Stock XJ with 171K, how to make her both trailable and highway ready?

What first steps would any of you axle twisters recommend for my old girl to make her more capable offroad, while still keeping good highway handling?

Currently my 92 Cherokee Laredo is all stock down under. My suspension has worn shocks, mildly sagging springs, play in the steering, and a nasty 52+ mph vertical wobble(not DW). The AW4 transmission, front and rear differentials and transfer case are original and never overhauled. When I put her in 4h, my right wheel toe's out and damn near falls off!

On top of doing the obvious repairs, some amount lift and larger series tires seems mandatory, but I dont want to raise the center of gravity so much that I wind up on two-wheels or worse.

What to do?

Given that my XJ has just over 197K on it I would think yours still has some life left.

My priorities are #1 make it safe on the highway and #2 make it more capable off road.

The "wheel almost falls off" commend scares me. I would first put my budget towards that (U joints maybe?) then worry about the rest. Sagging springs won't kill you or someone else on the highway - loosing your steering / control might.

The wobbly right wheel only toes out when in 4wd, and since I dont have any 4 wheeling buddies, I can't easily diagnose it alone. I wouldnt drive if it happed in 2wd.

Anyways I have gradually become a Jeep nut from owning this thing, and have learned a tremendous amount from this forum.

I'm experienced with the underhood sytems, but not the 4wd sytem on my Jeep. My 92 cherokee was my wife's, I recently traded my S-10 on a 00 Cherokee Classic for her. We're a Cherokee family now.

92DripCherokee said:

The wobbly right wheel only toes out when in 4wd, and since I dont have any 4 wheeling buddies, I can't easily diagnose it alone. I wouldnt drive if it happed in 2wd.

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Ummm it's not that simple: it's probably still happening in 2wd just not as badly. Inspect ball joints, tie rod ends and unibearings: all might need replacing.

Kejtar said:

Ummm it's not that simple: it's probably still happening in 2wd just not as badly. Inspect ball joints, tie rod ends and unibearings: all might need replacing.

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I second that. After replacing my balljoints alone made a world of difference. Hopefully new tie-rod ends will tighten things up more and should work for you as well.

Is there a recommended aftermarket front end rebuild kit? I am always impressed with OE replacement part quality, and depressed by the expense.