Lotrat

Hey Guys,

I'm looking for some guidance. I bought my 2001 Cherokee new and it's bone stock other than 235 tires. So after 10 years, I'm looking to play with it a bit. I'd like to get 30's under it, mild lift, and get it ready for being towed behind my RV. It's gonna stay my daily driver, so I don't want to go goofy with it.

After searching a bit, it seems that everyone puts disclaimers on their products. "May not fit", "May need this", "May need that". I'm looking for a basic lift that works out of the box. Can someone point me in the right direction? The Jeep will see mostly streets, but I hit the desert every now and then. No crazy rock crawling.

I'm also looking for a tow bar and baseplate that will let me keep the front skid plate. Not sure why someone would design a product that won't let you keep skid plates on a Jeep... Again, just looking for some guidance. Thanks.

no rdplz

First, welcome to CF! You've got a really good looking XJ there!
Second, you could run 30's as it sits right now. You'll get some rub at full wheel lock, but that's all.
For a small, easy lift, I'd suggest a 2" BB consisting of 2" shackles and 2" coil spacers. Rusty's, RC, whoever, they're all pretty much the same kit. Since you're running desert, I'd recommend getting some Rancho5000's for shocks as you don't plan on anything too hardcore, but plan to do some light stuff while still keeping it a comfortable DD.
For towing it, check out quadratec and jcwhitney. They both have a very good selection and any questions you have should be able to be answered by one of their reps in customer service.

ivantheigor

A one owner cherokee.. Wow. If you ever sell it...
But on-topic, try JC Whitney. I havent shopped there before, but ive heard a loot of good reviews. Also some really bad reviews. So either youll have a really good experience or terrible.

The91XJ

Is it just me or does anyone else think the jeep is riding above stock height already? Clean jeep by the way! I'm loving the black.

no rdplz

It's you. I had 235's on my 99 when I first got it and it looked about the same

badaboom55

I just joined the forum today, and this was the first thread I clicked...

Which is actually a bit eery when you consider that I just bought a Black 2001 Cherokee Sport, unfortunately it wasn't a one owner, but still in decent shape... especially considering how much you have to overpay for a 10 year old Cherokee here in Colorado!



Anyway, I'm exactly in the same boat as Lotrat, looking for some guidance. I plan on keeping it (for now) as a daily driver, plenty of Rocky Mountains around, but not planning on doing any crazy rock crawling, etc. etc.
So, at the risk of "high-jacking" Lotrat's thread...

I'm still in the process of learning about Jeeps, so I was just wondering if there were any "must have" mods/add-ons that are "common knowledge" to the veteran Cherokee owner community that would be useful to a "noob" like myself?
Off-road mods might come in useful later, but for now I'm more interested in possibly increasing the performance aspects of the vehicle. What are some of the easiest (read: cheapest) ways to add Horsies, etc.?
Are cold-air intakes worth the expense?
Are there any modifications that I SHOULDN'T do until I finally DO lift it and make it off-road ready-ish?
What mods should I be wary of?
Are there any OEM parts that I should go ahead and replace with beefier aftermarket pieces while I have the money?

A lot of generalized, broad questions, I know... but I think they all apply to the original "I want to mildly start the process, but don't want to get goofy yet." logic... so, hope this doesn't spiral the thread out of control....

Cheers!

no rdplz

badaboom - good place to start beefing up any XJ is recovery. A lift, tires, and everything else do you no good if you don't have a way of getting out of a bad situation. From there, I'd start looking at armor (skid plates and diff covers). If you're expensive parts aren't protected, they'll break too.
For general upgrades, a steering box from a durango and a trac bar from a v8 grand cherokee are pretty easy upgrades to the steering system. There's a ton of other stuff you can get from other vehicles. I recommend checking out the Junkyard parts sticky in OE tech.
These things aren't a performance vehicle by any means, but for that little extra oomph, I'd suggest you start with a a set of 784 injectors from a neon/stratus. Myself and a couple others on here sell them. From there, a 63mm throttle body and a free flow exhaust. A CAI on a XJ is about as effective as a Big Mac to a diet. If you can't afford a snorkel, just get a K&N filter for the stock air box. Hope this helps you get started!

Lotrat

I'll tell you this much, run it stock until you NEED to upgrade. Jeeps are pretty awesome in stock form and you may just find that it does "almost" everything you need. Well, that is if you have a locking rear and skid plates. When I got mine back in 2001, I got it with the upcountry package, HD shocks, trac-loc rear, skid plates, and towing package. I know it's limits, but haven't been stuck yet. It's been a great Jeep so far. Just replaced the factory front rotors at 110,000 miles. Nothing but tires and brakes in 10 years. I need a new set of tires and my baja has bigger tires than my Jeep. Gotta change that.

928800xj

Lotrat, in my quest to upgrade from the stock 225s I recently talked with a former cherokee owner I know and learned that the upcountry package is a factory 2" lift which is evident by your pic on 235s and wheel openings, and a guy who had that was able to put 30x9.5s with only a little tire scrub at steering lock on the lower control arms but told you can adjust the limits. Don't think a 2" lift would get you anywhere and anything more you'd probably be changing a lot of parts to get the right driveshaft & steering geometry & brake line lengths. I don't have that package so I opted for the 235/75s to minimize $s and I have way less wheel well opening than you do. A trac-loc rear must make it a bit unstoppable.

badaboom, the K&N drop in is what I have, gives it a bit more pep though I didn't see any MPG gain on my 00 like I did on the 92. The 00 doesn't have a straight path to the grille like the 92 and perhaps cutting a hole in the radiator wall and adding a duct to mimic the 92 would help that be a cold air intake, don't know if there were any rain baffles in the 92. I haven't done a muffler to help, but a 6cyl with the wrong exhaust sounds like crap, my 88 on an open cat when the muffler fell off was awful.

Lotrat

Interesting... I went back through the sales lit I have and all it says about the upcountry package is:

Suspension — Up Country Suspension Group, includes Skid Plate Group, Trac-Lok limited slip rear differential, full-size spare tire with matching wheel, tow hooks (2 front and 1 rear) auxiliary transmission oil cooler (automatic transmission only)

That made me wonder why they would call it a "Suspension" option.

Wikipedia says:

The suspension used on vehicles with the optional UpCountry Package did not employ the rear anti-sway/anti-roll bar and provided one inch of lift over the standard suspension.

A few review sites add:

includes heavy-duty suspension with gas shocks

No idea what "heavy-duty" means.

So I have 1" lift I never knew about and have never had an issue running 235s. Gonna throw a set of 30s on it and leave the suspension the way it is as see what happens. Thanks for the tip!

Lotrat

Well, It's been over a year I never did any of upgrades. Up to 130k miles, new radiator, new front wheel hub, and a new rear axle and bearings. Drivers side window regulator is failing and I have a new one on order. I just threw a new set of 235s on it this weekend. Pepboyz Definity ATs.

So here's my question. Who makes a base plate for the Cherokee which will let me keep the front steel skid plate? I can't understand these companies. Why would I want remove a skid plate from a Jeep? Hello, it's a Jeep. Anyways, not having much luck finding one... I think that's why I gave up last year. If anyone knows of what that fits a stocker and lets me keep the front skid plate on, let me know. Thanks.

macgyver35

I'm not sure what you're looking for exists. It may be something you have to have fabricated. There are plenty of fab shops. You may just take them info on whichever base plate you might consider, along with it's installation instructions, and see if they think they could combine the items to make it all work.

Perhaps a heavier front bumper with D-Rings could be modded so that you could put a towing hitch on it...

However, very clean Jeep, and I hope you're having fun with it!