2001 Jeep Cherokee Build (Morty)

[Mr_miyagisan]

Hello everyone

My Name is Emerson and I am from north central Indiana. Wanted to create a thread to keep track of my project jeep for future reference

So we'll start off with the XJ. Its a 2001 Cherokee sport white w/ tan interior. Bone stock with 192k miles on the clock, the jeep spent 12 years being used by a local fire department and has a pretty solid history. Having owned a few jeeps this 4.0 is the quietest I think I have ever heard lol seriously thought something was wrong with it.

Stock XJ by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
Very little rust (found some later on)

I had sold my TJ to switch to a XJ for the extra space. Was lucky enough to get $5000 out of my hunk of junk wrangler so that gave me good budget for the beginning of this XJ build

We'll call this stage 1:


Lift
Flares
Wheels & Tires

Having gone the cheap route with my TJ lift I didn't want to do that with the XJ, especially with the intentions of a road trip/overland vehicle. After a little research I went with a lift from Old Man Emu/JKS kit from Dirk at DPG, to keep this XJ is only getting a 2.5 inch lift, over 3 inches and you can get some issues with these vehicles.

OME Lift by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

Flares are Bushwacker flat flares, I've been really lazy on getting these done having only trimmed the rear fenders

and now Wheels & Tires
I knew I wanted goodyear duratracs, having run them before on my wrangler. But that created a problem. In a 15 inch wheel they only carried a 31x10.5r15. Not wanting to run a 10.5 I decided to go to a 16 inch wheel to open up more options. Which brought me to these mammoth wheels, cheap but good reviews. Went for it for $99/ea for a 16x8.
This allowed me to run my ideal size. 245/75r16
Here is a before and after shot. The jeep is lifted 2.5 in the front but no fender trimming yet. The rear is somewhat trimmed but no lift installed yet. I'm lazy haha

Before and after by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

2017-11-30
Terrible at updating this but its finally lifted and been driving it for about 2 weeks now. Love the OME lift, rides really smooth for a leaf spring rear.
The past few weeks has been just updating some little cosmetic things and cleaning up loose ends.

-Installed clear marker and running light lenses, a much better look IMHO. Also red tented the turn signal markers in the tail light. I cant stand the orange yellow color on a white vehicle lol its an eye sore
-Installed Hella E-Code headlights with a 80/100w bulb, have a upgraded headlight wiring harness waiting to be installed along with it.
-Reconditioned the bumper plastics with a heat gun, first time I've done this and it crazy how it brings the color right back
-Installed a Azzy Design Works transfer case linkage setup. This gets rid of the prone to disengaging stock linkage and replaces it with a simple one linkage setup with no body mount.
-New Kenwood stereo to replace my old aftermarket radio that was stuck on a Rush Limbaugh AM talk radio station.
-Installed SOLID front and rear differential covers and did a fluid change

Waiting to be installed is a pair of Hella 500ff driving lights. Those will be installed when my Dirtbound Offroad front bumper gets here. I went with their Mojave bumper, I like the design look of it and the fact that has a receiver up front. I've chosen to run a removable winch setup, when I do buy a winch, for the fact that its deadweight when not in use. Which will be 90% of the time for this XJ.

After the bumper goes on I think im going to start my interior cargo build of shelving and drawers.



Now pictures!


Showing the extra space the tires get after the Bushwacker flares go in place
Fender Trim W/ Bushwackers by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
First time it saw sunlight in 4 months
First time out of the garage in months by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

Favorite picture of the pig right now
First Pic After Lift by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

2017-01-18

Got the bumper test fitted, love the white! Very happy with my choice to color match it. In the process of putting in the bracing plates for the bumper itself, I ran into issues with the steering box bolts and the spacer breaking. Should have known better with this jeep haha So now the jeep is stuck in the garage waiting for a JCR steering box spacer and an upgraded Dodge Durango steering box to go in.
Bumper Fixing by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
Ended up installing my upgraded injectors and hood risers since I have downtime now. Hopefully the clean injectors will alleviate my fuel mileage issues (fingers crossed)


Coming in march - april time frame I am going to get the stuff for my regear. I have decided on running 4.10's. Also much to the dismay of my wallet, that i am going to run ARB lockers in the front and rear. May be overkill at this point in time for the use of the cherokee, but I don't want to have to open everything back up on the axle and go through it all again when they do become a necessity for the build.

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

2017-01-30
Got the bumper and new steering box on
New Bumper Mounted by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
Loving the look

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

2017-02-03
Finally tested out the range of articulation on the cherokee. Bump stops are at a perfect setting and I'm happily surprised with the setup as a whole
Flex Test by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

2017-02-09

Spent yesterday installing my driving lights and hoop on the bumper. Happy with how it turned out and love the lights
Snow XJ by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
Still in a holding pattern for my big ticket items, being the ARB, trutrac and gears. I want to get the drivetrain setup first instead of getting the tent or fridge now. it'll give me and the wife more time behind the wheel practicing driving and spotting skills before the big trip, luckily we have a nice off road park about a hour away to put things to the test

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

2017-03-11


No big updates on the jeep as off now. Still sitting on money for my $2700 axle work :coffee:
But in the mean time we have been enjoying the jeep, take it to the local park pretty often to run the dog
Running Domo by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
Also took a trip to a state park, sadly no off the beaten path travel in the XJ, lots on foot though haha
Turkey run State Park by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

All my axle stuff showed up today! Can't wait to get it all installed
Axle gear by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
Found a great price on a custom rack. Making it out of 1"x1" square tubing, going with a platform style and ill add rails up front for other things if I need them down the road.

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Picked up my $160 custom rack yesterday, super happy with it. Great work for the price and made to my specs!
Rack on the XJ by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

Rack Mounts by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Actually just installed it for the first time

Tepui on the XJ by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

Overall very happy with it. Deploys quick (even for our first time) and folds back up even quicker. Maybe one or two small things i could gripe about like one of our internal storage bags has a hole in it and then some material choices like velcro. I think it'll wear out pretty quick seeing wind and weather all the time. We cant wait to go out and use it!

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Testing out my new to me Nikon D7000
Overland Bound by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Slow progress

Loaded up the jeep with 4 of us and drove down to Red River Gorge in Kentucky to climb, just 3 days outta the jeep. Maybe about 50 miles of some terribly maintained roads to get to and from the crags, not a single issue outta the jeep. Loved it!
Red River Gorge by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
Red River Gorge by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
domo, Red River Gorge by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
Got married this past weekend and received a Yeti tundra 50 for a wedding gift, thinking I'm going to hold off on the Dometic fridge now to save some cash. Yeti should work out great for our trip!

 

[Egan]

Love the jeep, I had a white 92 Sport sadly I rolled it. Wish I still had it.

 

[Greg Galbo]

Great build man! I have a 97 XJ with a Tepui tent on it as well with plans to do the same OME lift! How did you tint the rear lens red? I love that! Check my build thread out if you like at Princess the 97 XJ!

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Great build man! I have a 97 XJ with a Tepui tent on it as well with plans to do the same OME lift! How did you tint the rear lens red? I love that! Check my build thread out if you like at Princess the 97 XJ!

I just taped off the white reverse lights part and painted it with tail light tint, VHM or something like that.

Seen your build, good looking XJ

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Finally got my axle work done!
ARB up front, Trutrac in the rear and a regear to 4.10s

Jeep feels great to drive, hope to be done with gear break in by this week. Planning on a trip to the Badlands offroad park about 45mins from here to get a good shake down of everything

Axle work is done by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Finally got my second car sold so I have a good amount of cash flow to finish this jeep up before the September trip!


Some of the things I feel like I HAVE to have for the trip (BOLD), some things might not be completely necessary but hey I still want them done lol

Dirtbound Mojave Rear Bumper W/ Tire Carrier or JCR Expedition bumper with carrier
Mammoth Boulder 16x8" Spare Wheel
Goodyear Duratrac 245/75r16 Spare Tire
CB Setup
HD Tie Rod Setup
Disk Brake Conversion
Rock Sliders
Dirtbound Extreme Winch bumper or JCR winch bumper
Warn VR8-S
Synergy 1.25" Wheel Spacers x4
20L Jerry Cans x2
​

struggling to decide between which bumpers I'm gonna go with right now
Hopefully there will be a bunch of updates in the next two weeks!

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Good news everyone!
I got a small sponsorship from JCR offroad! Sent an email talking about the trip, that I was interested in some info about their products and to see if they had any interest in the jeep project. After a couple emails backand forth I got an email today from Corey saying he got the okay! Super surprised and grateful, as much money as I have into this XJ now every little bit of saved makes me feel a little better about myself haha
//
Tomorrow ill be finishing up my order and I think the bumpers are going to get here just in time! Ol' Morty is going to be getting their Vanguard Prerunner Winch bumper, Vanguard Rear bumper and Adventure Tire carrier. I think we are going to be cutting it close to the September 2nd launch date but hey! Who doesnt like some last minute wrenching before a month long trip :smiley_drive:
//
In other news, I went on a spending spree at Amazon. Most of the trips wants and needs are in the mail and heading this way.
This includes:
Corba CB
ARB E-Z tire deflator
2 Wavian 20L gas cans
Folding Table
New driver side taillight (more on that in a bit)
Warn VR8s winch with synthetic line
And the big one..... 5 Cooper STT pro tires in a 265/75r16. After thinking on it and thinking on it and hovering over the 'add to cart' button. Then thinking on it some more I decided I wanted slightly larger tires. Just over an inch taller and slightly less than an inch wider but more importantly much more aggressive.
//
What pushed me over the edge to buy the tires was the off roading trip I finally got around to taking. Don't get me wrong, the duratracs did great but boy did they load up fast in mud. Either way had a great time at the Badlands here in Attica, IN. The jeep surprised me with some of the obstacles it tackled, but between some tight trails and a not so tight driver, I managed to dent in the passenger side front fender (enough to catch the door stopping it from opening all the way), Slide the rear quarter panel into a dirt wall <--this one i didnt feel like I couldve avoided, and back into a tree and bust the driver taillight. All in all though it was a successful trip and feel like I pushed the jeep harder than we will on most of the trail we are going to incounter on the western trip
//
Dog was excited on the way to the badlands, don't think he like the rough trails to much though haha
Much excite by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
//
My buddy came out with his subaru, small lift and good sized AT's. Surprised at how good it was.
Cherokee and friends by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
//
Assessing the damages and airing up to head home
Aftermath by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Amazon fairy dropped of a load of stuff yesterday! Surprised the floor of the porch didnt cave in lol
Amazon Fairy by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
//
Everything came in early and with the new Coopers sitting on the porch of course the first thing I had to do was quickly get them installed before discount tire closed. So here are the 265/75r16 Pro's mounted with a 1.25" alloy USA spacer and a 2.5" OME lift.
Cooper STT pro&#x27;s fitted w/spacers by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
//
Its a bit tight for my taste on wheel gap so we are going to try a extra spring pad up front and throw the extra leaf in the rear turning it into a 3" lift.
//
Today right after I got home my neighbor text me saying I had a huge box that was delivered to her house instead of mine, I slightly confused because all my Amazon stuff was already here. So I go over and to my surprise a huge box from JCR made it here already! In it was my rear vanguard bumper, Hawse fairlead, and bumper nut strips. Happy it got here so fast, allows me to get things installed periodically instead of all together which I was not excited about doing right before the trip lol
JCR vanguard rear bumper by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr
//
Extremely pleased with the bumper from JCR. The brackets and gussets look super stout and the build quality looks great! Plan is to prep and paint it tomorrow. While that's drying ill be removing the stock rear bumper to hopefully get the xj ready for an install on Saturday! This being a Midwestern jeep we'll we how that pans out

 

[Mr_miyagisan]

Got the Vanguard bumper painted and mounted, extremely happy with the way the rattle can paint turned out
Rear 3/4 view by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

Rear Vanguard Bumper by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr

JCR close up by Emerson Bowling, on Flickr