so if you dont plan on buyin this thing and this money is laying around ... i could use an nfab prerunner and rear runner haha

 

Hook me up with a set of TC 2in spacers while your at it.

 

haha i'm still not sure if i want to get it or not. i know its got a lot of work to do on it but i still might.

so thats a no on the pre and rear runners

 

damn.... guess ill wait for taxes haha

 

Its going to be a lot of work, there's no doubt. If it was me, and you were just mudding it. I would just go with a D60 (that's what i was going to put under mine). As for the lift, I would try to keep it as low as I could, especially so if you don't need a lot of flex. Also, you could probably slip by with that engine on smaller axles, if your going to mud it you don't want your gear ratio too low, after all you will want to be able to wheel speed.

If i was you I would re-do the suspension, maybe like an 8-10 inch lift, 4 link it front and rear, plate the whole frame & body, and do a d60 combo.

Even there your probably well overdone for a mudder.

 

We're still good on my spacers though, right?

In all honesty though, I wouldn't do it.
27 is just too high and you have to think how big it'll be after you put some new rubber on it.

If you were going to do it, I'd trailer it home, go to a junkyard and the VERY first thing I would do would be to get it ridding stock and then build back up because you really can't say for sure what they hacked onto it. Sell the springs that are on it, you could probably get half of a pretty penny for them if they're in good shape, go buy your lift from there.

 

well that sounds doable. yeah i like the idea of a d60 more than the rockwells just because they would be easier to swap and they're easy to find with a 4.10 ratio which would work. plating the whole thing wouldn't be too terribly hard.

 

we posted our comments at the same time so i didn't see your spacer request, so that's a no lol. yeah it would have to be trailered home since it has no steering haha. i'll make sure i have a good look at it before i decided anything because i've found a suzuki samurai for about the same price that would make a good project also.

 

Damn..
Well, after you go over it and if it still seems like a good deal, I'd go for it, just make sure you know what all you're getting yourself into or else you'll find lots of surprises.

 

oh yeah i'm sure there will be surprises with it.

 

Take this advice from someone who has built a Cherokee. Do NOT buy that Jeep. There is no way you could ever make that remotely useful.

If you are serious about a Cherokee, be prepared to stick with 33s or smaller, or do a TON of reinforcing of the unibody. There is also no reason to 4-link either end, or run any more than 6" of lift on a Cherokee. The key is the keep the COG low and trim the fenders to fit the tires.

I ran 6" lift and 37" MTRs on mine and had plenty of suspension flex.

 

Sounds like good advice . Plus if it takes that long to make up your mind it probally not good choice . IMO .

 

The WORSE mistake you can ever make is buying someone else fawk up. Trust me on this one I made that mistake twice and will never do it again. Your much smarter to start with a stock, or near to stock truck so that you know where your going with it. It will be much better for you in the long run so you will know what has been changed from stock and it will be easier to find the parts you need doing it that way.

Plus as its been said, the XJs are way too flexy to be used as a hard core rig, unless you plan to cage and tie the entire structure together.

My first project was a 91 ranger that had 9" of getto-fab lift on it. I spent so much time and money trying to make it right that I ended up parting it because it was to messed up. I got lucky and more or less broke even on that one.

Even my cj-7 project I have been working on for the past 3 years turned out to be more of a mess then I had first realized. I bought it because it had a good frame with new brake and fuel lines and it had a fiberglass tub on it. I paid half of what the tub was worth so I had money to play with. But most of the work the previous owner did was hack. I had to remount the body, I had a custom roll cage put in, along with custom made bumpers and rock sliders. New seats, new dash, all new gauges, switches and controls. The wiring was a disaster, and that's a understatement. Heck, there was tie wire holding the down pipe onto the manifold, which explained the exhaust leak.

The moral, look over a potential project with discerning eyes, and bring a unbiased friend with you who kinda knows a thing or two to give it a second look. Know what you want to do with the truck before you give the guy money for it and try to figure out what your budget might be.

 

I'm with hwm3 I have built several Jeeps and that thing is going to fold like a cheap beer can. To make what was said earlier stand out THAT THING IS A UNIBODY RUN RUN RUN!!!!!! If the Sammy is not all jack legged up like the cherokee I say get it they are fun toys.

 

Junk.
Looks like something a trailer park hillbilly made.
Theres a reason Billy Bob quit working on it and its not just because he ran out of Budweiser.