Sooo Im getting a new ride :) 98 jeep xj

[88chevyshort]

Well ive had a jeep Cherokee sport the past five years and it was my first car.
I put 60,000 miles on that thing and was rarely easy on her, and of course one day she finally took a dive in September i believe.
threw a rod bearing and unstable oil pressure. sold her to a guy for scrap price cause he needed the transfer-case.
Had about 282,700 miles on her. she had a good run. was in our family for ten years total.

Now for recent news. im about to buy myself another Cherokee :D
I'm pretty dang excited just got approved for a loan today.
its a 1998 cherokee, red, 4x4, and man is she CLEAN I've never came across one so free of rust. the mileage is on the high side at 182,000 but thats what my last one had on it 10-11 years ago when we first got it so im expecting another 100,000 out of this 98. the last 35,000 was put on it the past three years all highway miles. few odd n end parts replaced.
Anyways here the only picture i have of er. i have high hopes for this thing.
http://i42.tinypic.com/1z1y0y9.jpg

future plans would be:
3.5-4.5in lift
31-32in tires
offroad bumpers
bolt on motor mods like headers and new injectors, etc.

[quick66ss1]

Love the XJ's. I have both my kids in them ( 99 and 00 XJ's ) and I drive a 99 in the winter so I can put my 90 RCSB away. Hell even my sister has a 99 XJ while my mom drives a 98 ZJ. My 99 has 240,000 and runs like new. I would love to mod it out but the stock stuff works so well. No matter how much snow we get here it gets me where I need to go every time.

[88chevyshort]

That's pretty cool. I just really need a vehicle to drive while i fix my rcsb. And i just happened to stumble across this xj on Saturday.
I'm super excited for this haha. Just wish I had the steering wheel out of my 93 i loved it. I really don't want the air bag style in there long

[88chevyshort]

i really beat the crap out of my 93 for the 60,000 i drove it... lol. hardcore offroading, drifting, burnouts, few random drag races... haha was really sad to see it leave.
http://i44.tinypic.com/2zfiv77.jpg

[Underpowered]

gotta love a good ol XJ.

lets see it get built! i am a chevy guy at heart, but there is a soft spot for jeeps in there somewhere. i have had 2 XJ's and currently own 2 ZJ's

[88chevyshort]

yea i want a small lift and such. we will see were it leads lol.
i loved my old 93. I always told myself id keep the engine, trans, transfer-case and rebuild it all one day but when it came down to it it really just wasn't practical.

[Underpowered]

yea i want a small lift and such. we will see were it leads lol.
i loved my old 93. I always told myself id keep the engine, trans, transfer-case and rebuild it all one day but when it came down to it it really just wasn't practical.


a little lift is all you need. i had 4.5" on both my XJ's and have just 2" on both my ZJ's. i am in the process of parting one of my ZJ's though as it is way to rough to salvage really.

[88chevyshort]

yea i may do a 2in budget lift in the mean time.
i see i see. i never really liked zjs before. there are a few that have caught my eye. i guess it comes down to the year really.
i went to the movies Saturday and came out and saw a pristine condition zj not sure of the year probable mid 90's but i was like WOW. lol

[88chevyshort]

turned out that it already had the 2inch budget lift i was going to get anyway lol.
Had her for 2days now. i love it. needs some tlc but what high mileage vehicle doesn't.
Going to do some trimming to plastics tomorrow.

[97NCZ71]

I miss my 2000 XJ, ran the hell out of it and than sold it.
Im a Jeep guy at heart, ive had 3 Jeeps in total and thinking about getting rid of my car to get another. Have fun with it man :D
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/165078_184814701535452_100000207700730_721519_3252 515_n.jpg

[98BlackSierra]

I almost thought about looking into a Cherokee, but then I figured I have an FSC so I will never use the Jeep. Besides, I have other plans once the SS sells.

/\/\/\/\ BTW, I love your sig!!

[97NCZ71]

I almost thought about looking into a Cherokee, but then I figured I have an FSC so I will never use the Jeep. Besides, I have other plans once the SS sells.


/\/\/\/\ BTW, I love your sig!!

Theyre fun as hell to play around with and will take whatever you throw at them....sorta like an OBS.

Thanks man :D

[88chevyshort]

I miss my 2000 XJ, ran the hell out of it and than sold it.
Im a Jeep guy at heart, ive had 3 Jeeps in total and thinking about getting rid of my car to get another. Have fun with it man :D
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/165078_184814701535452_100000207700730_721519_3252 515_n.jpg

looks great. damn near the same jeep.

what were the lift and tire specs?

[97NCZ71]

3inch Rough Country and 31x10.50 BFG Km2s

[88chevyshort]

nice. im going 3.5 rough country on 31x10

[squeaky3]

should be a good looking jeep

ive got one...but its not streetable, but its 6" lift with 33s on it

[Underpowered]

my old 97. 3.5 on 31's
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/redneck409/PICT0020.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/redneck409/b4d5dae7.jpg

[~Super~Midget~]

i don't really do jeeps, but i spend alot of time wrenching on the wife's when she breaks it... i couldn't handle looking at 31's on an xj after having hers in the yard for a while now

http://i44.tinypic.com/14pmp0.jpg

[88chevyshort]

should be a good looking jeep

ive got one...but its not streetable, but its 6" lift with 33s on it

lol yes.

ive seen yours. i like it.

[88chevyshort]

my old 97. 3.5 on 31's
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/redneck409/PICT0020.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/redneck409/b4d5dae7.jpg

nice. im on a budget so idk what parts im spending money on first

[88chevyshort]

i don't really do jeeps, but i spend alot of time wrenching on the wife's when she breaks it... i couldn't handle looking at 31's on an xj after having hers in the yard for a while now

http://i44.tinypic.com/14pmp0.jpg

i dont think mine will be a mudder like that lol... maybe like 3-4 years from now though......

[88chevyshort]

news on my heep.

pretty positive my axle carrier bearing is causing the humming sound in the rear of my jeep every time i go over about 23mph.

so tomorrow im going to start pricing a low mileage 8.25 to throw in it. maybe wait to put it in till i get some lift springs.

[~Super~Midget~]

why not swap in an 8.8 and be done with it? that's what i plan to do to the wife's when them 36" tsl's finally blow something up

[Macedawg]

8.8 swap FTW..my '89 has an 8.8 with disc brakes swap and other than having an ebrake, its perfect :aniteef:

[88chevyshort]

8.8 swap FTW..my '89 has an 8.8 with disc brakes swap and other than having an ebrake, its perfect :aniteef:

more info please :D

im searching right now but i know nothing of 8.8's. what are they in? i may do it if i get all info together

[88chevyshort]

ehh idk i did some reading on naxja and i dont need any bigger than the 8.25 for the setup i will have.
and i think im going to have my bearings replaced cause itll cost me about the same as getting another used axle.

[Macedawg]

ehh idk i did some reading on naxja and i dont need any bigger than the 8.25 for the setup i will have.
and i think im going to have my bearings replaced cause itll cost me about the same as getting another used axle.

i bought mine with the swap already done..i think it came out of a '98 explorer he said..pretty straightforward swap it looked like..he did have to add spacers to get the track width the same

[88chevyshort]

when tax returns come im going to have the rear carrier bearings replaced and my pitman arm seal on steering box replaced. hope ill have enough to cover that.

and as of yesterday i have a motor oil leak coming from somewhere =/ FML

[TennesseeWJ]

and as of yesterday i have a motor oil leak coming from somewhere =/ FML

Just about every 4.0L in the world leaks from the rear main seal at some point I think, haha.

[88chevyshort]

Just about every 4.0L in the world leaks from the rear main seal at some point I think, haha.

yeah. my old Cherokee did too but i just got this xj and it started maybe a week after i got it so its pretty disappointing...
hate how leaks always look like alot but there really not...

really not looking forward to replacing that an I've searched online and about 500$ seems to be the price to have the rear main seal replaced, ridiculous. its a frigging 32$ part i mean come on..

[88chevyshort]

im more worried about my power steering leak though more than motor oil. when i get tax return ill just pay for steering box seal to get replaced. as for the motor oil if I'm lucky it could just be loose valve cover bolts or something. which I'm going to go check here soon.

[Macedawg]

mine used to drip a little and when i replaced the clutch and slave cylinder it magically quit..i still have oil all over the valvecover so i cant be sure if it came from there or the rear main..i'd just keep toppin' it off:lol:

[97NCZ71]

Just about every 4.0L in the world leaks from the rear main seal at some point I think, haha.
To be honest ive never seen a 4.0 that didnt leak oil from somewhere....

I never worried about it as long as it stayed small. Id just keep a check on the oil and keep running it instead of that costly fix.

[88chevyshort]

yea true that.

I may replace the rear main seal myself sometime later this year.

cant wait till warmer weather! BIGGER LIFT :D

[TennesseeWJ]

To be honest ive never seen a 4.0 that didnt leak oil from somewhere....

I never worried about it as long as it stayed small. Id just keep a check on the oil and keep running it instead of that costly fix.

Agreed, on both accounts. My WJ had a slight oil leak as well - wasn't enough to justify fixing and never got any worse in the 4 years I had it.

[bhookxen]

This is my old 90 with 8" of lift on 31's. I always liked the way a 3" lift with 32's or 33's looked, a little stuffed. But smaller tires will definitely save those tiny axles.

http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/ss221/bhookxen/90%20cherokee/DSCN0504.jpg

[Underpowered]

every 4.0 i have owned has leaked a little oil from somewhere, but they all ran great.

both my cherokee's had 8.25's in them as well. pretty tough axle actually. and the D35 has a worse name than it deserves in my opinion.

as far a you budget goes, you can stretch it out quite a bit if you are willing to do more work yourself. junk yard parts are you friend. do a hybrid rear spring pack (XJ main leaf, 10 other leaves) for about 3-4" of rear lift with some front coils and you can have a decent lift for about $200 or so and a little time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/426EX/Mobile%20Uploads/0101111626.jpg

[88chevyshort]

This is my old 90 with 8" of lift on 31's. I always liked the way a 3" lift with 32's or 33's looked, a little stuffed. But smaller tires will definitely save those tiny axles.

http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/ss221/bhookxen/90%20cherokee/DSCN0504.jpg

that things super cleannnnn.

im thinking about going with 3.5-4inches of lift with 31-32inch tires.


ALSO how did you like those courser mts??? i found a set of 235/75r15s for cheap. there used but only a couple thousand miles.

[88chevyshort]

i would go that way with the lift, bastard packs and all but i want new lower control arms and the other new parts that come with a lift kit.
I will probably be buying a rough country 3.5in kit this summer with the full leaves.

[gungyspliff]

yeah. my old Cherokee did too but i just got this xj and it started maybe a week after i got it so its pretty disappointing...
hate how leaks always look like alot but there really not...

really not looking forward to replacing that an I've searched online and about 500$ seems to be the price to have the rear main seal replaced, ridiculous. its a frigging 32$ part i mean come on..

Check your valve cover gasket. It leaks at the back of the engine and sometimes is mistaken for the rear seal leaking.

Here is a pic of my 2000. http://i838.photobucket.com/albums/zz303/gungyspliff/IMG_1286.jpg

[88chevyshort]

Check your valve cover gasket. It leaks at the back of the engine and sometimes is mistaken for the rear seal leaking.
[/IMG]

yea when it warms up (the weather) ill tackle putting a new gasket on.

[bhookxen]

that things super cleannnnn.

im thinking about going with 3.5-4inches of lift with 31-32inch tires.


ALSO how did you like those courser mts??? i found a set of 235/75r15s for cheap. there used but only a couple thousand miles.

Thanks man. That was after a fresh color coat of gray sprayed outside on a calm day. I had the pressure of the gun set a bit high for the clear, and it eded-up looking a bit like the textured hammer paint. I was happy with it, it looked better than it did, lol.

As for the tires, I never had any problems with them. Always rode soft & true, maybe they were just balanced really well. And not too loud either if I remember correctly.

[88chevyshort]

ive never had a fresh paint job lol.

alright. im probably not getting them anyway. they stand like 29inch tall and i want to go to 31s atleast

[88chevyshort]

So I got my new to me hitch all repainted. Going to start pbing all my bumper bolts before i take it off.
also I bought red an XJ sticker as well as my self a shirt from allthingsjeep.
http://i43.tinypic.com/3499vlc.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/6h5m6r.jpg http://i44.tinypic.com/sotuhf.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/1yqob8.jpg

Hopefully getting my tax return, going to take her to a shop to see if my carrier bearings are the cause of my hum. depending on what it really is I will most likely end up fixing it myself. and hopefully have enough to get a decent set of rear tires for now and a 3in rough country lift.

[88chevyshort]

lil mud on the tires ;) was a good lil time. drove up a muddy incline it was STEEP! she handled it like a champ. not even wheel spin in 4wd. Reminded me how amazing these are offroad
http://i40.tinypic.com/8vp5y1.jpg

[Macedawg]

aww yea :rocking:

i gotta pop the 8.8 cover off mine and re-lube before i can take mine out again..i think since it started leaking some moisture has gotten in it the Aussie locker has been making more racket than normal :looking:

[88chevyshort]

yea. im going to be getting a low mileage JY axle. mechanic said my pinion bearing is probably shot and the carriers aren't going to be to great either. estimated 700$ in labor... so JY axle it is! lol. and while i do that im going to put an add a leaf in.

so parts list:
low mileage JY 8.25. new brakes for it etc.
and rough country 3in lift
better rear tires for the time being.

Unless i can score another xj! Theres been a red xj sitting in this guys yard behind some shrubbery for at least the last 5 years and hasn't moved once. so plan is to stop by and see if i can score it on the cheap :) which would be great. its probably broken but if I can get it for cheap and fix it I would for sure make a profit if i sold it. fingers crossed.
also going to attempt getting my hitch on tomorrow.

[88chevyshort]

So I got my hitch in today, but also finally found out how bad my cancer spot(s) were =/
looks like ill be going cut and fold this summer.
http://i42.tinypic.com/x6mzr5.jpghttp://i39.tinypic.com/k1c58p.jpg
So I cleaned it up a lil and slapped on some por-15 for the time being.
http://i41.tinypic.com/2zf9aaq.jpghttp://i44.tinypic.com/fyh7wh.jpg
and the hitch. waiting till I buy new bolts tomorrow before putting the bumper back on. I don't want to deal with the rusty bolts later on when I finally get an aftermarket bumper.
http://i40.tinypic.com/2my6yzc.jpg

In other news. I will be getting a twin to my xj for cheap. its been sitting for atleast 6years. I drive past it everyday.
plan is to swap out the rear axle into my daily and have the other one rebuilt and get twin running. I'm not sure what ill end up doing with the twin. i may fix'er up and resell it and make a lil money or even keep it. who knows.

[88chevyshort]

Got my bumper back on today. repainted it with spray on bedliner. looks really good now.
I'm picking up a 98 4dr se xj for 500bucks, been sitting for atleast 6 years in the same spot. im going to swap out the axle and probably rebuild my current one. may fix up the 500$ cherokee and resell or keep or scrap it idk yet. idk how bad it is. and tomorrow im having my exhaust done. - another $170 pocket emptying continues..

[Wwildman]

I had a XJ it set on 5.5 Iron Rock Off road Long arm lift and Bead locks with heavy fender trimming
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n19/rustybus/P1060534.jpg

[bhookxen]

^^^ awesome! I wanted a long-arm kit, but wrecked it before it got to that point.

[gungyspliff]

If you need parts check out Davey's Jeeps (http://www.daveysjeeps.com/) in Ohio. He buys Jeeps and parts them out. I have bought several things from him.

[88chevyshort]

I had a XJ it set on 5.5 Iron Rock Off road Long arm lift and Bead locks with heavy fender trimming
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n19/rustybus/P1060534.jpg
thats pretty sweet

[88chevyshort]

got new flowmaster exhaust today. i love itttt

[88chevyshort]

So I repainted my bumper with rattle can bedliner and put it back on the heep. then got my flowmaster 40 exhaust done a few days ago.
also bought new headlights. new housings with replaceable bulbs, I'm not impressed. I don't even think they're brighter.
http://i42.tinypic.com/wqtqis.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/16900va.jpg
and then today i got these :)
http://i42.tinypic.com/muhh69.jpg
I bought the add a leaf cause I'm going to swap out my axle soon cause the bearings are bad and rebuilt my old one cause I need my jeep its my dd so it cant be down for over the day.

List of parts still to buy for lift:
front sway bar drop
transfer-case drop
shocks
3" front coil springs
tracbar bracket
lower control arms
drop pitman arm

[Underpowered]

you shouldn't need a t-case drop on only 3"

[88chevyshort]

you shouldn't need a t-case drop on only 3"

alot of guys have vibes at 3" and im already lifted 1.5-2inches and im adding about 3 to that..
is kind of a guessing game on what lift amount im going to end up with.. i just really don't want to end up spending money on an sye..

[88chevyshort]

my current lift is spacers up front shackles in rear. not sure how to determine how much they are over stock.. i think the spacers measured 2in but the original spacer isnt also there so that takes away a little bit..

[Underpowered]

the stock coil isolator is only about 3/4"

i had 3.5" on one cherokee and about 5" on the other with no vibes on either one. the newer ones are less likely to get vibes i believe. I would try to put it together without it first, then if you get vibes add it later.

[bhookxen]

alot of guys have vibes at 3" and im already lifted 1.5-2inches and im adding about 3 to that..
is kind of a guessing game on what lift amount im going to end up with.. i just really don't want to end up spending money on an sye..

mine was 8-inches, and didn't use a t-case drop either. however, i did like my sye an awful lot. could take the shaft in & out without having to worry about any leaks. plus, i liked taking the case apart & seeing how the insides worked when i installed it.

but i agree, very expensive, along with a mandatory new shaft makes it that much worse.

[Underpowered]

mine was 8-inches, and didn't use a t-case drop either. however, i did like my sye an awful lot. could take the shaft in & out without having to worry about any leaks. plus, i liked taking the case apart & seeing how the insides worked when i installed it.

but i agree, very expensive, along with a mandatory new shaft makes it that much worse.

its not bad, with my SYE i ran a stock front shaft. granted, i only had the SYE after i blew my 242 apart, but before the SYE still had no vibes.

[bhookxen]

i don't recall if i ever got a new shaft for the front or not, as it was already a double cv ??? quite a drop to run the original though, i would think. but obviously i did have to get one for the rear.

[Underpowered]

i don't recall if i ever got a new shaft for the front or not, as it was already a double cv ??? quite a drop to run the original though, i would think. but obviously i did have to get one for the rear.

i meant i ran a stock front shaft as my rear shaft. same drive shaft front and rear, so i could carry one trail spare. and stock front shaft is a CV style.

[bhookxen]

i meant i ran a stock front shaft as my rear shaft. same drive shaft front and rear, so i could carry one trail spare. and stock front shaft is a CV style.

no ****? i could've swore the rear was a considerably longer than the front, but i really can't remember it's been so long since i had it. i could see maybe for wranglers, but cherokees? nice thought though as a trail spare.

[bhookxen]

i meant i ran a stock front shaft as my rear shaft. same drive shaft front and rear, so i could carry one trail spare. and stock front shaft is a CV style.

no ****? i could've swore the rear was a considerably longer than the front, but i really can't remember it's been so long since i had it. i could see maybe for wranglers, but cherokees? nice thought though as a trail spare.

[Underpowered]

the stock rear on a cherokee is actually shorter than the front. when you SYE, the front and rear are roughly the same length.

On a wrangler the rear is very short whlie the front is much longer than the rear.

[88chevyshort]

thread jack? lmao. just kidding. yea i knew about using the stock front shaft.
the other night i found a hack and tap sye for around 100-120$ so ill probably get that when it comes down to needing it.

in other news im picking up my 3rd xj tomorrow. today i stopped by and took off the flat so i could air it up an put it on when we winch it on the trailer.
I also found brand new jumper cables, couple quarts of oil, some 12g shells and some barrel cleaning parts lol.
I pulled out the spare and put in in my xj already, it was brand new on a aluminum rim that matches the other four on the one im picking up. im pretty happy with it cause it looks nice now. new spare, tire cover, and even a cargo area cover :)

Also i installed my a/c bypass pulley today.

I'm thinking i really need to name my xjs now... so i can differentiate when I'm talking about them lol.

[88chevyshort]

i currently have two RED 98 xjs. both SE models. the one i just picked up is a complete base model. manual everything except trans (sadly) i spent a few hours today cleaning it and swapping small things over to my current xj.

info on my new one: paid $500, been sitting for about 5years atleast, in dirt under a tree. so the rockers are totally shot but other than the rockers all the rest of the body is solid. im going to get her running and go from there. also there is a possible tranny problem, guy didnt seem to know what he was talking about but said he drove it like twice after his son was shipped of in the air force.

[88chevyshort]

i repainted my d windows and also got my stock centers on this last week. also ordered a new rough country steering stabilizer. I hope it fixed the random vibes im getting.
http://i43.tinypic.com/14k9zwp.jpg
also got my other axle finished up to swap in. im also going to put a 3in long add a leaf in when i swap the axle.
http://i40.tinypic.com/21ppvp.jpg
im going to order 3in lift coils when i get paid in a week. unless i could find used? I'm planning to get fat bobs coils cause there $100.

[Carpe^Noctem]

I love XJ's My old XJ with 3.5" Lift shaved fenders running 33's Locked front and rear 4:10's Super 44 Rear Super 30 Front tons of fun but sold her to build my current V8 CJ-7 Wrangler Hybrid
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22/DeathSnails/Jeep%20Pics/PICT0116.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22/DeathSnails/Jeep%20Pics/PICT0122.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22/DeathSnails/Jeep%20Pics/PICT0113.jpg
Yeah Yeah I know, arms inside at all times lol I wasn't exactly Sober at the time but I also wasn't moving either lol
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22/DeathSnails/Jeep%20Pics/PICT0086.jpg

[88chevyshort]

cool cool. this is my dd. im kinda on the hunt for a cheap Comanche to make my trail rig.

[Carpe^Noctem]

That was my DD at the time as well, behaved really well on and off road. XJ's perform very well on road even with mods 3.5" is a good lift with 33's and a bunch of fender trimming. Behaved very well and had good flex.