1997 jeep cherokee build

7

7slotoffroad

New member
I bought this 1997 jeep cherokee to build as a back up for when my jk is broken from wheeling at windrock or when were building the jk, anyway this beast was a 500.00 dollar craigslist buy, had a blown piston in the engine with shrapnel hanging out of the oil pan. it just happens that my nephew rolled his zj totaling it, I paid to have it towed to my place and gave him a hundred bones for the smashed jeep. great running engine.

We pulled the engine and sold the rest to the scrapyard at that point i was in the plus on this thing 50 bucks, that wouldn't last long!
see im a gearhead have been all my life, I am also extremely picky about the things I do to vehicles, which ends up costing me a fortune.

so here's what it looked like when I got it, the xj had a lift kit in it from rustys off road, I found a receipt in the glove box for the install, the kit consisted of coil spring spacers and rear shackles it also had lift coils and add a leafs giving it enough room for some huge 31's

it is a tennessee xj so no rust.




 
1997 jeep cherokee xj build

here is a few pics of the jeep progressing along, i was at butler pa jeep jamboree this past year and some guys that build bumpers and sell them on ebay had some bumpers I thought i would try, they came bare steel so I had to have them powder coated, in these pics we have been mocking things up it just didn't have the look I wanted, I had an old roof rack laying around from my son in laws tj, we added a mount to hold the spare in the rack, there was an light bar I bought that i didn't like on my jk and a different style 20 inch bar that we put on the front bumper.

the winch is a burnt up winch from my jk, these winches are junk! they will get you in trouble this one nearly burned my jk to the ground, I used it just to mock things up.

originally I was just going to throw some new rubber on this and drive it the way it was, I am addicted just can't leave well enough alone....








 
jeep cherokee xj build

some funny things, I took this jeep to a local hack and wack exhaust shop, they charged 250 bucks to put this crap exhaust on this jeep the freegin tip stuck out six inches past the bumper, hats off to Wolfe tire and muffler in morristown Tennessee for the 2.5 into 2 into 3 into 1.5 and then a 40 inch chrome tip exhaust system with blobs of welds the size of a fist around the pipes! if you have ever seen the discount tire commercial where the woman throws a tire through the window....
 
jeep cherokee xj build

So now im looking at this thing thinking, the exhaust has to go, the rear bumper i don't like, the tire on the roof is not my style, the paint sucks, the dinky tires are NOT going to cut it.

now we take all this stuff off, cut the mount off the roof rack for the tire, put the rear bumper on ebay someday.

sent the roof rack to the powder coater, then I picked up that damn telephone and a frickin credit card...

my list o' stuff

sent the jeep to the paint and body shop while i'm waiting on the brown Santa truck

rough country 4.5 x lift
smittybilt rear bumper with tire carrier
smittybilt x20 winch 10k with synthetic rope, thought i would try one of these chinese versions but nothing beats a warn
notch custom flares
jcr rock sliders
jcr upper quarter panel armor and tail light conversion
some daystar stuff
an airsaw
35 inch mud grapplers
18 inch fuel wheels
wheels spacer 1.5 inch
a bunch of used parts off a two wheel drive jeep, I didn't like the grand cherokee seats someone had put in it.

i know im missing some stuff...
 
jeep cherokee xj build

here we have installed the jcr stuff, the fit and finish is awesome compared to the Chinese stuff readily available on eBay or for that matter everywhere.

oh yeah, the jeep has been painted in these pics as well.

















 
jeep cherokee xj build

the install of the smittybilt bumper/carrier, I just love the way an xj look with the tire on the back instead of the roof, i wanted a jcr bumper but I thought i would try the smittybilt china version. i was being led by price alone.

the bumper and tire carrier ended up taking a full day to install, they fit like shit and have twist in them probably from the welding sequence used in the manufacturing process, if you feel like bolting unbolting prying, bolting and unbolting some more, prying some more to get all of the seams to look correct where the bumper meets the body, this is the bumper for you, but then again like i said in the first post i am extremely picky it has to fit right and look right as well as perform or it ends up in the scrap heap. make sure you have a friend helping you with this install!

anyway after some grinding and hole elongation the bumper fits well and it looks great.









 
jeep cherokee xj build

ok, here she is with the tires and wheels mounted, lift kit on, bumpers on, all the stuff, check out the little wheel wells, not for long, the jeep is starting to get my attention, i'm liking it more and more, i'm starting to get the itch to drive it, but wait more work to do, does it ever end...

the roof rack needs to go on, the fenders need 40 more hours, the tail lights on and on and on.







 
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