90xj87

Hey all, new guy here [audience:*Hi, new guy*] glad to be here. My name is kevin, and i am a cherokee addict. Last month I picked up a beauty, a 1990 Cherokee Laredo, and it came with a nice stinger bumper, 32*12.5s on 16s with some nice back spacing. (232k on it, but has a new(er) rebuilt 4.0) It ran when I picked it up, and in decent shape (little death wobble, but I wasn't going to drive this on the street, so who cares for now). So I dragged it home to Little Rock, and the damn thing, after spending 4 hours on a trailer, wouldn't start, wouldn't do a damn thing when I turned the key. So I spent the next month researching this so called "park neutral safety switch" [audience member: *saw that coming*] So I by passed the stupid thing, and i am running again...or so I thought. Battery is dead, so gotta fix that. Okay, done, runs like a champ. There were some offroad lights in the trunk, mounted them up on the bar (dim as hell though, not sure why...) and it needed a horn so I went with the classic oooga horn. Wired both of those up, and cut out a few of the meaningless switches that the PO left behind. Turns out, one of them, not so meaningless. After I cut out the switches, it wouldn't start. Now to figure out which one I shouldn't have touched, wired it back in, runs again, so excited!! And that brings us to today. Yesterday, I wasn't planning on doing a build thread. I was going run it the way it was. The front passenger tire will only hold air for a few days at a time, but I could live with that for now. Might have gone to get it looked at. Then I found something that I probably shouldn't have, which brings us to my, what i believe is called a full-width build. Pictured below is a HD44/60 combo out of a 79 F-250. I picked the pair up for $350. Now the fun begins, because I have no fab experience, have done minor research on what a welder even is, and have no place to even accomplish any of the work that needs to be done. So the next few months will be filled with updates on how I don't know what i am doing, and cries for help. I hope you enjoyed my little speech, I hope you keep an eye on me, as i promise it will be entertaining, and i have included a few pics for aesthetic purposes. Adventure, here we come!!!!

Xj88

lol.
Good luck

90xj87

Thank you!! I have a question for the general population here. As you can see, the axles came with leaf springs. I would like to go to coils (my front end already has coils, i like them better) so my question is, what kind control arm set up would you go with for this? Radius arms? 4 link in the rear? Let me hear those opinions!! I just want to make sure i make the right move here. I was thinking i could do a custom long arm in the front and a 4 link in the rear. But i feel like i am talking out of my ***, as i have no idea if this is even a good idea. Help!!

cherokee_ftw_5

should check out places online for weld on coil buckets!

harley182

Wow man you don't waste anytime getting a build start do ya? Well you have a BIG project ahead of ya. Should be fun though! Well to answer your question, personally in my own opinion I would build a 3 link front and just keep it simple and run leafs in the rear. You have plenty of work ahead without doing a 4 link rear. Once you get it rolling down the road if you decide you want to link the rear then do it then. Check out ballistic fabrications. They sell complete coil buckets and link mounts to get that axle under the front. Good luck man!

90xj87

Well, i don't have anywhere to store the spare axles so that kind of pushes things along. I'm going to have to relocate the leaf bracket on the rear anyway, so i thought i might go ahead and make the swap. Can i just use the leafs that are on the cherokee already? How hard is it to determine pinion angles and get new drive shafts? Because if that is easy enough, i might go ahead and Kerri the leafs in the rear and do a three link in the front. Steering is going to be fun too, as it is a different setup on the Ford axles

diego94

do i smell ambition?

b. lee

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you need to wheel that thing as-is for a while. You need tires on that thing (they're bald and one doesn't hold air), and sell those axles to pay for some decent used tires.

The dually rear may or may not even be close to the right WMS width. That front axle (although very hard to tell) doesn't appear to be a HP44, but maybe a low pinion 60 from an older Dodge? Is it a closed knuckle axle?

You are a couple (hell, a lot) of steps ahead of yourself here.

90xj87

I am slowly starting to consider that, buying a decent set of tires for them. But i don't know how much i could get for those axles, and i don't want to have passed up on such a great deal, you know?

90xj87

Okay, i do want to clear one thing up. I am new to the forum, but not new to jeeping by any means. I have six Jeeps so far, two cherokees, a grand cherokee and three Wranglers. I bought this one for this build, just didn't think it would happen this fast. And the leaf springs are not wide enough apart on the rear, but i was planning on switching to coils anyway, so that really doesn't mean much. I think this is going to be a blast and a fun learning experience. I'm going to make mistakes, and i will learn from them. Now how do i set the pinion angle, do i even need to do that?

Xj88

You seriously need to research. Your in way over your head.

90xj87

You know what, you are absolutely right. I don't have the money for this right now, nor do i have a decent place to do this. Sorry for wasting your time. This build shall continue, just in another direction now. Anybody want some axles who can handle them?

Xj88

I wasn't trying to be a dick..just so you know. Just don't want you getting into it too deep then realizing it was a mistake

90xj87

No, i didn't think you were. You have a very valid point, and i should just replace the tires and go with that for now. I just need to get rid of the axles, and that might be tricky. Think I will have any luck on here?

Xj88

On here? Prolly not.Worth a shot..
Craigslist may be better.