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Hey everyone!,
My name's Dan and I'm new to the forum. I'm a first time Jeep owner and Army vet currently living in eastern Massachusetts. Figured I'd introduce myself and give a little background info. I bought a 1996 Cherokee XJ a few weeks ago with 156k miles and have just started getting into tearing it down.
This is the second 4x4 I've ever owned, the first being an 88 4runner. I paid $650 for the XJ and drove it home from Wareham. Based on what the guy told me, aside from the obvious body work it'd need on the rockers and floor pans due to the Cape Cod salt, it'd need a universal joint for the driveshaft.
I took a look at it and it started right up and ran strong.(After I hit the starter with a hammer...) A/C compressor might be shot since it was squealing, but it wasn't a huge deal for me. Haven't had a chance to look at it closely yet. Interior and exterior looked pretty good aside from the rust, pine sap, and needles. Engine and tranny worked like they should, and the frame was solid. It'd been sitting for about a year, so I knew it'd need some maintenance.
So the drive home was pretty uneventful. I noticed it shifts kind of hard from Park to Drive, but otherwise shifts smoothly and on time. Seemed to have decent power as I was easily overtaking other cars. As I'm pulling down the street to my house I notice that something was dragging on the brakes.(Turned out to be the shroud scraping.) And when I turned the wheel to the left or right a certain amount I heard a high pitched squeaking noise from the wheels. Next day I changed out the starter and drove it to the gas station. I got out and realized coolant was dripping out of the radiator and overflow.
So I let it cool down for a while and I drove it to the shop I have access to to pressure wash it and take a better look at everything with my dad, who knows way more about this stuff than I do. It actually looks pretty good since I washed it. Paint seems like it'd be brand new almost if I buffed it out, aside from the rust. But putting it up on the lift was another story...
Got 3 out of 4 wheels off and noticed the brakes were completely shot aside from the calipers. Body was ok for the most part under it, but everything attached to the suspension and axles seems heavily rusted. E-brake springs were rusted away. Shocks are pretty much gone. Wheel bearings seem shot as well, maybe even front axle shafts? Pulled the radiator and it was junk. Gonna be replacing the thermostat along with the radiator. As for the 4th wheel, it's still on the Jeep due to a stuck on lug nut. Letting it soak.
Based on what my dad said, quoting here, he "Held axle and spun driveshaft, axle and driveshaft was slipping, wouldn't lock in, but transfer case did in 4wd. Bearings had a lot of play." I don't really know how much sense that makes as I don't have much experience doing mechanical stuff. Never really paid much attention in high school. Was more into video games...But now than I'm older, it's the opposite and I'm playing catch up recently.
So anyways, that's the story about my new jeep! Hope it wasn't too long. I'm looking for people in the area to work on Jeeps with and maybe learn a few things. Also looking for any spare parts that people might have lying around that they think might help based on the info I gave. Just let me know what you have and maybe we could work something out. Lift and shop access is a definite possibility if anyone feels like helping me out, depending on how long you need it for.
Anyways, I'll close this out by posting some pictures. Don't have any clean ones yet due to the mechanical BS I'm dealing with. Looking forward to posting more around here!
Last edited by FallenDown; 07-29-2016 at 03:49 PM.
Reason: typo
Low miles for a Jeep. Some people here call 150K broken in. Enjoy learning how to bring your new old Jeep back to life. Remember to fill in your vehicle info in your profile to get better help with your questions and Welcome!
Low miles for a Jeep. Some people here call 150K broken in. Enjoy learning how to bring your new old Jeep back to life. Remember to fill in your vehicle info in your profile to get better help with your questions and Welcome!
Thanks! Got that down I think. Unless there's a place to post the whole build sheet? Kind of confused about which transfer case I have though.
Welcome and good luck. Start spraying everything down with PB Blaster! I would also change the waterpump for good measure as well as flush the entire cooling system. My jeep was a new England jeep, and I had to replace the drivers floorpan as well as inner and outer rockers. If I had to do it again, I would just do the rock sliders for rockers. You will want to check under all the carpet. Invest in a good tap and die set. As far as holding the driveshaft and axle and the "slipping". This is how they work, they are open differentials. I assume he only held one side. Your differentials are a completely mechanical system they don't "slip". In open differential axles, power is transferred to the side that has the least traction. So if you spin the driveshaft and hold one side, the other side will spin. That is why open differentials are not ideal for traction. From one vet to another, thanks for your service and if you have questions let me know. I have taken just about everything apart on my jeep.
Welcome and good luck. Start spraying everything down with PB Blaster! I would also change the waterpump for good measure as well as flush the entire cooling system. My jeep was a new England jeep, and I had to replace the drivers floorpan as well as inner and outer rockers. If I had to do it again, I would just do the rock sliders for rockers. You will want to check under all the carpet. Invest in a good tap and die set. As far as holding the driveshaft and axle and the "slipping". This is how they work, they are open differentials. I assume he only held one side. Your differentials are a completely mechanical system they don't "slip". In open differential axles, power is transferred to the side that has the least traction. So if you spin the driveshaft and hold one side, the other side will spin. That is why open differentials are not ideal for traction. From one vet to another, thanks for your service and if you have questions let me know. I have taken just about everything apart on my jeep.
Thanks for the welcome. Hitting everything up with pb blaster was one of the first things I did. Was leaning towards doing the water pump as well, just to be on the safe side. Definitely going to now. I'm actually doing the slider thing instead of putting in regular rockers too! Was looking at a set from Spadano Enterprises. They look pretty sturdy and like they'd be an improvement. Carpet is still looking pretty good. Planned on pulling it out and steam cleaning it when I get around to doing the floors and sliders. Is it worth repairing the doors, or if it's better to just get new doors if there's a little rust on the bottom? And could you recommend a good tap and die set? I don't really know the good from the bad as far as they go. Thanks for your service too btw.
Last edited by FallenDown; 07-29-2016 at 04:45 PM.
Depends on your resources, a couple of my doors had some rot on the bottom, I cut it out and welded in small strips of sheet metal then simply used bedliner to two tone the jeep to avoid the fine body work. So basically where your molding at the bottom of the doors are, on mine it is now black bedliner, it was way easier than having to get the metal and body work perfect and worry about matching paint.
Depends on your resources, a couple of my doors had some rot on the bottom, I cut it out and welded in small strips of sheet metal then simply used bedliner to two tone the jeep to avoid the fine body work. So basically where your molding at the bottom of the doors are, on mine it is now black bedliner, it was way easier than having to get the metal and body work perfect and worry about matching paint.
Yeah, the doors seem like they'd be a pain on account of them having to actually shut properly...I'm probably gonna take a grinder to the door bottoms and see how far gone they are. Sheet metal and bedliner might be a good interim solution until I actually feel like doing it the hard way.
07-29-2016, 03:46 PM
New Jeep owner from Mass
Was leaning towards doing the water pump as well, just to be on the safe side. Definitely going to now. I'm actually doing the slider thing instead of putting in regular rockers too! Was looking at a set from Spadano Enterprises. They look pretty sturdy and like they'd be an improvement. Carpet is still looking pretty good. Planned on pulling it out and steam cleaning it when I get around to doing the floors and sliders. Is it worth repairing the doors, or if it's better to just get new doors if there's a little rust on the bottom? And could you recommend a good tap and die set? I don't really know the good from the bad as far as they go. Thanks for your service too btw.
