Hello everyone, I have just picked up a 92 Cherokee that I plan to transform into my daily driver rig. I do want to put quite a few mods into it that make it Forest service road comfortable. What will be doing with this is 90% drive to work, 10% shuttle mountain bikes and people to mountain destinations. Most of the time there will be It will not really see any off road per say but it will need to comfortably navigate Forest roads in various states of disrepair. So it has to be at least up to a minimum standard of clearance and ride stability.

That being said I do know what I want this Jeep to be able to accomplish, I just don't have any knowledge on which components will offer me the best results. I prefer to keep things listed in order of importance to me.

1. Smooth ride quality, steering, braking and other handling on paved roads and highways.
2. Enough clearance to be able to navigate rutted forest roads.
3. Keep MPG as high as possible. (I do know that lifting and bigger tires do not help MPG, That is why this is item 3)


Budget is ~ $3,000 I would like some input on the following categories.

1. 2" to 3" lifts that offer the best ride quality primarily, but will not
break just because I drive over a rutted mountain road.


2. Couple the lift with a good ~31" tire selection.

3. Steering upgrades to make this Jeep handle as well as it can.

4. Brake upgrades that will help this thing stop on a dime and feel
smooth doing it.


5. Engine mods that will help me get better fuel economy primarily. I
do not want to do any mods that increase power at the detriment
of MPG. I already have a Nissan Titan for my lead foot habits.


I will be trying to do as much as possible at one time to reduce down time. Will be starting a build thread as soon as I get my choices down for each of these categories.

If you can help please put a number 1 - 5 so I can try to separate out the responses into each category and narrow down the playing field. I will pick a top 2 or 3 and keep an eye out for them for the next 6 months or so.


Thanks for you help all!

 

Is there a budget to this build?

My opinion:

1. A higher end 3" lift. Old Man Emu components would ride nice. Bilstien 5100 shocks.

2. Goodyear Duratracs. I also like the looks of the Kumho Road Venture MTs.

3. ZJ V8 tie rod swap will be more than efficient for your lift height. Stock steering will be just as well. The ZJ tie rod just adds some strength.

4. Most definitely a late model brake booster swap. This is pretty much a bolt in swap and makes a HUGE difference. I used a 2004 Grand Cherokee booster. You can also use a 97+ XJ booster.

5. I'd just stick with a full tune up. The 4.0 in stock form does good for me.

 

The budget would be around 3k.

I guess to clarify Item 5. I would be looking into simple mods such as a cold air intake, exhaust and possibly a throttle body upgrade. Not really interested in tearing into the block a whole lot.