Well, I finally took her on a trail and hit all the pathetic mud holes that were on that trail. And so began the snow ball effect that probably cant be stopped.






Nope no cool pictures. Just a puddle, shortly after this my street tires would leave me stuck on perfectly flat ground in some soupy mud. If you didnt think these pics were impressive, you should have seen how pathetic a Jeep stuck on flat ground looks like...

Oh yeah, snowball effect.... I bought some mud tires, and a winch. Just need a bumper and a hitch so I can use it... I also decided to black out the bumpers, and refinish the grill.




Pretty soon Im going to repaint the entire truck, get it ready for an Ohio winter. Looking into a truetrac and a budget boost. Its a daily and occasional light wheeler (And ultimately still a $500 Jeep lol), so not going to go too crazy with it.

 

Nice looking 86. Looks like your from around the Fairborn area. I go to school at Wright State and Just accepted a job Wright Patt. Where do you go wheeling around here? If you need anything welded I have a 220v Hobart if ya want to make the trek out here.

 

Haha great write up, i love how you discribe your craigslist addiction as many of us do. But be careful that cherokee is some hard stuff can lead down a veryyyyyyy dark road XD

 

Since my last post I decided to get some armor. Ill be using a winch on a receiver mount, so I can swap ends if need be. All thats left now is getting a budget boost, and a truetrac for the rear. Maybe a locker up front, we will see.









Man I love this thing! Im planning on taking it to Moab, Ive been once before. I was in a car, just passing through.... I had driven to Laguna Seca to take part in the 25th anniversary of the Miata, and got some cheap track time. Decided it was a good idea to road trip out in my race car lol! Then we took back roads all the way through Arizona and Utah. Ultimately picking up I-70 just north of Moab. It was hard driving through such a beautiful place and not being able to really get to enjoy it. This time I want a vehicle that can at least tackle some light to medium trails. And get us home afterwards.

 

I love the way stock Cherokees look with armour and mud tires.

 

So much for a budget boost, scored some S10 leaf springs and Thunderbird coils with strut tops. Ended up using the S10 main and secondary spring to get it even with the front. 4 inches of total lift, I really only wanted 3....

Tomorrow I align it, install new shocks along with a rear bar pin eliminator (I had a rear sway).



I need to get some 31's or 32's... Knew I should have held off on tires.

Thinking about doing a cut and fold on the rear, beefing up the D30, buying an 8.25 from a buddy. Re-gearing to 4.56 or 4.88 (Might want 33's in the future) Truetrac in the rear and a locker up front. Man this is the best equipped rig I have ever had, and I have barely wheeled it. Although there is a Haspin Acres trip coming up next weekend I might tag along for.

Here is a pic of the last rig I owned. 1985 Toyota 4x4, 6 inches of lift, 32x10.50 swampers. Really that was it, no armor, no winch. Paid $500, and it needed a new cylinder head. Guy couldnt figure out why it was overheating. Had a bad crack into the water jacket. I put the lift and tires on it. Had planned a steel flat bed, but the frame started rotting out from under it.





This Jeep is a worthy replacement for sure!

 

Love the bumpers you put on your XJ, I think C.L. is great. I scored a rear bumper/tire swing for $250 this year. Welcome to the "It's a Jeep thing" I still don't understand what happened to me!!

 

Poser shots!







Truss for the 30, 8.25 swap, and 4.56 gears coming soon!

 

How long did you have to sit outside of WPAFB for that one!? Nice pics.

 

I drive by every day, sometimes I see them coming and pull off. I like parking out there at night because you can stop -right under- their flight path as they come in. Probably less than 1000 feet as they pass overhead. They fly the C-17's pretty regularly, I think its partly to keep the planes from sitting, and also to keep the crews sharp. They have a loop they fly, some touch and go's, hard maneuvers, then they land. And shortly after another will go up.

Got a picture with one of my other cars as a T-18 came in to land, and every now and then they take up an older Air Force One that they are restoring for the museum. Id love to grab a pic when that one comes in.

 

nice 86. I picked mine for 500. I am in the beginning stages of doing a 4.3 tbi swap. motor is sitting at the machine shop getting gone through, and the engine bay is getting prepped and ready for paint and full chassis harness and efi harness

 

I noticed the rear bumper only attaches to factory location. This means that the d-rings and the hitch cannot actually be used for pulling, towing or adding a winch. The bumper would need to be integrated into the frame-rails.