EERNGER's 1991 XJ Build

So here is the project Cherokee i picked up back in December. I decided that i wanted a wheeling rig with higher (more comfortable) passenger capacity then my ranger had to offer. I originally wanted to track down a 2-door gen 1 exploder (with the shorter wheelbase) but it was too hard to try and track down a semi-clean gen 1 explorer deep in the rust belt. I got tipped off that there was a clean XJ (out of state rig) so i went for a test drive and then had to own it.



First inspection





The day it came home. Specs: 4.0 H.O., AW4, NP231, Non-ABS D30 front, 8.25 rear end, and 3.55 gears.





Soon after i found a pair of homebrew bumpers on craigslist for $150 so i nabbed em.





So after some time with a wire wheel and some sandpaper i repainted the rear and tried it on.




I got the front on as well-but im going to take my time strengthening it and welding in support for a winch mount.





I originally wanted to do the whole 9-yards and go with some longarms but the price tag was killing me. eventually i rationalized with a smaller lift for now and allowing myself to grow and adapt with the rig. I went with a full-spring replacement Rusty's 3" which the UPS man graciously left out in the rain...lol thanks man.




After keeping an eye on the components while spraying them with PB blaster, i noticed how horribly weak the stock upper and lower control arms are on XJ's so i jumped on the Rusty's fixed upper and lower HD replacements. here are the components ready to go on.





Teardown started+ one of the weak control arms.
Upper control arms installed.





Springs installed.





Front back together-rear teardown time.




Rear fought hard: the stock weld nut on both of the front spring perches were rusted in place. so after breaking both bolts on the front perches, i had to cut access holes to get a torch in to cut the stock hardware. Then after some welding and some new bolts the rear could go back together.






Back on the ground





Once set back on the ground i noticed it had a pretty serious rake. Partially due to new springs not being broke in yet, and partially due to a mostly empty fuel tank....either way i didnt like it. So i ordered new 3/4" lift pucks for the front.





While i was waiting for the pucks, one of my friends got a lead on some
new/used craigslist rubbers. 32x11.5 "Mud Claws". I got the set of 4 for $100, so not entirely perfect-but it was a good-cheap starting point.





While I was tearing apart the front to install the coil spacers, I installed some new break hoses for extended travel (stock ones were maxed) As it turns out a stock YJ break hose will give an XJ 3-4" of extra hose while maintaining a nice sub- $20 price tag.





Then i got the New/used tires mounted up on some freebie 15" aluminum Ranger rims (slight offset on a jeep).






Up on the new tires.

So whats next?
*Trim Fenders
*Buy Rear locker (not sure where the 8.25's breaking point is, but ill find out)
*Winch mount
*Winch
*Upkeep- Doing a radiator, waterpump, thermostat, trans filter, fluid changes, hi-volume oil pump, general tuneup.
*Adjustable Trac-Bar
*HD Steering setup
*Riddler front and rear diffs
*Light bar or Safari basket for roof.
and then on to whatever the trails lead.
Thank you for looking and i will try and keep updates to 1/32 this size..haha

Thats going to be a hell of a good time! My wheeling buddy jeremy has an 87 limited on 33sthe no swaybars and roughtly 4 or 5 inches of lift and Ive seen it do some awesome stuff on the trail. They flex great. And the 8trail and a quarter rear end is pretty dang stout, i know alot of people that really love them. But everything fails at some point, and you can always swap in a d44 or ford 8.8 then.

Thanks, ya I can't wait to get this thing out on the trail and get it flexing! Me having the old 27 spline version of the 8.25 is the only thing that makes me nervous- but like you said, I can break it and go from there- and the 8.8 exploder rear would be right down my ally.