I have 98 Cherokee and have started upgrading . I use it mainly for camping, hunting, fishing and moderate wheeling, nothing to crazy 4 - 6 rated trails. I want it to be able to handle while out by my self on back roads and not have an issue (well you can always have issues). So what would you guys suggest for a list of mods in an order that would be like a checklist??

Things done:
3.5" RE short arm lift
Transfer case SYE
Headlight Harness upgrade
Roof rack
Stroker motor 4.6L waiting to be installed (My wife just had a baby so that might be on hold for a bit)
Lock rite waiting for install also
Front bumper also waiting for install

What to do next and what order would everyone go with?
tires 33x10.50
gears 4.56 and lockers (selectable or automatic stilll deciding on that)
front axle shaft upgrade
rear disc brake conversion
rear bumper
long arms
body armor
adjustable trac bar
rear shackle relocation bracket or slider
rear storage compartments
other ideas?

I'm always just thinking of the next upgrade to do. Time and money is always the enemy.

 

Looks like youve got a good list going there and there arent many things youre missing.

How about lights? headlight upgrade and adding on?

Edit: missed the harness. How about extras?

 

Yeah its a good list just not sure what order to try to do it all in.

I have installed fog lights and have back up lights to install also.
Jeez I need to get my butt in gear and install some s*&%!

 

If your going to be out on your own I'd put a winch, good tires, tools and spair parts on the top of the list. A locker would be near the top also. Sense you said nothing to crazy suff like long arms sliders and body armor would be further down

 

Frame stiffeners and a transmission cooler!

 

If you want to be fairly self-sufficient, your first priority might be recovery. Winch, Hi-Lift, straps, traction boards, etc. Later on you might also consider an onboard air system.

I saw a front shaft conversion in your list, but what axle are you running in the rear? If it's a D35, have you considered upgrading to something stronger? (Especially with a 4.6L dumping torque into 33s.)

With 33s and a rear bumper on your list, you might consider a tire carrier bumper so your spare is not taking up all your cargo space or raising your center of gravity on the roof.

Swapping in a stroker is a perfect opportunity for several upgrades. I assume you're also planning to put a header on it. Have you considered getting it ceramic coated? I had both my header and downpipe ceramic coated at Swain and will probably send my crossover pipe off at some point. It was expensive, but I think it was worth it not only to liven up the exhaust but also to help push some of the heat out the back of the truck rather than letting it well up under the hood. (I also have a set of Z34 hood vents waiting to go into mine to give the remaining heat a chimney.)

You also may look at installing a free flow cat and a good exhaust, if you don't already have them. What's the point of putting in that stout motor if you don't let it breathe? I went with a Gibson exhaust on mine to get that deep rumble rather than the lawnmower drone the Lawnmaster mufflers give you.

I would also look into a cowl intake like a Spectre or THOR to give that beast some cold air. Also a bored throttle body. Again, it will want to breathe. Don't bother with a TB spacer, though.

I had a string of bad luck with those leaky cheap plastic tank radiators from O'Reilladvancedautozone, so when we dropped in the stroker I also put in an all aluminum radiator since it was going to be out anyway.

And along those same lines, since the motor was out, I got the full Brown Dog bracket and motor mount set (with the 10% forum discount). I got mine in hard rubber instead of poly. I like knowing that I will never have to worry about my motor mounts. We swapped the transmission mount while we were at it, but I just stuck with the OE style instead of anything fancy.

Given your stated goals, I would put the priority on recovery and reliability mods first.

 

Radiators Plastic vs. Aluminum if you will do some checking you will find that the Alumn rads leak 10 times more often on our XJ's than the plastic ones.........Unless your ready to spend in the $1k up range for the "Be Cools" and the likes of race type radiators, where the $100 range ones from AutoZone work very well in 95% of the cases.


If you wheel alone there are a few MUST HAVES a winch, recovery straps, D-Rings, recovery points, Hi-Lift jack & a few tools for it, hand tools to dig with and tools for repair's on Jeep. A large First Aid kit and know how to use it, couple of fire extinguishers spare parts, portable air for airing tires up and down.


Everyones lists are different as they should be remember the lockers get you in and the winch gets you OUT!

 

Yep, I read up on them, and what I generally found after a lot of reading were differing opinions that generally fell into two camps:

1. The people who bought the cheapo O'Reilladvancedautozone plastic radiators and just replaced them when they died. These folks recognized that radiators are cheap and easy to replace and just treated them as expendable items like belts and hoses. They generally thought the all aluminum radiators were a waste of money and that they would leak anyway, and then you'd be out $300 instead of $100. They seem to have a valid opinion.

2. The people who bought the $300 aluminum radiators thinking that they would get better cooling (which may or may not actually happen) and that the tanks would last longer (which also may or may not actually happen). They generally thought the plastic radiators were a waste of time and money because they would just have to be replaced again next year. They also seem to have a valid opinion.

I also found people who were in camp 1 or camp 2 because they had been in the other camp and hadn't had a good experience. There were people who said to buy the cheapo plastic radiators because they had bought all aluminum radiators that had then leaked, and they felt they wasted their money. There were people who said to buy the aluminum radiators because they had gotten sick of replacing leaking plastic radiators and had had better luck with the aluminum ones.

What I took away from it is that ALL radiators leak eventually, and that there is no silver bullet solution. I also suspect that over time you end up in the same place financially.

I had been in the cheapo camp myself and replaced three plastic crap radiators over a period of about 4 years. I know the plastic radiators are supposed to last longer than that, but that wasn't my experience. When I did my stroker swap, I spent the money on the aluminum radiator. If it lasts four years, I'll still be doing just as well financially as if I had bought plastic radiators, without the irritation of having to replace the stupid thing in the interim.

Or it could fail in a year, in which case I might go back to the cheapo radiators. I saw many more positive reviews of the aluminum tank radiator than negative, so I'm holding out hope that it was the right move. It really couldn't be much worse than what I experienced with the parts store radiators.

 

If it were me, here's the order I'd do it in... We actually have very similar builds goin on. Some of this stuff I've done or is in progress (shackle relocation done, 8.8 swap in progress)

tires 33x10.50
gears 4.56 and lockers (selectable or automatic stilll deciding on that)
rear shackle relocation bracket or slider
front axle shaft upgrade depends what axles you have
rear disc brake conversion maybe swap a Ford 8.8 with discs instead... To be considered before gearing of course
rear bumper
adjustable trac bar
rear storage compartments
body armor
long arms

If you want to run flares, that might need to be added to your list. Probably will also want some sliders which falls under armor, but I know that's the first bit or armor I'll be getting.

 

I am ordering a FB throttle body and going to get the header soon, along with the exhaust system all redone. So she can breathe fully. I also just put in a plastic radiator a year ago and it has a lifetime warranty on it. If it leaks I can get another one for free.

Thanks for everyones responses. I think you are right about getting the recovery stuff. Something stupid could always happen and it is good to have that stuff available. I have tow straps, high lift jack, shovel and will have tow points with the front bumper. Will need to decide on what to do for a winch. Crazy thing when I had my rockcrawler bronco I never even used my winch but I guess it is better to have it and not need it then to not have it and need it. I like the idea of a winch on a cradle so it can be used front or rear. Just finding a place in the jeep to keep it stored safely or build that into the rear tire carrier system.

Also the rear end is Chy 8.25 so I think that should be strong enough for what I want to do. Front is a Dana 30 that is where I was thinking of getting chromo axleshafts or spares to bring along. I would like to do the full circle clip on the u-joints or tack weld them.
Rear bumper will have a spare tire mount also.

 

I would put some cash towards getting the Stroker running properly first off.. you already have a considerable investment there Im sure and they really do need to breath.

I have a winch in a basket... It works great! 90% of the time its not in my jeep.... not exposed to the elements. Just keep in mind that with it on and a 3" lift, it can impact your approach angle pretty drastically depending on where its mounted. Keep in mind too that like you said, you will probably never use it or very rarely use it. I use mine a ton now that I live on a snowy mountain but mostly to yank people back on the road. I Hardly ever need it ti rescue myself. My point is save your money and buy a cheap one. Engos are the cheap brand I recommend.

Definitely get some tires-
Upgrade that rear axle if you still have the 35!

Gears and lockers next
Followed by armor.

I wouldn't worry too much about armor/long arms from your description of what you are going to do with it but would be nice to have in case you end up wanting to do more with it.

 

Maybe, but then you read the stories about the guys who never use their winches until the one time they really need it, and it fails.

 

The engos seems like a good buy. I saw a champion winch at costco for a good price. For the amount that I don't think I will use it I think a cheaper one would be fine. I have read many forums on them, like the harbor freight ones. They have a sale on them for 12000# $299 plus you can use the 20% coupon. But I do want it to be reliable when I need to use it. Who knows I guess. A warn could crap out also when you need it. Decisions?!?

So with the lock rite up front do you think I will need to do anything with the axle shafts? How many have broken them? I know how to finesse wheeling. My bronco was on 38 bead locks locked up front on a Dana 44. Easy on the skinny pedal.

 

i would stay away from the harbor freight winch it is a piece. but i have a friend that has a engo and he loves it and they are a fairly cheap winch

 

Sure, but which winch is more likely to work? I'm willing to pay more to raise the likelihood that it will function when I need it, even if I rarely do.

This is a little old, but I thought there was some good info in these reviews:

Massive Multi-Winch Shootout

It was worth noting that the Harbor Freight winch didn't actually get tested because it didn't work out of the box. I read another HF winch review (which I can't find now) that had the same problem. If they can't get you a working winch out of the box, how can you rely on it?