Back in November, I bought a Cherokee. With a growing family I needed something a little friendlier to transport myself and family around. With four doors, air conditioning, and a hard roof over my head, it’s a far cry from the cut-up, soft top, rough jeep that is my YJ.

The Cherokee was one of the longer-running models Jeep has produced, from 1984-2001. And, the company sold over two million of these vehicles. Mine is a 1998 with the venerable 4.0l motor and AW4 transmission. Out back is a Chrysler 8.25 and upfront is a 2WD beam. Lift kits are the same between the 4WD and 2WD models, and 2WD models can be easily converted to 4WD. The front suspension was in use by Jeep from 1983 to 2006. Many people think the coil spring front end of the TJ Wranglers was a Chrysler idea, but it in fact was an AMC design. It was the first uni-body Jeep, and many people balked at the diversion from body-on-frame construction, but it was a sign of times to come.

Being my Jeep and not letting good enough be good enough, I quickly started modifying the XJ. The goal of this Jeep is to be a comfortable and capable offroad desert cruiser for the whole family. To do that I’ve installed a lift kit, some recovery points, shocks, and bigger tires and wheels. I’ll do a more detailed blog about the lift kit part later on. Other points that still need to be done are a winch, gussets, bump stops, and frame reinforcements. The Jeep won’t be a rock crawler or tackling difficult trails. What it will be is a fire road speeder, desert explorer, and a camping rig to take me to far-out places in a speedy manner. So stay tuned for future blogs with detailed write-ups of all the modifications to come.