Going to the Dark Side

[superdave1984]

WAY over to the Dark Side.

I used to have a 91 Jeep Cherokee. Loved it, but had to sell because of the gas mileage and how many miles I was driving each day. Well, tomorrow I'm picking up a 97 Cherokee. Dark Side, but only a little.

Now for the REALLY dark Side. It's got a well built Chevy 350 under the hood. Bad. Ass. Muther. Gets better MPG than my 91 that had a 4.0. Don't be hatin'

Oh, the Ranger's still in the garage waiting on someone to buy it.

 

[straycat]

Cool on 'ya,Bro. I had a few of them. My 94 and a 96 4.0 were the best. Solid axles (standard) and the AX15 - 5 speed manual was so cool and tough. The 4.0's I had were the 4.0L I6 MPI "Power Tech HO" (High Output) - 190 hp @ 4750 rpm, 220 ft lb @ 4,000 rpm. The 4.0 was updated in 96-01 to 225 ft lb torque @ 3000 rpm (00-01 models use a distributorless ignition system). I ran 35's on them most of the times offroad and I ran 33's for dd and camping trips. Got good gas milage as well running 4:10 gears.
You should love that 350 in there. That was a popular swap years back when the rockcrawler crowd needed more horses with the 40 inch tires they were running. I know the 97 was updated body wise and interior, but can't remember if the 97 on up came with solid axles.

Post some photos of it!!!! I have a few photos around here of one or two of my Cherokees, I need to look for them.

 

[4.0B2]

sounds nice really...
post up some pics. the chevy 350 is not a reason i hate on chevy... what trans is in it?

 

[superdave1984]

Yeah it's got solid axles. Stock though, D30/35. I was hoping for an 8.25 in that year. Rough Country lift and 31's. I'll get pics hopefully up tomorrow night or Friday. The body's straight, but 3 doors and a fender are different color because he said there were some dents and he didn't want to use a bunch of bondo. He built it to be a DD, hence the stock axles. All it needs is some gauges, a rear bumper and a driver's seatbelt.

EDIT: phone pics!

 

[4.0B2]

doesn't matter... i've seen d35's explode on the street. i'm a member of jeep club.. i'm around them fairly often. with the 350... i'd say you need at least an 8.8 swap ASAP if you plan to wheel it.

heck, i was driving a friends xj on the street..all stock but small lift and 32's. i pushed the gas down about half way accelerating from a complete stock... the spiders gave out. tore it up. its a super weak axle IMO. its a lot like the ford 7.5

 

[straycat]

Well, unfortunately I have seen many types of rears blowing up on the trail and street...including the 8.8's. I have been lucky and never lost one. I guess it also matters how you drive the rig...some people I know with their Rangers smash the gears all the time and power brake for no reason at all on the street. I always tell them...'That is gonna cost 'ya'...but they never listen and then they hate Ford products when they break on them....geese, go figure....lol

Just enjoy that Cherokee until something breaks and then make it better.

 

[4.0B2]

Just enjoy that Cherokee until something breaks and then make it better.

i agree w/ this, on most cases...
the d35 rear has a bad rep.. i know a guy that wheels 33's locked on one with no issues. idk. i just like to be built enough that i'm confident i can drive home and yes, i know other axles break to.. but the d35 has broke all stock, on street, doing nothing wrong. multiple times. my 7.5 broke b/c i was beating on it! lol

regardless...where's the pics man? do you not already have some?
who did the engine swap? what 350 is it? carbed? TBI? FI?

 

[Mark_88]

Wow...you could throw on a blue rear door and have a rainbow truck...

I like the looks in the engine bay...carbed 350 was the way I was going to go about 6 years ago...but I backed off when the gas prices started to go up...

Looks like a quick paint job would give you a nice truck...or just leave it multi-coloured and get more stares...

 

[4.0B2]

Cut the fenders out and you could probably clear 33's. I've seen xj's with super clean cut fenders to have 35's on 5" lift.

What RC lift is on it?

Paint. Bumpers. Roof rack. Make an expo rig!

 

[superdave1984]

The lift is 3.5" He did all the work himself. I spent some time under it and it all looks legit. The only bootyfab thing is his redneck heat shields, but hey they get the job done, and if he hadn't told me I wouldn't have noticed they were not factory. I am guessing I'll rattle can the doors and fender and drive it for a good while. Hoping I can find a D44 for a reasonable price out of an XJ so it will just bolt right in and I'll be set back there. I doubt I'll go bigger tires unless there's an axle upgrade to go with it. No way the D35 would hold up. This thing rides and drives better than my 91 did.

 

[4.0B2]

all in all its a sweet looking/sounding setup.

what trans and t/case are in it?

watch junkyards for that d44. or just do a 8.8 rear (i'd say its just as strong as the d44). plus you can find a 4.10 lsd disc brake 31 spline in explorers.

 

[RICO9]

Nice. I used to have an 81 CJ5 with a 350. that thing used to scoot! and I second the axle swap. I've destoyed the spiders in my D35 on my 97 4banger Wrangler twice.

 

[ZMan]

No biggie, heres my daily:

I got it for really really cheap though, would have never bought it otherwise, but now I've been driving it, I like it! Other than 14mpg of course, but the 5.2 has great power.

 

[03ranger30]

nothing wrong with driving a jeep...I used to have one before my truck, still miss it every day. It was a 98 Grand with the 5.9 in it, thing hauled ass.

 

[superdave1984]

all in all its a sweet looking/sounding setup.

what trans and t/case are in it?

watch junkyards for that d44. or just do a 8.8 rear (i'd say its just as strong as the d44). plus you can find a 4.10 lsd disc brake 31 spline in explorers.

700R4 trans and the stock Jeep t-case. Looks like NP231