willdoe

So i made the impulse choice to buy another XJ!
Except i kinda bought another headache, now this isn't my first time around the block with jeeps, so i kinda knew what i was getting into. so i bought another 1997 XJ, i had been looking for some time because i wanted something 4WD again for the New York winters. i live between 2 mountains and drive 40 minutes to work, and id hate to destroy my 2012 mazdaspeed 3.
So that being said, i bought a 1997 jeep cherokee off a guy who knew ABSOLUTELY nothing about it, all he knew was it went good in the woods. so its a 4.0, 170,000+ Miles,

Currently sitting on an unknown lift somewhere between 4.5 to 6.5",
33x12,5s on Pro Comp wheels
Spartan lockers front and rear (that sound like death, but i've never owned or driven a jeep with mechanical lockers)
Unknown frame stiffeners in the front behind the front springs
SOLID front diff cover in the rear
Teraflex front diff cover
what i believe to be the IRO steering linkage
a Rustys Offroad track bar and mount
Some kind of unknown rocksliders
an unknown SYE and Double Cardin driveshaft
rear shackle relocation brackets and lift shackles
some kind of ridiculously heavy front bumper and what looks like a reasonably new XRC winch

Im sure theres more i'm forgetting, but ill update later if i forget.





so now the "Bad"
the motor is alittle of a tappy boi(its not quite a knock , but a tap at idle) and when it gets hot it loses oil pressure, but i changed the oil pressure sensor, and put rotella 15-40 which helped but it still drops low when its hot.
and after getting it home it popped a code for the torque converter clutch solenoid(which was addressed immediately)
The truck has quite a bit of trail art and clearly was abused, the PO i bought it from told me had didnt take care of it, but i was kinda looking for a project.

So my plans are:
-Make it driveable/Safer, Ive put some miles on it but not enough to feel comfortable driving it long distances yet. the brakes seem a little weak
-Eventually monstaliner it, not sure what color yet after i fix the rust in the back
-clean up the floors inside and out and i know this seems sacrilegious but put carpet back in it(Its way to hot to drive in the summer without it)
-just general overhaul items, probably a general tune up it could use it
-Have some fun with it down at rausch and AOAA in a couple of weeks, then be able to put my car away for the winter and start my build with that.

Im excited to be back in a jeep, i never thought i would miss it till i got back in one. it needs some love, but i haven't owned a jeep that didnt

thetastelingers

I'm sure it could be worse!

Good luck man!

unidentifiedbomb

Looks like a nice start! That's for sure more like 6.5" on 33s. Mechanical lockers aren't bad, I'd say in the winter test them in the snow in the parking lot first before doing any long driving just to get the feel for them. On the road they should be hard to notice if it's a automatic. That's a big lift for short arms, look at either long arms or control arm drop brackets so it doesn't drive like a school bus. How many bolts are holding on to those bumpers? Would hate to see them only using stock bolts and rip out the body first time you try to use the winch or recover someone. What's the driveline look like? SYE, Hack-N-Tap, crossmember drop with the slip yoke?

willdoe

Thanks man! ya its definitely really high for 33s with cut fenders, the mechanical lockers seem to be REALLY loud. A school bus is defiently a good comparison, its very wobbly, it doesn't quite death wobble but its challenging to drive, if i can find a used set of long arms and the cross member i may go that route, but i would lean toward the drop brackets for now. underneath is pretty tidy, no rot or real rust, it has an SYE. i dont think its a hack and tap, it definitely doesn't look like it, there no drop on the cross member at all, i'm not sure what kind of lift it is, i found an "Up County" sticker on one of the back windows, but i'm not sure. and the bumper im pretty sure is either 3 or 4 bolts on either side, they seem to go pretty far back into the frame and seem to go past the steering box. its definitely a project and of course i hit a deer in my Speed3 yesterday so i guess im gonna have to use the jeep while its in the shop. at least its an excuse to work out some kinks

willdoe

Thanks man! i was looking for a project and welp i found one!

RockinRonnie

It really looks fairly good from being in a snow belt area!

willdoe

Surprisingly! it does have its rust but its not the worst Jeep ive ever had haha

willdoe

So just as a quick update, alot has happened this week,
First, i hit my first deer in 9 years of driving in my Speed3, so i have to expedite the project to get this jeep more roadworthy while my Speed is at the body shop , and working 70 hours a week this is gonna be interesting. But this week i cleaned up any surface rust that were on the floors on the inside, and i just sprayed the floors with Rustoleum Black enamel till i find carpet or bed line it.
I also figured i should start addressing the Brake system. So i went to my local(Awful) autozone in a pinch and picked up Calipers, Rotors and Pads just to get me by. and SHOCKER Auto zone sold me the wrong calipers. Since someone along the line put extended front rubber lines, the actual lip that mates to the caliper has a bigger lip then the factory calipers and the calipers i got were cast different. so i drove back and exchanged them for ones that should work. i guess ill find out tomorrow.
I also noticed that the trans pan is leaking at the gasket(After i replaced the TCC and shift solenoids, It was a cheap Amazon kit) so ill have to pull the pan off tomorrow check the seal and RTV if need be.
Other then that, Its going alright so far i guess haha, Im supposed to drop my car at the body shop monday, so i guess thats kinda my dead line now for myself. i will try to post some more pictures tommorow when i get home from work tonight

unidentifiedbomb

Good luck!