Back in March, without much forethought or planning on my part, I managed to pick up a 1996 2WD Cherokee se with a 4.0 and manual transmission for not much money at all. At the time I figured I'd fix it a bit, clean it up and flip it. Wrong. Once I began driving it and fixing things on it and making it better, I fell hard and fast for this plucky little two-wheel drive beater. I've always liked the look of the XJ Cherokees, but why didn't anyone tell me these things were so much fun to drive?

For a 180k jeep, it runs like an absolute top. It even feels like the engine has been taken apart and the rotating assembly balanced, it revs so smoothly. I don't find any particular evidence that any major repairs have been done to the drivetrain, everything looks original. The body and interior are about what you'd expect for a 180k truck. A few dings and dents here and there, but NO RUST. Inside, it's not ratty, just well-used.

More or less how it looked when I dragged it home.


Since then it's had a full tune-up, new battery, new shocks and sway bar bushings and a few other minor fixes here and there. It has basically been my daily driver since may.

While I now intend to find a 4x4 XJ, (or possibly convert this one) I think this one also deserves some love in the suspension and tire department. I don't plan to spend absurd amounts of money on it, but I do plan on making a fierce little daily driver/weekend fun buggy. I don't really do hardcore off-road stuff, and our winters in central Texas are generally pretty mild, so four wheel drive isn't critical at this stage... More like a "nice to have" in emergencies and bad weather.

Anyhow, let's see where this goes.

 

So a couple weeks after I brought my jeep home I decided the smooth roofline looked odd. A trip to the pick n pull netted me a factory roof rack and the measurements to mount it. Also found several gray interior xjs, so I now have all my armrests and window cranks. Also swapped out a couple of the exterior door handles that had busted springs.

Roof rack installed


Pay no attention to the mud on the jeep, the county was re-paving the road to my folks' house (all my tools are currently stored there). Any resemblance to actual off-roading is purely coincidental.

 

Well. Technically. If the county was re-paving the road, they had to remove the old surface, to put down the new surface, right? So actually, you were "off-road"
That's cool though. Whatever it takes to get some dirt on your jeep, is worth it.


Looks good so far though.

 

Thanks!

Im posting a lot of stuff retroactively as I get to it, I've actually done a lot more, but I wanted to keep the thread somewhat chronological.