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Thread: Fraz's Budget Build - '96 XJ Cherokee Sport

  1. #1
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    Default Fraz's Budget Build - '96 XJ Cherokee Sport

    Hey everyone

    I met a few of you last night at the club meeting (Lachlan in the Ultimate Suspension shirt), and some have probably seen my build up over on Ausjeep. I'll just cut and shut the build process to date on here and will update as more gets done.

    A lot of the younger guys at work had started picking up old solid-axle vehicles for VERY cheap. Before I bought the XJ, there was an '88 GQ Patrol with 400K+ on the clock, an '84 60 series cruiser getting rebuilt and a leaf/leaf hilux just at work alone. Everyone kept pestering me to get something old-school that I could go to town on, but do so without breaking the bank.

    After talking to a number of overseas and local distributors, I settled on the XJ Cherokee. The main reason was the 5-link front end, which offers heaps more flex in the front from standard than any of the above vehicles. I just had to find the right one at the right price.

    Anyway, a very clean '96 Sport came up on Gumtree for $1400 with auto issues. I haggled the seller down to $900 without rego, and the deal was done. Picked the car up the next night and towed it home. Put 6 months rego on it the day after that and she was good to go. Drove it around for a couple of weeks, and found a couple of issues:
    -Wouldn't start when hot, and would randomly stall when changing gears after driving around town;
    -Had to change gears manually, meaning a loss of 2nd gear.
    These were rectified, which I'll cover later.

    The whole point of this build is to create the most capable off-roader for under $9k. So far I've spent around $3k including rego, insurance, servicing and initial purchase, so I'm off to a fairly good start. I'll be building as much as I can myself for this (rear bar, shocks, etc.) to keep the cost down. And, of course, a photo of it on the night I picked it up:



    Anyway, onto the build-

    First issue: Inconsistent starting habits.

    After testing the injectors, fuel pump and relay, dizzy and everything else I could think of, it was left down to the Crank Angle Sensor. Sure enough, it was malfunctioning. New one was ordered through work and fitted it up, all good. Starts up within the first couple of cranks now.

    Next problem: Non-auto auto.

    I had to manually shift through the gears as the auto box would simply try and take off from a stand-still in 4th if left in D. This was alright for a while, but the TC wouldn't lock-up on the highway either, which was seriously killing the fuel economy. I know the XJ's aren't great on fuel, but 15L/100km on the highway was a bit crap.

    Anyway, after testing the inhibitor switch and checking all fuses and relays for the transmission ECU, the only thing left was to pull it apart. Did some forum surfing on AusJeepOffroad, and found a member with identical symptoms that were fixed by replacing the solenoids. Ordered new solenoids, along with a filter kit and new fluid.

    2.5hrs on the hoist, and it was all done. Had a little issue with the clearance between the pan, exhaust and crossmember, but got there in the end. New gear all fitted up with fresh new oil, and it was running like a dream. Now need to replace the trans. cooler lines as they're leaking.

    Next up - New tyres.

    I swapped the original steelies and road tyres with a friend who has a TJ he's trying to sell. Also helped him out with a few bits on his 80 series, so got 31x10.5R15 retread muddies on TJ alloys for free. Just a shame they didn't fit in the guards properly haha.



    Then the suspension turned up at work. 2" Coils, 3" leaves, Superpro bushes and U-bolts for now. Fitted them up and wondered why it looked funny.



    I now leave my toolbox in the boot to keep the back down and make it ride a little nicer, at least till I build new shocks for it. :lol: Having the toolbox in the back is also just a bonus for when it requires impromptu maintenance.

    Onwards and upwards!

    Ordered a set of sliders off the AusJeep forum, then they sat in the garage for about a month before getting fitted up. Fitted them over 3 nights with lots of swearing, bloodied knuckles and broken drill bits.

    Next - Steering Bits. Replaced the Tie Rod and panhard with HD units from Wooders Garage, and the Steering Damper with a HD Foam Cell unit. Then got a rough alignment (castor is still WAY out).

    Finally - New Bump-stops and coil-spacers. 30mm spacers from SuperPro for the front, and Rubicon Express 1" bumpstops from Wooders Garage. Took a little creative thinking to get them fitted, but all in now and good to have two bump-stops again.

    Here's how she sits today with close to 300kg in the back :



    And a gratuitous flex shot:


    Managed to finish building the front shocks at work on Tuesday. Machined the cross-bar for the lower mount after work, and pressed the bushes and cross-bars into the shocks before I left. Got home and started to pull out the original monotubes. Got them out without too much fuss thankfully, as this was only the beginning.

    Out with the old:


    Compare the pair:


    It wasn't until I fitted the new shocks to the vehicle that I realised my mistake - I'd forgotten to measure the size of the lower shock eye.

    The eye is a little too big for the mounting bracket, so the shock won't sit down properly. I spent so long making sure I'd grabbed the right cross-bars and was getting the lengths and valving right, that I'd forgotten to make sure the lower eye would actually fit and just assumed it would.

    Missed it by that much...


    I'll grab the dremel from work tomorrow and grind out the mounts where necessary. On the bright side, the new bump-stops look like they'll limit the up-travel just enough for the shocks to work on full up-travel. Down travel isn't an issue, as these shocks have more than enough movement in them with the standard control arms (620mm/375mm open/closed).

    Also managed to pick up an old alloy non-winch bar from work for very cheap. Currently painted white, but I'll be sanding it back and painting it in grey hammer-tone before fitting it to the XJ. Will also be modifying it a little to get the approach angles as good as, if not better than standard. Might even make a winch mounting plate out of 8mm steel C-section for further down the track.

    Anyway, that's all for now. I hope to meet more of the members out on trips and such, and should hopefully be able to organise a trip or two myself once I get to know this place a little better.

  2. #2

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    Great thread!!!!! Welcome an xj is a fantastic vehicle. I've just sold mine so I can afford to continue work on my cj7.
    The xj was awesome and never failed to get me where I wanted.
    Excellent all round vehicle can be mild or wild tourer to rock monster. Very versatile.
    Welcome hope you have a great time in the club.

  3. #3

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    Me likee the Xjee...

    I've got one to putt around town in and to take off road a bit as well. No lift and not really planning to put one on. We've swapped a Chrysler 8.25" in the rear with a full Detroit and went ahead and replaced the front D30 for one I had with a Spartan locker. Both were already 4.10 geared. Latest mod has been bonnet louvers which added some bling...(Or so says Steve F! LOL). Fun little sleeper so far...
    It is not he who gives abuse that affronts, but the view that we take of it as insulting; so that when one provokes you it is your own opinion which is provoking.<br /><br />–Epictetus

  4. #4
    Public Officer Steve F's Avatar
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    For those lower shock mounts just make a spacer and raise the mount slightly if you have the compression available in the shocks. As an aside you cant really go wrong with an XJ

    Cheers
    Steve
    Public Officer - Member #076

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    Club Member redrubi's Avatar
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    Welcome to the club Mate!!

    It's not a JK! But it'll do!!! LOL

    Cheers

    Andy & Charlene

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    Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve F View Post
    For those lower shock mounts just make a spacer and raise the mount slightly if you have the compression available in the shocks.
    I thought about that, but it's just as easy to grind out the opening with a dremel. The closed length is already pushing it with the RE 1" bump-stops, so I'd rather keep it lower if I could. I haven't had a chance to take it off-road yet, but there's still some bits and pieces that need doing and checking before I take it out in the rough stuff.

    Cheers,
    Fraz

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    Ground out the lower shock mounts on the front and fitted the new shocks. Aren't Dremel's wonderful things?






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    Bought a full set of second hand RE Super-Flex short arms off rob.rock on AJOR and fitted them up last night. Then proceeded to take it for it's first drive off-road with the guys from work.


    Got off the main road, aired down to 15psi on the 31's (could have gone lower, 15 didn't bag them out too much) and disconnected the sway-bar. I've gotta say, I was pretty impressed with how it all went. A few of the guys commented on how stable it was, and it was definitely different to driving the Triton off-road. No more picking the perfect line to keep the front wheels on the ground. Just point, shoot and maybe a little left-foot brake to keep it in check.





    Next up - Drop boxes and longer shocks on the front (again). Then SYE and CV-style double-cardan tail shaft.

  9. #9
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    Some new bits and pieces have been added, and I've also taken it for a full-days off-roading now too! Still getting used to driving it off-road, as the body tends to follow what the rear wheels are doing, where I'm used to the body following the IFS setup in the triton.


    First off, I fitted up some RE Swaybar Disconnects. Need to relocate the "disconnected" fob, as it scrubs against the tyre at full compression.


    Anyway, I had to re-do the cooling system as the original radiator was leaking like a sieve. I would have to top the overflow bottle up every day, asd it was leaking from a couple of different places. I've since installed an ADRAD HD Copper/Brass 2-row radiator, and it's fixed the leaking issues. The original rad in mine was already a copper/brass by the looks of it, as it only ever overheated when stationary. Because of this, I've also replaced the viscous fan coupling with a Dayco unit. The fact that I can actually hear the fan now is a big improvement over the original, and it doesn't go over 105 in traffic either!


    While I had everything apart, I fitted a 7-row auto cooler in front of the A/C auxiliary fan. Now there's no issues with the auto overheating in stop-start traffic, causing it to slip and carry on especially in reverse. I've also wired up the aux. fan to a separate switch so that I can turn it on whenever I want to keep the engine and auto cool.


    Original auto cooler above the new 7-row unit:



    All fitted up, sits nice and snug behind the grille:




    Fancy wiring for A/C fan:



    Next round for the cooling system is to replace the water pump, thermostat and housing with High-flow ones from Hesco. I'll also (hopefully) be fitting up a fiberglass cowl to the bonnet to help improve the engine bay temps. I'm currently halfway through installing the new audio system though, so that may take a while before I'm back on track. :lol:

    Also, a few action shots from the Lithgow trip last month:









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    Latest edition to the budget build is a set of Adjustable 2" Patrol rear shocks. Pulled them off a vehicle at work as the customer wanted gas-charged shocks instead of the foam-cell adjustables, and they'd only been on his vehicle 3-4 months. They're a little longer than the OE's on closed length at 415mm, however it's nothing a 2" bump-stop spacer can't fix. Open length is around 650mm, so have removed the brake-line from the mount for now and cable-tied the hard-line further back at the bend.


    Down-Travel with old shocks-



    Old vs. New



    Down-travel with new shocks-



    Brake line mod-



    Also in the process of installing the new stereo set-up. 4x 6.5" 90W RMS component speakers and an 8" 300W sub in the back. Powered by 2 amps; door speakers run through a 4x100W amp and the sub has it's own 300W monoblock. Topped off with a Pioneer bluetooth and USB single din head-unit, it should be nice and clear at all volumes.

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