Punisher XJ - 1997 Jeep Cherokee

[YJeXtreme]

Just traded the Punisher YJ off today even-trade for a built 1997 Cherokee 4dr. Jeep is pretty badass, needing some minor tweaks here and there, and personalized touches (hey, who really buys a jeep from anyone/anywhere, and doesn't make some changes?!?)

Current Specs:

4.0L, Automatic Apprx 120k on motor/trans, 218k on body
Isuzu Trooper/Rodeo D44 rear axle w/ disc brakes
Early Bronco D44 front
4.88s w/ Yukon Spartan Lockers Front/Rear
6.5" Rough Country Long Arm lift
Cragar Soft-Eights wheels


Plans:

35x12.50s
Gusset existing front truss or replace w/ 1/4" custom truss
H.D. Frame Stiffeners Front-to-Rear
Custom Front/Rear Bumpers
Custom rocker protection
Replace Gutted Catalytic w/ aftermarket or OEM
replace "Dummy 02" simulator w/ Correct O2 Sensors
Complete repaint/color change w/ punisher theme
Wheel the hell out of it!!


Jeep has tons of potential w/ the bulk of the $$ and hard work already being done. Plans are to just modify what's there to make it perform better, and make it more reliable. Will post pics soon, was getting dark when we got back home.

Big thanks again to Sean for playing "gofer" and hauling it w/ his truck/trailer. Fun trip as always!

[hadfield4wd]

It's all downhill from here.

[YJeXtreme]

Should have some tires on it by end of next week... Going tomorrow for titling/tags... Let it run for a little more tonight... A/C works, Heat Works... checked all the lights, horn...

Need to finish hooking up the parking brakes. get inspection... Then ASAP get new catalytic and O2 sensor... it runs like sh** with the "simulator" and gutted catalytic...

goes in/out of 4Hi, and 4Lo easily... Still need to pull starter and figure out why it grinds after Jeep is started... only lasts for a second. I think it may need to be shimmed out, as previous owner said it was worse before he spaced it with a pair of washers...

Only another minor issue found. The center dash-vents close up when they should be on... so the vacuum lines in the dash have a leak or crack somewhere...

[YJeXtreme]

Well finally got tires on the jeep today. 35x12.50s, and I've learned a few things...

1st, the 2" steel spacers/blocks in rear have to come out, as do the 1 3/4-2" spacers up front... Jeep sits way too high. I assumed so from the previous owners pics, but pics can lie...

2nd, Steering wheel needs to be recentered, no biggie, I'm just OCD...

3rd, Swaybar is a must w/ 6.5" longarm, esp with the added 1 3/4-2" lift spacers/blocks

I've sourced a swaybar from a buddy of mine, will probably pick it up tomorrow, will have to fab up tabs on the axle, and get it mounted.

Other than that it rides fairly well for a huge XJ on 35s, some bump steer, but i expect that w/o a steering stabilizer, and the added blocks/spacers.

Here's a couple crappy cell pics.
127112721273

[YJeXtreme]

So, i traced one of possible culprits of the death-wobble... Upper track bar is mount is either loose, or bushing is shot... Will take a look at it in more detail this weekend, will also be rechecking all the torque specs on the suspension, and getting a roughed-in alignment.

[YJeXtreme]

Started working on the Heep tonight... Fixed the death-wobble, all the front suspension was very loose. Retorqued everything to spec... I also centered the steering wheel up where it should be...

I started tearing into the front hubs, as the locking hubs were tight and sticking... I figured they needed grease, but what I found was a little bit of a shock (shouldn't have been, but eh...) Previously owner played in the mud, and sand (hey he's from New Bern, NC that's all they got!) Apparently though he skipped on putting the inner wheel seals onto the hubs behind the inner bearing to retain all the grease, and keep out water... So here's what I found....

1280127912811278

I've got bearings soaking to remove all old grease, will clean them up, as they are still good, just dirty, and buying new wheel seals, repacking bearings, and reinstall...

Also previous owner did not have the lock nuts torque right either, so bearing pre-load was not correct... Good thing he never drove this thing on the street...

Also due to the Narrow Isuzu D44 in the rear, I'll have to pick up some 1/2" spacers for the rear, as the tires are rubbing the springs... explains now why he was running a 12" wheel for 36x12.50 to prevent tire from bulging beyond the rim edges and rubbing the springs....

[hadfield4wd]

Will 1/2" spacers be enough if you switch rims?

Judging by those bearings I'd make sure they are OK before I put them in. Also check the rear seals etc. Change tranny and tcase fluid just in case. If you played in mud that stuff can get everywhere.

[YJeXtreme]

1/2 will get me by for now to have Jeep inspected and move it around... Will be ordering 1" spacers... Will eventually order new wheels with a more shallow backspacing.

As for the bearings, they are dirty, but after cleaning all the old grease out, they are not damaged. Again he never drove it on the road, just a few offroad trips over the last year. This isn't my 1st wheel bearing job, or go-through on a used vehicle, I'll be going through all fluids, seals, brakes, ujoints, torque specs, etc...

[YJeXtreme]

Well, Thought I had the death-wobble fixed... spent rest of last weekend busy out of garage, but made time to check over more stuff... Need to get a spare set of hands to work the steering while I check over everything again. I will be checking the caster angles, as I've been suggested by a few that it can cause the same issue. I also need to check the toe in/out measurements. I refuse to install a steering stabilizer to just band-aid and mask over the problem.

Here's what I know...
-The Trackbar to Draglink angles are near identical, the lengths are now within 1/4" of each other... So should be no issue there.
-All connections are tight and torqued properly.
-There is some play in steering box (but is expected w/ 217k on body/gearbox) not enough to cause this deathwobble...

I'm open for any more ideas suggestions... As everything else has checked out... Also will take recommendations on an alignment shop who knows 4x4's and has no issues checking specs on a very modified vehicle running axles from another make/model/year with 6.5" lift... Must be in Roanoke Area.

[JDCompton328]

For alignment shops, try merchants on Franklin Rd. in Cave Spring. Ask to speak with DC. As for Death wobble, have you looked at the ball joints and all suspension bushings? Jack up the wheel just about an inch or so, then put a big pry bar under the tire and pry up on it. Watch the ball joints, shouldn't move at all. Also you can try to wiggle on them by prying on the inner C vs. the outer knuckle both ways and watch for movement. Do the same thing with the control arm joints. I hate death wobble. You're also on the right track checking the caster angle and toe. 4-5 degrees of caster is ideal and set the toe at 0. Give me a call if you need any help!

josh

[YJeXtreme]

Thanks Josh, I completely forgot about DC.

I've checked balljoints, tie rods, all bushings etc.. are in good shape, apprx 1yr old, never seeing street time. However If i get it aligned with no success, I'll be stripping the entire suspension and rebuilding it...

I never had issues with the YJ, but again I put it together, and knew it was done correctly w/ proper torque, and retorqued after some driving.

[YJeXtreme]

I've had enough with dealing with previous owner's work... He's got 2 RH threaded links on the draglink, so adjusting it means completely removing it... and the tierod link doesn't want to budge either... I'll be ordering the new tie-rods for 1-ton chevy end conversion, ordering new ball joints, ujoints, wheel bearings, and inner spindle bearing... I'll also be ordering a new pitman arm, as it's wore out already, due to not being installed properly...

As for Caster, it's sitting between 6-7*, I'll be turning it down more to 5 or 5.5*

When I'm done, there will be no reason for the jeep to wander of have death wobble....

[xjtrailrider]

Damn at 6-7* that thing should be centering good. I run 4-5* on my trail rig.

If DC can't help you out the guys at Brambleton Alignment can, see Pete or Glenn

[YJeXtreme]

It center's good, but at about 35mph if you hit a bump, it get's DW bad... I'm going to pull the entire knuckles apart, and check torque on the Ball Joints... I can only imagine what they're like, especially if like all the other fasteners...

[xjtrailrider]

Every time I have had DW it has turned out to be the upper/lower control arm bushings

[YJeXtreme]

Thanks Jon for the info...

I'll be tearing apart entire front suspension soon as I get the $$ for the parts... I know it was set with far too much toe-in at about 1/8-1/4" Also, the pitman arm is already wore out... Thanks to the lack of torqueing it properly...

[hadfield4wd]

1/8" toe in max.

[YJeXtreme]

I spent last night and some of today working on the Jeep, and have finally eliminated the death-wobble... Previous owner may have reamed the pitman arm too far, as there was a home-made spacer/washer ontop of the pitman arm, that I failed to put back in place (hey it was a square piece of 14g steel with a hole drilled in it) So after further inspection i realized an extra spacer/washer was needed, b/c the draglink tierod was not fully seating/tightening up into the pitman arm. Replaced washer, retightened the pitman arm(still has minor play, and will be replacing ASAP)

I also reset the toe-in, but doing it on my own, i'm a little too far in. I'll sort that out next weekend, but now I can safely drive it for inspection sticker... I will be redoing the draglink and tie-rod link in the near future, as for the draglink has 2 RH threads and the tierod uses 2 LH threads... So there is NO adjustment w/o removing the ends.

[YJeXtreme]

Haven't updated this in awhile...

Still had some deathwobble issues that kept showing themselves... Here's a run down in now specific order of what's been done since the last post...


Replaced Pitman Arm
Rebuilt front wheel bearings/races
Removed steering box, repaired broken bolt, reinstalled w/ new Grade 8 hardware
Reset alignment
Retorqued Trans/Long Arm crossmember to frame
Installed 1.25" spacers in rear as the Isuzu D44 is much narrower than factory 8.25


Ordered my new 7/8" Weld in Bungs, will be installing them this weekend. Currently scouting for a cheap set of 6 lug 15x10" wheels, preferably 5 so I can mount my spare.... Hoping to order new front R.E. 4.5" springs soon, new poly bushings for rear springs, ubolts from Roanoke Springs Works, and get my BTF Anti-rap perches cleaned up and ready to install... I'm also planning on making my own set of Rear Shackle drop/relocation brackets. I will be doing them off the most recent HD Offroad Engineering design, I can't see paying $140 shipped for them, when for about $20-50 I can make them myself. Once I have all the suspension parts ready, I will remove rear axle, remove old perches, install the BTF perches I have, remove the 2" blocks from the rear, install the new bushings, shackle drop brackets, replace Ujoints in the D-shaft, then install the front springs. I will still net 6.5-7" overall lift even w/ the 4.5 springs, due to the mounts on the Early Bronco D44 front...

[xjtrailrider]

You passed me yesterday on Franklin Road, i was towing a white box trailer with my Commander.

[YJeXtreme]

Yea, I was heading to Salem/Glenvar area or coming back from there fixing some wiring gremlins on a 89 XJ for someone. Now helping him sort out details on an upcoming lift, and axle swap...

[xjtrailrider]

Yea, I was heading to Salem/Glenvar area or coming back from there fixing some wiring gremlins on a 89 XJ for someone. Now helping him sort out details on an upcoming lift, and axle swap...

You were headed towards Salem, I was coming home from mowing yards and making money!