cherokee01

Hello all
First let me say I am new to the whole jeep scene. Ok now I have 01 cherokee 4.0 4wd automatic or xj as it seems to called mostly on here. I was wonder what are so good must do upgrades should I do to it? Starting with the with quick cheap and easy first then the more pricey ones that I will have to do over time. Right now I'm in the process of fixing the 0331 head problem. I bought these xj awhile ago for next to nothing with some problems with 200,000 plus mile on it. Then the head problem came along. So I lost intrest in it. But now but on it again. So I wanna fix her up. The engine rebuilt will come when it totally dies on me. So I wanted to get some thoughts on it. What should I do?

Jrozar

With the engine for the rebuild? What's the budget?

Pelican

Kind of difficult to suggest any meaningful "upgrades" without knowing condition of your Jeep now and what you plan on doing with it -- DD, heavy offroad, massive sound system, lights out the kazoo, etc., etc.

What are you currently doing to fix the head problem?

JackJare9455

If it has a bad head... it will totally die on you very soon

cherokee01

Well my budget is kinda tight. I can do things over time just not everything all at once. The body is very good condition. The engine has the head off right now. Hopefully it will but running come Sunday. The engine also has about 220,000 miles on it. That's why I'm going to rebuilt eventually. I would like to see it lifted a little bit with 31,s or so on it. Just wanna built something fun.

jedijeb

If you will be taking it off road any, first thing I would do is find some kind of recovery add ons. Never try to pull a stuck Cherokee out by the factory bumpers. If it doesn't have a hitch, add one and get the D-ring adapter that goes in the receiver and find some D-ring/Tow Hooks for the front that attach to the frame rails with 4-5 bolts each. That would be a low price upgrade to begin with that will pay off over time.

For the 31s think of a low cost budget boost lift of about 2 inches. If you keep it that low you won't have to upgrade the rest of the suspension and drive train.

unidentifiedbomb

Can make some cheap "quick disconnects" from any hardware store using a cotter pin, bolt, and 2-3 washers, just have to punch out the bottom sway bar bolt off the axle mount.

Fred/N0AZZ

Cheap upgrade Tie Rods the OEM ones on a stock XJ are very weak if you need to replace them use a set from a 98< V8 Grand Cherokee 10x stronger and a direct bolt-in. All can be bought new from AutoZone for under $100 their name brand but Moog parts.

There are many but need more information from you to be of more help.

Jrozar

For the sway bar disconnects, I bought a set of Rough Country Disconnects cut then down to work with a factory height suspension, rethreaded them and done. They can be picked up for about $65

unidentifiedbomb

Just saying but my way is only $5

RegularGuy

I made my cargo area cover out of a friend's F-150 bedliner for free, and it keeps wood, dirt and such out of the carpet. Just something about grinding wood bits and dirt into carpet, even if its the cargo area, grinds my gears.

I know its more of a cosmetic upgrade and not performance, but...

They say that redoing the headlight wiring harness will give you much more light. I dont know about just putting in Sylvania Xtravisions over "regular" headlights, but they are like 14 dollars each, 4 dollars over the "regular" ones.

cherokee01

Thanks for the information everyone. I guess I will probably start slow with this build. The biggest thing I really wanna do right now is install a 3" lift. Any suggestion on which one I should go with?

Tom95YJ

Rock sliders. Recovery points lunchbox lockers

torque062

If you want to start with a lift, just do a budget boost and trim your fenders. Save up for a good quality lift when you are ready. But like mentioned before, recovery points. That's what's gonna get you home. Then lunchbox lockers.

Turbo X_J

Just a suggestion, you might want to get it running first, then go from there.