TECHL INE

COMPILED BY VERNE SIMONS EDITOR@FOURWHEELER.COM PHOTOS: VERNE SIMONS

CHEAP JEEP XJ CHEROKEE BUILD TIPS

I have a ’00 Jeep XJ Cherokee Sport that’s pretty much bone stock. I want to build it up on the cheap to fit 32-inch tires and hit some trails in southwestern Colorado. I know these Jeeps have been built 1,000 different ways but wondered if you have any tips or tricks that will help me keep the budget down while improving the off-road abilities of the Jeep without ruining its on-road manners too much. I also found and scooped up an XJ Dana 44 rear axle for this build from a junkyard and will have it re-geared to work with the slightly larger tires.

MIKE VIA FACEBOOK MESSENGER

Welcome to the addictive world of one of the most used and modified Jeeps. XJs were built for a long time and many folks have changed them to suit their needs, from mild to wild. I’ve owned at least three XJs, and you have a good one in one of the last model years built. It will have the venerable AMC 4.0L I-6, a torquey and reliable engine that lots of enthusiast’s love. Behind it is most likely an AW4 four-speed automatic (although a few XJs had the 4.0L and an NV3550 fivespeed manual). From there you either have the NP242 or more likely an NP231, both of which are great transfer cases for a mild build. Your front axle will be a low-pinion Dana 30, the same axle that came from the factory in the TJ Wrangler. Your rear axle is either a 29-spline Chrysler 8.25 or a Dana 35. The Dana 44 you found is a mild upgrade over the Chrysler axle (which is pretty strong but is unfortunately a C-clip-style axle) and a definite upgrade over a Dana 35 … it makes a better boat anchor than an axle.

As for cheap tricks that will help with your build, I have a few, most borrowed from other enthusiasts who have built these rigs over the years. I would recommend lifting the Jeep 2-3 inches and maybe also doing some fender trimming for extra tire clearance when the XJ gets flexed out on the trail. A suspension lift for an XJ is relatively easy to install and you can spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, depending on what you want, and I think I know what you want.

First, to lift the front you won’t need much. You will need either some new, taller springs and shocks, or at the very least new shocks and some coil spring spacers. Most of the coil spacers on the market are inexpensive and can be stacked (you can even just stack 3-4 stock XJ coil isolators for some lift), but again we’d stay under 3-3.5 inches of lift max for a few reasons. You can buy spacers or new

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Other upgrades we would recommend are adjustable lower control arms (again, available new from several manufacturers or as used takeoffs from an XJ, ZJ, or TJ). We would also highly recommend some sort of sway bar disconnects for the front suspension. We really love the JKS sway bar disconnects for a few reasons. They are relatively easy to use, tried and tested, and come with a little stem that allows the front sway bar to be up and out of the way when not connected.

For the rear, we would look at a set of long add-a-leaf springs. These should add 2-2.5 inches of suspension lift and the long ones don’t make the ride that much harsher. You also can find lift shackles for the rear suspension of your XJ to give it a 1-2–inch suspension lift. You will also need some new, longer shocks, and those upper shock mounts can rust and break on even relatively rust-free XJs. For that, we recommend the inexpensive Flag-Nut kits from Iron Rock Off-Road. As for the rear sway bar, take it off and forget about it unless you plan on doing lots of towing with your XJ. It’s basically useless and just adds weight.

Once you lift the rear of your XJ it may cause a rear driveline vibration. There are two fixes for that. The cheapest of the two is to drop the transfer case 3⁄4-1-inch. You can build your own spacer for the transmission/transfer case or just buy an aftermarket kit for likely less than you would spend making the same parts and sourcing

the bolts you’ll need that are included in the kit.

The other fix is a better long-term solution, but it’s much more expensive and it includes adding a slip-yoke eliminator (SYE) to the transfer case. Again, many companies make and sell these parts (we’d lean toward an SYE from a company like Advance Adapters or JB Conversions). You’ll need a new CV rear driveshaft, but if you are lucky enough to have an XJ with an NP231 T-case you can take a stock 4WD, 4.0L powered, Cherokee XJ front driveshaft and use it in the rear after the SYE has been installed.

Another way to save some cash on an XJ project would be to find and use some of the 8-inch-wide factory TJ wheels that Wrangler owners have cast aside. They’ll be strong and light and help allow wider tires on your XJ. The used market is also full of TJ and YJ aftermarket wheels that will fit your XJ.

After modifying your XJ to fit the larger tires you may want to delve into some other modifications like lockers and body armor. Luckily, these parts are readily available, and we would recommend inexpensive lunchbox-style lockers like the Powertrax Lock-Right Locker. As for bumpers and rocksliders, many are produced and sold for the XJ and finding good used bumpers should be relatively easy. Also, with some knowledge of how the XJ bumpers mount it would be pretty easy to build your own or look to kits that help you build bumpers or rocksliders for the XJ. There are tons and a wide range in prices and options. Also, winch mounts, tire carriers, and more.

XJ fender trimming is also something we’ve done a few times. The key is to make sure you are cutting below and not above the spot welds where the unibody is welded together. You can trim below the spot welds for some clearance, and for more you can often fold the pinch weld over (with the spot welds intact) using a hammer and some care.

FORD TAURUS FAN ON ’51 WILLYS?

I am working on bringing a ’51 Willys panel van back from the dead. The panel van is like a Willys Wagon built between 1946 and 1964 but doesn’t have windows in the sides and back. My plan, and I’m pretty far along in the build, is to put the body on a ’76 3⁄4-ton GMC Suburban 4x4 chassis. The truck has a 350ci V-8, TH350, NP203, and the eight-lug Dana 44 front and a 14-bolt rear axle. I’m currently in a place where I’m trying to figure out how to keep the 350 and transmission cool despite the narrower grille of the Willys. I do have a custom aluminum radiator that should be plenty large, but I don’t have space for a mechanical fan and wondered if you had any experience or recommendations for electric fans.

JEFF VIA FACEBOOK MESSENGER

This sounds like a cool project, and we can’t wait to see it once it’s done. Your question is one we get occasionally, especially with custom 4x4s, and is something we’ve played with in the past on some of our custom builds. We generally shy away from electric fans for 4x4s because you can be in a lot of trouble if the electric fan quits working. Electric fans rely on several other items (like speed controllers, electric motors, fuses, wiring that can get hot, etc.). Mechanical fans turn whenever the engine is turning and there are fewer parts to fail.

Now, having said that, we have built several 4x4s where an electric fan was the only option, and they worked. We just had to plan ahead a little. We carried extra fuses, extra motors, wiring, and some way to make the fan turn even if the fan controller dies. We’ve used aftermarket fans like Flex-A-Lites that work, but we’ve also had aftermarket speed controllers fail. Once we even had to buy a cheap battery kill switch at a parts store to run a high-amp-draw electric fan after the speed controller died. We turned it on when we started the 4x4 and off after we shut it down. This system works, but if you forget to turn it on, you’ll probably overheat your rig’s engine.

We have used a ’90-’95 Ford Taurus fan to help keep one particularly fussy project cool and it worked well. The project was the Ultimate Adventure CJ-6D, a short-nosed CJ-6 with a tight cooling package. The Taurus fan was easy to modify to fit on a custom radiator and it just flat-out moves air. The fan is available at junkyards as well as reproductions from parts houses (we used the latter). In that vehicle there was a computer that would control the fan depending on engine temp and from there we built a harness with heavy gauge wires and its own dedicated relay (the Taurus fan has two speeds with high amp draw). In carbureted vehicles

A great source for XJ information is the North American XJ Association (naxja.org) forums. The forum is filled with cool modifications you can make to your XJ, often using inexpensive parts as a source. Books could be written on the topic of an XJ budget build, but between what we’ve shared here and what you can find on naxja.org we bet you’ll be busy for years to come.

We’ve noticed a few Cherokee XJ Dana 44 rear axles in our local pick-a-part junkyards over the past five years or so. They don’t pop up every day, but they do exist. There seems to be a higher probability (in our experience) of finding one on a ’88-’89 XJ for reasons we don’t understand.

like your Willys mashup you will need some sort of controller that uses a thermostat switch to turn the fan on when it reaches a certain temp. Those are available in the aftermarket, but they are also the very fan speed controls we’ve just complained about.

Another solution that some have used with success is to repurpose a Volvo OEM two-speed fan and two-speed fan controller (from a ’95 Volvo 960). We have yet to play with either of those, but the fan is said to be easy to work with even on a non-Volvo radiator (much like a Taurus fan) and the two-speed setup is great for keeping the amp draw low unless full-boogie speed is needed. You will still need some sort of compatible temperature sensor and you’ll need to figure out some of the wiring, but if others have done it, you can too. This fan controller will also work with a Taurus fan if you already have one and want an OEM controller.

After responding to Jeff’s question directly he sent us this picture of a Taurus fan on his ’51 Willys Panel project. Looks like it fit just about perfectly! FW