r/CherokeeXJ

95 classic country 5 speed, 6in lift, adjust control arms, and 33s

Blew the head gasket but we still made it!

Hi all,

New XJ owner, still learning the ins and outs of it. I found this leak near my front axle. It’s not too bad, but it’s definitely dripping on the tire and ground underneath. Where is the source/how can I fix it? Seems to be lighter than the engine oil but that could just be in my head. Pictures below:

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2001 XJ with a 2" lift. Would I be safe swapping to high pinion Dana 30 in the front, or am I going to be battling exhaust clearance issues constantly?

I had to transport the 4.6 almost 300 miles yesterday. When I took the donor engine to the machine shop, I grabbed an old tire and laid the engine over it with a couple of straps and didn’t really worry about damaging anything. But, after the rebuild I wanted to protect my investment.

I crawled under the XJ and measured roughly 26” x 11“ dimension of the oil pan. I made a box with scrap 2x6” boards long enough to go across the trailer, centered it over the axle, and anchored everything with 4” deck screws.

When the engine was lowered onto the trailer we placed a couple of 4x4 boards (actually they measure 3 1/2”) under the rear bell housing brackets and ran two straps across the top. Rode fine all the way home, never even had to tighten the straps when I stopped for gas.

Thought I’d share this in case anyone was interested….
(Accidentally posted the wrong intro picture without the engine in the trailer and now I can’t change it 🤡)

Can't wait to apply this 🐑 🤢💨
Any tips winter is around the corner and I wanna get her through it unfazed thanks 🤘

This is Paul. He’s a 2000 XJ, 4.0, 4dr, 4wd, automatic with 260k miles on the original everything (except the brakes, omg don’t ask). He’s a daily driver and a solid team mate. That roof rack will carry anything, I swear (Unistrut from Home Depot).

Some background on the coolant system:
- Somebody ran the orange stuff for years before I got him. I switched to green about 6 years ago.
- That same year, he had a water pump leak on the highway that slowly lowered level until the pump cavitated and turned the system to orange foam.
- That same year (yes), the steel freeze plug on the back of the block let go (thanks Chrysler) and he lost 100% of coolant in the highway. The engine is still rocking.
- I have flushed everything with thermocure once or twice since then. The heater core got solid flow after that. Blows cold now, but I think that’s because of a coolant filter I threw in line after the flushes that can maybe go away now.
- He also has a 180 degree thermostat installed, which is probably not helping the heater output. (Sure enough, my mileage went down when I put that in by the way).

Yet somehow, the radiator doesn’t have any issues. The electric fan is beat to heck and the shrouds are hanging on by a thread. I assume its flow is poor, but it cools just fine. No overheating, even in traffic on a 90+ degree day.

I’m doing some coolant work to swap out the thermostat for a 195. While I’m breaking the system, should I do the radiator? Or leave well enough alone?

And if I do the radiator, which one? They all have reviews saying either they crack in a year or overheat.

Cut out the passenger floor pan in my welding class today. Still have to clean up the edges and wire brush the surface rust at home and prime. I’ll weld in the new pan and brace in a week or so.

Some additional rust in the driver’s side and cargo bay, but nowhere near as bad.

So tired and hungry after cutting everything out.

Ordered this and it just came in. Turns out it’s a decal and not an actual raised emblem? Is that true? All the other emblems i got are plastic raised lettering 🤔

99 XJ 4DR 4x4 5 SPD 209k (Green) & 01 XJ 4DR 4x4 5 SPD 212k (Silver)

On cylinder 6, it fucking sucks literally the worst location ever.

I'm going to try and get it out myself, what tool do I need to get it out?

Super stressed rn, any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Hi all,

I bought my 98 XJ a couple of weeks ago, and at the time of purchase, everything checked out.

When changing the air filter yesterday, however, I noticed the radiator and air filter box were pressing against each other, and it got me wondering about the “minor” front end damage that the seller disclosed.

I took some pictures here, and hopefully it’ll show enough of what I’m talking about, but essentially my question is: what can be done to fix this? No major components seem to be bent in, which is why I found the radiator/air filter box problem to be a bit strange. What else looks out of place to you?

Thanks in advance, pictures below:

Hey all, trying to diagnose death wobble.

All bolts are tight according to me putting a wrench on them. I had my wife turn the wheel back and forth, no major flex anywhere, minor flex at the frame side track bar bracket, where the track bar bolts to it.

Looking into the CavFab track bar relocation bracket as an upgrade anyway. The description says it moves the track bar 2” forward. Looking at the current state/position of things, it seems like the 2” forward will interfere with my sway bar. See picture for what I’m talking about.

So far I’m tied between the new bracket, and replacing my control arms with some adjustable ones. The old bushings appear old and rotted.

Thoughts/opinions?