roccov12345

Hi all, I purchased this 97 XJ about 2 months ago as an alternative to driving a mazdaspeed 3 to and from work some 70 miles away (my 1st Jeep). Most of you Northerners will understand the need to drive something with 4wd during the winter months, she's already saved me during a few notable storms. Plus, we needed something a little bigger than my hatch to transport our 5 month old son Rocco Jr. to and from day care with. Anyway, XJ specs:

97 Jeep Cherokee Sport
105K
4.0l i6 / aw4 / np231
d30 / 8.25
All Stock minus the ghetto fab mods the prior owner decided were necessary.
City born, not a spec of rust on the body. Big plus in my book coming from Northern NY.
Purchase Price = 1,600

I'm not quite sure what my plans are at this point considering it will have to be my daily for at least the next year. I'm thinking something along the lines of a 4.5 xseries lift from RC on 32's or 33's. This truck will see much more highway than offroad so form & function are big priorities.


To date / over the past 2 months, I haven't really added anything worth conversation as most if not all the work has been repair.

Repairs from the get go:
Reupholstered headliner and sound bar
Fixed seized passenger seat rails.
Fixed non-working power windows & front door speakers
Replaced Cracked Winshield
Upper and lower Rad Hoses
Heater Core Hoses (Send & Return)
Thermostat & Coolant flush
Front & Rear Axle flush
New Cat & Flowmaster
Oil Filter Assembly O-Rings
Upstream & Downstream O2 sensors
Fixed Rear trunk latch
Removed and in the means of repainting the sun faded door moldings
Few little odds & end things here and there
Need to take care of the driver's side tie rod, ball joint and wheel hub assembly....

Mods from the get go:
Cobra 148 GTL & K40 Antenna w add on external speaker mounted to the ceiling
Rage Black Widow Roof Basket (Xmas Gift from the wife)
Weather Tech Mats (lol) Love me some weather tech.
Hella Black Magic 500's, yet to install

I think she's pretty much ready to go now minus the front end work. The next warm day I'll get dirty with that.

1st Pics upon purchase...

roccov12345

PO had stereo wires strewn EVERYWHERE. I spent the 1st day ripping it all out and reupholstering the headliner/soundbar....

roccov12345

Second day me and my son hit the car wash for a much needed wash...

roccov12345

1st trip ever with a Jeep in the woods. I've owned nothing but Fords in the past (Bronco, Bronco 11, explorer, mountaineer, ranger) and I'm really impressed with the stock Cherokee.

roccov12345

El Cheapo Roof Rack. Not as heavy duty as some I've seen but it gets the job done....

roccov12345

Nemo brought some snow our way so me and my son hit some local trails...

Pretty much how she sits right now. Come on tax return.......

roccov12345

The last few days have been interesting with this piece. I was just about to order a dirtbound offroad extreme winch bumper until the following components decided to crap out the last two days....

- Steering Stabilizer is leaking fluid
- Driver wheel hub assembly is making bearing noise while rolling
- I can see the driver tie rod and upper ball joint are on their way out
- Trac Bar seems a little loose
- Water pump is leaking antifreeze from the weep hole
- Serpentine belt is a little shredded on the outer edge
- Tranny cooler line is leaking fluid
- Death wobble @ 48-55 mph like a ****

roccov12345

Grinded out a few repairs yesterday including waterpump, idler, belt, coolant flush and cleaned the nasties out of the throttle body, iac, etc.

Noticed while I was underneath the trans cooler line is crimped from control arm travel. I think I'm just going to replace them w hydraulic hoses tomorrow.

rmoore1031

Looks nice and a good deal. Where in NY?

roccov12345

Thanks RM. Dutchess County / Fishkill / East of the hudson, little less than 2 hours north if the city. How about you?

rmoore1031

Jefferson County. 30 minutes south of Canada. lol

roccov12345

Slowly I'm making progress with this heep. In the last month or so I've replaced the windshield, new tranny cooler lines, new valve cover gasket, new oil pan and oil pan gasket, rear main seal, removed all the body trim, bumper caps and fender flares to start body work, new front rotors and ceramic pads, undercoated the entire truck w chassis saver and replaced/repainted the windshield wiper cowl area. I've pretty much finished the driver's side bodywork which was way worse than the passenger. The front and rear doors wouldn't close properly as they were bent. I guess it seems a little ironic to repair dents on an offroad vehicle but seeing how the rokee sees about 75% of it's time on the highway, it needs to look somewhat presentable especially working in a corp. environment.

Just ordered, lift, tires and wheels. Can't wait for this stuff to come in.

A few pictures I did take.

roccov12345

Cross Drilled/Slotted Gold Zinc Plated Rotors and Gold Flake painted calipers.

roccov12345

I didn't really like any of the available brake caliper paint colors so I tried the VHT engine enamel. I guess I'll just see how it holds up....

roccov12345

Real content with the outcome.