Project - TANK XJ
 

It's finally time to start my own project Jeep! A few months back, I bought a low mileage, good condition, 1991 Jeep Cherokee XJ.
It has 114k original miles and overall it's in good shape. There is no rust at all, so it's going to be a good base for the build.

This is a quick plan for the build:
- new paint job
- transmission swap (AX15 to AW4)
- axle swap (3/4 ton dana 44 and dana 60)
- new motor
- rear coil conversion
- long arms (3link on the front, 4 link on the rear)
- 37" tires
- a lot of Goliath Off Road armor
- and much more...

Here are some pictures, showing how the jeep looked like when I parked it in the shop. ( it was yesterday :laughing: )

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...805c38a680.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...e0bab60268.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...b91258cf01.jpg



Today I started disassembly. Didn't do much, because it's Sunday and I wasn't in the shop for a long time. I managed to take the bumpers, plastic fender flares and some of the rubber trim on the passenger side.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...8e55104f54.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...a3eebcbcc5.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...01f5af73d6.jpg

Whats you plan for it?

I put the short list on the beginning, but basically
- new paint job (JK tank green)
- axle swap (3/4 ton)
- new motor
- 37" tires
- 3 / 4 link
- rear coil conversion
- armor (bumpers, roof rack, rock sliders, etc.)
- and some other stuff as well

Man, couldn't you have picked a less awesome original one to tear apart? To me, a low mileage, rust free, stick shift 4x4 Laredo should be left mostly alone.

But, you're not me and are entitled to your freedom of choice just as I am entitled to my opinions lol. Sounds like a nice plan built on a solid foundation. Definitely following. I just wish you would have picked up some highschool kid's already modded but rust-free automatic to build on haha.

You said "a lot of Goliath Off Road armor" but their website has basically nothing on it for armor. What do they offer that I can't see?

We have a lot of armor for XJ. Mostly bumpers though. But also skid plates, rock sliders, roof racks, etc.
Most of our stuff is for WJ though.
On project TANK there is gonna be a lot of different stuff that we don't offer yet, such as rear quarter armor, hood louvers, and a few other little things.
We also have more stuff listed on eBay, than we have on the website.
In 2019 we are gonna release a LOT of new stuff for XJ, WJ, and wranglers as well.

What is so awesome about stick shift 4x4 laredo in particular? It's not even a limited, let alone the wagoneer or Briarwood...
Also, I'm not gonna build a ****box out of it.
The problem about "high school kid's already modded" Cherokees is that they usually... almost always are ****boxes with god know what inside. That's why I would rather buy a clean, unmolested base to build.

I went yesterday and picked up a donor for the TANK. It's a 1995 Jeep Cherokee XJ sport. It's rusty or actually was because the previous owner cut out the whole floor, rockers and a part of the rear quarter panels. So technically there is no rust anymore lol. But what's more important, is that it only has 160k miles on it and everything I need for the TANK.
I bought this jeep for $350. Not a bad deal, considering the fact that there are some parts I can easily sell and make some money.



https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...8d620b688a.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...e4d9de7c47.jpg

Looking forward to seeing what comes!

Today was a busy day at the shop, and I didn't work as much on the TANK as I would like to...

We are a little behind with the steerings, so that was the main thing today for me.



https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...0ae34839cb.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...49273541d1.jpg



We also just finished one of the few other projects we have on the way, the "Scout" XJ. We took it outside for a little stretch :icon_biggrin:



https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...e5145e83b8.jpg



But back to the TANK.
We had very little time together today, but I managed to have something done. I finished taking the rubber trim off and then I had a hard time with the leftover glue... https://www.jeepforum.com/ubb/thumbdown.gif I used the glue remover from 3M (the rubber wheel, that you put on the drill) and somehow removed all of it. Took a little bit of time though...




https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...983b4a2bfe.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...9dee7da526.jpg

Hell, these pictures are huge lol :oops:

you should find someone on here to take that ax15 swap off your hands hate to see it go to waste most people I kno go the other way for their swap , ive been gathering parts for years now to do mine

I was thinking the same thing, but something tells me they have a plan for it.

I know people do it. I personally prefer an automatic transmission in the jeep that will actually go off-road.
I don't know what is so special about that AX15... I have three XJs with the same transmission in the shop, and there are another at least three of them on the junkyard I went last week and a bunch of them on craigslist too. This is not a Holy Grail.

Interested in the fabrication of the 4 link in the rear.

Are you going to install frame stiffeners also? Purchase, or fabricate them?