Been visiting the site for a while, lots of great rigs and info here.
Figured I'd start a thread for our Cherokee so here it is.
2001 Cherokee Sport 4x4 4.0 AW4 231J 148,000 miles open diffs
Very clean underneath, especially for a midwest Jeep, just a few spots of very light surface rust.
Primary use is camping mostly gravel bars on the Black River here in Missouri and some trail rides.
Gearing up for a trip back out west this summer but this time it's just the wife and I in our XJ, NOT A MINIVAN.
Headed to Palo Duro Canyon, Grand Canyon, Valley of the Gods and Muley Point, Moab for Hell's Revenge and Arches, San Juans/Alpine Loop
Most of the trip will be us tent camping and living out of the Jeep.
It started out as my wife's grocery getter and all three of our children have used it at one time or another.
We retired it about a year ago and here's what I've done in that time.
Besides mounting the tires on the wheels I did all the wrenching in our carport.
A quick shout out to Dewalt's 1/2" brushless impact for helping me with this project, it hits hard.
HD leaf springs, shackles, and all new bushings
Progressive rate cargo coil springs
These gave a 1 inch over stock ride height after settling, sits like an UpCountry
Bilstein 4600 shocks, love them
Front brake pads, calipers, rotors, brake lines
Front sway bar bushings and links
Rear sway bar delete
Rear brake shoes, drums, parking brake cables, all small parts
Rear axle bearings and seals
Rear axle bumpers
U-joints
Factory front and transfer case skid plates
ZJ fuel tank skid plate modified to fit
My favorite stock XJ wheels painted graphite metallic
LT235/75R15 BFG KO2s
Logans front bumper with frame extensions and recovery points
Napier hood vents, man they dump some underhood heat
Headliner
30 percent window tint, precut kits rock
Treated some minor surface rust with POR-15 and touch-up paint
Valve cover gasket
New thermostat and radiator flush
Some electrical upgrades, all soldered and insulated with heat shrink tube
No crimp connections or twisted and taped wires on this rig
Remote entry
Cooling fan manual override switch with relay circuit to keep it from throwing a code
Couple of small LED offroad lights on the bumper, helps a little in the woods
OEM blower motor and resistor, OEM is worth every penny on blower motors
Blower circuit relay mod one relay for each speed takes the load off the dash switches
CB
Dash mount for our navigation tablet
New head unit and speakers just because
OEM crank sensor, old one worked fine simply a precaution
Originally a Lake Ozark Police vehicle, it had HD cooling and tow package but not the idle up switch
I reused the original cop radio and antenna mount holes for the CB.
Both switches on the dash that were previously used for emergency lights are now used for offroad lights and cooling fan override.
We have a 30 watt solar panel, charge controller and 12v jump box/power source for our 12v shower, USB chargers, camp lights, and fans.
Full tool kit, too much probably but screw it I'd rather have it and not need it than well you know.
Recovery tools, first aid, fire extinguisher, compressor, etc.
Extra fluids and lubes and a couple of spare items, belts and such.
It runs, drives, and stops better than ever, and wheels pretty well for open diffs.
Handles really well especially when loaded with 350 pounds of gear and us.
Still need to replace all the hoses and do another thermostat and flush and spark plugs before the trip.
Maybe rock sliders and a front locker some day but it serves us fine for now.
That's it for now, I'll add a few more photos soon, check ya later.
Rick.
