Beep Beep, I'm A Jeep!

[C. Numb]

Hello all!

New to these forums, and new to being a Jeep owner! After 9 years and 6 vehicles, I finally own an XJ!

Here it is! Its a 1996 Cherokee Sport 4x4, 100,061 miles on it the day I bought it. Its got an automatic tranny, and clearly, its the 4 door type.

Not too sure on my plans yet for this guy. Mechanically, its smooth as hell. No ticks, no hiccups, no thuds to speak of. Cosmetically though, it looks like hell. This is no surprise for living its 15 years in Wisconsin. Although the body is 98% rust free, the paint is faded, and the steel rims look like they were supposed to be gold.

Here's the front passenger side rim, right after I got it home

And here it is after cleaning the hell out of it. Used some 3M Paint/Rust removal wheel thing I put on my 25 year old drill (which burned out right after this was taken)

Much better!

Eventually I plan to do an At-Home paint job to both the body and rims. Rims may be done this weekend, depending on the weather.

So that's about it for my first post. More pictures to come as I work on this monster!

 

[REWSTER]

LOOK LIKE $H!T





you will fit right in though, welcome

 

[Fore Wheeler]

i was thinking it was ugly as hell.

are you trying to suck up to us by owning jeeps that look better than ours?


welcome
dan

 

[Rev Den]

hi


Rev

 

[philagony94xj]

Welcome


Phil

 

[XJ&CHZ4ME]

Welcome.

Cheese is good.

Cheeseman-OUT!

 

[XJosh95]

Welcome aboard! You've gotten yourself into a mess with our group. But we're usually pretty gentile with noobs.

 

[jakeWI]

welcome from another local wisconsinite

 

[chpmnsws6]

Welcome in!

 

[kmanxj5050]

Welcome

k "everybody in here has "decent" intentions" man

 

[seanR]

Hey from just south of the "Cheddar Curtain"
:wave1:

 

[XJ-ARNIE]

welcome aboard

Craig

 

[C. Numb]

Thanks all for the "warm and heart-felt" welcomes. So as this is my first Jeep, I have a couple Noober questions that I couldn't find a straight answer for.

1. The stock front and rear suspension are sagging like some 90 year old ladies' boobs. Nothing rubs yet, but I feel like a Sally riding so low to the ground. Although this is my DD for awhile, what's a good lift height to shoot for? I'm mostly driving this bad dog to/from work, little bit of gravel path driving to camp sites this summer. No hardcore off-roading is in this Jeep's near future.

2. Depending on the answer to #1, for a budget lift I'm assuming you can get a couple 2-3 inches higher without buying a full $500+ lift kit you see on some websites? Is there a "normal" vehicle people take parts from to lift XJ's? Also, again depending on #1, is there a "better size" for tires. (Going too big would suck for a DD, and too small would defeat the purpose)

3. Ive had this for 3 days, and I've ran though every cassette I own. I'm no car audio expert, but the deck for the cassette player seems alot smaller than other CD players I had in previous cars. Is this true? Do most Best Buy CD players mount right in without much cutting of my dash?

4. Vote for a paint job color!! I plan to roll some paint this spring. I'm not looking for show room quality, but I don't want it to look like some thugs graffiti'd my Jeep.

Im thinking either:

A. Paint the rims silver, body black. The way it was originally
B. Paint the rims black and body black.
C. Paint the rims gold and the body blue, ala Subaru WRX's
D. Anything in between that doesn't look too stupid, suggestions welcome!

 

[REWSTER]

Thanks all for the "warm and heart-felt" welcomes. So as this is my first Jeep, I have a couple Noober questions that I couldn't find a straight answer for.
Glad to see your thick skinned and can take the heat

1. The stock front and rear suspension are sagging like some 90 year old ladies' boobs. Nothing rubs yet, but I feel like a Sally riding so low to the ground. Although this is my DD for awhile, what's a good lift height to shoot for? I'm mostly driving this bad dog to/from work, little bit of gravel path driving to camp sites this summer. No hardcore off-roading is in this Jeep's near future.
somethig like a 3" kit with full packs sounds like what you would want

2. Depending on the answer to #1, for a budget lift I'm assuming you can get a couple 2-3 inches higher without buying a full $500+ lift kit you see on some websites? Is there a "normal" vehicle people take parts from to lift XJ's? Also, again depending on #1, is there a "better size" for tires. (Going too big would suck for a DD, and too small would defeat the purpose)
if you buy a "kit" with full packs you will probably get pretty close to that 500 dollar mark, search bastard pack and you could find ways to make a junk yard lift (dakota or s10 leafs) a space/shackle lift might not be the best on a saggy suspension

something like a 31" tire will be best for a low lift like your thinking

3. Ive had this for 3 days, and I've ran though every cassette I own. I'm no car audio expert, but the deck for the cassette player seems alot smaller than other CD players I had in previous cars. Is this true? Do most Best Buy CD players mount right in without much cutting of my dash?

4. Vote for a paint job color!! I plan to roll some paint this spring. I'm not looking for show room quality, but I don't want it to look like some thugs graffiti'd my Jeep.

Im thinking either:

A. Paint the rims silver, body black. The way it was originally 2
B. Paint the rims black and body black. 1
C. Paint the rims gold and the body blue, ala Subaru WRX's uke:
D. Anything in between that doesn't look too stupid, suggestions welcome!
OD green or desert tan

-REW

 

[WB9YZU]

Welcome.

Rims were originally silver.

A lot of the older Cherokees sat close to the ground. However, if you want to bring the rear up to spec, you could use an add-a-leaf. Also 3" suspension lifts are not that expensive. If you want to do a Junk Yard lift, look around the site for options. In the old days, a lift was spacers and blocks

Welcome to the site

 

[SAMSET]

welcome, jeep looks alot like mine.

 

[Fore Wheeler]

My DD has a 2" BB consisting of full add a leafs from Rustys and 2" spacers up front. You don't need shocks with 2" but it's a good idea. I'm running stock TJ wheels and 30" tires. I think this is a good look w/o sacrificing ride and fuel mileage. This is a CHEAP way to make it look a lot nicer than stock.

I personally have been using Rustys for the past 10 years and have been 95% happy with his stuff. Last week I ordered a TJ lift for my daughters BF's Jeep. My big Jeep has very little left that isn't custom.

There are a million different answers to your lift question, none are wrong.

 

[seanR]

There are a million different answers to your lift question, none are wrong.

Unless I was to answer the question

 

[REWSTER]

My DD has a 2" BB consisting of full add a leafs from Rustys and 2" spacers up front. You don't need shocks with 2" but it's a good idea. I'm running stock TJ wheels and 30" tires. I think this is a good look w/o sacrificing ride and fuel mileage. This is a CHEAP way to make it look a lot nicer than stock.
.

i think 30's are a good choice, just so happen to knoe some one selling a set

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1055470

 

[C. Numb]

I decided to turn this thread into a place to track the slooooooowwwww progress I make on my Jeep.

Got the rims painted, and the plastic trim piece thing ripped off! Picture dump incoming!

Rims off, stripped, and taped.

2 coats Rustoleum Spray primer.

2 coats Rustoleum semi-gloss black, center caps cleaned.

And back onto the Jeep.


Now that the snow's melting, it'll be about time to take up some spots in my apartment complex's lot and put the lift on. Hoping to have it done by the end of April.

:smoker: C. "slow 'n steady" Numb