What doors will fit on 97 XJ?

Double Down · May 17, 2004

Here's the question: I am trying to replace the doors on my 97 passenger side. Besides 97, are there any doors from other years that will fit on that year?

Thanks,

Chris (Double Down)

NHxj4x4 · May 17, 2004

97 and up will fit, not sure on the electical, but 97+ will physically fit. I have heard of the older years fitting, but then your electical would not have a chance in hell of working.

Eagle · May 17, 2004

NHxj4x4 said:
97 and up will fit, not sure on the electical, but 97+ will physically fit. I have heard of the older years fitting, but then your electical would not have a chance in hell of working.

Why would the electricals "not have a chance in hell of working"? 12 volts is 12 volts. The worst would be having to splice in an adapter to mate two dissimilar types of connectors.

All year doors will fit all years of XJ. 2-door doors are wider than 4-door front doors. What is different is that somewhere around 94/95/96 Jeep changed the door latch from a Ford-style post on the door jamb to a rectagular loop. The '97 definitely has the newer style. To use a door from a vehicle with the old style, you have to swap in the catch mechanism from the new style door.

'97 and up also have one piece side glass. The '96 and earlier have the tirangular fixed or operable vent window. The new style glass can be swapped into the older doors.

NHxj4x4 · May 17, 2004

Well I guess that I thought he meant the easy way, I wasn't reading that far into it. I know that they all fit each other, but I doubted that he wanted a wing on one side. =)

BIGSLVRXJ · Sep 29, 2004

So what would you have to do to make 97+ doors fit on a 90?

ZmOz · Sep 29, 2004

Eagle said:
What is different is that somewhere around 94/95/96 Jeep changed the door latch from a Ford-style post on the door jamb to a rectagular loop.

Does this mean '97+ doors will be a bolt on for my '96? I'm adding front power windows, might just replace the whole door and get the bigger window....

Kejtar · Sep 29, 2004

ZmOz said:
Does this mean '97+ doors will be a bolt on for my '96? I'm adding front power windows, might just replace the whole door and get the bigger window....

PM Dan Turner. He just did that to his and IIRC he said that there was way more work involved then he orignally expected and was led to believe by someone else.

Pioneer89XJ · Sep 29, 2004

ZmOz said:
Does this mean '97+ doors will be a bolt on for my '96? I'm adding front power windows, might just replace the whole door and get the bigger window....

The newer style one piece windows don't create as much wind noise either. My old 89 had the wings that opened and they were really noisy.

csprute · Jun 27, 2008

I just swapped on a door manufactured 12/96 with the new style loop post on my 1990 Cherokee with Ford style posts. It was much easier than what is indicated on this website. I knew messing/swapping the door catches would just lead to trouble so I focused on swapping on the posts. At first I didn’t understand why Chrysler moved the door catch in the 12/96 door down approx. ½”. But after holding the loop post at the location where the top hole matched the Ford post hole, it was clear Chrysler might have just left the door jam attachment the same in pre-’96 and post-’96 manufactured Cherokees. All I had to do was torch out approx. ½” of material on the door side of the original hole (see photo, marked with black marker) on the hoop post and then bolt in the original hole that the Ford post sat in. I just used the Ford post and cut off any material that sat above the loop. The door shut great with the bottom of the loop post unattached to the door jam. I then carefully opened the door and tack welded the bottom. The door shut real easy and flush to the jams. As you can see, the loop post is just slightly tilted down towards the driver’s seat. This could be because of how the door is bolted in. Everything else was bolt in. I just bolted the 12/96 door right on the 1990 Cherokee hinges. I learned that it is intended to bolt/unbolt the doors with the front fender removed b/c there are perfectly placed holes in the hinge to fit the star bit through to reach the bolt. This is great on the donor junkyard Jeep but not so handy on the recipient Jeep. I ended up cutting the properly sized star bit (it was either a T40 or T45) down enough until I could fit a ¼” socket driver b/w the open door and the jam. These 3 pictures are better than words. This was a fairly easy and straightforward swap and I’m not a good mechanic either. I was just not going to mess with swapping door catches and I don’t think the catches were in the same line on the door anyway. I'm having trouble posting the photos. Just email me if you want a copy of them or if someone can get them posted. I'm kinda big and dumb. [email protected]

What doors will fit on 97 XJ?

Double Down

NAXJA Forum User

NHxj4x4

NAXJA Member #1132

Eagle

Lifetime NAXJA Member

NHxj4x4

NAXJA Member #1132

BIGSLVRXJ

NAXJA Forum User

ZmOz

NAXJA Forum User

Kejtar

PostMaster General

Pioneer89XJ

NAXJA Forum User

csprute

NAXJA Forum User

Similar threads