Tacticaledge

I have seen three XJ builds that all claim to be "Project Cheap Jeep".

JP Magazine, Trucks with Stacey David, and 4X4 TV have all built up their version of the "Poor Mans XJ" and they all seem to have one thing in common......They are not at all cheap!

So, I have decided to post the build of my 1994 Cherokee XJ here along with the parts I've added thus far and the prices of each. I will add pictures in the posts below.

This project started off as a part time build just to have a vehicle for wheeling and playing around on the weekends. Unfortunately, my wife's car (1999 Explorer Limited) took a crap and needed a new head leaving the Cherokee to pick up daily driver duty. I bought this truck completely trashed. The previous owner had let his kids use it for trails while their go-karts were broke down. The front end was smashed in on the passenger side almost all the way to the tire. The fenders were cut way too high. This thing had both sway bars removed "so it would flex better" (Don't do that by the way). The ball joints, tie-rods, and all the bushings were shot. The suspension was all but gone from them jumping these little 3 foot high dirt mounds they made.
It was scarry as hell for the first few weeks until I could get the front end fixed. I had to drive this thing 38 miles each way to work on the interstate and it gave me a greater appreciation of life.
The engine and drive train were great and that is really the only reason I bought it. Plus it had 3 inch coil spacers, a shackle lift in the rear, tubular LCA's, a drop pitman arm, and an adjustable track bar.

Anyway, here is the parts list and all of the prices are total prices including any shipping or sales tax.


Jeep with 240,000 miles and a budget 3 inch lift. $1,100

5 Quarts of Oil, Oil Filter, PCV Valve, Spark Plugs, Plug Wires, Distributer Cap, Ignition Rotor Button, Valve Cover Gasket, Rear Main Seal, Oil Pan Gasket, and two Universal Joints from Autozone. $215.00

Side Marker Light from E-bay seller “directauto”. $12.00

Headlight Door Bezel from E-bay seller “autosdepot”. $12.42

2 Fenders, 1 Front Sway Bar, and 4 Fender Flares from a Cherokee Pioneer Sitting in a Field. $80.00

Idle Air Control Valve from E-bay seller “automartint914” $21.95

Throttle Position Sensor from E-bay seller “xpres_auto_parts” $19.79

Ball Joints, Tie-Rods, Drag link, Sway Bar Links from E-bay seller “AutoPartsMidwest” $129.99

Sway Bar Bushings from E-bay seller “Worldsuspension” $14.29

LCA Bushings from E-bay seller “World Suspension” $45.99

UCA Bushings from E-bay seller “autopartsexp” $34.36

Jeep XJ Factory Cup Holder from E-bay seller “oconeeoff-road” $10.29

Camoflage Seat Covers from E-bay seller “designcovers” $118.74

Hi-lift Jack 4XRAC Mount from E-bay seller “acmejeepparts” $33.97

Chinese Made Hi-Lift Jack from Wal-Mart (junk!!!) $64.00

Sand Paper, Primer, and Paint from Wal-Mart $100.00

Coil Springs (Moog MCC 782 for Grand Cherokee. gives another 1 inch lift) Pro Comp 2 inch lift Leaf Springs, and Pro Comp 5 inch lift Shocks from JC Whitney. $355.16

Grand Total So Far $2367.95

Future Purchases/Finishing Touches

4- MudGrabber 33 inch tires on 15 inch wheels from JC Whitney $999.00
Front and rear bumpers from E-bay seller “Jeepmanbrook” $600.00
9,000 pound winch from Quadratec. $300.00
Snorkel Kit from E-bay seller “autoware302” $150.00
Rebuild rear drums with everything from E-bay seller “am-autoparts” $75.00

$4491.95 Completely Finished.

I am thrilled with the outcome so far. I have about 4.5 inches of lift in the front with this setup and just over 4.5 inches in the rear. It still has the miss matched 31x10.5x15's that were on it when I bought it and they look small on it now. I cut the new fenders but only on the bottom flush with the corner lights. This vehicle has factory fenders and flares off a Cherokee Pioneer....Im not sure if it makes a difference in tire clearance but it seems to compared to the other XJ's I've seen around town.
I just wish I had had more time to complete this build and enjoy the process. I have only owned this jeep for two months. Had we not sold the Explorer to an over-sealous kid for $1,300 I never would have had the money to get this far this fast.
Anyway, enjoy the pics.

Tacticaledge

The day I brought it home.



All this mud is from the test drive.



Another angle of day one. Notice the huge cuts on the fenders....This thing sat lower than stock!



First thing I had to do was put an exhaust on it. The previous owner hacked it off before the cat. Luckily I had lots of exhaust pipe and an old glass pack laying around. I figured if I was building the exhaust from scratch, I might as well go big.





A little progress. Tierods, ball joints and bushings are done at this point. The Pioneer fenders and flares have been installed. Front bumper has been removed. Fenders were chopped at the corner lights. The jack and mount were installed and the new KC lights were installed. AND THERE IS A SWAY BAR NOW....THANK GOD! This is before the suspension was done.



Just a pic of the other side. Overspray everywhere. I got a little careless with the primer. (Like I said, I was and still am driving this to work everyday.) Suspension pics coming next.

Tacticaledge

No responses yet?
Maybe I should change the title to "Built by E-bay".

luckyAD80

I like it! So is that whiteish color the color it is now? And way to document every purchase. I've been doing the same thing haha. OCD.

Tacticaledge

Thanks. The white color is just a light gray primer. It photographs like that. I'm still trying to dig out some more pictures to post.
As for documenting every purchase, E-bay did it for me...LOL
I also have a commercial account with Autozone and JC Whitney can't be beat on suspension components.
My goal was to do this as cheap as humanly possible since I have a wife and two kids to support. The worst thing about this build is that the Jeep is my daily driver. Trying to get springs on in the morning when you have to leave for work at 2 in the afternoon really adds an extra stress factor in there. I don't know how many times I have been cussing the UPS guy for not showing up until 5 minutes before I had to leave.
Like I said before, this thing had me fearing for my life on the interstate. Getting near a big rig was like being on a plane that got caught in jet wash. I had to swerve to miss another vehicle once and almost flipped it over.

Dubleomikel

Looks great, thumbs up on naming the eBay vendors excellent info to have.

xjchad

I too am a husband and father trying to build my xj on the cheap. I'm able to do my own fabrication so that helps too, but I think one of the hardest parts is getting the time to do it. I love spending time with my family, so the jeep often gets overlooked. Great build so far! Do you happen to have the part number for the rear leaf springs?
Chad

Tacticaledge

I know how that is. Unfortunatly, I haven't had much family time since this is our only running vehicle right now. Family time and Jeep time are one in the same. The kids are 6 and 7 and they enjoy "helping". My wife is even in on it now taking pictures as we go.

The part number for the leafs is Pro Comp E3753111.

Tacticaledge

Coils sagging really bad. Notice the stock sway bar link lined up perfectly even with a 3 inch spacer on top of the coil.

Front end before replacing worn out coils.



After replacing the coils. Used Moog MCC782 coils for the v-8 grand cherokee. These give it an extra inch of lift. With the springs and spacers, I'm at 4.5 inches over stock now. 22 inches from the center of the hub to the bottom of the fender flare.

Tacticaledge

Back looked terrible at this point. The rear leafs actually had a negative arch. These were the first I had seen that almost looked like they had been installed upside down.

XJ BoSS

What color u painting it

Tacticaledge

You know....I bought OD Green and now I'm thinking that it is over done.
I used to have a Ranger that I painted NATO 3 Color Woodland and it looked awesome. I used the camo pattern for the Dodge M-880.

I really don't know yet to be honest. I'm thinking Desert Tan with the grille, flares, door handles, and roof rack in flat black too.

I will probably either do the Camo or OD with the black accents like I would for the tan just because I bought these seat covers already.

ol"blue

Great job, it looks good.

luckyAD80

I vote for desert tan/black combo.

Tylerball72

I like the flat back idea, and I love ebay personally, 35 dollar brand new tail light compared to a 50 dollar junk yard one, cant beat that
Subscribed and inspired.
Just curious, what do you mean by cutting your fenders flush with your markers?