1997 Jeep Cherokee "XJ" - Project

[Donald Miller]

So I thought it would be fun to do a build thread for this XJ I have right now. The previous owner had done some work to it but as I have looked over it I dont think their attention to detail was quite what I would call acceptable. LOL so I'll be going back and fixing everything to my OCD levels. :)

I will probably keep updating this list below as I pick up more parts since I already know I'll forget something.



Anyways what the jeep has right now:
- Dana 30 Front
- Dana 44 Rear
- ARB lockers front and rear
- 4 inch Rancho short arm lift (which I have mostly yanked out by now)
- ARB bully front bumper
- XRC 9500 winch

This is what I plan to do to it so far:



- Rough Country 6.5" long arm lift kit
- Rough Country Dual Steering Stabilizer
- Pro Comp 15" Steel Wheels
- BF Goodrich KO2 33"
- Smittybilt rear bumper and tire carrier
- ARB Twin Compressor (to update the old and tired single compressor. This way I can run air tools if needed)
- ARB 1 gallon reserve tank
- New Synthetic winch rope and new hawes
- 50" light bar on the roof
- 2 7inch led spots for the front bumper
- OSRAM LED headlights

This is just the start but I plan to build a storage solution in the back end as well for all my goodies on the trail. Also thinking of getting an ARB fridge/freezer to incorporate into the storage area. I hope you all enjoy as I build my dream rig. If you have any suggestions or tips i am always happy to listen. Also if you have any questions of what I'm doing I totally welcome all questions.

Thank you,
Don

 

[JimInBC]

Looking forward to watching, and borrowing ideas for my 97.

 

[BlueRidge150]

Looks sharp. Keep us updated on how the build goes

 

[Donald Miller]

Ok so got the front end ripped apart and out of the jeep this weekend. I'm starting to get an idea why it rode like complete garbage with the old lift. Putting a 4 inch lift on short arms just really pushed the limits of the short arms. It pretty much pins the lower control arms against the rear mounting points. Just in case anyone is thinking of putting a 4 inch lift on short arms, just be ready for a harder ride than stock. 4 inches or greater is probably best to put a long arm lift on it.



Anyways, as you can see from the pic above the whole thing is taken apart. While I have it all out of the way I figured I might as well fix what I thought was a rear main seal leak. It turns out who ever put the last pan seal in nicked a couple spots on the rear main cap seal area.



Since I already had the rear main seal purchased I decided to do it since it will never be this easy again LOL. Made sure to apply a little high temp RTV to the joints between the two pieces of the rear main seal. Also, even though I purchased the Felpro Permadry pan seal I put some RTV on the front and rear portions of the gasket. This will ensure that you fight the notorious 4.0 leak points. Make sure to get RTV on the surface that touches both the pan and engine block all the way up to and past the first bolts. Now it's sealed up like Fort Knox and ready for oil today now that the RTV has had time to dry.

 

[Donald Miller]

Ok so this weekend I was able to get a couple of things done on jeep in between Honey Do's :). The old Power Steering Reservoir and Steering Gear Box were leaking and tired.



So it just made sense to replace them both, along with the hoses. Along with a new pulley since the old one somehow developed a crack in it.





At this point I started to get back to the lift and decided to take the plunge in removing the stock lower control arm mounts.



After the first round of cuts this is what I had it down to. Good thing i had some heavy metal saw all blades laying around. They made short work of it and now on to the endless amounts of grinding to get everything smooth.



Once I got the subframe ground down on both sides and smooth i shot it with some hammer tone satin finish spray paint to keep it from rusting. It turned out pretty nice and smooth. I left some of the metal for ridgity since it wont get in the way anyways.



I was also able to get the new long arm lower and upper control arms installed on the axle. Also got the new track bar installed and adjusted.



All the other steering components were sanded down and repainted so I'm just waiting for them to dry. Hoping to get them mounted this week after work sometime.

Having a blast so far with this install.

 

[Deragheth]

Looking good so far. Same color as mine!