Modifications to my Jeep

[Bowser]

I'm doing some work on my Jeep and wanted some input / advice from anyone who's interested in four wheel drive vehicles and off-road modifications.

The Jeep I'm working on is an old '88 Cherokee with the full-time four wheel drive NV-242 t-case, and it has 192,000+ miles on it. So far, the only upgrades I have on it are 235/75 BF Goodrich all-terrains.

Any other changes I make to the vehicle need to be relatively cheap. I'm not ready to spend $10,000 on a vehicle I'm going to use solely for off-roading. However, I do want to spend enough so that I can spend more time having fun rather than fixing broken parts, or being stuck.

The vehicle is already pretty beat up; the suspension is sagging, the back lift-gate window is busted out, nothing electronic works on the thing, and the paint is starting to peel and fade, and the power steering doesn't work. After an initial overhaul of tuning up the vehicle I'd like to install a few things like lockers, a small lift-kit, and maybe reinforcing the frame.

I already plan on fixing the steering pump, cleaning out the air-intake and box, replacing the spark plugs and wires and cleaning the distributor cap, replacing the rear leaf-spring suspension, and installing custom-built quick disconnects for the front anti-sway bars.

Are there any other changes I need to make to the vehicle to make it more off-road worthy? Snorkels are out of the question (Keep in mind, the changes have to be cost efficient.

Long live the Cherokee!

 

[ChickenSoup]

That is one awesome vee-hih-kull!

 

[Atown]

try suspension, maybe a tow chain or something to pull n00bs?

 

[Bowser]

Woohoo! I started that thing up today for the first time since I changed out the spark plugs and all that other stuff, and it's running a whole lot better. It's still not as good as when I got it, but I'll get there soon. I'm just glad it started; that means it's holding a good charge. I also noted the exhaust, and no carbon is coming out of it like it was before.

Before I worked on the Jeep there was a whole lot of carbon in the exhaust and on the spark plugs, and we also noticed there was oil in the air filter, which was coming from the PCI valve. I think the carbon was caused by the vacuum lines being connected incorrectly, and the computer tried to compensate for the lack of engine power by sending more fuel to it. Not sure why though. I may need to replace the EGR valve. Also, the battery was completely dead when we were working on it. None of the lights would come on, and the Jeep wouldn't start on it's own for the few hours we were working on it, so I'm really glad it started today. Furthermore, the Jeep was making a lot of hissing noises, probably from the vacuum lines, but they weren't making them today, so that's great. It had a lot more power today too. A few weeks ago that poor old Jeep wouldn't make it up a hill, but hopefully pretty soon it'll be able to crawl mountains I can't wait.

 

[Bowser]

Sometime in the next two weeks I'm going to be taking this Jeep over to my friends house and we're going to work on possibly replacing the lifters and see if we can find and fix a leak that we think is in the exhaust. If there's a leak in the exhaust, I think it would be coming from where the manifold connects to the exhaust pipe underneath the vehicle.

I want to try and fix the power steering pump if I can. Hopefully the thing is just leaking and doesn't need to be replaced. Or, I can find a working one at a junk yard - that would be nice.

If anyone can get a hold of a winch and a front bumper for a XJ ('88) Cherokee for cheap then please let me know! I'll keep you updated as I work on and upgrade the thing.