I was looking into building a cherokee before building my 4runner and there is a lot of kits that are very reasonable on price for what you are getting. If you dont have the tools, space, welder and the time to do the work yourself then this might be the way to go.
I would say 33's minimum and 35's would be better....the 35's may take you into the realm of regearing....but it depends on what you want to do.
Lockers for sure.....at least one in the rear will take you so much further with ease.
Just do your research.....it will save you so much money in the long run......an old lady taught me a very important quote "The poor man always pays twice"......do it right the first time.
Look in the image gallery at the white cherokee....maybe PM him and see what his setup is.
Get on some of the forums out there....pirate 4x4 and others and start searching the internet......so much information on how to do things yourself on the cheap...........or just go buy a kit.
Had to do the clearancing of the knuckle trusses for the rock rings to clear and then started building it up. Got the birfs martacked in the last post and greased them up and loaded the knuckles....got all the seals in and installed a backing plate eliminator to get rid of the old brake dust shield. You can see the offset of the IFS hub bodies that will add 1.5 inches to either side to match the IFS width rear axle (dont have to use wheel spacers this way).
I drilled the calipers to 31/64" and then tapped them to 9/16" fine thread so that I can mount the caliper on the outside surface of the knuckle mounting ears so that the caliper will match the distance to use the slip-on Tacoma rotors. I used 2 inch grade 8 bolts with a thin washer to line it all up right (the fine thread gives lots of surface for thread engagement).
Got the high steer installed....just not dialed in yet.
She is finally sitting on its own wheels. It sits about an inch low in the rear, this is ok because my plan is to add another leaf to the rear anyways so that it will have some load carrying capablities. (Spare tire, trail fix gear and camping stuff). I will be welding in the shock hoops and mounting the shocks next and will have to set the alignment the best I can for now.
I also have a deal pending on a doubler transfer case setup 2.28 gears in each case with a 23 spline rear case.......whoop whoop!!!!
Well I loaded the rear 3rd into the back and have the axles in, I hooked up the e-brake cables and found they are pretty tight since I moved the rear axle back slightly....they wont handle much articulation before ripping out.....will have to figure out a solution to this (its an automatic...who uses a e-brake anyways).
I have started to get the front axle rebuilt, I loaded the rebuilt 3rd into tthe front axle and installed the beefier axle seals available from Trailgear, way better than stock.
I then started to figure out where I wanted to Martack the axle....I did this using tape on axle and slid it into the differential to a point where my axle is engaging the diff splines and the outer axle seal surface is riding on the axle seal. Every axle is different and it also depends on if you are using a locker or a stock carrier so you need to find this right spot for your vehicle. This takes some trial and error to find the perfect spot but once it is found a small tack weld is made on the axle spline and ground flat and cleaned up. The point of this is to make the axle shaft ride perfectly on the seal surface and make it so the axle will not slide further in and not ride on the seal surface, therby allowing diff oil into the knuckle cavity. This can happen because I will not be using the inner axle clip inside the Birfield joint (this makes for easier trail fixes if needed).
This link makes more sense http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/AxleRebuild.shtml#Martack
I then installed the knuckle bearing races and bearings in the knuckle assembly and shimmed the top and bottom equally to get the 15 lbs of preload on the knuckle bearings (measured with a good fish scale...how they say to do it).
After this the one piece knuckle seal went on instead of using the normal factory felt seals.....this was tough to get on but they are supposed to be far superior to the felt design. I am also using the beefier "Rock Rings" instead of the stock plates that would hold the felts on, this caused a problem I didnt expect as the clearance for the thicker "rock rings" and the one piece seal hit the knuckle ball truss I have welded on the axle.......so I am going to have to take it all apart again and grind down the truss slightly to gain the clearance so the knuckle will have full steering motion.
Oh ya.....got the tires mounted up on the rims.......looking forward to see it on its wheels again.
I was looking into building a cherokee before building my 4runner and there is a lot of kits that are very reasonable on price for what you are getting. If you dont have the tools, space, welder and the time to do the work yourself then this might be the way to go.
I would say 33's minimum and 35's would be better....the 35's may take you into the realm of regearing....but it depends on what you want to do.
Lockers for sure.....at least one in the rear will take you so much further with ease.
Just do your research.....it will save you so much money in the long run......an old lady taught me a very important quote "The poor man always pays twice"......do it right the first time.
Look in the image gallery at the white cherokee....maybe PM him and see what his setup is.
Get on some of the forums out there....pirate 4x4 and others and start searching the internet......so much information on how to do things yourself on the cheap...........or just go buy a kit.
Shock hoops are in.....forgot to get bolts for the shocks.
Got the front axle built today.
Had to do the clearancing of the knuckle trusses for the rock rings to clear and then started building it up. Got the birfs martacked in the last post and greased them up and loaded the knuckles....got all the seals in and installed a backing plate eliminator to get rid of the old brake dust shield. You can see the offset of the IFS hub bodies that will add 1.5 inches to either side to match the IFS width rear axle (dont have to use wheel spacers this way).
I drilled the calipers to 31/64" and then tapped them to 9/16" fine thread so that I can mount the caliper on the outside surface of the knuckle mounting ears so that the caliper will match the distance to use the slip-on Tacoma rotors. I used 2 inch grade 8 bolts with a thin washer to line it all up right (the fine thread gives lots of surface for thread engagement).
Got the high steer installed....just not dialed in yet.
She is finally sitting on its own wheels. It sits about an inch low in the rear, this is ok because my plan is to add another leaf to the rear anyways so that it will have some load carrying capablities. (Spare tire, trail fix gear and camping stuff). I will be welding in the shock hoops and mounting the shocks next and will have to set the alignment the best I can for now.
I also have a deal pending on a doubler transfer case setup 2.28 gears in each case with a 23 spline rear case.......whoop whoop!!!!
Well I loaded the rear 3rd into the back and have the axles in, I hooked up the e-brake cables and found they are pretty tight since I moved the rear axle back slightly....they wont handle much articulation before ripping out.....will have to figure out a solution to this (its an automatic...who uses a e-brake anyways).
I have started to get the front axle rebuilt, I loaded the rebuilt 3rd into tthe front axle and installed the beefier axle seals available from Trailgear, way better than stock.
I then started to figure out where I wanted to Martack the axle....I did this using tape on axle and slid it into the differential to a point where my axle is engaging the diff splines and the outer axle seal surface is riding on the axle seal. Every axle is different and it also depends on if you are using a locker or a stock carrier so you need to find this right spot for your vehicle. This takes some trial and error to find the perfect spot but once it is found a small tack weld is made on the axle spline and ground flat and cleaned up. The point of this is to make the axle shaft ride perfectly on the seal surface and make it so the axle will not slide further in and not ride on the seal surface, therby allowing diff oil into the knuckle cavity. This can happen because I will not be using the inner axle clip inside the Birfield joint (this makes for easier trail fixes if needed).
This link makes more sense http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/AxleRebuild.shtml#Martack
I then installed the knuckle bearing races and bearings in the knuckle assembly and shimmed the top and bottom equally to get the 15 lbs of preload on the knuckle bearings (measured with a good fish scale...how they say to do it).
After this the one piece knuckle seal went on instead of using the normal factory felt seals.....this was tough to get on but they are supposed to be far superior to the felt design. I am also using the beefier "Rock Rings" instead of the stock plates that would hold the felts on, this caused a problem I didnt expect as the clearance for the thicker "rock rings" and the one piece seal hit the knuckle ball truss I have welded on the axle.......so I am going to have to take it all apart again and grind down the truss slightly to gain the clearance so the knuckle will have full steering motion.
Oh ya.....got the tires mounted up on the rims.......looking forward to see it on its wheels again.