1991 2dr 2wd Build

[ghcoeii]

Hi!
Thought I would start a thread on building up my 1991 (early) Jeep Cherokee XJ.

I had been looking for a clean 2dr Cherokee for a long time. Ether they were too much money or a pile of junk. I stumbled upon this one earlier this year at the local Youth Ranch.

It is in great shape even though it shows 202,000 on the odo. Probably used for long distance travel since the seats and pedals have minimal wear. Hardly any door dings, no rust and what was important to me not already molested.



The dealer sold it to me for a fair price (I was willing to pay some extra for a clean unit). They actually lowered the price for me to get it off the lot. They got tired of people stopping thinking it was a 4wd. At the price they had it at it would have been a steal if it was a 4wd.



The plan is to build this into a overlanding vehicle. First to 4wd and then a lift and of course always looking to accessorize....

 

[Anak]

Hi George. :wave1:

Welcome to .

That does look clean. Nice starting point.

And it is a 5spd. My sort of Jeep.

Keep us updated.

 

[ghcoeii]

Hi George. :wave1:

Welcome to .

That does look clean. Nice starting point.

And it is a 5spd. My sort of Jeep.

Keep us updated.

Hi! Going to have to quit bumping into each other like this...:sad1:

 

[denverd1]

Sweet rig! Clean for sure

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[ghcoeii]

Sweet rig! Clean for sure

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Thanks!

 

[RCP Phx]

I do love 2dr's but I had to cut my '95 into a "Cheromanche"!

 

[ghcoeii]

So after I picked this XJ up I went out into the junk yards to see if I could find some parts for the conversion. I was looking for a transfer case and transmission, but I stumbled across something I had seen before. I had seen this Jeep XJ for sale on Craigslist a few months before. Nothing too interesting to me, just a 2wd 4dr, but what was interesting is that it still had the Rusty's 4.5" lift kit under it! Woot! It was missing the track bar and the shocks were blown and since it was 2wd I guess they figured they did not need the transfer case drop brackets, but hey it only cost me $91.00! Oh and it had the upgraded flex head lower control arms. So things where looking good for this project out the gate.

 

[Anak]

Hey, that was at Jalopy Jungle on State St. wasn't it?

I remember seeing that one.

And thinking a "Hoonigan" decal is probably a good indication of a vehicle's future.

Next thing you know we are going to be running into each other in the junkyard.

 

[DustyWagoneer]

Hey Welcome George!


Nice to see another FSJN person here. We ALL end up with XJ's as well as our FSJ's sooner or later.


Nice score on that two door.

 

[ghcoeii]

Hey, that was at Jalopy Jungle on State St. wasn't it?

I remember seeing that one.

And thinking a "Hoonigan" decal is probably a good indication of a vehicle's future.

Next thing you know we are going to be running into each other in the junkyard.

Yes it was. It was a pain to get the lift off. They put the frame supports under the body on every vehicle except this one, they put the supports under the axles. Had to find a lift to lift the body with so I could move the supports. A little labor saved me a lot of money so counting my blessings.



I found a 231 transfer case out of a 1997XJ that only had 107,000 miles on it. This winter I hope to find a AX15 so I can get the project put together next spring.

 

[ghcoeii]

Hey Welcome George!


Nice to see another FSJN person here. We ALL end up with XJ's as well as our FSJ's sooner or later.


Nice score on that two door.

Thanks!


I have actually owned 2 other XJ's. More my wife's I suppose. We had a '85 with the V6 and a '94 HO. Liked both of them. Love my FSJ just wish it got better gas mileage....

 

[ghcoeii]

I do love 2dr's but I had to cut my '95 into a "Cheromanche"!

Looks good! How is the unibody holding up, or does it have a frame?

 

[CSpeade51]

i don't often care for seeing a 2 door cut up. But that mock up looks good so far. any updates??

 

[CSpeade51]

ah sorry I overlooked that someone had posted that in your thread.

 

[ghcoeii]

No problem.

 

[ghcoeii]

Wow! Been awhile since I posted last. Thought I would get the thread up to date. I purchased this 2WD Cherokee in 2019. I was forced to use it as a daily driver in 2020 since my daily driver sprung a leak in the cooling system that was a real bugger to fix, and then it had more issues to attend to, so it is still down.

My wife earlier this year began to work from home, so I was able to use her vehicle as a daily driver. I had contracted a friend to do the work for me since I was busy with a bunch of other things. He got it partly torn apart when he had issues. A two-week process turned into a 3-month process with me ultimately doing the work.

So the story is as follows....

 

[ghcoeii]

The original axle ratio was 3.07 since it was a 5 speed. I had purchased axles out of an automatic that had 3.54 gears. This gave me the option to run 31x10.5x15 tires without sacraficing road RPM. It is nearly the same road speed as with the 3.07 gears and stock tires.

I went BFGoodrich KO2's my old standbys...

I had wanted to go with new wheels too, but I could not find any with the right offset that I like. With time running out I opted to just put them on the stock wheels. I really did not like the stock wheels though. Once I saw the new tires on them I though they looked real good. Kinda glad other wheels did not work out for me at this point. Plus, it saved me some coin.

 

[ghcoeii]

 

[ghcoeii]

 

[ghcoeii]

I had found the Rusty's 4.5" lift kit at the local junk yard, but I decided I did not really want to go that high. This vehicle is going to be more for overlanding and not heavy trail use. Plus, I would have to go much bigger with the tire wheel combo to make it look right. More money at that point. I figured I would be happier with a 3" lift. I sold the rear springs off the 4.5" lift which paid for half of the 3" Zone kit I purchased. I kept the lower control arms thinking that I would use them still. My friend got me a good deal however on this kit. Not sure what the name of it is, but it includes adjustable upper, lower control arms and track bar. It also replaces the stock track bar mount with an adjustable track bar mount. These were production powder coat blems, why I have black and grey parts, $300.00 for everything.