Jeep Cherokee - Lifted and Locked

I bought this XJ in 2005 to be my go anywhere, do anything adventure rig and it has served me well. Unfortunately, with an expanding family, it’s time for it to go. The Jeep has been garaged ever since I bought it. I purchased it from a guy in Georgia who was basically flipping it. The owner before him did many of the mods and lived in Virginia (I think) so it used to reside in a bit of a rustier area. Many of the mods were already done to the XJ when I got it, but I further modified it and improved on it over the years.

As a whole the Jeep works well and looks sharp even after years of trail use. And because I have wheeled it, it is fully dialed in and ready to go. You don’t have to worry about the driveshaft hitting a control arm, a control arm hitting the body, the tires tearing off the flares, etc. I have wheeled this XJ hard, but I never beat on my rig. I’ve never broken a u-joint, an axle shaft, or anything like that, even running harder trails. I always crawl over the obstacle staying off the gas pedal as much as possible.

It has a few small rust spots: one small one on the roof, one in the driver’s side rear corner underneath near the fuel fill up, and another one above the frame side mount of the passenger leaf spring. But you can see from the pictures, that there is no large rust problem. The head liner is sagging. A rock bit off a chunk of the driver’s side rear flare. It has some high speed drive line vibrations (from the rear, as the front doesn’t spin because of the Warn hubs). The engine is a bit tired, it burns some oil between oil changes. The engine runs hot sometimes (it’s a Cherokee), especially climbing grades out here in Colorado. I have the stock electrical fan run to a switch in the cab so that I can flip it on whenever. If the efan is running the temp will stay in check. The speedometer is not correct, it’s 10% higher than it should be and this also throws off the mileage, so actual mileage isn’t known. It currently sits at 202,500 miles. I’ve had it since 158,000 and it has been off that 10% the whole time I’ve owned it.

Even with its issues, I would consider it a reliable vehicle. It always fires right up and runs great. Last September I drove it to Moab (400+ miles) wheeled it and drove home without a problem. Get out on the trails this summer and pass all of those stock Rubicons! Below is a full list of all the mods and goodies:

Suspension

•5”-6” of lift

•Rusty’s coil springs

•BDS Long Arms

•Rock Krawler Track bar & bracket

•Big Offroad 4” Leaf springs (Alcan) with JKS shackles – these are great, heavy duty leaf springs that also flex well, full anti-friction liner has been placed between all of the leaves

•JKS sway bar quicker disconnects up front

•Rear sway bar has been removed

•Bilstein 5100 shocks up front, Ranchos in the rear

Steering

•Iron Rock Offroad Heavy Duty 5/8 OTK steering

•Heavy Duty Steering gear from a 99 Dodge Durango

•C-Rok Engineering Inside Frame Plate kit

•Replaced the steering intermediate shaft with one that wasn’t worn out

Tires and Wheels

•American Racing AR767 Black D Window wheels – 15x8

•Goodyear Wrangler DuraTracs 33x12.50, less than 5,000 miles (purchased 5/2014)

•Full height spare (33x9.50 BFG AT)

Drivetrain

•Stock 4.0 engine

•Stock AW4 transmission – NSS has been replaced, no problems there

•241OR RockTrac transfer case – 4:1 Low range! (just like in the Rubicon’s)

•The 241OR has a fixed rear output

•Upgraded Driveshafts, front and rear (Tom Woods rear shaft)

•Rear Currie Ford 9” axle, 4.56 gears, ARB Locker, disc brakes

•Front Dana 30 axle, 4.56 gears, ARB Locker

•Front Warn Hub conversion kit with high-strength alloy outers

Bumpers and armor

•BPI Fab Trail Tuff front winch bumper

•BPI Fab Trail Tuff rear bumper with swing out tire carrier and hi-lift mount

•Starr-X bottle opener mounted to rear bumper, powder coated to match

•AJ’s Offroad Armor Super Rockrails

•BDS Transfer case skidplate

•Gas tank skid plate

•Front LCA skids welded to the mounts

•The bumpers and rockrails are all powder coated with the same Black Wrinkle Semi-Gloss (Cardinal C081-BK176)

•The rockrails currently have plastidip sprayed on over the powdercoat

Recovery

•Warn 9.5ti winch

•Large 7/8 front D Ring shackles powder coated to match the bumper

•Warn Receiver Shackle in the back, powder coated to match

Other

•97+ Side view mirrors with working electrical adjustments

•97+ electrical fan

•97+ Dual Diaphragm brake booster

•Hella Rallye 4000 Xenon HIDs mounted to the front bumper. These are very nice, very expensive lights

•Roof light bar with LED lights - 2 Rigid Dually Floods and 2 Rigid Dually Diffused, lights are mounted to a stock cargo bar

•Back up lights mounted to the rear tire carrier swing out arm

•Car alarm/keyless entry with two remotes (the power locks are pretty stiff and usually require the key)

•Optima Red Top battery

•Tantrum LED Rock Lights with remote, mounted with rare earth magnets, can be moved as needed

•Viair Heavy Duty 42045 air compressor mounted in the rear cargo area

•Air pressure gauge and locker switch panel

•Swing away front license plate mount

•Amplified PA Horn

•CSF HD 3-Row Radiator

•Tinted Windows

•Ventshades

•Bushwhacker fender flares (old style)

•Fire extinguisher mounted next to driver’s seat

•Pioneer Bluetooth head unit (MXT-X366BT)

•Tuffy lock box center console/arm rest

•Ram Mount cupholder – never spill your drink even over the roughest terrain

•Rear awning

•Factory service manual

•Wired for a CB, but there isn’t one currently installed

•Aluminum cargo pan in the back

Maintenance

•Many gaskets have been replaced

oThe transmission pan oozes a bit, the steering pump/reservoir ooze a bit

•The steering damper needs to be replaced

•The rear main seal has been replaced and there is no leak there

•Transmission fluid changed 8/2015

•Front and rear diff fluid changed 8/2015

•Replaced both pinion u-joints 9/2015

•Replaced the steering rod ends 9/2015

•Replaced the front lower control arm bushings 9/2015 (uppers are still good, so are the flex ends)

•New water pump 6/2015

•New idler pulley 6/2015