Geo Fry

Introduction

Hello all CF people. I've been a lurker here on the forums and got into Cherokees (and Jeeps in general) about 2 years ago. My first XJ was a 2000 and it was in Wisconsin for the first 8 years of it's life so it was a rust bucket (something us down south know nothing about). It was also an automatic; and for me, that was a first. My only two cars I had owned for nine years previous had been standards and I'd so much rather drive that then an auto. However, about 2 months ago a girl hit me and pretty much screwed my 2000. You can see the carnage here :https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/wr...suppose-68265/

So instead of having it fixed I bought another XJ with the insurance money.

The XJ

1996 Cherokee Classic
I6 with 189k
5sp Yea!
NP231
D30/D35 with 3.07 gears







When I got it the power steering leaked pretty bad and the brakes barely worked and you could smell the brakes burning up. These are easy fixes so it didn't bother me. What I was really excited about was three main things. It's a 5sp, it has zero rust on it anywhere, it has the older style interior and rear hatch (I like this gen much better than the 97-01).

Plans
Since I still have my 2000 XJ I can use it to pull what I want and what not. I'm going to be parting it out before I take it to the JY so If anyone is interested in some '00 parts let me know.


Short term plans:

• Get everything in good working order
• Fix non working gauges (fuel, coolant temp)
• Install decent stereo
• Go up 4.5 in rear and about 4 in front
• put on some 32"
• swap out D35 for C8.25 with better gears
• swap out D30 with another with matching gears

Long term plans:

• custom bumpers and sliders
• even out at about 5" in both front and rear with a long arm setup
• uni-body reinforcement
• late model front clip and new paint
• upgrade lighting
• rear disc conversion

I plan on moving quickly at first but once I get my short term plans done it will probably slow down a bit. Hope you enjoy the story.

MiNi

Awesome, you kept your 00. Looks like a good platform for the new build. Can't wait to see what happens man. Good Luck.

and its true. We dont know too much about rust.

Geo Fry

So I've done a few things already and I'm just going to post what's been done to date.

• Fixed the brakes... kinda. Found out that my front right caliper was frozen, so I swapped it with one from my '00. My rear drums are pretty bad too, but I'm just going to live with these until I swap in my C8.25 axle when I will probably rebuild those brakes. Eventually I will convert to rear disc but that is low on my priority list.
• Power steering was leaking through the power steering pressure hose and that was it. This is great cause it was a $10 fix. Problem is, it had been leaking power steering fluid for so long that my motor mount bushing was virtually gone.
• Motor mounts were horrible to say the least. So I ordered new ones from Ironman Fab 4x4. These are awesome!!

How did my motor even stay under my hood?!? These new mounts aren't going anywhere!





You could tell such a huge difference just starting the jeep. And the power transfer to the wheels was highly improved. Great upgrade.

Kyle

Geo Fry

Well I'm getting everything ready for my lift and I got something in the mail. Pretty excited about these...



I'm sure some of you know what these are. More to come soon.

MiNi

shackle relocation brackets... i need to get me some too.

my fear

how much do you want for that d30? and what comes on it? i have a 96 2wd Cherokee that i want to convert to 4wd.