Budget Build

So I got this 96 Jeep Cherokee Sport for $2000 w/112,000 miles. It is in immaculate condition. Paint is (was) perfect, and interior is almost spotless. It has a D35, D30, AX-15, NP231, 4.0 I6. Has a slight miss at idle but runs strong. This XJ is my first car and will be my daily driver and weekend wheeler, so its gotta look cool for them chicks at school and still be capable offroad haha.


Wheeled it stock for a little bit: This pic is on slick rock in northern california.


Bought a Rough Country 4.5" full leaf kit, and riced it up with some red walmart paint.





Stock leafs next to RC pack w/shackle... Notice how much shorter it is... Had one hell of a time getting that in.


Because they weren't in a box when shipped, the leafs got pretty beat up... It pushed the bushing out half way... Almost installed it that way because I thought it was designed that way.


Rear done. Drove it around town like this and got some weird looks. Had major vibes.


Started on the front.


Springs were a PITA to get in. You will NEED a spring/strut compressor (instructions simply said "install front springs" didn't mention a spring compressor).


Stock springs next to new 4.5" springs.


Completed:


Got the T-case drop in--- NO VIBES!

Just got it aligned today too. No more death wobble haha.

Also removed the rear swaybar.

Plans:
Rustys diff guards
Homemade rock sliders
31's or 32's until I upgrade the turdy-five
Black steel rims
Aussie up front
Ford 8.8 w/disks/4.10s/LSD
4.10s up front
Homemade bumpers
CB
SYE
Appalachian armor T-case skid
Eventually some home made long arms
Interior cage
Flowmaster/Magnaflow/Glasspack

I am open to ANY comments/concerns - good/bad. I would really appreciate the input.

-Jeep450r

Looks very cool, your off to good start. How did you get the leaf spring in?

BigBearXJ said:

Looks very cool, your off to good start. How did you get the leaf spring in?

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Put the axle on railroad ties, and used the car jack under the spring and pushed it up and in.

A full lift kit is not exactly a "budget lift" But nice work. And you dont NEED spring compressors, just a couple people and some finess (=

Johnnie Walker said:

A full lift kit is not exactly a "budget lift" But nice work. And you dont NEED spring compressors, just a couple people and some finess (=

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I wasn't willing to skimp out on the springs and go with AAl's. I've heard too many bad things about them. I got a killer deal on the kit too, thanks to Jason at Rough Country.

Budget doesn't cessicarely mean "cheap as possible". To me it means spending your money where it counts to give you the best capability and end result. I like where you've started on this build and am looking forward to the mods to come. Also spring compressors may not be "NEED"ed but it sure makes for a bit less cussing, busted knuckles, and time.

Now that I've been nice about it....What no red springs?

Mr.Shrek said:

Budget doesn't cessicarely mean "cheap as possible". To me it means spending your money where it counts to give you the best capability and end result. I like where you've started on this build and am looking forward to the mods to come. Also spring compressors may not be "NEED"ed but it sure makes for a bit less cussing, busted knuckles, and time.

Now that I've been nice about it....What no red springs?

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Well in my case the compressors were "NEED"ed because my jack stands weren't tall enough to let the axle droop down far enough to get the springs in haha. My axle was on the ground when I tried to get the springs in.

And no red springs because I think that would be a bit too much red, and idk how the paint would hold up to all the flexing and such.

best mod so far is the cool lookin' license plate! you have a lot of good plans for the jeep. remember to be patient and take your time to get the right parts. when i was your age i tried to build everything in a weekend lol.

$700later said:

best mod so far is the cool lookin' license plate! you have a lot of good plans for the jeep. remember to be patient and take your time to get the right parts. when i was your age i tried to build everything in a weekend lol.

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Thanks. I've been doing alot of research for a pretty long time. So I think this build should go well. Thanks for the comment!

Well it looks like you all ready have the HP taken care of by all the stickers on the side window... HA Jk, looks good

whitexj98 said:

Well it looks like you all ready have the HP taken care of by all the stickers on the side window... HA Jk, looks good

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Haha whats funny is I actually use 80% of those companies.

Well I found out today that I actually have a Chrysler 8.25. The retard at the Jeep dealership told me I had a Dana 35... Unless it was swapped in later. How can I find out if it is a 27 or 29 spline? Could it say on the axle? or will I need to pull the shafts?


Yesterday I installed an electronic semi horn. Very straight forward installation. Slid it under the air box, and connected it into one of the horn wires (there are two horns fyi, one on the left, one on the right). Not bad for 50 cents haha.



Also cleaned up the axles, ready for paint.

Took her for a drive yesterday to the junkyard to get some parts.... Found out that I still have death wobble, at around 60MPH. Any ideas on what could be causing this?

steering dampener? take it off and check it, that was my problem on all my jeeps after a lift.

It looks fine from what I see... No leaks that I am aware of.
What else should I check the dampener for?

What did the lift have for a track bar?, New one or a relocation bracket?

whitexj98 said:

What did the lift have for a track bar?, New one or a relocation bracket?

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I had to re-drill a hole next to it.

I know the lift doesn't have one so you probably still have the stock one, correct? Stock track bars are known to go bad quick on these(especially with stress on them, like from added lift) I would also check hub bearings, balljoints and tie rods for play. All of these can cause DW. Along with alignment and tire balance.

I have the same lift on mine and it works great. But........you already have a problem with the lift. The rear leafs are going to keep working back and forth on the bushings causing premature bushing failure or other damage is possible. You need to take the leaf to a shop and have them clamp down the eye some to fix this problem. I had the same problem and called rough country, thats what they toldme to do. I didn't like that answer and called Jason back, he sent me a new spring. I fixed the old one and have it back in the jeep because the new one did the same thing.

By all means don't take this as bashing their product because I'n not doing that. Just giving you a heads up, you may also want to keep an eye on the lower control arm bushings too, they may do the same thing. I've upgraded to their x-flex arms but ran their standard lowers before.

well take it off and see how much effort it takes to push down, if it feels soft replace it, if it feels kinda stiff your good and you should move on to ball joints and tie rod ends, mabey a track bar.

ya its a good chance you have a bad track bar, I went through 3 stock ones at about the same height untill I bought a heavy duty adjustable one.

You can have some one turn the wheel back and forth while you look for movment underneith, have them turn just enough to move the steering but not enough to move the tires ( if that makes sense), look at the track bar ends and tie rod ends there shouldnt be any slop in them.