Peter's DD and Wheeler Build
 

So I got my 1998 cherokee Sport back in January from a neightbor who tried to trade it in for Cash for clunkers but got rejected because it wasn't inspected. Well turns out he was to lazy to get it inspected so he sold it to me for $1950. Came with a ski/snowboard rack, factory tow package, and a bike rack, broken driver seat, and a lot of dog hair.

Here it is stock except I removed the door trim, and removed the fenders and painted them black

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So after that I tackled the interior, and as I said the PO had a dog and two little boys, so it was a mess. After a saturday spent cleaning it came out pretty nice except for the carpet and floor mats.

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At first I was really reluctant to buy a cherokee but after seeing how well my friends XJ performed stock in the record breaking snowfall on the east coast in december I wouldn't have anything else.

First 3 pics didn't work here they are

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We also replaced a few hoses and got a new battery

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Then I found this sight and decided I needed a lift and new tires and wheels. I went back and forth from 3in to 4.5in and vice versa and also on tire choice. Eventually I decided I wanted a 4.5in RC full leaf pack lift and three days later this is what I had.

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I didn't take to many pictures of the disassembley process when my dad and I installed the lift but heres a couple.

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Since I was gonna be able to see most of the fender wells with the lift I decided to paint them with 3m rubberized undercoating in the front

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Well by the time we finished the front and had started the back I learned that undercoating doesn"t relly harden and it doesnt give a very nice finish. I was kind of dissapointed cause I didn't really clean the axle either unlike the back that got duplicolor bedliner on the D35 and fenderwells. so I left with a decent looking rear end and a crappy looking front end. But the lift was awesome, definately gave me more than 4.5inches. new exhaust as well

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With it so much higher, the hitch was much easier to take off. So I took it off to see if I couldn't clean it up and paint. look what I found haha

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New hitch ordered and back ordered, has been for five weeks so who knows when that'll show up haha

Looks nice man. I bet it looks really sharp bigger tires. Its kinda hard to see your from avatar. haha.

lookin good man hoping i am following in your foot steps soon, gotta get mine running first. It kills me to think about how many perfectly good cherokees are sitting in the junk yard now just because of cash for clunkers...

Thanks, yeah it definately looks sharper with new tires

I was originally gonna go with 32's but every where I tried they were backordered. I really didn't want to want so I got 33x10.5s instead haha

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Before I mounted the tires I wanted to install extended brake lines and clean up the front axle along with removing all that undercoating. found out that engine degreaser work perfectly to clean both the axle and fenderwells. just soak the area in degreaser and leave it for 20 minutes then power wash the h**l out of it then repeat as many times as needed. with every thing clean I sprayed everything with duplicolor bedliner. I think it looks really good. every thing was disassembled for painting. gonna do hockey puck bumpstops soon.


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I also removed the front bumper caps and bedlined the bumper. I took my horns off for the time being and I was wondering where do you guys relocate them if you do at all. and how do i disconnect the ball type thing that screws into the bumper (no idea what its called) so I can move that under the hood

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Dude I know, cash for clunkers is pitiful. But im hoping to pull a D44 out of an XJ some time hopefully next spring so I can get rid of the D35.

Another Question. How do I know if I have a hp dana 30 or not and how do I find out what gears I have. I have the tow package, not sure if that makes a difference at all.

yes you can relocate it under the hood and its a vacume canister

Ok so I got it aligned and heres how it sits now

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Ive got better pics but some have failed to load. Not sure if its cause of the size or what but any help would be very much appreciated

Right now the only place I have to wheel is my grandpas farm and at the outer banks NC(im only 16). and Im pretty sure I do but should I trim my fenders? Its mostly a DD but I would like to wheel it more often. The 33s fit suprisingly well. I had to do minimal trimming in the rear of the front fenderwells, so no rubbing yet.

Before trimming

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after

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Heres pics to see if I need to trim, Im thinking I probably will

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how do I disconnect the cannister?

theres a rubber 90 degree rubber boot on the back.. just pull it off. but relocate it somewhere cause if you dont you wont be able to change your heating and cooling from cold to hot or visa versa.. and it will stay on floor or defrost. learned that the hard way lol

So would it be fine if I just zip tied it to a spot under the hood?

I mounted mine on the pass side behind the main fuse box near the firewall. Used an existing hole and bolt to hold it down. Then I just shortened the vac lines and rerouted them. Also, if not already answered, you have a high pinoin/reverse rotation, dana 30. Low pinions were not used till 2000. If you were to look at your pinion and a 2000 or 2001 and compare them you will notice the pinion on yours is located at the top of the axle and the 2k+ one on the bottom.
I also mounted the horns under the hood. Along with an older models washer fluid resivior.

Thanks, theres this 3 way boot that connects to a smaller hose that when I pulled off air started coming out. Is this ok? should I just reconnect it later?

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