First xj build.

New to the forum, and to the xj crew. Stumbled upon a 96 cherokee for 2 grand about a month ago. Ordered the Rough Country 4.5 kit on tuesday. The 31s i stuffed under the stock ride height was no fun. Hoping to get a mildly decent crawler out of this thing. anything i need to know about these machines? I've built a cj in the past, so it should all be pretty familiar..... right??

What rear axe do you have, most will agree not to put money into the dana 35 if thats what you have, might have a chysler 8.25.

uumm. Don't really know what you're looking for but hang around here and you'll learn everything you've ever wanted to.

Also, check out the Colorado Chapter. Lots of good people over there that will help you.

welcome to the site, if youve got specific questions, feel free to ask.

if not, just hang out, read as many threads as you can, it'll give you an idea of what you may want to do with yours.

jwittlock said:

Hoping to get a mildly decent crawler out of this thing. anything i need to know about these machines? I've built a cj in the past, so it should all be pretty familiar..... right??

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...not the unibody...

I like to play in rocks, and if I were to do it all over again, I would have put the frame stiffeners on first... while it was still somewhat straight.

Thanks for the replies guys! I understand the unibody design pretty well, but thanks for the input, body lifts are lame anyways! I have the dana 35, and i'm still debating about what i'm doing with that. so tell me what you think.

Well, I am in the same boat. I purchased a 96 xj and was originally shooting for the moon and man did I make my head hurt. I was thinking 4 1/2 then 6 then 8 inch lift. Then I realized what I was going to build a XJ that could get me to fishing holes and camp sites and take me to work in the winter. Plus can't forget the only reason I bought the Jeep in the first place Moab Easter Jeep Safari. So I am going to make it that way. I just ordered a 3 inch lift from Rough Country and new bushing from napa. I have done a huge upgrade to the cooling system and add a awesome CB from Cobra the 29 limited edition that is an LCD with color display and custom mount on the right fender. I added a new header and spent about four hours wrapping it with copper coated header wrap from Summit Racing. and took out the old muffler to replace and then found out how great mine sounded with a cat and a straight pipe. As soon as the lift is installed I am going to order tires to fit and build a ton of body and under armor to make sure I don't cruch anything that is important. The point is to build for the purpose that is what I found out and has been a huge source of info for me.:compwork:

the d35 debate is gone over a million times... it probably wont explode on a paved driveway, so you dont need to GET OUT, RIGHT NOW AND CHANGE IT... however, if you spend a lot of time out in the bush, you dont want it to be your weak link...

i think its rather damn easy to swap it out... get a d44 or an 29spline 8.25 outta other cherokees, or a ford 8.8 outta an explorer if you can weld/fab.
just find a rear that matches the front gear ratio, or find a 4.10 axle and upgrade/regear the front to match.... loooong debate.

I HATE TO BE THE BUZZKILL... and frame stiffeners are a buzz kill... but ive got knarly cracks all over my unibody from going fast offroad... and my jeeps probably seen 2-3 hours in 4x4 for its entire life...

The dana 35 debate is driving me nuts.I think im just going to run the damn thing til it explodes, then find a 44 with them fancy air lockers. Frame stiffeners sound like a decent idea, but the rock sliders and other things im building should help wth that. not to mention a whole bunch of custom skid plates from the fab lab. how hard is the 44 swap?

if you want to keep this thing nice deff stiffeners and some trail skids

jwittlock said:

The dana 35 debate is driving me nuts.I think im just going to run the damn thing til it explodes, then find a 44 with them fancy air lockers. Frame stiffeners sound like a decent idea, but the rock sliders and other things im building should help wth that. not to mention a whole bunch of custom skid plates from the fab lab. how hard is the 44 swap?

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If you can weld throw in an 8.8 out of a ford explorer! Add a 4 banger d30 and you have almost bolt in 4.10's.

That sounds like the way to go, the junkyards in the south are full of yjs and explos. I guess i'll be on the search. Thanks for the info austinaubinoe!

Had a chance to go play around in the rig a little, I also scored a basket from Sportsmans Warehouse for 150!

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