the good shape it was in and fix some odds and ends and maybe let my kids drive it (if we have them). i wanted it to drive well, look good, and have some capability with moderate unmaintained forest roads. and i wanted to learn about cars.

had only 2 owners, mostly garaged, only colorado owned. just under 141k miles. honestly, not a ton of immediate needs. but i later learned it needed some tlc.

i'm going to document the work in separate posts after this, with photos (where i have them) and the date, and then continue posting as things go down the road.

for now, here are a few from right after i picked it up back in Feb 2023.



right after picking up.



interior was in great shape


first time 'wheeling.' aka, driving on a fsr. haha

within about a month the interior of cat came loose and was banging around, so i had that replaced. also had power steering pump and radiator replaced, as well as one of the engine seals that i wish i remembered (not RMS). these were all done in the first few months, and were the last things i have had someone else do. everything else following i've been doing myself.

 

after those initial bits of service, things were pretty quiet. i started making a list of cosmetic and mechanical issues i wanted to address (eventually). i’m a pastor and this is my DD. so it all has to be on the cheap.

i still had some oil leaking, and had no idea what kind of service had been done recently under the hood or to any of the drivetrain. rear springs were sagging, and all the front end bushings looked beat. i had some AC (my wife would say not enough), but it blew out of the defrost on hills. front passenger door lock mechanism stuck a lot. speakers are close to blown. tires are from 2013 (still had the original factory spare).

left side looked like it had been swiped at some point: front drivers side headlight bezel was cracked and covered in duct tape residue. driver’s side mirror was a mismatched replacement that wasn’t connected to the electronic adjuster wires. drivers side map pocket was held together with duct tape. drivers seat bolster was held together with duct tape. rear bumper was bent and had some rust. all four bumper corners needed to be replaced (some more than others). was missing a front fog lamp. driver’s side door jam seal would need to be replaced. rear hatch struts failed in the cold. (eventually the recurring head bonks would prove too much).

i decided for the cosmetic fixes i didn’t just want to order parts from quadratec. instead, i wanted to find used pieces that would have a similar level of patina and look more natural on the car.

in 2023 i didn’t do much. at some point i had to pull over and pop the hood and found the radiator overflow hose was sliced open, which is how i learned i didn’t have a fan shroud (did i mention i didn’t know anything?) cheap and easy, thankfully.



much better

 

in 2024, things started to pick up. i guess the more you try the more you realize you can do. some of the details and descriptions here will be not super detailed since it was a while ago.

i was researching the ‘AC coming out of the defrost’ thing and found a vacuum leak under the battery tray. replaced the tubing. sort of helped. i doubt it was the only vacuum leak.

replaced the starter in May, and the battery shortly after.

at some point here i drank the koolaid and switched to rotella for oil changes.

in late summer of 2024, the water pump started making more noise. eventually was leaking a lot of coolant. so i decided to try my hand at replacing the water pump and tstat. it was mostly uneventful. at this point i also replaced the upper radiator hose.

in the meantime i had had been doing quite a bit of reading and learning, and had decided what i wanted to do with the suspension. i was slowly acquiring what i needed to do that, piecing things together. i was aiming at the upcountry clone idea, around 1.5”. you’ll see that is not where i ended up.

 

October 9 and 10, 2024; 151,xxx
finally time!

here’s what i was piecing together:
-OME nitros in front and back (not the extended length; i think they are good for 1-3” lift)
-HD rear springs from General Spring (I’m from Kansas and liked that they were a Kansas distributor) 755lb capacity: SKU 97-547

-OME springs in front: i think 2930
-IRO adjustable shackles (0-.75” lift): 10456

i had read all the nightmares about rusted and seized bolts but was hopeful that since this was a CO jeep it would be fairly cooperative. that turned out to be true. i had no issues with upper shock mount bolts. used plenty of PB blaster and a torch to heat, and then a nice cheater bar. the left front leaf spring bolt was the only one i had to cut. it was seized in the bushing.

​​​​​






after just doing the rear. the front would have to wait until after a small work trip.


was having a really difficult time getting one bolt back in; it was in the spot where the seized one was. i think i stripped the hole a bit, so i used a tap and was finally able to get the new bolt in.

 

during the trip that weekend i had an issue where the car would die while driving downhill, even though i had half a tank of gas. rolled it into a shop, he thought it was something with the fuel sending unit. i was able to drive it fine if i kept tank more than half full. more on this later as i learned about the fun of the 1996 fuel module.

front springs came in. install of those and front shocks was uneventful. also replaced isolators and put in slightly longer bump stops that i could trim later. what i’m learning is that most everything takes at least 2x as long as i think (and tell my wife) it will take.

at this point i was only around 1.75” above stock. still had slight vibrations at 35-40mph. made my own TCase drop kit with thick fender washers (below).


meh. but it helped



hooray



better. stock tires look mini


unbolted sway bar decided to try some flex. feel free to laugh




at some point during this time i was getting loud thunks in the front when i would go through a dip. and that is how i found out i needed to trim my bump stops.

 

November 2024

started having some coolant leaking again. realized it was coming from the little valve that bypasses the heater core when the AC is initiated. i looked into replacing this, but seems like a lot of reviews said they started leaking again not long after install. i didn’t like the idea of replacing a part like that frequently. so i opted to route the hoses directly into the heater core (which, as i understand it, is pretty much how 97+ cherokees are designed). it was fairly straightforward once i got the hose sizes. in retrospect i can say i did not notice a real difference in the AC temp during the summer of ‘25 after doing this. others have said it did knock their AC performance.


before


after

 

february 2025

this jeep has the chrome appearance package, so chrome fascia, mirrors, bumpers, handles, etc.

as i mentioned before, when i was replacing damaged parts, i wanted to find used materials that had similar patina. i think this is especially important with chrome pieces.

an opportunity came up on marketplace for a rear bumper. it wasn’t perfect, but it was better than mine and i didn’t know if another would come up. those rear bumper bolts are a pain in the rear especially when there is a hitch receiver. when i put the new one on i wasn’t able to get the upper two bolts in. (more on this later)


old




new! also from a 96, which i liked.

shortly after i found someone parting out a jeep on marketplace and got a new bezel and side indicator. it ended up being FN Jeep. check them out for used parts.


before


after. this is actually the original side indicator. i cleaned it off with gasoline which worked great.

 

september 2025

rear brakes had been making a grinding or groaning noise. thought they were worn down. i didn’t know anything about drum brakes. pulled them off to see. the pads seemed ok? so i cleaned them with brake cleaner.




in the end this didn’t help long term and i still have to figure out what the deal is.

 

November 2025

decided to replace the fog lamps. this is the one really non-stock thing i’ve done. i was inspired by an XJ i saw on C&B, which had Hella lights.

so i got the amber 550s. this was my first time using heat shrink butt connectors for wiring. they make for a really clean result. i was relieved i was just able to connect these into the factory harness.






also during this week i decided to investigate the fuel issue from the prior year. i had been running the car with zero issues, and no longer needed to keep it at half tank or more. but i was getting a slow crank. what i found was that i had within spec fuel pressure while running, but it would drop very quickly after shutoff. what i had read was that this indicates an issue with fuel pressure regulator. as you may know, since the 96 is a hybrid of old and new, it has a unique setup where it’s all in one ‘module’: pump, regulator, gauge, and whatever else i don’t know about. so i decided to replace it. i got one on ebay (eh), but kept the old one in case the pump on the new one went bad. i had read a thread that seemed to indicate that you can change individual parts on the 96 module unit. new hoses and fuel filter as well, with fuel line clamps. the process wasn’t bad until i went to put the new pump in. it was having a really hard time getting properly seated with the gasket. i got it situated, but came to find out that i don’t have it sealed quite properly. so i get a slow seep when i’m above 3/4 tank. dumb. will have to deal with it later.

 

January 2026; 157,xxx

finally decided to do something about my rear suspension. even after the updates it rode like a covered wagon. did research, it was because i ended up with a poor shackle angle. springs weren’t able to do their job when the shackle can’t move. i decided to get some relocators. ideally i would do the zero lift ones, but i have this thing about making any irreversible changes to either of our cars. also i can’t weld. so i wanted something bolt-in, which would mean some more lift.

i got a kind of knock off of the rough country ones (a knock-off of RC, yikes). based on the look i’m about 90% sure they are from the same factory as RC. they feel very heavy and solid. and i can attest they are after having to cut through them.

easy to install. the IRO shackles had a hard time going in though. i shaved off some of the bushing so they would ‘angle’ in, and then used the weight of the car to shove them in. i followed another guy on here and trimmed off the excess hole mounts in the back so the shackles could have full room to flex. used a dremel with a reinforced cutoff wheel. took time, but worked. painted over them afterward. not the best looking. but man what an immediate improvement in the ride quality! the springs can actually absorb impact!

i also used this time to switch to the 0” hole on my adjustable shackle. i had been using the .75” lift hole. i was trying to negate as much of the lift that would come from the relocation brackets as possible.


old shackle angle was nearly 90°.



new angle is much better, but the shackle hits the channel.



could be worse.


new problem is that the shackle bolt hits the exhaust tip. working on a solution to this.

 

got a notification email that an XJ dropped into the scrapyard and it was a lotto! a 1990 Laredo, so had nice chrome bits. i finally replaced my mismatched drivers side mirror, although it is a manual rather than being able to wire into my electric.

also got a cigarette lighter plug.

and found a much better rear bumper! took me a couple trips to get this thing off. what finally helped me do it is Husky has a 144T 3/8ths socket. 2.5° swing arc. it is the only thing i have found that lets you turn that bolt in the upper part of the bumper mount, since you have such a narrow space to get a swing. but this did the trick. i probably won’t put it on until i get around to replacing my bumper end caps. hard to find pearlstone. i might have to get black ones from quadratec and get them painted somewhere.


the donor


crazy how a small thing like this goes a long way


matching mirrors!



success. i am particularly glad the splash guard on this one is intact. mine is in pieces.

 

three other notes in the last week or so.

1.) adding the relocation brackets did raise my rear some, and it was more of a rake than i liked. so i had to put in .75” leveling spacers in the front. it was worth it.

after all said and done, i netted 2.5” lift. it’s slightly over 20” from wheel hub to fender in front and back.

2.) tires!!! finally got new tires. i didn’t want to go to 31s, so i did 30s. i got Milestar Patagonia AT Pros. they were a great price (like 156ea after rebate) for an 18mm depth AT with a 55k warranty. they look great.

3.) having geometry issues that i thought i wouldnt have with only 2.5” lift. had to drop TCase more. i dont really fancy (or have the money) to do a SYE and driveshaft any time soon. also right now my front axle sits about .75” closer to drivers side. so i need to get my trackbar figured out.


more level, with new tires.



these are the washers i used for the drop.

 

Nice work on the upgrades and keeping her running - these are so good for beginner shade tree DIY'ers! Mine have taught me a bunch throughout the years.

Your suspension setup is similar to what I run in my daily. Rusty's makes adjustable track bars for 0-2" of lift (which is what I run with my OME coils) as well as one for 2.5"+. I've been happy with it!

https://www.rustysoffroad.com/collec...stock-tj-xj-zj

https://www.rustysoffroad.com/collec...front-tj-xj-zj

Are you going to keep those LED headlights?

 

Thats a nice jeep.
Im pretty surprised youre having dshaft problems, Ive had up to 6" lift with no SYE or tcase drop. Is your pinion angle ok?
Might want to look at a drop pitman arm too, but at 2.5" itll probly be OK.

 

been busy—my students’ semester started back up. heard a grinding from the front so had to replace pads and went ahead and got new rotors as well. first time doing this. no issues except on the drivers side the piston wouldn’t depress (bent my c clamp) so i had to loosen the bleed nut and drain some fluid while i pressed it in. most of the pads were in deplorable shape (as expected) and one of the rotors was deeply grooved. but all in all it was good practice because i have to do rear brakes on my wife’s 4R soon (as well as water pump and spark plugs, both of which are original at 170k).




this pad was basically padless


need to make a list and prioritize what needs to be done, though frankly my wife's car comes first.

for me, issues right now are
1. that shackle bolt hitting my exhaust. so annoying. i think the exhaust only needs to move about 1/4", so i may try messing with the hanger first and see if i can get it scooched over that way. i also might have an exhaust leak, so maybe a catback at some point, but less pressing.
2. trackbar (not sure what else?): steering feels pretty sloppy right now, like some wander. don't love that.
3. fuel module gasket seated properly. it's annoying to only do 2/3 gas fill-ups
4. some groaning or creaking coming from rear drivers side suspension. might just need to grease my shackles?
5. noisy t-case linkage. i have a replacement for this that is supposed to help; i just haven't put it in. its just kind of rattle-y.
6. need to look into pinion angle as @89Laredo mentioned
7. would like to figure out why i get a really low pervasive rumble in the front (around feet) whenever i go above 65. i know these things won't drive on the highway like something with IFS, but i'd love to be able to go 75 comfortably.
8. still want to do battery cable upgrade and injector upgrade from K-Suspension.
9. does sound deadening under carpets and in door panels actually help?
10. new speakers