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Friend wants and older jeep cherokee, what says the brotherhood?

Dabba

Dabba

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He was an older boxy one, im guessing late/mid 90s and older of the sport type.. now i dont know much about them other than the straight 6 is suppose to live forever and their unibody (bad) and they seem to have good ground clearence. What do you guys thing of this thing as a mild wheeling, just some trails with dirt and the occasion mud with beach use. Hes lookin to do about 4 inches with bigger tires. I know some came with a dana 44 in the rear but i dont know about the front. I dont know how any other axles jeeps use compare in strength to gms.

My basic questions are.. Can it handle this type of mild wheeling without breaking stuff, with the unibody can we mount strong front and rear towpoints? I heard in another thread about swapping a 10bolt under the front. Were they ever solid front axles and if so ever p-side drop and how hards the swap? worth it? Hows the stock gearing and 4lo ratios? Low? High? No power?

I roll around with my cucv with deisel, th400 and 1 ton gear with a detroit in the rear and im not really worried about breaking stuff with my 33s. Im worried he might break something (mostly an axle shaft cause i could tow him) or if he gets stuck good and i try to pull him out i may rip the thing apart. Tow points are a must. so what do you guys think? He dosnt really want a wrangler because of the price and wants a little more room..
 
Leave the front unlocked, be prepared to trim fenders with a 4" lift if you go bigger than 31s.

They are pretty solid wheelers overall, lots can be done by yourself if you have a welder and some time and steel. Unibody stiffeners are easy to make by yourself. I consider them an absolute must, Cherokees flex good and if he is getting flexed out alot then its going to twist the unibody.


Best thing to do these is a Ford 8.8 swap if you can find one with 4.10 gears then some used 4.10s from a 4 cylinder wrangler (YJ) Then you got a way stronger rear axle and 4.10s.

Tow point mounting isn't hard, cant really just drill into the thick metal cause there really isn't any. But there are kits out there.

Theres way more than I can post go here for all your answers http://www.naxja.org/
 
Tow points shouldn't be a problem... just need a few more holes then you would with a frame and maybe some stiffeners. I'm almost pausitive that theres kits for a good offroad steel front bumper that are more then strong enough. Theres a video of a guy in a jeep that buried his front tire in mud, they hooked to his steel bumper and he left his axle in the mud. Bumper didn't flinch.

The easier swap for the front would be a HP44.... I'm sure you coult throw a 10b in them but it would require dealing with the passenger side drop.

They are capapable rigs and are flexy as long they don't have sway bars... mine has sway bars front and rear which makes for little body roll and a sporty feel on road but it likes to lift the tires off road. I haven't noticed much twist in the body at all while flexing... less then most c/k trucks... might change without the sway bars though.

If he doesn't like body damage then tell him to get some sliders before he does anything... I have caught mine at the top of a few hills and now I basically have to cut the body apart to replace the rockers. Unibodies suck.
 
thats really good news. i dont think were gonna go crazy unless theres any bolt in swaps. not sure how hard the lift would be with the ifs. he def would wanna do the tires lift and i think he should prob regear, thats it. those frame stiffiners sound interesting
 
Dabba said:
any bolt in swaps. not sure how hard the lift would be with the ifs.
Click to expand...
if its a cherokee its solid axle high pinion dana 30 (xj)

the reason I suggest the 8.8 swap is oftentimes you can find one with disc brakes and 4.10 gears. The dana 35 that it is most likely to come with is not a strong axle, open its fine but if you want to lock it I would just do the swap. Most of my friends who have done the swap could not have geared and disc braked their axles for what it cost them to buy and install the 8.8
 
8.8 for the rear and keep the dana 30 in the front till it breaks. if its one with that CAD crap on the front axle, replace it with a one piece longside shaft from a TJ or a certain few XJs. easy cheesy. the cherokee cheif came with 4.10s in em so im told.
very capable wheelers and dependable drivetrains to an extent. weve overheated my buddies xj muddin several times and it keeps on keepin on. "blew" the transmission once, then waited a week and it magically worked again.
i want one with a chevy 3/4 drivetrain. sweeeet.
 
Friend had one. Only trouble I really had with them is that they rust rather heavily in the rockers and they're not made for big/tall people as much as one might hope. I didn't like driving his terribly much. Then again at that time I only had owned fullsize trucks and since then I've owned a slew of Suzuki/Geo's and a Ford Ranger. Dunno what I'd think now.
 
They are solid axle front and rear.

Come dana 30 front dana 35 rear stock. The dana 35 is junk switch it out for a ford 8.8 as said.
 
unless you have the chrysler 8.25 thats a pretty decent axle. Really good if you are keeping and open diff.

Like has been said for a pretty solid axle setup, i.e. dont' worry about it when you are wheeling hard, ford 8.8 in the rear. Front keep the 30 solid shaft long side and make sure the short side has the bigger joint and your golden, bonus if you find a 8.8 with 4.10s and get a used set of 4.10s for the front. Regear for cheap
 
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Pair of D44 front (80's Waggy front & XJ D44) and rear with 4.56, lockrite front, mini-spool rear trussed, relocated shock mounts.
Custom Longarms, Highsteer, DOM steering with heims joints, 4.5" RE ZJ coils, SYE, RE 4.5" 1462 springs with drop shackles and sitting on 36" TSL on 15x10 6X5.5 bolt wheels

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HP dana 30/8.8 with 4.56's, rear welded; rusty's 4.5 inch coils and 1.75 inch spacer up front with RE 4.5 inch packs and 1.5 shackle; rusty's short arms and track bar sitting on 34" LTB's and 15x8 767's

i have a couple of them :D
 
wow not bad, so the 8.8 is a bolt in for the rear? I believe hes looking for one that comes with a d44, that would be better? Which models came with that? And what vehicles/years are we looking to take an 8.8 out of? and what about the front axle? Any bolt in swaps for that? If so what years/models should we look for? And you think we should lock the d44/8.8? Dont wanna break the shaft but dont wanna get stuck easy... im not too worried with my 14boltff but idk about a semi floater. Guess its a lighter truck though..
 
The 8.8" is not a bolt in but there's so many kits out there for the Jeeps it's probably the next step easier.

You want one out of a 95-03 (or whenever that body style stopped) Explorer. Rear disc brakes and 31 spline axles.
I had one under my Ranger and it was a great axle. Beefy (the thickness of the ring gear puts the D44 and 10 bolt to shame) and relatively common.
I put a PowerTrax NoSlip locker in mine. Lunchbox so anyone can do it in their driveway. Just try and find one with an open diff if you want to go that route. Worked great for me.
 
I believe the sport models and the sport trac were 4.10s too which is a bonus if you can find front gears to match

It really is an easy swap.

There is no real easy swap for the front. except for a TJ rubicon 44

I wouldn't even bother trying to find one with a 44, buy the 8.8 it is generally as well regarded in cherokee circles as 14 b ff are here
 
so whats not bolt in about it? we cant fab or weld so moving axle purches is out? Is thats what needed? he mentioned the tj rubicon with 44s, if we managed to find that would it be bolt in or would the perches need to be moved as well? Thanks guys
 
Explorer is spring under and the shocks are in the wrong place.

Wrangler is coil sprung in the rear.

XJ has leaf springs.

If you can't do anything involving fabwork then you're stuck with a stock Chrysler 8.25" rear or the rare Dana 44 as your only "worthy" stock rear axles.
 
damn, im sure the fronts out as well. well i guess well leave em open unless we find one with a d44, dosnt matter, i could always pull him out, just need those towpoints
 
and not to sound stupid but if we have a cherokee with a d35/chrystler8.25" would a d44 from a cherokee be a direct bolt in?
 
Rear D44? Wouldn't be worth doing the swap if you already had a 8.25".
 
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