rgallardo

What's up everyone. I have a 1993 Jeep Cherokee Country I'm about to dig into. First plans are to do some engine work which I don't really have many questions on yet. I want something I can drive from Denver through the mountains comfortably (all weather) and without much worry as well as taking some moderate trails to very nice camp spots. Eventually want to tow a little bit, nothing heavy. Don't have a ton of cash but do plan on investing some cash to make it very reliable. Here are a few questions I have so far though.


Axels & Brakes:
I have the Dana, I believe 35, up front which I had planned on eventually getting rid of. I want to move my Chrysler 8.25 up front and get a Dana 44 for the rear.
- Question is, is it worth making that swap of the 8.25 to the front?
- If so, is it worth doing a brake upgrade to discs and which would you suggest? I want to get rid of the Drums.
- I will need something to fit the stock rims as well. I'll upgrade eventually
- If I go 44 is the 8.25 going to be acceptable, or would I want to town down from the 44?


Lift:
Plan on going 3"-4.5"
- Suggestion on kits? I see these are fairly inexpensive


Transmission:
-What would bolt up and be long-lasting, strong, reliable and daily drivable for the 4.0? Transmission # if possible. I have Auto right now and can see this going out long before the motor.


Transfer Cases:
I could use some serious education here.


Motor:
I plan on rebuilding the 4.0 HO, but not upgrading much, I'll do what I can here and there. Seems fairly simple for the most part and fairly stout as is.


If there are any suggestions for me, I'm open and wanting to learn as much as I can. I am new to the Jeep game. All of your help is greatly appreciated.


Thank you all,
Rick

kyle96xj

As far as axles go you have a Dana 30 front, it's a pretty decent axle for mild wheeling and less than 37" inch tires along with necessary supporting mods. You may consider getting rid of the axle disconnect thing on the passenger side tube and swapping in a one piece shaft. A Chrysler 8.25 is strictly a rear axle (as far as I know) you could possibly cut off the tubes and weld new ones with knuckles and get custom shafts made but it would be very much a waste of money. The 8.25 is also a decent axle especially in 97+ models which have 29 spline shafts. You either have a np 231 (2h 4h N 4L) or np 242 which has 4h full-time

kyle96xj

Oh and the stock auto Aw4 is a plenty strong transmission with proper maintenance and care it can easily match the 4.0 in mileage

rgallardo

It's the 2H-4H-N-4L. It's completely stock at this point. I also noticed the steering will has some play in it. I think that is just a knuckle issue though. I want to possibly rebuild the transmission or buy a beefed up version of that transmission.

Do you guys have any website suggestions?


I should have mentioned I plan on going up to 38" tires. I'll definitely look into the axle modifications you mentioned. That will probably be one of the first things I do.

kyle96xj

If you're planning on going to 38" tires you're either going to have to do a lot of learning and alot of working or alot of paying for someone else to swap axles under your Jeep, that will not be a simple bolt on process, for in depth no BS fabrication and general detailed 4x4 tech I'd suggest looking on Pirate 4x4 they have alot of information, just don't ask questions with out searching first, same applies to Cherokee Forum there is tons of good info you just need to search read and learn

kyle96xj

And no matter what it's going to be pricey to run 38" tires unless it never sees anything but the mall parking lot

rgallardo

I might have to rethink the 38"


Suspension seems fairly straight forward, axles, transmission and transfer cases seem to be what I'd want to beef up the most.


I appreciate the insight. Do you like your lift? I'm trying to decide on a brand right now.

kyle96xj

Yeah I'm happy with mine, iron rock offroad makes good stuff, plus they're American made, the coils are considerably stiffer than Oem and most other aftermarket but they ride good and paired with my bilstien 5100s I don't run any sway bars and get very minimal body roll on road. It's a very controlled and predictable feeling on road I like it. If I were you I'd definitely go long arm however there are better options than the IRO kit for that. Check out the b. Lee and cavfab kits in the vendor section

rgallardo

Is there How To sections in this forum? I'm not seeing a whole lot of stickys and there is a ton of information on here. I'm not finding what I'm looking for very easily

93XJeeper

the Chrystler 8.25 is strictly a rear axle and is not worth the time to modify for the front. Dana 30 is typically plenty strong enough. But since you said your going 38". You may want to look at someone else. Anything over 35" is going to require serious modifications and fab skills. Dana 30 and Chrysler 8.25 from a 97 up jeep is strong enough to handles 35". If you really want to, you can put a Dana 44 front and rear in instead. Or even Dana 60s. As for the AW4 automatic tranny,Mir is actually a pretty stout transmission and will put up through a lot of abuse, if you regear the axles then that's should help take some strain off the tranny and tcase. You would want a 4.5" lift for 33" and maybe 35". 5.5" would be best for 35". You'll be best off parting your own lift together rather than buying a lift kit. That's way you can get the best of everything and get exactly what you would need for your application.

rgallardo

Yeah after further review. I'm going 32" to 33", sorry about that. As far as lift kits, I've been checking out the COTM forums, I really like Dr. Moabs from April 2014 set up as well as a few others. Piecing it together seems a bit more difficult but would be much better in the end I'm guessing. I will go long arm for sure with the bulkier ball joints. I was checking out the RC Long Arm kit and the Rubicon Lift kits. I plan on the 4.5" lift now. Is there a "how-to" for piecing lift kits together or what it would or wouldn't take to put one together. I'll probably go with Yukon or possibly even Richmond gears. I read you need to modify the drive shafts as well. Not as easy as I was originally thinking just because there are soooooo many options.

rgallardo

First up is going to be brakes, then a good tune-up. Motor is stout and I got it from someone who never took it wheelin or anything. They did however use the cheapest oil possible. It does have a leak coming from the oil filter housing it looks like.

rgallardo

Been minimally driving it for about a year now and a half now. Doing all the engine stuff I can right now. I've got this list in parts, starting to install now. I still have the Brake swap to do, I didn't do them yet because they were basically new once I checked them before the swap. I still need to get the regulator though.

-Water Pump
-Radiator/Cap/Thermostat/Hoses
-New idler pulley
-Belt
-Distributor Cap/Rotor/Ignition Coil
-Wire&Plugs
-Oil Pump
-Oil pressure Sender
-Oil Filter Stand Gaskets
-Complete Gasket Kit
-Heater Valve
-K&N Filter
-New Looming so I can run through the wiring. Cleaning out the entire engine as much as possible.

Are there any other suggestions to add while I'm doing all of this to the engine.

I could use suggestions for the steering. I hear there are some people doing Durango steering swaps, but I can't find a link. My steering has some play in it, about an 1/8 of a turn at times in the steering wheel.

Plan on lifting it next. Not going to 38's after all, seems a bit much for what I'm going to end up doing. More like 32"-35" tires. A 3.5" Lift, Rubicon or Pro Comp.

rgallardo

Did a lot of stuff in the engine bay but now it won't stay fired up. It starts and wants to go but it just won't stay fired up without my foot on the gas. Here's the list of stuff I threw in it (most of it ordered from Parts Geeks).

Spark Plugs (Champion)
Wires (Napa)
Distributor (Accel)
Rotor (Mopar)
Ignition Coil (Accel)
Battery is newer
Serpentine Belt
Water Pump (Gates)
A/C bypass pulley
Air Filter
Radiator and cap
Thermostat
Valve Cover Gasket
Yanked out all the A/C stuff.

Any ideas as to why it won't stay fired without my foot on the gas pedal? It has gas in it as well. I think the belt might be too tight or something with the coil and ignition, it doesn't sound like it has a misfire though either.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you

rgallardo

After doing a little work to the engine bay. It ran smooth.

Slowly working on the interior, little cheap stuff I can afford.
Seat Covers added
New budget Pioneer Radio and Cerwin Vega 6" speakers are being added. (Trying to figure out the wiring, I've never done radio installs)
Cleaned and wiped as much as possible. Going to go to Black as soon as I get a chance. Right now it's tan.

Bad stuff I found:
Driver seat mounting bracket is rusted and broken in one spot. Pretty much 3/4's of the brackets slots are rusting out pretty bad. (Advise?)
Seat Belts need to be updated, the fronts don't lock. (recommendations?)
***The worst thing, I was reversing yesterday and it wouldn't reverse at a certain spot once I backed off the curb. It eventually kicked in and Drive seems to work fine. It was acting a bit funny though