2000 XJ Cherokee - my new ride!
 

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Steering box spacer plates, 5mm (will drill 3rd hole, trim plates and weld spacers on once old spacer is off for reference) new 7/16 unc x 4.5" grade 8 bolts

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ZJ V8 solid tie rod

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Some parts to be fitted


Back into an XJ after living abroad for 4 years!

Bought this two weeks ago for 4200. Body and interior is in excellent shape and has 200k on it. Extremely pleased i was able to snap this lovely girl up. Plan to build it as a competent offroader, comfortable camper and reasonably economical daily driver with 30" tyres, 2.5 lift and a front auto locker. May regear it to 4.10 and replace D35 with a Ford 8.8

Mods and repair items planned;

- cooling system overhaul with new hoses and heater hoses, water pump, thermostat, rad cap, thermostat housing etc. Will flush cooling circuit and inspect/ pressure test radiator. May get a copper radiator.

- all new oils and filters including trans filter. Will fit external trans filter to cooler line.

- all new suspension bushes, steering joints, ball joints, sway bar bushes etc. All new mounting bolts in the undercarriage. Will drive like new once done!

- 2.5" lift from new EFS leaves (old leaves are inverted... well and truly U/S). New Lovells coils

- front auto locker (4wd systems Lokka). I had planned to get a Powertrax No-Slip but I got the Lokka for 300 new in box from Gumtree. Have new carrier bearings, cross pin and have made setup bearings to reset backlash. These auto lockers need the backlash to be in-spec or they do weird things... as i discovered in my last XJ.

- new Delphi fuel pump assembly. Will extend tank breather with copper pipe to increase capacity to ~90 litres. Plan to reinforce and extend steel skid plate to further protect the plastic tank in a rear-end accident. The rear wheel carrier further protects the tank.

- 255/70R16 (30" x 10") AT tyres.

- Heavy duty tie rod from a RHD ZJ V8 Grand. Solid steel with larger tie rod ends.

- larger trans cooler in series with oem cooler in front of radiator. Fit fan to cooler for slow offroad work. Will bypass the in-radiator cooler. Will fit trans temp gauge in cooler line to watch temps.

- adjustable panhard rod/track bar. Will drill out lower mount bolt to fit M12 bolts.

-heavy duty Rough Country lower control arms with bend to allow more flex.

- extended brake lines (OEM quality Raybestos rubber lines)

- steel steering box spacer I made at work. 5mm plate, 1" OD spacers and outer frame plate. Longer grade 8 bolts to suit will be thread-locked and torqued to spec. Will inspect chassis rail for cracks and fatigue while it's off. No twisting/flexing of rail currently present when I checked it with helper cycling the steering.

- assorted standard camping paraphernalia - awning, cargo barrier, rear drawers, work lights, second battery (acquired two good used Optima Yellowtops from work)


And other thangsss no doubt!https://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum...dc1c80f33c.jpghttps://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum...dc1efbf104.jpghttps://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum...dc208d3d14.jpg

Nice rig and great price.
You have been there before, so know all stuff you have to do to get these bad boys working good.
Great choice/combo of suspension and tyres. Will go anywhere on that setup, and depending where you are, it is totally legal. (WA still had 50mm total lift including suspension and tyres).

I would suggest upgrading to a brand new XJ viscous fan or a ZJ upgraded fan. As far as cooling, i have tried every mod under the sun. Bonnet vents, ceramic coated headers, high flow pumps, triple threat electric fan set up.. and nothing worked until i got a ZJ viscous fan. Temps all dropped back to normal, even in extreme driving. However, it was a bit noisy, so i got a brand new Hayden XJ viscous fan. It still worked a treat. I think they wear out and just dont pull the air anymore.

Also, an engine watchdog is a good idea in these. Mine is setup to monitor and alarm both tranny and engine temps. I put it all into a pod on the dash with CB radio and Motor Minder Vacuum gauge.

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Look forward to seeing your progress on here.
Cheers,

Thanks Alex, I appreciate your post. I've read over some of your build thread and your fab/mech/electric skills are impressive �� Most of my Jeep knowledge has come from reading forums like AJOR

Yes, i'll get a new XJ viscous fan hub - had forgot about that. Had a ZJ hub on my last XJ and it ran almost continuously - very noisy and power sapping.

I will also modify my fan shroud like on my last XJ by;

1) making it two piece for easy removal - I cut it horizontally and fitted brackets to hold it together. Two 10mm bolts accessed from the top (nuts were welded to lower bracket) and it would come apart.

2) I also extended the shroud to cover the fan more (the lower part of the shroud only just covers the fan) - 50% coverage is optimum, so i've read.

I'll also add 10mm bonnet spacers like my last one. I know a lot of people don't like them but i'm not keen on cutting the bonnet at this stage.

Had also planned to get an Engine Watchdog as they're cheap insurance. I'll also fit something similar to the trans pan as i overheated the trans rock crawling several times in my first XJ... the gauge i had went to ~160' and the needle went off the gauge... not good! Need gearing to take the load off

Matt

Update on the XJ
 

Bit of an update on the XJ

I've fitted 90% of the parts i had purchased for it. Still a few bits and pieces to fit and some further sorting required. Examples are;

- front Lokka is far noisier than expected despite being set up in-spec, albeit at the high (wider gap between locker halves) end of the range. 140w gear oil did little to muffle the clicking that you can hear while turning at any speed (even on freeway corners you can hear it clicking softly). It also shudders and carries on at full lock around small roundabouts etc. I believe this is due to the varying velocity of the U joints at that angle causing the locker to engage/disengage suddenly.

I was not impressed by all this so ordered a Powertrax no-slip locker to replace it. Will arrive late March and will be fitted asap. The no-slip locker is similar but has a special mechanism that, during cornering, prevents the locking teeth on the outer, road driven, side from overrunning eachother - which means they're completely silent. I've used a no-slip in a rear application and was completely silent as advertised.


- the EFS leaves i fitted aren't stiff enough and are already shaped like a W. I'm going to fit an extra leaf or two from my old spring pack to fix this. Will also fit shorter shackles as the ones fitted by the PO are 3" longer than standard and are causing driveline vibrations because the diff is rolled back and the pinion angle is out.

- fitted 255/70R16 Desert Duelers and am very happy with this size tyre. Driveability is still great and doesn't bog down when it selects OD around town. Offroad there is only minor scrubbing and the performance with the front locker impressed me. Very happy how it performs for such a mild setup!


Pics: -2" lift and 255/70R16 (30x10") tyres
2 piece fan shroud
Old steering spacer and corroded bolts

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