jlcaptain24

Morning All! Brand new Cherokee owner and new to the jeep scene. Came across an 88 cherokee and jumped on it. I think I got a decent deal for 1500...but it needs a bit of work to get things right....thus I'll be perusing the forum a bit.

1988 Jeep Cherokee
4.0 (Supposedly rebuilt within last 10K....but I know how that goes. It Runs well though)
5 Speed (Supposedly an auto originally)
32" Tires
2" Coil Spacers (I think)

I'm also currently in the process of restoring a 72 Dodge Dart swinger with a 440 in the garage. So, while I can turn a wrench...the jeep and 4wd thing is new to me.

Jason

XJwonders

U forgot the pictures of the dart! Welcome to the forum

XJwonders

Also since u have a renix jeep, make sure u do the Cruiser54's mostly renix tips.

PurpleToxin505

Haha first thing I thought when I read Dart

jlcaptain24

Fair Enough!! Here's the Dart...Still a shell. I'm kinda bouncing around so I don't lose interest...just about done with the body, currently rebuilding the front suspension and building the engine. A mild 440 backed by a 727. I committed a mopar sin and put a Ford 8.8 in the rear. Replaced tons of metal and took the whole car down to bare metal. Should be done Saturday....in 3 years. LOL

Renix. I glanced at that the other night. I'm assuming that's the hokey electrical system that prone to problems?? I didn't really read into it. Bigger problems to tackle...like getting the jacked up doors back on. Previous owner took em off and tried to put them back on and caused all sorts of damage. Got 3 on...driver's door is being a pain.

Ianf406

Welcome to CherokeeForum man! Looks like a couple cool projects!

jlcaptain24

So I'm trying to mechanically work out some of the bugs of this old jeep. My biggest concern right now is that it handles like S*&t.

1. I'm trying to ID how much/what kind of lift the previous owner(s) put on it.

2. Handling: Hard to describe. I believe castor is a bit out. LCA's have been shimmed maybe 1/8" or so. No death wobble, no driveline vibrations. Return to center on the steering is weak...and the steering feels a little "twitchy" for lack of a better term. Tracks straight at all speeds. I also feel like the whole unibody is kinda lousy goosy in the rear end...almost like all the suspension components aren't tightened. I know that's not the case...probably just really worn. Rear Leaf springs look FLAT to me, but I'm new to jeep. Rear Leaf Spring bushings creak horribly with ANY suspension movement.

I've got a 20 ton press and have done bushing/ball joint work before. I'm thinking this thing just needs new EVERYTHING that has to do with the suspension and steering. I'm also going to try to shim out the LCA's just a bit....see what that does to the steering.

ANY SUGGESTIONS??

1ATony

Welcome to the site.

Tony