Just another pain in the ***** 98' Cherokee..
 

Long story short..

I bought this 98' Xj, last summer to do the 97-01 Swap in my comanche.
Well turned into a mess when trying to find a place to do the swap
(With me being in the army, not owning a house/Garage, etc etc)

So i gave the xj a little run for the money (Traded a 01 Honda Recon for it)
And wheeled it a little.

She was on a 2'' Budget Kit, i chopped up the fenders.
Spun the tires until they were bald and sold it to a kid in the barracks for 1600 bucks.

Well, it sat around.. He never drove it.
Wheeled it a time or two, so every time i was in the barracks lot i would see it sitting there.

Finally the kid got married, his old lady didn't want him having the XJ.
He had no need for it, so for a steal i bought it back for 600 bucks.

Lord, she has been a pain in my *****.

I've owned several XJ's before, 88's all the way to 98's.
I even have a comanche thats a 88' and i ended up doing a 93/94 Swap into it.

Besides the point...
I'll try to keep this updated and see if y'all can't give me a hand here.


Here's the little guy pulling my 96' Wave runner...
They are about the same in size lol.

http://i58.tinypic.com/29yqphc.jpg

Well, i drove it around for a few weeks as it sits in this picture.
I had to sell my cummins and my trailer, along with some other stuff for some financial issues i ran into. Sadly, this became my DD.

Had the cash from selling the cummins, so I spoiled myself and the jeep with a nice 6.5'' Long arm kit from Rusty's Offroad.

Wasn't the kit that I dearly wanted, but i read good things about it.
The set up seemed very strong and I really like the 4 Link set up.

I Also ordered myself the Iron Rock OTK Steering system (5/8'' Upgrade)
I couldn't bare to keep myself away from this! I LOVE it, several friends of mine run it and they've had NO issues.

I also managed to pick up a set 285/75 R16 (The jeep has TJ rubicon wheels on it "Fancy" lol)

http://i60.tinypic.com/11cgjdg.jpg
It was like Christmas Time in the back on my XJ.


2 had like 10-15% the other 2 are 25-30% For $80 bucks.... why would i pass them up?
http://i59.tinypic.com/2v9brpx.jpg


Time for install....
http://i62.tinypic.com/crexs.jpg

Now I've done lifts before, several lifts..
On my XJ's, my comanche, all my buddies jeeps, toyota's,
hell even lowered cars..

But, lord did this kit
and this jeep have every single issue i could've imagined.

I'm going to keep it short and sweet.
Let's just say she sat on the rack for about 4-5 Days, I
even pulled a all nighter working on it by myself.

Here's a few shots over those few days.
http://i58.tinypic.com/9ibqso.jpg

http://i62.tinypic.com/2w4leyx.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/29atmqf.jpg

Sorry for the photo's being so small...

i made the size a bit bigger this time around.

http://i59.tinypic.com/2822kb4.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/xckepf.jpg


http://i59.tinypic.com/2hdmcf6.jpg

After several long nights, and hot long days at work.. just
to get off and slave on this cherokee.
She rolled out of the shop Saturday afternoon.

While the rest of my #wickedjeepnc club was at Uwharrie
i was stuck working out all the annoying kinks.

Let's just say the Rusty's installation instructions were pretty much ***** backwards.
And i had a 4 wheel part tech helping me do the install, mind you.

Lots of the drilling required didn't make much since when you have to use a hole-saw drill bit. The brake line on the drive side leaked horribly, and when i removed it to try to diagnose the issue... it fell into 3 different pieces.

The kit was missing several hardware pieces, causing me to run to the store
several times.

Not only were they missing, it wasn't labeled at all.
Granted you can figure most of it out yourself, still would've been helpful and a bit more of a quicker process if i didn't have to search through hardware.

Hell, even rough country labels their stuff!

Man, i wasn't a happy camper.

but here she sits, before and after the 285's.

The lovely "Bald terrains" that she was riding on..
http://i60.tinypic.com/5fhd9s.jpg

and the 285's
http://i61.tinypic.com/ergbhz.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/2u6gvm0.jpg

And a lovely shot of that steering! Man do i love it!
http://i59.tinypic.com/2f03xck.jpg

Now between the lift and all.
I've done small little upgrades and routine maintenance..

I did the cheap and easy "Hood cowl"
I bought some 1/2'' Sleeves and hardware to raise the hood from the hinges.

Along with that, she got a new radiator, water pump and a 180 degree thermostat.
Upper and Lower Rad hoses were replaced too!

The Aux fan has also been wired to a switch, That's just something i've done with all my jeeps. These I6's sure love to run hot.

http://i62.tinypic.com/23j30jm.jpg
You can also see the hood in previous photos.
IT DID lower the temp by a few degrees! Very handy.

http://i61.tinypic.com/2up48c3.jpg

Yeah yeah yeah... the famous XJ missing it's bumper kinda look.
I'm pretty sure we've all ran it before, or didn't mean to end up running the look!

But anyways, I have a Jeep wrangler JK bumper that i believe is from smitty bilt.
not 100% positive but i got it on trade with my comanche (Also came with a rear bumper i shouldn't have ever sold)

But how the bumper was fabbed to fit the xj, it was only using the stock 6 bolts that are weak and flimsy. SO, i ordered up some Iron Rock XJ bumper brackets and got to welding them bad boys on.

http://i57.tinypic.com/i1z3vr.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/30ab8cw.jpg

Now, I'm just waiting on install.
I have seem to run into a steering issue, and NO it's not my awesome OTK set up Lol.

When turning sharp turns into parking lots, parking spots, and even on exits and turns at stoplights. The steering will buckle, and lock up. Sometimes it even acts like it's in 4WD and hop when i turn.

Now Obviously the steering has been replaced, and the pump doesn't whine or squeal.
So I am leading up to the steering box? Now it isn't leaking very bad, has some moisture, and the pump isn't low on fluid. I am thinking about doing the durango swap.

The u-joints could be a factor in the steering, but they do not seem like they are in bad condition. But could a bad Ring and pinion cause this issue?

the mechanical fan does its job quite well when it has an intact fan shroud can reduce temps quite a bit so you should get one in there... nice build btw

Yeah, i've been meaning to get one. i can never find intact, complete shrouds at the junkyard. they're always broken.

But thanks man

rock auto sells them new really cheap

I wouldn't rule out the ujoints. My steering box has been shot for over a year but I haven't had any issues with it hoping. If the inside tire is chirping/hoping, something is bound up in the driveline. Start on the outside and work your way in...hub, ball joints, ujoints, spider gears, r&p. My money is on ujoint or something with the spider gears.

sweet i'll take a look!

Adam! whats up bud?!


And yeah i think im ruling that out.. I'm pretty positive it's the R&P or
spiders..

my pinion bearing just went out, it has SO much play in it! It's not even funny. I just picked up a Dana 30 w/ 4.10's. Preparing to throw a 8.8 in too.

Got some more updating to do for the XJ..

Got the bumper on, man was it a pain.
The Stock XJ brackets, welded to the rusty's plate caused it to be just a bit to wide.
Me and a friend got it figured out and mounted.

Also, picked up a used SmittyBilt XRC8 w/ synthetic line/Fairlead.
I threw that on also!

http://i61.tinypic.com/sdcj8z.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/95zzvo.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/19ky2b.jpg

I also picked up a dana 30 w/ 4.10s..
out of all the pictures i take, i don't have any at the moment!
But i'll get started on throwing that in this week and also be on a hunt for a
8.8 or a 44.

With the lift being on, I've never really tried to drop the tires and stretch her out.
Here's a few shots of the Rusty's LA kit.

http://i60.tinypic.com/2hd8dnb.jpg

http://i57.tinypic.com/11lrke9.jpg

I'd say I'd sell ya my 44 but I'm not having too good of luck finding the axles I want right now. Just search the JYs up and down and see if you find a 4.10 8.8. Ill do some checking around the Raleigh area if ya want.