Considering a 98-01 Cherokee....advice??

Got the nose put back together, rear frame tie-ins painted and installed, stock rear bumper back on (for now, proper rear bumper will come sometime in the future).

Next is figuring out the SYE yolk. I didn’t think about the complication of getting the ujoint in the cardan to attach to the repurposed yolk I used for my SYE. Got to get that figure out so I can get the rear driveshaft back in....I’m moving it around as a front wheel drive for now...lol.

 

Well rims and tires are ordered. Went with the Falken Wildpeak A/T3’s in 33x12.5x15

Ordered a set of simple black steel wheels in 15x8 (lug nuts and center caps to go with).

I was really trying to not spend the $$ on the IRO hack and tap, but I see I’m going to have to. The only upside is that I already have the tcase trimmed and tapped....so it’ll be a quick/simple bolt-up.

I’m going to be carful with the shop I choose for the alignment. I don’t want the new tires munched with a bad alignment. Anyone in my area (seacoast NH) that knows of a good shop that knows what they’re doing with lifted Jeeps please let me know...

 

Yesssa....big shoes on the way....



Opened up the rim boxes, inspected everything. All ready for mounting and alignment.

 

Continuing with the typical path of this project, I started off working on a “simple” issue, opens a can of worms...lol.

3rd brake light wasn’t working...



Got that all cleaned up and back together. Now everything works as it should.

Now to wait for the hack and tap to ship...

 

Got to some trimming today...

 

Seems like you trimmed alot? Maybe just me

 

Check out whats in the back of the Cherokee.....they need some room lol

 

I did a bunch of reading on trimming, what I did was pretty universally accepted as the way to go for 33”+ tires to prevent rubbing. I want no chance of rubbing. Not to mention, I like the look of the trimmed & folded quarter panels. Once I have the rear bumper on I’m going to tie it forward and into the frame for protection and support.

 

@BigNuge have any plans for that shackle angle?
Clean trim and cut-n-fold.

 

Good choice. I run 265/75/16s (32x10.50) and they have been great.

 

You know, I was wondering if I should do anything with the shackles. I replaced the OEM ones with new. I noticed the angles are not nice, but was going to wait till I had the bumper on and loaded up and see where angles ended up.

I’m not opposed to doing a relocate if it came to it, or a different shackle.

 

If they are still like that with weight on it then they are definitely inverted and you will probably want something with more adjustability, like shackle relocation boxes.
Ironman4x4fab has a nice set of no lift boxes. https://ironman4x4fab.com/collections/all-products/products/xj-no-lift-shackle-brackets

 

Got the IRO Hack-n-Tap in, installed it. Used the donor XJ’s front DS as the new rear DS, worked out fine.



Took the XJ for its first real ride since the motor swap and lift. Gassed it up with a full tank of fresh gas. Drove good, kinda steers all over the road. I expect it will drive a lot better after the alignment. Motor ran great, transmission shifted nice and smooth. I stepped on it several times, I was happy with how it sounded and how it pulled (for a 21 year old rig). I can say this, I’ll be looking to do some sort of LSD or locker in this thing. The one-wheel-wonder-peel is pretty useless in 2wd...lol.



Going to call and schedule the alignment for later this week. Hope to see this with the new wheels and tires on by the weekend!



My DIY rear bumper kit shows on Friday. I’d like to think I’ll be able to get started on it this weekend. I’m going to fab up my own swing-out spare carrier after the bumper is built.



Getting close!!

 

My DIY rear bumper showed today...



Can’t wait to get this welded up an on the XJ!

Tires get mounted up, and alignment down tomorrow. Finally this XJ will look the part!!!

Maybe, juuuuust maybe I’ll take it on a short winter wheeling putt at a local spot....

 

Well, the day came and the new shoes are on. The XJ looks great, love the look and ride!

One thing though, I bought and installed a new driveshaft (complete) for the front. Obviously I’m using the same DS for both front and rear, so I decided to put the new one up front. This turned out to cause a binding problem, and I needed to pull the DS altogether. My question, has anyone with a 4.5” lift had issues using stock front DS for the front of their XJ?

I’ll be back home tomorrow, and will post pictures then. I will also be re-installing the original front DS to verify if this is just an issue with the new DS I bought.

 

I am on 4.5" and my front DS had a bad vibe that ended up being too much play in the splines. I am not sure it's related to the lift or just a plum worn out driveshaft. The XJ sat for a couple of years while I was rebuilding it so but I can't recall having much of an issue.

 

the messed up thing here is that this happened only after I installed a brand new DS. I am puzzled, but it happened so I don’t k own what to say. Tomorrow when I get back home I’m re-installing the donor front DS back into my XJ and going to take it out on a test drive. In the end, I don’t want this causing bigger issues!

 

Could a mod move this thread to the Cherokee build thread section??

 

Nice build dude @BigNuge. I owned an XJ for 13 years. I have a soft spot for'em.

 

Quick teaser....gonna take a full set of pics soon.



Very happy with how it came out. It is exactly the way I was envisioning the build turning out.

I’ll be getting the old front DS back in and test drive it. If all is well then I’ll be getting a warranty replacement for the new DS I bought.

Now to get to the rear bumper and tire carrier.