muffinman

You know, the ones that came out in 1974 and ran till 1983. I was looking at my Explorer 8.8 sitting in the corner with my small pile of parts for a v8 conversion on my 95 XJ. Started thinking there has to be a easier way. There is, get a REAL Cherokee. Dana 44s front and rear,lock out hubs. Full frame. Factory v8, lots of 360s and a few 401s. Hell the T 18 was available to. I have been helping my son in law on his barn find 75 and they are pretty cool. Funny, before the XJ these were not called Full size Cherokees, just Cherokee. Makes you wonder about the XJ guys bashing the KL being called Cherokee when the SJ came out 10 years earlier than the XJ.

XJriot

I saw this on cl the other day. Would make a great project.

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/4271388832.html

cruiser54

I had a burnt orange Cherokee Chief with the 401, turbo 400 and quadratrac. I miss it.

Atmos

if you think a full restoration on a truck from the 70's is easier than slapping gears and lockers and lifting an XJ, you might be crazy

93XJLI

good luck finding one that isnt a rot box, and if it's clean good luck getting it cheap.

the axles arent anything to write home about (remember, theyre heavier and have more power) and 360 will seem slower than a stock 4.0 XJ and the 401s are few and far between but still arent awesome motors.

i want one, but i need a garage and a few spare thousand bucks to make it the way i want.... L92, 4L85E... etc etc.

black label

They can be found if your willing to travel to an area where cars don't rot away. Being from the salt belt I'm always amazed at the old cars I see when I visit my sister in Nevada.

But your right about price. Here's a nice one in the DFW TX area that still needs interior resto done for $15000.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/4243791815.html

muffinman

Now that is a Stallion. Were you working at the dealership back in the SJ days?

muffinman

I never brought up price but the SIL got his for 1500.00 with a Grand Wagoneer parts vehicle. We pulled the lift and tires put it on the Cherokee. Yea it needs a little body and interior work but he is driving and wheeling the snot out of it. After he sold the waggy front to one of my xj buddies and scrapped the rest he is in the thing about 950.00 bucks. And Atmos, I am a older gentleman who has been through the 70s and 60s restos before. They are not that bad if you find a good starting point.

black label

That sounds a lot like the one in the link I posted, not sure if its "burnt orange" but it's orange, 401/t400.

PDXJ

I had a dark green one dead sexy with the wood grain trim, had a 401 auto trans and funky vacuum switch for the 4wd that I never knew whether I could trust it. Great Truck but you could watch the fuel gauge drop if you got into the 4 barrels. Bad part is if you like to run trails its too big, at least for anything around here.

emptypockets

Been there, done that. Hard to find parts for them and they can be costly to repair. They're cool, they're neat, I like 'em, but I prefer something that I can easily find parts for at any junkyard and that has a ton of aftermarket support. That's just me though.

andrewmp6

I love all of the fsj jeeps id kill to find a short bed j10,But around here all of the older jeeps are rusted to hell.The last fsj cherokee i looked at was 2 grand and the last foot of the frame looked like swiss cheese.The aftermarket for the fsj is hit and miss on some parts just depends what you need and how bad you want it.

muffinman

Points well made. Your SJ is cool. Really cool. Don't know if I will really get one.Have my XJ and WJ and Her TJ. Garage is pretty full. For the time being I get to mess around with the SILs and it does not cost me a dime. I have several good sources for junkyard parts just not any of the pick n pull time yards.

muffinman

http://www.bjsoffroad.com/images/lar...5CherokeeS.jpg This is the one we have been messing with. He is into this for very little cash. Hey! those are my 34x10.50 swampers ,lol

bigredlimited88

if anyone is in the market for one, there is a mint one with 30k miles in it here where I live for 3,000. I may grab it this tax season, we'll just have to wait n see.