Howdy all: First post on this forum and hoping to get some good tech help here. You guys are pretty well-known across the wheeling community. I'm a long-time Jeeper here in Arizona, but a first-time XJ owner. My last rig was a built (i.e., trailered) YJ with custom-width 60s, 38.5 SX, detroit/spool, 5.13s, 4:1 case, high-steer, full cage, blah, blah, blah.
Sold that rig last year (post-divorce) and am really missing wheeling. Wanted to build something different. Scored an 86 Cherokee for $400 and it now sits in my garage. Body is in excellent shape. It was a blown 2.8 V6 (junk), unknown auto tranny (ideas????) and what appears to be a 207 or 208 t-case (I'm not familiar with these cases). Axles are a D30 and 35 which will go to the junk pile. Interior is fair, but I'll be gutting it anyway.
Here's my plan: Street-legal rig that's safe and reasonable to drive to the trails. Will see all but the most extreme rockcrawling duty. Probably 37 to 39-inch radial tires, full interior cage with seat tie-ins; cage will run through the floor boards to help stiffen the chassis. Beyond that, I'll be replacing most or all of the drivetrain and both axles. I may also go to leafs in the front, though that's undecided.
At this point, I'm free to do anything I want with the only constraint being budget (I'm a cheap bastard!!) That means I'm looking for reasonable drivetrain swaps (engine, tranny, t-case). I may wish to stay with a six cylinder as I'm not a power junkie. If I do that, I'll probably stay with 3/4-ton axles rather than 1-tons. I also have the option of going to Chevy axles if necessary (right dump) to facilitate a decent drivetrain. I do wish to stay with an auto tranny.
Sorry for the length of my post. Any good tech or links to this sort of information would be appreciated. I'm just a little excited about my new project!!
Dion
Sold that rig last year (post-divorce) and am really missing wheeling. Wanted to build something different. Scored an 86 Cherokee for $400 and it now sits in my garage. Body is in excellent shape. It was a blown 2.8 V6 (junk), unknown auto tranny (ideas????) and what appears to be a 207 or 208 t-case (I'm not familiar with these cases). Axles are a D30 and 35 which will go to the junk pile. Interior is fair, but I'll be gutting it anyway.
Here's my plan: Street-legal rig that's safe and reasonable to drive to the trails. Will see all but the most extreme rockcrawling duty. Probably 37 to 39-inch radial tires, full interior cage with seat tie-ins; cage will run through the floor boards to help stiffen the chassis. Beyond that, I'll be replacing most or all of the drivetrain and both axles. I may also go to leafs in the front, though that's undecided.
At this point, I'm free to do anything I want with the only constraint being budget (I'm a cheap bastard!!) That means I'm looking for reasonable drivetrain swaps (engine, tranny, t-case). I may wish to stay with a six cylinder as I'm not a power junkie. If I do that, I'll probably stay with 3/4-ton axles rather than 1-tons. I also have the option of going to Chevy axles if necessary (right dump) to facilitate a decent drivetrain. I do wish to stay with an auto tranny.
Sorry for the length of my post. Any good tech or links to this sort of information would be appreciated. I'm just a little excited about my new project!!
Dion