2 door Cherokee 01 with 25,000 miles... mild build for daughters first Jeep

[Anak]

Dayum, you find the coolest stuff. That '87 looks mint. And it is red. Must have had your name all over it.



Nice to see an update. This thread crossed my mind the other day and I was wondering what had happened.

 

[Mirage mobile]

Metra has a bezel for double din radios now.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-ujLJY7ngxPW/p_120956554B/Metra-95-6554B-Dash-Kit.html

BTW what rear leafs did you decide to get?

 

[Red Mistress]

Got the gas tank skid, receiver hitch & rear D44 installed with ARB 3" leaf springs.

Rubicon express shackles have good lean.

Thinking it's still going to be high in rear, even after bumper and subwoofer box are installed. If so will go back to stock shackles. Then resort to removing leaf (already removed overload) or getting custom springs made.

The DPG U bolt plate with bumpstop pucks is great idea keep tires outa fenders.

Yes, I kept drum brakes, I have done rear disc conversions before and e-brake has always been a future problem and never hold like a drum.








Front bumper cut and buckets made for frenching in 6" Rigid light bar on each side of license plate.



Yep, ordered the Metra kit for the double din Alpine I bought her for Christmas 2 years ago :laugh3:

Been searching for WJ steering wheel swap so could have audio controls, found couple threads, on actual wheel and clock spring... but nothing on audio controls.:wow:

 

[Anak]

Yes, I kept drum brakes, I have done rear disc conversions before and e-brake has always been a future problem and never hold like a drum.

I am grateful to see I am not entirely alone in that perspective.

A manual transmission really drives the point home.

 

[Red Mistress]

Front all stripped and one of unit bearing was leaking so replaced with Timken.

Been searching for control arm length with 3.5" lift and I find that uppers 15.25" and lowers at 16" is good starting point.

 

[Red Mistress]

Black Beauty is almost finished. Drives great & still smells like new car !

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I just came across and read this whole thread. Love it. Any photos of the completed build to share?

 

[Red Mistress]

I've been lax on updating this build. :dunno:

Paint polished to near perfection. Nothing looks better than polished black paint.
Since picture have added OEM tow hook brackets & chrome hooks.

Still lots to do, cruise control, double DIN Alpine with accessories controller, seat heaters, remove interior for amplifiers & speaker box, etc..

First time outside in years:

Pulling wiring for front Rigid 6" light bars, Bussman power distribution center, firewall bulkhead pass thru fittings & air line

ARB air compressor behind bumper with intake raised. Also installing OEM factory skid plate.

Installing Bussman relay and fuse panel and air hose coupler on bracket in this location.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Man, I love it! Such a beautiful XJ. You did a 3.5” lift right? Mind sharing your tire size and wheel backspacing? Sorry, if I glazed over it in your previous posts. I have a 3.5” OME coming for my black 4 door. I can’t decide weather to keep these 17” JK MOABS and get larger tires for them, or drop down to 16” wheels.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Also, did you do any trimming or have any rubbing? Sorry for the double post.

 

[Red Mistress]

Man, I love it! Such a beautiful XJ. You did a 3.5” lift right? Mind sharing your tire size and wheel backspacing? Sorry, if I glazed over it in your previous posts. I have a 3.5” OME coming for my black 4 door. I can’t decide weather to keep these 17” JK MOABS and get larger tires for them, or drop down to 16” wheels.

Thank you, your Cherokee looks clean !

Tires are BFG 245/75/R16
Got the Quadratec Moab's 8", don't remember BS... But much better than the Icon's.

With ARB rear spring overload removed, the Jeep was still sitting nose down with 3.5" Metal Cloak coils. So replaced them with 4.5" and it's almost perfectly level, 1/4" more on front would be level.

Flexes out real good with 2" bump stop and tru-trac in D44 keeps forward progress.
No trimming & no rubbing even with OEM splash guards.

Next up is interior work, going to start with install of NOS cruise kit.
Unhooking battery overnight before I begin.

 

[Ralph77]

Ohhh. Nice shiny actuator. LOL.
Never occurred to me that you could buy a Cruise Control "kit".
Came with everything in the picture?
Do you have a part number?
It think you can still buy the actuator, clockspring, air bag, and the short vacuum line.
I could find one switch but not the other. And could not find a bracket either.
What did that cost?

 

[Red Mistress]

CC kit was in my stash of dealership buyout parts.
Came with everything including new air bag / horn pad.

 

[Ralph77]

That's cool.
Is that clockspring zip tied?
I always figured new ones were so the 2 halves to rotate on themselves.
And become not centered.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Man, I don't know what to be more jealous of - your ability to find rare/unusual NOS parts and accessories, your Jeeps, or that garage.

Oh, heck - there's no wrong answer to THAT quandry...

 

[Red Mistress]

The clockspring has a plastic tab that gets broken removed when installed.

Thanks Rob, I've worked hard for 20+ years to accumulate & maintain the Jeep collection. All I need is a full time mechanic as I'm getting old and slow.

 

[Red Mistress]

Daughter been driving XJ little bit this summer.

The cruise didn't work, so after much searching on I found a thread that showed part # for switches. Seems like 99-01 use AD suffix switches and 97-98 use AC switches. Installed the AD switches and cruise works great.

Since lake season over, getting back to finishing interior and wiring.

I got used A pillar trim so I could see exactly where infamous trim clips were located. Used plastic crow bar and then regular screwdriver to pop the pins out. No breakage

Sound & heat liner under roof should help with ambient heat.

She's applied Dynomat in doors and entire inside of Jeep.
This XJ is so clean that preparing metal for sound deadner was super easy wipe with rubbing alchol.

After making spacers for front of Alpine x-A90V amp, it fit perfectly under passenger seat.

Next up is cutting the rear panel for the Subthump speaker box,
Seat heaters, console USB etc...

 

[Red Mistress]

Well this Jeep build is finally finished
I may do LED interior courtesy light upgrade for a Christmas present.

Really like the fitment of the double din, but mostly the functionality.
Having all the accessory switches controlled by receiver is awesome.

Cutting the 2 door panel was nerve racking! Took me weeks to be in right frame of mind for patience & courage to cut. Lots of hand filing to make perfect. Also removed face of subthump and centered the woofer.

Orvis ZJ spare tire carrier, lots of storage.

Rear view mirror with homelink, compass/temp & courtesy lights. Used OEM temp sensor.

And she just had to have 8 rock lights... that change colors on app with phone. They are bright, pointed inwards not to bother other motorists.

Rigid's 6" light bars in front bumper are super bright !

 

[Ralph77]

Love the tire cover. Have one myself. But pretty sure it is a '98 ZJ with the 5.9 cover and not a Orvis ZJ one. LOL.

 

[XJI6191]

Looks like the one in my '99 XJ Orvis - but that only has 15" wheels. :dunno: