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modification suggestions

alek21

alek21

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Yorba Linda
hi i just bought an 89 cherokee pioneer to work on for my senior project in high school. i want to do some mods but dont really know what. i know i want to put a nice lift on it so i can do some pretty good offroading with my uncle but it will also be my daily driver. what kind of lift should i use? rims, tires? just any suggestions? thanks
 
CRASH said:
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We have been in operation for some time now, and have developed a massive tech database made up of questions from people just like you. People who were not yet wise in the ways of the XJ. These questions were answered by the Yoda's of the NAXJA universe. All was well.

However, the NAXJA community has continued to grow. We now have nearly 12,000 registered users. All of them have questions about one topic or another, and more than likely that question has been addressed in the past. All of that information is available by searching the NAXJA database. The search feature is easy to find, it's right at the top of the page, under your name. It is an excellent feature, and will garner more information than you can possibly absorb at one time.

Thank you for your attention, and happy searching.

CRASH
Click to expand...
 
And to save you the bother of of all that:

A simple 3" lift will clear 31s, and take you all kinds of places.

Up front: Lift coils with longer (ideally adjustable) lower control arms and track bar.

In the back: A full leaf pack will do much better than an add-a-leaf.

An '89 (like mine) shouldn't need a sye at 3".

31x10.50's will fit on your 15x7 stock rims. If you go aftermarket, go 15x8, so they'll still work when (not if!) you move up to 33s and 35s.

If you're rollin in dough, a regear would be nice, as would a locker, but don't invest a nickel in the Dana 35 rear axle. Upgrade that first..

Robert
 
ok thank you. after i sell my car i should have about 5,000 or so. which should get the job done right? thank you
 
You're lucky I'm bored and Fargo is over...

Link to RE 3" kit for $600

And 31" BFG MTs for $150

5 x $150 is $750, plus six, is $1300.

If you really have $5k to put into it, find a Ford 8.8 under the back of a junkyard Explorer. If you're careful, you can find one with disk brakes, and 411 gears to boot. I'll guess about $300-500, but then you'll need a shop to weld on new spring pads before it'll go under you XJ.

Then regear your D30 to match. Say another $300 in gears and bearings, plus labor.

Still well under $3000 total, I think.

You didn't ask, but if you're really gonna use it offroad, you need to start thinking about skid plates, and recovery.

As you progress, you might add a lock-right or aussie...

Robert
 
Last edited:
Robert 771 said:
And to save you the bother of of all that:

A simple 3" lift will clear 31s, and take you all kinds of places.

Up front: Lift coils with longer (ideally adjustable) lower control arms and track bar.

In the back: A full leaf pack will do much better than an add-a-leaf.

An '89 (like mine) shouldn't need a sye at 3".

31x10.50's will fit on your 15x7 stock rims. If you go aftermarket, go 15x8, so they'll still work when (not if!) you move up to 33s and 35s.

If you're rollin in dough, a regear would be nice, as would a locker, but don't invest a nickel in the Dana 35 rear axle. Upgrade that first..

Robert
Click to expand...


X2

I really like RE and BFG AT's. So, they get my vote.


(Robert, you must've been bored.. )

E
 
All very good suggestions. X 1,000,000 on the bumpers, skids, rock sliders and recovery points. You'll be either very thankful that you did or very sorry that you didn't the first time you go offroad and smash the rocker panels, bash the t-case, or munch the weak stock bumpers.
 
If you add bigger tires you will probably need to do something about the brakes, if you have ABS it will be a problem. '89 ABS system was a serious problem, search to get history. A brake booster, master cylinder swap, (good threads on this site) may improve your brakes.
 
alek21 said:
hi i just bought an 89 cherokee pioneer to work on for my senior project in high school. i want to do some mods but dont really know what. i know i want to put a nice lift on it so i can do some pretty good offroading with my uncle but it will also be my daily driver. what kind of lift should i use? rims, tires? just any suggestions? thanks
Click to expand...

I'm curious, what high school class has requirement that will be met by this "senior project"? Doesn't a project require research? Research is more than just asking a question or two on an internet forum. Think of NAXJA as a library filled with books. You have to go out a find the right books to read.

You can do some pretty good off-roading w/o a lift. How much driving experience do you have? Off-road? Our little grocery getters are pretty capable out of the box. Get some wheeling experience with a stock rig and you'll be that much a better driver when your Cherokee finally does evolve.

Search, read and learn. I say this because if someone just spews forth what you should by, you haven't learned anything. Know by researching yourself, you'll learn why X is better than Z.
 
I just finished doing my high school senior project and did all the work on my XJ too. I did the lift, axle swap, gears and put in a front locker. I also did a whole bunch of little things like brakes and stuff like that.

From this:





To this:







To this:

 
Whatever you do, buy some brown dog motor mounts. Trust me, $80 is well worth not having to change the motor mounts after every wheeling trip. Get the polyurethane mounts, the vibrations aren't bad at all, and they're $20 cheaper.
 
Since this thread started he bought a jeep on long arms, hit ice, rolled it and swapped it over to a new jeep and had been rockin that for a few months...
 
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