Looking for a new Jeep soon - Cherokee Rubicon build

[Char-Broil]

Well I will be starting over with a new XJ in the next couple months to a year or so here, and feel like sharing my ideas. Here's what I'm looking to start with.

1st Choice - 99-2001 XJ 5 speed, 4.0 4 Door 4x4, Stock, Good paint, No body work, with less than 140k mi on it. Right now would have to be well under $2000.00

2nd Choice - 99-2001 XJ Limited. 4.0, 4 door, 4x4, Stock, good paint, all the goodies, leather, etc. Under/Around 110k mi. Hoping to pay no more than $5000.00 or so.

What will be done to it - I have been dreaming for a while now of a bullet-proof, unstoppable XJ that gets respectible fuel mileage. Something very reliable that I can DD, travel with, and wheel anywhere from Rausch Creek to Moab and beyond. My wife and I are planning a road trip in 2011 and want to take something that can easily pull a popup, and be able to wheel mountain passes and some tough trails across the US. I will be replacing my 94 with this Jeep, so it has to be nearly as capable as that is for me to keep up with my wheelin' buddies around here.

4.0 kept pretty stock
Electric taurus fan, high flow air filter, Borla exhaust, whatever else might help economy.

MORE Motor mounts/brackets

6 speed manual trans
NP241 transfer case
Rubicon axles (at least up front)
4.10 gears, selectable lockers front/rear

3-3 1/2" lift with OME or Billstein shocks

31" tires (undecided on which tire, likely bighorns)

Rubicon Rims

Thinking stock on bumpers, at least to start with. Possibly adding front and rear hitches and a backbone system will be all I really want there.

Rock Sliders,belly skid, gas tank skid, diff covers, etc to make underside solid.

Rubicon Badges on front fenders. My goal is to build what the factory never did--A Legitimate Cherokee Rubicon. Has anyone done this? I am hoping it will support my wheeling style while getting 19-21 MPG highway and tow well. Although I love the size of my 94 for wheeling (5" lift, 32's, had 33's) it is pretty big for a lot of the stuff I wheel, and I miss the fuel economy I got with 3", 31s, 3.55's and the 5 speed (best I ever recorded was 22mpg). I still can get about 18-19 on 32's with 4.56's if I am light on the skinny pedal, 1-2 mpg of which I credit to the taurus fan which is hardly ever on. Anyway...that's my plan. Feel free to comment, add, or bash it.

 

[tbburg]

Pick up a smashed up Rubicon, and you could get all the power train parts you need/want all at once.
It's pretty easy to convert the rear Rubicon -44 to the XJ, just strip the brackets and weld on perches.

I wouldn't bother with the Rubicon badges(actually decals) I've seen pics somewhere around here, I think they look tacky.

If you go with the 00-01 XJ, the parts jeep can also supply a new head if you run into the cracking issue

 

[Char-Broil]

yeah i would like to. gotta get the xj first though. ppl want a lot for rubicon parts, and i haven't seen a lot of salvage ones sell, so i don't know what they get for them. i know a 05-06 in good shape goes from 14-18k tho. i have seen the 241 cases on ebay for around 800. same for the 6 speeds. axles seem to be worth at least 1500 each, but if you do the numbers of a professional regear and locker install, it's worth it.

 

[tbburg]

You could get the axle assy. new from Chrysler for 15-1800 up until Jan. Not sure if they are still available.

Not sure if the 6spd is worth the effort. I'd look for the NV3550.

 

[Char-Broil]

what are the negatives of the 6 speed?

 

[tbburg]

what are the negatives of the 6 speed?

Mainly the price if you have to buy it piece by piece. If you get a wrecked late model Rubicon with a 6-spd, the sure, go for it. But the 6spd was only offered in the last year or two of production if I remember right. You can easily find a 5-spd the the rock-track xfr case will bolt up to.

I don't think you are planning on using the new Rubicon parts, right? That would mean the wide axles, different wheel bolt pattern, welding brackets on the front axle, and I don't think you can mate the new trans to the I-6 without a bell housing/adapter/ect.

 

[Char-Broil]

No we're talking all tj rubicon parts. Would that 6 speed require a new clutch assy? The 6 speed was only in 05 and 06, but was not just in rubicons but any 6 cyl wrangler.

 

[tbburg]

No we're talking all tj rubicon parts. Would that 6 speed require a new clutch assy?

I don't know for sure. That would require a bit of research. Main issues would be pres. plate/throwout bearing compatibility, and pilot bushing. On the other hand, every time I've had to split a standard trans, I put a new disc and pressure plate in it anyway. Bottom line is, whatever it looks like, it'll bolt to a 4.0 flywheel

The 6 speed was only in 05 and 06, but was not just in rubicons but any 6 cyl wrangler.

That was what I meant. The AX-15 was available from around '88 up to '99, and the NV-3500 went from '00 to pretty much the end of production.
If you get a manual Cherokee to start with, you can just bolt up the -241 and go. If you go the doaner vehicle purchase, your restricted to the last 2 years of production on the Wrangler.
Anyway, I wasn't trying to talk you out of the 6spd. If that's what you want, by all means go for it. It's as good a trans as the AX-15 or NV-3550, with a little closer splits between gears. My only point was it'll be a bit of a pain to find and probably cost more when your do find it.
I read somewhere that the 6spd has a 4.46 first gear. All the others have a about 4.0-1. Don't know if the lower crawl ratio would make a difference.

One other thing, and I don't know if this even matters to you:
The NP-241OR is a physically larger transfer case then the -231. The Xfr case in the XJ was clocked lower then the same setup in the TJ, and the lower clocking position was set by the bolt pattern on the back of the trans. The 6spd was never put in an XJ, so a "low-clocked" rear case was never available for it.
A stock TJ 5spd and Xfr case won't bolt under an XJ. It hits the floor. The 6spd with a -241 would require modifying the floorboards on the XJ, hopefully not to the point it messed up the drivers seat mount.

 

[Char-Broil]

so, if i understand correctly, an xj nv3550 with the NP241OR bolted up to it should work, but putting in any transfer case behind a wrangler trans would require floorboard cutting/fabrication. thanks for the info, I had not considered that! would make for a well tucked and protected driveline if it could be made to work though...i will do my research.

 

[Char-Broil]

Bought one!

2000 Cherokee Sport
4.0/AT/4x4/231
LOADED - Cruise, CD, Keyless entry, Power everything.
117,000 mi on Jeep
81,000 mi on second motor

http://easternshore.craigslist.org/cto/1247954734.html

It was a 1 owner Jeep, the family that owned it garaged kept it, and took great care of it up to the day the wife decided she was going to ignore the temp gauge and drive it until it stopped. Her husband told her to stop but she kept driving until it would not go any further. The mechanic I bought it from purchased it from them after he had already purchased a motor for it and they decided not to go through with the repair. He paid almost $850 for the motor, and I am guessing $1000 for the Jeep because he was firm on the price ($2000) and said it was barely more than he had in it. I went to pick it up last night, brought cash and a trailer, and the Jeep turned out to be nicer than I could have possibly hoped for. Not a spot of rust, even the leaf springs and OEM shocks and such underneath have less rust than i have seen on similar jeeps with less miles. There isn't a dent in her, and the paint is beautiful. The interior is super clean, nothing smells bad even though it was sitting for 3 months and hasn't been cleaned up at all. Has decent BFG A/T tires on it too. I'll start by taking the head off the old motor and see what is going on with that. It barely has any compression, when you attempt to start it it just spins almost as if the spark plugs were out. Well enough about the story, here's the only pics I have of it so far (got home at 3 AM with it). They don't do it any justice. I will likely start a new thread with more pics soon.

 

[CherBear]

Looks great! Does anyone know how to tell if your jeep has remote start? I always wondered if i just never got the keyfob thing...

 

[Char-Broil]

Didn't know that was ever an option. I know o. A chevy pu u have to lock the doors then push a button that looks like a 3/4 circle with an arrow on one end. Mine just has lock unlock and panic