QUESTIONS ON CHEROKEE’S

[Big_Daddy_Jp]

x2. however you will be hard pressed to find a lifted wj and i have seen a few that were done right going for 15k

if you have the skills tho i say go for it. find a nice limited v8, break out the welder and the 100 dollar bills.

they also flat tow nice and are way more plush than any other jeep

View attachment 8453

My dads a tv repair man and he’s got a killer set of tools! Plus I stayed at a holiday inn so I should be good! Seriously, I’ve been a mechanic my whole life. I’ve got all the tools I need and a welder if need be. I will read up on what points need to be strengthened and make it happen. Honestly, building it is the fun part for me. Seems like most things are bolt ons these days. I’m a BIG fan of “ BOLT ONS “!!!

 

[jeeperdino]

My dads a tv repair man and he’s got a killer set of tools! Plus I stayed at a holiday inn so I should be good! Seriously, I’ve been a mechanic my whole life. I’ve got all the tools I need and a welder if need be. I will read up on what points need to be strengthened and make it happen. Honestly, building it is the fun part for me. Seems like most things are bolt ons these days. I’m a BIG fan of “ BOLT ONS “!!!

the hardest part is welding the frame stiffners to the unibody. pretty much sucks. 

 

[Sausage450r]

I have the iron rock 3 link on mine its good stuff. Downside to grand cherokees Zj’s are the lack of a frame. Positives, can get v8 from factory, 4 link front rear, fyi that dana 44 option has an alumn center section.

the later wj models were 3 link rear (little more complex), the fuel tank hangs really really low, and the unibody up front is  not strong enough in my opinion for serious winching.

that said, my 99 grand cherokee is the favorite of all the jeeps i’ve owned

 

[Rockwood]

@Rockwood must be somewhere without service!

Lol. Since The Crash, I just haven’t been on as much. 

I think he's working on his Jeep.....

That too. Trip coming up and have a couple of maintenance items to do. 
 

@Big_Daddy_Jp

XJ is a great platform, just not as cheap as they once were (thanks cash for clunkers). Definitely get a stiffening kit, cut the rockers out and weld in 2x6x0.25 rectangular tubing (with kickers to the now reinforced “frame”). For suspension, I’m running an IRO 3 link, RE 5.5” front springs and 1462 rear leafs with a long shackle, trussed D30, and Fox Factory 2.0s front/rear valves by Downsouth Motorsports (perfect). This thing gets it in all but the worst whoops. Can maintain 25mph to/from Olds and easily maintains 45-50mph through most of Anza Borrego while still crawl very well:

Drivetrain is stock D30/8.25 geared to 4.56 and locked. Slip yoke eliminator and Terflex 2LO kit in the NP231. Currently running 35x12.50R15s on stock shafts F/R (just tack-welded the caps on the front U joints) and a careful right foot. 
 

I really like these, but the stock engine and wiring aren’t the best. Engine and trans are super reliable and will likely outlast everything, but just can’t maintain max AC on a hot day while crawling. Power also sucks.

Wiring… Ugh. The main harness with almost all critical sensors and injectors are on the intake manifold, which is right on top of the exhaust manifold… Mine is currently 1 piece: all of the wires have melted together. Currently building an LS (5.3 Vortec) drivetrain for it. 

 

[Realbadlarry]

There is a shop in Huntington Beach that fixed the wiring in my buddies XJ...he fought it for years....finally fixed it.....

 

[zilla68]

4 hours ago, Rockwood said:

Lol. Since The Crash, I just haven’t been on as much. 

That too. Trip coming up and have a couple of maintenance items to do. 
 

@Big_Daddy_Jp

XJ is a great platform, just not as cheap as they once were (thanks cash for clunkers). Definitely get a stiffening kit, cut the rockers out and weld in 2x6x0.25 rectangular tubing (with kickers to the now reinforced “frame”). For suspension, I’m running an IRO 3 link, RE 5.5” front springs and 1462 rear leafs with a long shackle, trussed D30, and Fox Factory 2.0s front/rear valves by Downsouth Motorsports (perfect). This thing gets it in all but the worst whoops. Can maintain 25mph to/from Olds and easily maintains 45-50mph through most of Anza Borrego while still crawl very well:

hows your ac just out cruising around? Mine was horrible, and i took it to the shop, they said i needed a whole new ac set up, compressor, condensor, etc.

I read on a forum to remove the shim behind the nut on the clutch, thought what the hell i'll try it. I drove that damn thing for 3 years like that, and it would get so cold it would make my hands hurt lol.

 

[Rockwood]

hows your ac just out cruising around? Mine was horrible, and i took it to the shop, they said i needed a whole new ac set up, compressor, condensor, etc.

I read on a forum to remove the shim behind the nut on the clutch, thought what the hell i'll try it. I drove that damn thing for 3 years like that, and it would get so cold it would make my hands hurt lol.

AC is ice cold (45-48*F air once cooled) and all new.

Rock crawling with AC on, the coolant temps start running away. AC still cold, but the heat soak eventually sends coolant temps into the 230s. I just added a duct to keep the intake from sucking in the hot air flung into it by the e-fan, dropped IATs by 40*F and coolant doesn’t seem to creep beyond 220*F now.  

 

[Realbadlarry]

Hood vents are a MUST have on the xjs...for some reason their cooling system sucks...Put the big kit on my buddies and it help a LOT with heat...he also has a manual electric fan he just turns on and leaves on and it works way better....

 

[Spize909]

9 hours ago, Rockwood said:

Lol. Since The Crash, I just haven’t been on as much. 

That too. Trip coming up and have a couple of maintenance items to do. 
 

@Big_Daddy_Jp

XJ is a great platform, just not as cheap as they once were (thanks cash for clunkers). Definitely get a stiffening kit, cut the rockers out and weld in 2x6x0.25 rectangular tubing (with kickers to the now reinforced “frame”). For suspension, I’m running an IRO 3 link, RE 5.5” front springs and 1462 rear leafs with a long shackle, trussed D30, and Fox Factory 2.0s front/rear valves by Downsouth Motorsports (perfect). This thing gets it in all but the worst whoops. Can maintain 25mph to/from Olds and easily maintains 45-50mph through most of Anza Borrego while still crawl very well:

That's the Steve I know!

What crash?

 

[Rockwood]

That's the Steve I know!

What crash?

The site crash

 

[Rockwood]

Hood vents are a MUST have on the xjs...for some reason their cooling system sucks...Put the big kit on my buddies and it help a LOT with heat...he also has a manual electric fan he just turns on and leaves on and it works way better....

Ayep. Hood vents and the fans are on nonstop with AC. No AC is perfectly fine and no need to run the fan full time. 

Hell, even rigged up the rear window washer to a mister that sprays the radiator, still runs hot. 

 

[tjZ06]

I have a few words on the topic, and have taken my WJ build pretty far (was detailed here before the crash).  In the end, I really love it, and it works exceptionally well - until I try to tow the trailer through the high-desert grades in 100+ ambient temps, then I have to watch the temps and take it a bit easy.  Hood vents and perhaps an oil cooler are next (it already has a big all-AL radiator, nice dual e-fans w/ shroud etc. etc.) but without the trailer it's A-ok and even with the trailer it gets the job done, I just have to back it down a bit and turn the AC off at some times.  I can/will write a bit more on the Grands if you're interested in going that route.  I like the WJs, but there are some compelling arguments for the ZJ (first gen Grand) too. 







(@angryspiderstomper modeling on the 35")



(this angle makes the sag w/ the trailer look particularly bad, but it's actually only ~300 lbs tongue-weight and doesn't sag much)



Broverland AF

-TJ

 

[PainterJoe]

I was in the same boat as you a couple years ago. I started wanting to build an XJ but couldn't find anything for a decent price that was in good shape then started looking at the ZJ but aftermarket parts were limited. The WJ was always in the back of my mind after owning both the ZJ and WJ back in the 90's. I saw some really cool builds and decided to find a WJ. I guess I kind of got lucky enough to find a 2000 Laredo V8 with the 242HD transfer case already in it. The mileage was a little high but eventually the drivetrain will be completely new. We bought it in June of 2019. After collecting parts we finally got time to start building it in march of 2020. My son and I were in the garage for a little over a month every night working on it and we are pretty proud of the way it turned out. Facebook has a bunch of pages dedicated to the WJ with a lot of knowledgeable people to help you out. If you have any questions hit me up any time. We opted for the Clayton longarm kit on ours. I have all the pics of the build to help you out if needed, tank tuck, lift, axles, bumpers, etc.

 

[tjZ06]

@PainterJoe what a transformation, I love how yours turned out.  Is that the TF front bumper?  I think that might be one thing I need to try for helping my cooling out.  I love my HK Offroad hidden winch mount, it's just so clean and tucks in SO perfect.  BUT it's stuffed right up against the cooling stack (well, not actually touching, but just very very close) and probably isn't helping me much.  I'm not sure how much a bumper like yours would improve cooling, but I can't see moving the winch a few inches off the radiator as *hurting*.  

Also, out of curiosity do you have any more pics that show the tow-bar angle with the flat tow setup?  Any issues with tall, softly-sprung WJ in flat-tow?  

-TJ

 

[PainterJoe]

@PainterJoe what a transformation, I love how yours turned out.  Is that the TF front bumper?  I think that might be one thing I need to try for helping my cooling out.  I love my HK Offroad hidden winch mount, it's just so clean and tucks in SO perfect.  BUT it's stuffed right up against the cooling stack (well, not actually touching, but just very very close) and probably isn't helping me much.  I'm not sure how much a bumper like yours would improve cooling, but I can't see moving the winch a few inches off the radiator as *hurting*.  

Also, out of curiosity do you have any more pics that show the tow-bar angle with the flat tow setup?  Any issues with tall, softly-sprung WJ in flat-tow?  

-TJ

Thanks TJ, Yea it's the trailforged DIY bumper. I'll dig up some pics of the flat tow set up. I had to use a riser. It tows really well back there. I've towed it quite a bit without any issue's so far..

 

[PainterJoe]

 

[PainterJoe]

 

[tjZ06]

View attachment 8711

Thanks!  With the riser it looks dead-level.  Perfect!

-TJ

 

[Big_Daddy_Jp]

So quick update! I found a good starter jeep for the wife and I. It has a lot of goodies on it already. It has pretty high mileage but seems to run great. Should be picking it up this weekend. It’s a 1995 Grand Cherokee limited. It has what looks to be a Rubicon short arm kit already. It has 33” tires on it now but needs a bigger lift. Can I throw coil spacers front and rear on it for now and splurge for a 6” long arm kit down the road? Any suggestions would be helpful. Paid $2800 for it

 

[Adam G]

Nice! Good for you. You will learn a lot about your jeep the longer you own it. Just a tip, when you find an issue with it, google the problem. It is covered with a good tech write up on it somewhere amongst the inter webs. 
 

Be careful increasing the lift without an engineered kit. Bad things happen with lower control arm angles getting steep and driveshafts angles getting extreme. It’s not uncommon to throw a u-joint and have your driveshaft reshape your floor. You can start cutting the wheel wells and getting wild with the sawzall, but making openings big enough for a big tire is mostly feudal. Stick with 33’s and go up to about 4.5 with long arms. You’ll be much happier. My last ZJ had a 4.5 RE long arm kit on it with 33x10.5 tires and would go just about everywhere with minimal rubbing and stock wheel wells (trimmed bumper corners).