HOPE I DIDN;T GET THIS IN THE WRONG SUBFORM.
But I just joined, but not unused to jeep-dom. I've had a few jeeps, ******, FSJs an 84 Comanche and now a 96 Cherokee sport 2 door. However I'm not a serious deliberate off-roader; however I live on SW MI in the Lake-effect snow country so I know all about slip'n and sliding. I also do some hunting and fishing but that just mostly woods and fields off road.
The thing is this Jeep is pretty much my daily driver---and I drive about 2500/2800 miles per month all over Indiana for my work lots of freeway and interstate but lots of narrow twisty 1.5 lane country roads.
The jeep had about 180K on it when I got it in late summer and it just rolled over the 200K.
I'm interested in maximizing efficiency and comfort for lots of behind the wheel hours. I also haul a lot of tools and assorted 'toys" in the back. I have slightly larger than stock tires (30s as I recall) to increase mileage. I'm trying to find the trade off point where increasing tire size becomes a drain on highway efficiency. I'll be considering a very modest lift but mostly to beef up the load capacity rather than for monster off road tires
I'm also interested in learning more about under the hood mods. Currently I'm getting just shy of 20mpg on highway cruise control running 70-72 Mph (calculated on the GPS speed not the dashboard figure)
I'm thinking a cold air (cowl??) induction might help, as might upgrading the injectors and throttle body. I'll be upgrading the ignition system this coming weekend. (Anyone have any real-world date on spark-plug design preference?}
Are manual lock-out hubs an option for a cherokee? all my ******/FSJ have had them so I'm used to dealing with them.
I'll be searching for seat upgrades in the past forum threads.

where I live Salt and rust are a routine fact of life. I KNOW I'm going to have to
replace footwell floor panels before winter------probably with stainless. so I'll be looking for threads on that as well.

And probably a hundred other things as this project progresses.

 

The cowl intake will make a sucking sound so keep that in mind,The spark plugs most of us just run the old school stuff and have had good luck with that.On the seats you can bolt in jeep zj seats the 93-98 grand cherokee https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/gr...-95-xjs-69296/ On the rust repair you can get floor pan patch panels online everywhere and i would undercoat the jeep after your done with the rust repairs.

 

The dodge neon injector swap is an easy & effective upgrade towards better power and mpg. The cowl intake is good, but if the main goal is mpg, a K&N filter in the factory box will serve you just as well.

A lot of guys like a little taller front stance for off road, but with your hwy driving, set your suspension up to sit just slightly higher in the rear. This gained me 2-3mpg on the hwy over stock(old) which sat slightly lower in the rear.

On tires, you're at the threshold now, any taller will require a regear to avoid working the engine harder on inclines.

 

I have heard this before, that the XJ is designed to have a slight rake to improve aerodynamics and efficiency.

 

thanks, Thats good useful information. Much appreciated!!!
With the hours I spend behind the wheel each day (and I also have a quick road trip to extreme south Texas scheduled in a couple months--1500 miles/2-days each way) the last thing I need is more in-cabin noise so it looks like the cowl-type cold air induction might be the wrong way to go. Really glad to get that tip---thank you. I need to look at other interior noise reduction tricks too---new door baffling for wind noise, maybe added insulation around wheel wells, and an efficient drone-free muffler. gotta check out that muffler/exhaust sticky-thread next.
Is there any way to open up the front side of the factory airbox and get more outside cold air in? That factory entry port looks pretty small--or is it actually more a matter of "suck" than "ram" anyhow?
I suspected that the Wrangler GTs 235x75-15s that were on it when I bought it were close to max without losing efficiency. as far as "lift" goes I was thinking more of the rear to avoid "sag" when loaded----maybe even just air shocks (I have them on my FSJ 88 wagon)

any pros & cons on the bored-out throttle body switch?

 

With driving that many miles one improvement I'd put at the top of your list would be a headlight harness upgrade w/better lights.

 

i believe on your year of xj there is a baffle in the intake hole on your stock airbox. simply remove that restriction and you should get more air into your intake.

as for zj seats, they are nice if you're a bigger guy and require a bit of a larger seat. but for me, i like the comfort of the xj seats.

another thing you could do for cabin noise is pull the headliner (easy job) and add some dynamat and reinstall the headliner.
another spot is behind the door cards, you can check to see if the factory plastic is still there and in good shape, if not, simply replace with some thick plastic and tape up any holes.

for spark plugs, use championRC12LYC.

as for exhaust, i like stock quiet, so i always use walker products front to rear.

and since you're on the highway mostly, i like those wind deflectors that stick around the front side windows. i have them on the dog transporter, but not on the jeep cause i take them all off road.

 

You can take a 3/4-7/8"unibit and drill some extra holes in the front of the stock air box and as stated remove the baffle for more air flow. Did mine a couple years ago with no adverse effects.

 

For noise reduction look no further than www.sounddeadenershowdown.com. Don Sambrook does it right unlike most people who waste money layering vibration dampeners and spending a fortune to do it.

 

I read the sound deadener thread-----wow that's some serious bucks----way out of my budget. I've been read/scanning a bunch of the threads bookmarked some for future reference. I'll probably will do the headlight relay fix sooner than later.

Probably remove the baffle and drill some more holes and add a K&N cone filter to the entry airbag as part of the tune-up/ignition upgrade.

What is the source for the replacement/upgrade on the injectors?

that and a cleaned up throttle body and stronger rear end springs/air shocks all need to be done before the Texas road trip. maybe front seats too----gonna be a long ride.

edit: what is the best way to get a little wider stance to add some lateral stability without going to wider heavier tires. If possible?? I think I could move my tires out an inch or so without hitting the factory flares

 

New wheels with shallower backspacing. Stock wheels are 15x7 with 5.25" backspacing. Many guys go to 4.5" backspacing and are still within the flares I think. Gotta buy aftermarket wheels for that, though.

Regarding the sound deadening, the prices Don provides are for complete kits. You don't have to buy everything. Most road noise comes through the floor and doors. If you just buy what you need to do the front floor and front doors, you'll spend less and get a big improvement.

 

i have a specter cowl air intake and i love it. although it really doesnt have a noticeable difference in performance. As for noise. Not really that bad as long as your running at 2 thousand RPM just remember to clean it if ya drive through mud or anything.

 

^ The difference in performance is when water is up past the bumper.

 

the lower you can get the jeep, the better your mileage will be. mine got just shy of 24 mpg at stock height on 225/75/15 tires with a high flow exhaust utilizing the factory muffler and a homemade hot air intake. this was over the course of a weekend, ac used the entire tank, mostly highway miles. ~300lb of additional weight for that duration. traveled 75-77 mph on the interstate.