1989 Jeep Cherokee Xj - front View - Photo 30303830

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Being an Arizona vehicle meant this '89 XJ was free from rust, and this one was probably never 'wheeled. The body was pretty straight and the blue cloth interior was in decent shape, as well. Shown here as the blank canvas.

<strong>Jay Kopycinski's '89 XJ Cherokee</strong>

<strong>CC Rogers '79 Widetrack Cherokee</strong>

<strong>Jon Acuff's '74 K5 Blazer</strong>

Being an Arizona vehicle meant this '89 XJ was free from rust, and this one was probably never 'wheeled. The body was pretty straight and the blue cloth interior was in decent shape, as well. Shown here as the blank canvas.

A refurbished Optima battery replaced the aged liquid acid one. I cleaned the throttle body and did a little checking of the engine, and found the high idle was due to a poor ground coming from the throttle position sensor. This is a common issue on these Renix engine control systems and a fresh ground wire run to the firewall smoothed the idle considerably.

The guys at Top Gun Customz offer a huge assortment of lift components, and the Rough Country Series II 3-inch lift kit makes for a fine lift kit for those not looking to go higher, which starts to involve more link components and the necessity to install a slip-yoke eliminator in the tail of the transfer case. I got the complete kit with new front coils and new lower front trailing arms. Top Gun also supplied the Rough Country steering stabilizer to replace the well worn stocker.

I opted for the replacement rear lift packs instead of going the add-a-leaf route. It increases the cost of the lift by a few hundred dollars but yields a smoother ride. The Rough Country packs use Teflon sliders and directly bolt-in using the stock shackles. In my case, I pulled the next-to-shortest leaf from each pack as I knew the tail of my XJ would be much lighter than a stock body once all the glass and interior pieces were removed.

The lift installed without a hitch in several hours. The new front coils add 3 inches to the ride height and the new lower trailing arms bolted right into the mount buckets. This height kit requires no other modifications to the front axle or steering. I did have to relocate the steel brake line mounts down a few inches to accommodate the lift height.

The kit came with the upgraded Nitro 9000 Series nitrogen-charged shocks. These are designed to use velocity sensitive valving to allow the shock to vary its damping characteristics as a function of piston speed. After the install, our test ride confirmed the shocks were nicely matched to the suspension spring rates.

The interior was quickly gutted as I had plans for a very spartan rig and a fair number of changes. In the end, the interior and other unused parts I stripped off the Cherokee netted me $450 off the cost of the Jeep. Craiglist works both ways, and you can save money on your project by selling parts you don't need.

With the interior gutted and a few lines drawn across the body, it was cutting time. I tack-welded a couple of braces from the B-pillar to the floor, then 15 minutes later, the Jeep top was off and lying on the ground. I also trimmed all the doors down to the bottom of the window frames. There was no turning back and a good bit of sheetmetal work ahead.

With the floor gutted to the paint, I roughed up the surface to prepare it for coating. All the door panels were removed and discarded, and sheetmetal welded in place to cap off the doors and open pillar areas.

In anticipation of moving to larger tires, the bumpers were removed and the fenders trimmed open. The idea was to keep the overall height fairly low for good cornering manners and stability.

I fabricated a front bumper from 1.75-inch tubing and tucked it up high for good front clearance. A new rear bumper was scratch-built, as well. The 21-year-old Cherokee was starting to look a bit like something else.

I began 'cage construction using 1.75x0.120-inch-wall HREW tubing and built an eight-point 'cage that sits on spreader plates stitch welded to the floor. Backup plates bolt through the floor from the bottom side then struts tie these into the unibody frame rails. The new front and rear bumpers and the 'cage were coated using Rustoleum enamel.

Here's a pre-dawn shot of the Cherokee. Once the sheetmetal work was done, the exterior got an early morning driveway paint job using Valspar Tractor & Implement Paint. It was an easy way to get a decent paint job for about $40. Prior to the enamel spray job, the 'cage was fully welded to the interior plates that had been installed previously.

With the interior cleaned and prepped, Durabak bedliner was rolled on to provide some sound deadening and give the inside a cleaner look. They offer a number of colors and I chose to use grey for this project. The coating is made for the do-it-yourselfer and can be rolled, brushed, or sprayed as needed. It goes down with a strong odor, but that dissipates in a couple of days and leaves a super-tough surface finish.

A set of PRP low-back suspension seats was another Craigslist find and are a welcome replacement for the stock seats. I was originally going to keep the factory seat belts but decided to bust the budget by about $170 to order up a set of Crow Enterprizes five-point harnesses. The wide, 3-inch belts are far more comfortable than the stock belts, and I can run with or without the shoulder harnesses on.

A birds-eye view of the interior shows how the 'cage A-pillar meets closely with the small remaining piece of factory roof that holds the windshield. The original center console was reused. All four doors still open normally. New door panel skins were cut from 0.060-inch sheet aluminum. A spare tire mount is incorporated into the rear of the 'cage and two cheap ammo boxes serve as tool/spares boxes.

When it came time for tires, I looked to the guys at Discount Tire Direct. I've been buying tires from Discount since 1986 and appreciate their quality of service. Plus, it's great knowing they have stores all over the country should I have a repair or replacement need. I chose a set of BFGoodrich 33x10.50R15 All Terrains mounted on 15x7 Chaos alloys made by MB Wheels. The 33s give me better ride height and rolling feel, while keeping the width narrow keeps the rolling mass low, eating up less engine torque.