Radiator swap question

Hello everybody!

I have been a lurker for a long time but this will be my first post. Ive been under a different name here on naxja but cant for the life of me figure out what that name was so i made a new one today.

Heres my jeep stats; 1996 jeep cherokee country with 4.0 and aw4.

Heres my question; Yesterday it was -34 and my radiator split. Being my jeep did not come with a tow package from the factory, would it be feasible to put the factory hd radiator and tranny cooler in mine? It seems to me that it should be able to be done since the factory had it as an option. Has anybody on here done this before or is there a better way to go?

My jeep is far from stock, all the work has done by me, im pretty mechanical and i have most tools at my disposal. The engine has been left all stock for long distance, remote area reliability and i would like to keep it that way.

Forgot to mention i have a call into dpgoffroad about the cfs hd 3 row...there closed today.
Called the dealership and they were about as much help as my 6th grade daughter!

no reason not to upgrade your equipment. bigger trany cooler is NEVER a bad idea.

yes you can use the hd cooling

Did your Radiator Freeze & Split? If yes is the block OK?

And Yes you can upgrade your radiator & Tranny cooler with no problems.

Thank you, I figured i could. Now my question is what oem part numbers are associated with the tow package? Id like to keep it as factory appearing as possible, not against upgrades, just figure that ive gotten 111000 miles out of this one so it cant be that bad!

Best end result for me would be part numbers for everything associated with the tow package for 1996. I have a factory hitch receiver all ready so dont need that. I figure thered be lines that run to the transmission that mine may not have and maybe a sensor or two? Aside from the radiator that is.

Ive read that many have had problems with the factory set up but in my case i have no cooling issues. If it helps my case, i dont rock crawl or intend to. I drive down gravel roads slowly so thats about the only time i even hit 210-215, according to the guage that is. I daily drive my jeep but am fishing or hunting somewhere most days, this is the only reason ive decided to keep as factory as i can. Dont want to end up walking back home!

Garr, the radiator split where the plastic meets the metal, right on the crimp.
The block is fine, doesnt sound bad when running or anything. It was plugged in that night and started just fine at five that morning...i only noticed the leak last night when i went to plug it in. Ive been driving it around town today...after putting in about half a gallon of 50/50 so it wouldnt run dry.

Probably the wrong thing to do but i need to drive kids around and stuff till this gets fixed.

Talked with the dealership about getting the right parts to do this swap but they were no help. Said they couldnt tell me if its possible without looking at my setup. Hoping someone has done this!

If just the joint is leaking, and neither the tank or the flange split, you have a good chance to squeeze the crimp tighter with vicegrips.

Been my experience radiators are kind of a pig in a poke situation now. I replaced one with a Modine OEM and it didn't last a year and sprung a leak. I paid premium price for an after market Modine aluminum that didn't last two years and split a seem. Bought a store brand that lasted 18 months.

After my factory radiators ( 96, 87, 88) finally gave up the ghost or I damaged them beyond repair, I've had a whole bunch of potential replacements. All have let me down and failed way prematurely.

After the motor mount bolts broke on my passenger side motor mount, which is a fairly common occurrence, I'm glade I didn't have a three row radiator in there. The damage was bad enough with a two row.

Best cooling I've had is with a Modine, aluminum two row. The function was superior and markedly better than any other radiator I've tried. The down side is it just didn't last. My guess is I pound them pretty good dirt roading.

Other than physical damage, like a branch through the radiator or the fan blade cutting up the radiator I've had three radiators fail in almost exactly the same spot. Two of the radiators were brass tanks, one a plastic tank and all sprung leaks in the upper right corner where the cross channels meet the end tank base, on two different XJ's. I don't bonzai them down dirt roads, but do pound them a bit.

I pulled my tranny cooler off of a junk yard XJ, along with the associated mounting hardware. Something you want to avoid, is the sometimes, after market mounting instructions and use of long cable ties through your radiator to mount the tranny cooler, having contact between the radiator (or A/C condenser) and the cooler. I followed the B&M mounting instruction for their HD tranny cooler and in a few years it wore away the A/C condenser in my Chev, K 1500 and caused a leak.

Thank you 8mud for the help. Im thinking i might just take it to the jeep dealership and have them put in the regular radiator and then ill just put in a b&m tranny cooler. Its too dang cold to want to mess with it!

I hate taking my XJ to the dealership. Seven times out of ten they screw it up and instead of loosing the vehicle for another day or two, I end up fixing myself anyway.

The last trip to the dealship I was sick, gave the XJ up for some tranny work, they hosed me good on the bill. When the wife brought it home I decided to check the fluid level, it didn't even register on the dipstick. Brand new tranny and they forgot to top off the oil and wife drove it home 30 miles.:twak: