Ok, so I just bought a 1991 Cherokee Laredo (My first Jeep). Needs some love before it can be considered a reliable source of transportation. I decided that I’m going to keep a journal here of my entire restoration of the XJ. I t will start off very slowly as I do not have a large budget for this project, but we will have some fun along the way.

There are a few gripes to start with, nothing serious…
· The clock resets to 1:00 every time I turn off the power.
· The after market radio only works when the light switch is pulled out (my thanks to Cherokee Rebel for his input to help troubleshoot this problem)
· The right rocker panel is rusted through
· The muffler needs to be replaced
· Can’t get the “Part Time” light to go out but it feels like it’s in 4WD
· I think the right headlight bucket is missing a spring or two as it points almost 45 degrees to the left.
· There’s a gremlin that lives under the dash that occasionally sucks all the juice out of the battery when it sits for a few hours which then requires a jump start.
· The liftgate has only one piston, and it’s shot

All in all, not a bad XJ to start with as she has no major problems. Many of the usual things you’d expect to find on a 20 year old vehicle with over 275000 miles on it.

I’m going to start with the basics... Replace all of the fluids, flush the radiator, replace all of the hoses, replace the fan belt, install new liftgate pistons, new spark plugs and wires, headlight adjustment/aiming, new muffler, and even though the breaks feel good I’ll go through that system. This should keep me busy for a weekend or two.

 

love the look, i have a 96 but it's being fixed up, keep posting bro. also where at ga are you?

 

"Tried" to replace the lift gate struts this weekend. As stated earlier, there was only one strut installed on the left hand side. Replaced the left strut and then found the upper strut mount on the right side broken.

Any fix to this other than to replace that section of the pillar?

 

yeah weld the areas around the busted area, that's about it.

 

I'm in Stockbridge

 

Wow lol. Looks like my first xj

 

I'm buying a welder this weekend. I'll tack that up. Also making plans to add sub frame stiffeners.

 

Just received several items from Rock Auto for the front end (new break caliper assemblies, new rotors, new wheel bearing and hub assemblies) and just as I am ready to install these I find an electrical problem. It has been driving great until this little snag.

Total loss of power. As my son was opening the fuse box cover the light on the hood flickered. My guess is I have a bad ground in the fuse box. Haven’t had a chance to get in to it yet.

 

All right, I finally had some time to do some work on the Cherokee. Replaced the rotor, break caliper assembly and the wheel hub assembly on the driver's side. Currently the wheel hub assembly will not come out of the knuckle on the passenger side. I have soaked it with liquid wrench over several days and have gone at it with a dead blow hammer and tried to get it to rotate with a 3X rivet gun. No luck. Any suggestions?

 

try heat along with the methods you are already using. that's all i can think of.