I started browsing for a 4wd in last few weeks, looking for a cherokee, as I have 5 friends with Cherokees, & all love them, 1 is a RHD version which I think is cool.

anyway I found one sitting in someones yard with a forsale sign & stopped to look it over, & I am puzzled & have questions.

it is 2wd, with a 5 speed & has the 4.0 liter six, aparantly no factory air, it appears to be in mint condition, ultra clean interior, near perfect body, & no rust, with 127,XXX miles, the guy is asking $1,500

I am curious if possible to convert to 4wd? how hard? how easy are the conversion parts if available to find.

I am not a novice to doing mechanical work, but not worked on any 4wd stuff in over 20 years. that was my last spell playing in mud & 4wheelin.

the Cherokee is too nice to walk away from if I can convert it reasonably inexpensively. & I really dig that it is a 5 speed, its first I ever seen thats not an automatic, my main issue for wanting 4wd is I live in rural mountains, & a 2wd toyota truck just doesnt cut it safely during the bad weather. I used 45 cinder blocks, several pieces of steel & several pallets for weight, & barely made it back & forth to work too many occasions, so I decided I would pick up a decent 4wd & with weight I should be safer on the road?

anyway

Thanks for any input,
Randy

 

Welcome to the site! I have heard of people making the conversion from 2 to 4wd without too much problems.

 

What year is this here cherokee?
You want to get a 8.25 rear axle

And if you feel comfortable doing a swap, then go for it because parts are deffinitly plentiful in these jeeps. Price out the whole swap, then take a look at some other cherokees online and see where ya stand.

 

for some reason, this forum wont let me do a reply?

anyway the Cherokee is a 1992.

as for my abilities, I may be rusty, but I have built many manual transmissions, as well as automatics, have done pretty much everything there is to be done to a vehicle at some point in my life, including at one time doing body work & clipping vehicles, & doing custom fabrication.

I dont want a major fabrication project, but if was a relative plug & play swapping I am interested. time is valuable to me, & besides gathering parts up, I would want something I could do a fairly straight forward swap, & not tie up a multitude of weeks, & having to fabricate a lot of one off custom parts.

I know most anything is possible given time & resources. but in my case, money is tight, & I only get 1 full day a week off, & several evenings, & want something that I can either have ready, or build reasonably quick. I have done quite a few custom fabrications in my younger days, making my own mounts, & exhaust, but it goes slowly, & then you change something & all the sudden you have to refabricate several pieces that now no longer work.

I have all professional shop tools, but no shop, so everything I do is outside in the weather, loads of fun swapping a clutch when weather is in the single digits & there is snow & ice on the ground. & throwing a blanket down & a piece of plywood & tearing into it. I do what I have to do. but I no longer make a living doing mechanic or body work profesionally. but I do love doing work when weather isnt extreme.

as for the axle? are there many choices? I am not planning to really be offroad, not planning to do any extreme anything, but would be considering maybe something along the lines of a 29 inch mud tire. or thereabouts, what ever I could fit without doing any serious mods. maybe next year

Randy

 

Hey Randy, Welcome to CF.
The easiest way to do the swap would be to have a donor 4WD Cherokee of similar/same year and switch all the needed parts over. They obviously include the front axle and drive-shaft, transfer case and shifter, rear drive-shaft, transmission, and the wiring harness that connects to the t-case. Plus any odds & ends that you'll need to complete the swap so you won't have to make numerous trips to a JY, or elsewhere for parts.
The price of both vehicles, plus the time involved to complete the swap must be compared to what a comparable 4WD Cherokee will cost you. Then make your decision.
As stated, you might be better off buying a 4WD in the first place. IMO

 

I can find 4wd cherokees for $500 & up running, but none are low mileage, none are this nice, & none are 5 speeds.

I definately prefer stick shifts.

I have never seen a 5 speed Cherokee before 2 days ago, I have not tried calling junkyards, do all the conversion parts have to be from a Cherokee?

there are plenty of jeep truck Comanchees around, didnt know if they swapped? one of my friends has 2 he drives & several parts comanchees but most of his are the 4 cylinder as he prefers gas mileage.

do I have to find specific to cherokee front axle, & transfer case, 5sp tranny? or will other donor vehicles work provided I get the same axle ratio?

I will call junkyards when I have some spare time, it may be Monday before I get a chance as I am getting ready to go to work right now & wont have time today & sat the JY's are only open 1/2 a day if they are open at all. I miss the old days, we had junkyards open all day & up until 9 or 10 pm, & even open on Sundays, & holidays, & they would let you call them at home if you needed something & open for you. 4 of our JY were like that growing up, but they had motor heads running the place & they were always there building projects, for "street racing" or track racing or off road, or something, & 1 was rebuilding wrecks to put on their car lot.

anyway let me know if other Jeep parts fit the Cherokee.

Thank you,
Randy

 

welcome to the site Randy

 

It'll be easier for you if you find Cherokee parts, esp the same or close years. Most things will bolt on, no real issues.

I think I read somewhere that 91-96 share most parts.

 

ok, old thread, lol.... I passed on the one I inquired about, in 2010, but been browsing for a long time, & I finally bought a 5 speed 4WD Cherokee today, a 2 door 4 cylinder. been a long search, especially for one in decent shape & priced right in my area.

 

Glad to hear you found what you were looking for, sometimes its worth it to wait for things. As far as the 4 cylinder goes alot of guys say they are fine as long as you gear the axles accordingly

 

I do not see anything larger than a 31, & maybe just stock size for now, primarily it is for driving & commuting, when roads get bad, plus an extra vehicle, & I want the ability to be able to go to some land I have thats 45 miles away & drive into it, & the former road bed isnt good to say the least, & the former driveway is aprox 1 mile long.

I cant say what the future will hold, lol, the bug may get me, lol..... the slightly lifted Cherokees look so cool...

so far while I have looked, every 5 speed I have found, was either severly overpriced, or already sold when I called, & I check all the automotive sale books every week & have for over a year, as well as scrounged the local car lots, as well as some in other areas not too far away. I had been looking for either a Wrangler, or a Cherokee, with a 5 speed. I am semi concerned with gas mileage, as primarily it will be used on road to commute to work, or maybe to carry a few friends somewhere, as I never have my turn as I always have driven standard cab small import trucks, & usually jump in their vehicles when we go places together, usually within 50 miles, & thats either to church functions, or wrestlemania, out of town to a movie theater that plays it on the big screen, lol. my semi-boring life.

are the 2 door models more unusual? I dont recall seeing them before, & I mentioned to my boss & he says he has never seen one, until I showed him the pic of one I was going to look at on my day off. lol.

 

Glad you stuck with it.

Yes, two door models are more rare, less were sold. But that's ok, two door Cherokees are better.

And since its a 4 cyl, its got 4.10 gears.

 

well this is the first 4wd I have ever owned, but have driven a few in my lifetime. I have struggled with 2wd too long.

I know I will have a lot to learn, & may have a few questions, I will try to search first though.

as for the 4.10 gears? I have no idea what comes in what, is this good or bad for me?

Thank you,
Randy

 

First, Congrats on the Cherokee! Now, what do you mean "I have no idea what comes in what". Then for the good or bad question, its good in the sense that since its a 4 banger its geared more appropriately as the 4.10 gear ratio allows for better acceleration to compensate for the 4 cylinders sluggish starts. Im not 100% sure but the I6's get a different gear ratio somewhere in the 3.-- range as it has more power and dosent need such a low gearing.

Congrats Again, Rob

 

as to what I mean, by not sure what comes in what, as in do different year Cherokees use different ratios? or are they pretty standard, except for towing, or smaller engines? I am unsure what gear ratios come with which vehicle, whether 4 or 6 cylinder, or even V8, depending on what crosses over, & what the best overall gear ratios? what type of axles, transfer case, etc. what size tire will fit without lifting, & not needing lower gearing. or messing up effective gearing, with taller diameter tires.

like I said I have alot to learn on Cherokees. I am a car guy, have been around the automotive scene 30 or so years, worked a few years as a mechanic, just never owned a 4wd, but have played with a few friends 4wds in my younger days, acouple CJ5s, a few ******, a few Scouts, a Ford Ranger, & my favorite was a guy that had a K5 Blazer, converted to a pickup truck with a trucks back cab welded in, very professional job, a .030 over high compression big block, 4 speed, small lift, & 33" tires, welded front & rear diffs, that was a blast. lol & that was back when leaded gas was still available.

I just never spent the money to have a play toy like this. & have struggled with 2wd in snow till I am sick of it. & I have always wanted a 4wd, but I like hard tops, so was primarily looking at either Cherokees, or hard top Wrangler, I thought hard about getting a low mileage Ford Explorer, 2 door 5 speed, I looked at the same day as the one I bought, I had seen the ad a week before this one, but not had the time to go look at it, & was passing close to where it was & looked at it on the way to see the Cherokee, wife liked it, but we both liked the Cherokee better, if I had walked away from this, I guess I would be asking questions on some explorer type forums if any exist?