jeeperskreepers

Hi all

New here. I've never had a jeep before. My parents had one...waaay back when, one of the huge old wagoneers, it was one tough bugger.

Regardless, my in-laws are giving me a Jeep Cherokee, fairly rusty, driven daily by my sister-in-law. She is tired of it, so my wife said if it's being "given" away, she wants me to get it.

I think it will be fun to have a 4x4 in the house and I'm thinking about buying a small trailer so I can put the four wheelers on it and haul them to the woods.

Apparently, the jeep needs some type of "joint" in the front end replaced. I have not spoken with my father in law yet, but I'm thinking it has to be either the ball joints or the CV. Neither of which are probably that hard to fix.

So "greetings" to you all.

captainofiron

there are universal joints on the front axle, one on each side. But there are no regular ball joints since its a live axle and doesnt have a-arms

There are 2 bushings if I remember correctly on the top and the bottom of the spindle. Its a very simple set up.

good luck, enjoy the Jeep

bigomudders

Those bushings are ball joints(DUH) And welcome to the I'm going to be broke from now on club.

jeeperskreepers

Well, I just spoke with my father in law and here's the details.

It's a '93 cherokee. 4 cylinder, 4 door. No idea on the model designation. I'm a little bummed it has a 4 banger, I was hoping for the 4.0L. The floor pans, rockers and doors are pretty well rusted. And it needs a u- joint on one of the wheels. Otherwise it runs like a top and has been maintained well.

For free I can't complain to much. I'm thinking it would be a nice woods beater. I have a small wire feed welder, perhaps I could tack some tin in the floor boards.

It will be a week or two before I can set eyes on it. Hopefully we won't have snow at that point so I can mess around with it in the garage without going hypothermic.

If anyone can steer me into the direction of some helpful u-joint replacement tutorials I would greatly appreciate it.

I think I might check JC Whitney for some floor tins.

dlundblad

Welcome

Willys55

Glad ta hav ya aboard laddie, Welcome

BlueXJ

Howdy!!!

captainofiron

this thread has some pictures and maybe some ideas

http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/axle/xjupgrades/

I dont know if I would call those ball joints since they are only seeing rotation about one axis

usually a ball joint signifies that the arm connected to the ball can rotate freely in the cup about all three axes.

much like in an a-arm independent suspension as I mentioned earlier.

NewXJaddict

x2

xjbones

those bushings you speak of are ball joints. and also cheokees dont have a spindle...they have sealed unit bearings. ball joints are on the top and bottom of each knuckle.

depending on the year of cherokee it could have cv joints on the axle. early models with the 2.8L.



the joint you are prob talking about is the front axle u-joints or the front driveshaft u-joints. both are fairly easy to replace.

free.99 is a good price to pay for a jeep!!!!