Rescue One! My 1999 Jeep Cherokee!

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Jason Galbo

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Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

No pics yet. I just acquired it a couple months ago and it was intended to be a donor for the Jeep Comanche I had previously that was 4 cylinder 2 wheel drive. Once I discovered rust in its floor from a PO not drying it out after a heater core failure I looked closer at the overall condition of the XJ and decided it would be a much better candidate for a build despite my desire for the MJ. The timing just wasn't right for the swap with my current living situation so I went with logic instead of want.
I've built a dozen off road rigs for myself and hundreds more for customers so I know what to do functionality wise, but vehicle specific accessory locations for mounting stuff up on a relatively small platform is good info. I never really paid any interest in XJ's because I've always been skeptical of the unibody platform having been a rock crawler for so many years but here I am building one anyway. I never had a Jeep with the 4.0HO and kinda getting attached to it so we'll see where it goes. Since I'm out of my rock crawling phase we are more interested in overlanding now and this should hold up to that task just fine.


I've worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.
Check out BleepinJeep on YouTube, he is undoubtedly the BEST source of inspiration for an XJ you will ever find. That being said I do rock crawl with my XJ at times and the unibody twists a lot, sometimes to the point to where if I open my hatch or a door I am unable to reclose them. I fear I've also popped at least one spot weld if not more from twisting the body but I haven't been able to find it. It still preforms perfectly despite the abuse I put it thru! I can't wait to follow your build, I started mine with junkyard parts and if you read the post I put up before this one you'll see I'm still building my jeep using parts off of other vehicles! Let me know when you start a build thread for either the XJ or the Manche. And feel free to ask any questions you might have!
 

4wdAdventures

Rank III
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Enthusiast III

646
Columbus, OH, USA
First Name
Terry
Last Name
Baker
Member #

5337

Yeah I've seen his videos and they seem helpful. The MJ was sold a month or so ago to a guy who works for Currie Enterprises so he will be building that into a prerunner style rig. I'll be starting my build once I get my maintenance baselined and oil leaks fixed. This is a pic of my MJ after the lift and tires were installed, and just before I discovered the rust which crushed my dreams on that build. Being in SoCal I can afford to be picky with rust.
 

Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

Must be nice, I live in the rust belt, my jeep is pretty solid but years of Pennsylvanian winters are taking their toll on my driver side floor board... I'm gonna have to replace it soon. But my rockers and subframe are spotless and so is the rest of the jeep!


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4wdAdventures

Rank III
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

646
Columbus, OH, USA
First Name
Terry
Last Name
Baker
Member #

5337

I want to get back to the east coast. I grew up here but moved to Fredericksburg Virginia back in 2009 for work and loved it there. My daughter is now married and lives in Staunton and son just got engaged and plans on moving to Roanoake VA. When we moved there we bought a Land Cruiser here for $6400 and drive it out, sold it there for $8800 because it was the cleanest in the state with zero rust whatsoever
 
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Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

I want to get back to the east coast. I grew up here but moved to Fredericksburg Virginia back in 2009 for work and loved it there. My daughter is now married and lives in Staunton and son just got engaged and plans on moving to Roanoake VA. When we moved there we bought a Land Cruiser here for $6400 and drive it out, sold it there for $8800 because it was the cleanest in the state with zero rust whatsoever
Rust free rigs fetch a high dollar in the rust belt !
 

Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

Update, I put a new IAC valve in the jeep last night and it appears to have helped with a hard start issue that I've been having. The problem is usually intermittent so I don't want to declare it fixed just yet but fingers crossed. I also ordered an entire new exhaust for my jeep, soon I'll be sporting a stainless Borola Cat Back system, a Magnaflow high flow cat and an Walker Evans downpipe. I wasn't able to find a stainless downpipe so I had to settle. Hopefully all goes smoothly and I can replace my old exhaust setup without to much of an issue!
 
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4wdAdventures

Rank III
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

646
Columbus, OH, USA
First Name
Terry
Last Name
Baker
Member #

5337

Just installed a Magnaflow cat on mine Saturday. Have a header I'm going to thermal wrap before installing and then to the exhaust. I had no idea Walker Evans made down pipes


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Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

I have a lot to update. I took a whole weekend to do a marathon of jeep work, some good, some bad. Hopefully tonight I'll take the time to do so.

Here's a teaser but there's a lot more than this!
 

Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

Okay. So as I hinted I've been very busy this weekend. I had a laundry list of items to get done and I was able to complete most of it.

This weekend I:
Upgraded to the 136amp alternator
Upsized all of my battery cable to 2 gauge
Dodge Durango power steering box swap
JCR power steering box spacer
Replaced my power steering pump
Replaced my power steering lines
Replaced my tensioner pulley
New serpentine belt



I also replaced my entire exhaust up to the manifold using the following components:
Walker Evans down pipe
Magnaflow high flow cat
Borla's cat back system



Everything went well except my power steering. After several attempts at bleeding the system I only had manual steering. Frustrated and tired from a weekend of work I drove the jeep home the way it was and figured I'd deal with it later in the week. The next morning when I went to drive the Jeep to work I noticed that I suddenly had some assist from my power steering, but it was very weak. I attempted to bleed it again but it made no noticeable difference. As of now I still only have a weak assist. I feel like the durulast pump I put in last minute is faulty, when I didn't have any assist I felt like I had no pressure in the power steering system.

I haven't had any problems with my charging system in the past but when my current alternator started to become noisy I knew it was the perfect excuse to upgrade. I had recently added a 10lb warn winch, and plan on hard wiring my 2000w inverter in in the next month. I planned on swapping in a 136 amp alternator out of a V8 grand Cherokee. The swap was pretty straight forward.
I first removed the current alternator and the bracket. I assembled the two piece bracket off the jeep and attempted to fit it to the new larger bodied 136 amp alternator. There were some obvious clearance issues and I had to grind the bracket to be slightly deeper to fit the alternator. After I was able to fit the bracket I remounted it to the motor and noticed that the motor also had to be clearanced

After that the alternator bolted right up

After that came the wiring. Previously on my 99 Cherokee there was a two wire harness that plugged into the back of the stock alternator to what I am assuming is the regulator, on the new one there was a place for two ring terminals. After a check of the wiring schematics:
Cherokee:

A grand Cherokee that runs the alternator that I am swapping in:

It appeared I simply needed to remove the harness, and replace with ring terminals and wire them to the right place. (Sorry for the lack of detail, follow the diagrams!) I also noticed the new alternator had it's own ground. So to make sure it functioned properly I added one!
Next I tackled the battery cable. Since I'm running a higher output charging system I needed cable thick enough to handle the amps. I stepped up the cable running from the alternator to the fuse box to 2ga. Along with the cable running from the fuse box to the battery. Next I turned my attention to the grounds. I replaced both the motor and body ground that was connected to my battery with 2ga. and added the one from the alternator to the battery.
Even tho my charging system was keeping up before I'm confident that the larger 136amp alternator will have an easier time keeping up with my new winch, 2000w inverter and my ever growing demand I put on the electrical system of my jeep.

The exhaust went well, it was a necessary for me to redo it because my previous one was smashed against my floor and was causing issues.

In about a month I have a large trip upcoming where my brother, my girlfriend, my best friend and myself are heading to Maine to explore with our rigs. I have a lot more prepping to do. I hope my write up of the alternator swap helps those who were debating doing it themselves.

As always, get out there, and never stop exploring!
 
Last edited:

Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

Weighed my jeep yesterday.
Unloaded
4180
Loaded with people only
4560
Not sure what the max capacity is of the jeep but I'm much heavy over stock and that doesn't include any of my gear! I need to loose some weight!


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Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

So after all the work I've done to the jeep recently I've had a chance to truly put it to the test. With T minus 11 days left to our expedition I drove the jeep from my apartment in West Chester, PA to my old home in Hermitage, PA where, after visiting friends and family, I then loaded up my girlfriend and i's kayaks and a dresser and headed back to the apartments for a trip covering well over 600 miles!

Trucks are over rated anyways!

All in all things went well. I need to rotate and balance my tires, change my oil and take another look at my power steering issue before the tip. I also discovered that my positive terminal ring has sheered off so I will need to replace that as well!

Once all that is complete I feel confident in my jeeps ability for this 2,400 plus mile trip!
 

Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

So after all the work I've done to the jeep recently I've had a chance to truly put it to the test. With T minus 11 days left to our expedition I drove the jeep from my apartment in West Chester, PA to my old home in Hermitage, PA where, after visiting friends and family, I then loaded up my girlfriend and i's kayaks and a dresser and headed back to the apartments for a trip covering well over 600 miles!

Trucks are over rated anyways!

All in all things went well. I need to rotate and balance my tires, change my oil and take another look at my power steering issue before the tip. I also discovered that my positive terminal ring has sheered off so I will need to replace that as well!

Once all that is complete I feel confident in my jeeps ability for this 2,400 plus mile trip!
 
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4wdAdventures

Rank III
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

646
Columbus, OH, USA
First Name
Terry
Last Name
Baker
Member #

5337

Excited for you. I'm hoping to make a 2600 mile trip later this year, called getting the hell out of California once and for all and moving to Virginia or North Carolina!


Sent from my iPhone
OB 5337
 

Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

Excited for you. I'm hoping to make a 2600 mile trip later this year, called getting the hell out of California once and for all and moving to Virginia or North Carolina!


Sent from my iPhone
OB 5337
California and the western side of the state sounds like the promise land for 4 wheeling. You have the rubicon and state owned trails. And your close to all the public land in Nevada. Over here we have nothing like that
 
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Jason Galbo

Rank IV
Launch Member

Advocate I

1,402
West Chester, Pa
Member #

2759

Trip Intro:

A few weeks late and a dollar short but it's time to finally talk about my trip thru the Northeast!

After months of planning my brother, best friend, my girlfriend and I met up at my apartment in West Chester, Pa in our three rigs.

My friend Aaron (Member: 2704, Screen Name: Yota_4runner86), drives a 1986 Toyota 4runner with a 4" lift and 32" KO2's. Originally it came with the 22RE but the previous owner for some reason swapped in a supposed stroker 22R (which is carbonated compared to the original fuel injected motor). He's put a ton of work into it for this trip rebuilding most of his suspension and front hubs. For sleeping arrangements he built a single bed inside the back of his spacious yota.

My brother Greg (Member: 2758 Screen Name: Greg Galbo) has a 1997 Jeep Cherokee with the 4.0L, 2" lift and 29" tall tires (not sure what the metric size is). He gets to sleep in a new Tepui tent that he purchased right before the trip giving him the best sleeping quarters of all of us!

Me (Member: 2759 Screen Name: Jason Galbo) and my girlfriend shared a backpacking tent which we carried around in my 1999 Jeep Cherokee (read the rest of the thread for my build)



My brother and Aaron made the 6 hour drive from their home to my apartment on Thursday, and by Friday afternoon once I got off work we were finally ready to set off! Our first destination was Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Park (AOAA) for a Wheelers LLC event. AOAA is an off-road park located in North Centra PA. At the event we made many new friends including a man named Ron with a yellow Land Rover Discovery who is a very low numbered member of the OB Community.

Ron was able to mark some spots on our map for Vermont, his home state, that would make the next two days some of the most enjoyable in the entire trip. After packing up our things at AOAA we prepared to set off and leave our home state of PA and really kick off our adventure!