Project Commuter Commando
 

I'm mostly a CJ/YJ guy and have one WJ, so, this is my first fling into XJ's

I got this '93 XJ Country from my friend for $600.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-40-45_734.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-41-11_398.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-42-36_715.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-43-00_578.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-42-28_938.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-43-32_516.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...6-43-40_57.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-44-58_995.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-46-34_583.jpg

It's a '93 Country, 2WD, with 4.0L and AW4 with 169K miles. It has the 8.25 rear axle, not sure yet of the gearing.

What I want from this Jeep: a bullet-proof commuter, but, the looks of a moderate wheeler. I have two 4WD Jeeps, thought I would give a 2WD Jeep a chance, and they are cheaper. Above all else, I want reliability and good parts availability, hence why I didn't want the pre-'91 Renix. I wanted a 4.0L, since my two other Jeeps have the 4.0L as well. I really wanted the AX15, but, this Jeep came at a good price.

The poor thing had been sitting at my friend's shop for a few months. He bought it from a guy that bought it from a guy that told him the tranny was messed up. In the next few months, a couple of parts were taken off here, a few parts there. It was time for me to get a better Jeep suitable for commuting then the CJ9, plus the CJ was getting a little run-down at 256K miles. I didn't have the extra money to put into it because of having 2 car payments. Well, after selling one vehicle (non-Jeep), I had money. Getting this XJ for cheap and fixing it up with NO CAR PAYMENTS, was a no brainer!

Things I want to do: getting an AW4 from a '99 XJ, get the few missing parts back, a small lift to fit 31's under it, swap the front to a '97+ front OR a Wagoneer grille. and a paint job. I'm not sure what else I want to do with it, figure it out as I go alone. Comments welcome, as this is my first adventure into Cherokees.

Jerry

Here are a few more pics:

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...7-46-31_42.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-46-42_366.jpg

Another hillbilly "fix". Not exactly sure how to handle these, one on each side. Should I dig the crap out and start over, or, just clean, sand, and smooth, then paint?
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-47-03_385.jpg

Here's a beautiful pic, an 8.25 rear axle!! Still need to find out what ratio it is.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-49-36_294.jpg

Is this a factory hitch? It looks like a WJ factory hitch.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...7-50-18_99.jpg

The back seat area, minus all of the crap that was there.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-00-34_408.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-00-39_966.jpg

More pics of the front seat area and dash:
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...8-22-06_96.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-22-15_399.jpg

I did some checking out of the electrical systems on it. Most of the lights work, all of the interior lights work, but, for the exterior lights, found a bad bulb in the rear driver side brake/tail light. The turn signals/hazards work, and the brake/running lights work(except for the driver's side). The front and rear wipers work, as do both remote mirrors. All of the door locks work, some do need some grease.

For the windows, only both driver's side windows work. I'm not exactly sure what's going on, only that the front passenger side doesn't do anything, and the rear passenger side sounds like it wants to close (the window is already closed), but nothing going down. The one thing that told me that something was up with the windows was the window motor I found in the glove box! would there be anything that would cause both windows on one side to go out like that?

One other thing, what is this sensor for?
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-48-13_824.jpg

Jerry

That's a keyless entry sensor

One other thing, what is this sensor for?
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-48-13_824.jpg

Jerry[/QUOTE]

That sensor is actually a government spy cam. Your Jeep was probably used for some type of government service at some point and if you tamper with it there is a penalty by law.

That sensor is actually a government spy cam. Your Jeep was probably used for some type of government service at some point and if you tamper with it there is a penalty by law.[/QUOTE]

Lmao that explains all the plain black late model ford sedans following me

As far as the redneck job on the roof i would dig as much of it out as possible and start over fresh especially if its been in the elements long enough to start to rust. And im pretty sure it is a keyless entry system unless the government is watching me as well......

Lmao that explains all the plain black late model ford sedans following me[/QUOTE]
He's joking

LMAO, guys, good one!! That's cool that it's keyless entry, now, how do I get OEM fobs and get them programmed to the XJ? On my wife's WJ, you have to go to the dealer to get things like that programmed, or get one of those $2,000 scan tool jobs.

Dillonreid, I was kinda thinking of that myself. The major thing I'm focusing on now is getting the drive train straight. I'm thinking of hitting the sections with Osfoe (can't spell this late) rust converter for the time being and paint it. Then, after I get the drive train issues straight, I'll turn my attention to the body. It looks solid everywhere else.

Does anyone know if the hitch is an OEM XJ hitch? It looks like it mounts like my WJ OEM hitch.

Thanks everyone!!

Jerry

I'm sure that will work until you want to actually get it painted. As far as digging that out I would get an air sander and some 36 grit sand paper that would be easiest.

Ok, trying to figure out everything I need to get this thing on the road. This is the tranny from a '99 XJ that I might be putting in it, assuming the tranny that's in it now really is bad.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-29-08_385.jpg

What would I need to swap this over to the '93? I think I need to swap the tail housing so the speedo sensor would work.

So far, I need a mechanical fan and a set of tranny lines between the tranny and radiator to get it running to see what else it needs. The mechanical fan was used on my friend's customer's Cherokee. The tranny lines, the bonehead that supposedly was checking out the tranny, bent the lines AROUND the front axle, making them useless! The dipstick tube for the tranny was in the back of the Jeep, and the wiring for the TCM was wrapped around the tranny. I installed the dipstick tube and plugged the wires where they were supposed to be. I hooked up the throttle cable from the tranny, but, the cruise cable couldn't be hooked up as the plastic piece that attached to the throttle plate broke.

So, that's the latest!

Jerry

I know there are some 4.0s that won't swap over without some modification but as far as trannys go I'm clueless. And they might use the same. They are both unibody and the only reason they couldn't be is because the rails are a different length apart

Not sure about the trans, but know the computer of the 93 is an OBD1, where as the 99 is OBD2. Something to consider I guess.

Did you ever get the windows figured out? Letinsh had a similar problem I think I remember him saying they where both wired through the front passenger side door switch, I believe he added a capacitor to boost the power needed to power the windows. May want to contact him and figure out exactly what he did.

And I don't think the glove box is stock mounting for the window motor.....

LOL, I didn't think so!! Really, I didn't even have a chance to work with the windows. I got a few things done today, got the tail light on the driver's side working, just a dead bulb. I sanded down the areas on the rear of the roof and sprayed some paint there. I also painted the headlight bezels, now, they're black instead of gray, and match the grille.

The tail lights:
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-43-27_147.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-43-35_583.jpg

The brake lights:
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...11-44-56_0.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-45-03_234.jpg

The roof sections:
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-37-12_754.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-37-25_780.jpg

The headlight bezels:
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-36-49_246.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-36-40_836.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...-36-57_587.jpg

The thing is to get the parts I need to get this thing running, then, I'll go from there.

Jerry

Yeah, I know that, and I think that is the problem, the speed sensor is way different between the OBD I and OBD II systems. This is the reason that I might have to swap tail housings.

Jerry