Jeep XJ tips and tricks to keep your Cherokee on the road or trail
My old Gabrial air shocks were leaking on my 1991 Jeep Cherokee XJ, so I ordered a set of Monroe Max from Amazon. https://amzn.to/2niPoCh
I began by spraying the top bolts with PB Blaster. https://amzn.to/2nj1taA There is access to the top of the bolts through some openings in the bodywork. My top bolts came out easily.
Continue reading “Jeep Cherokee XJ rear shocks”On my last trip, I noticed that I had a leak in one of my trailer tires. I did not spot the injury on the road so I just kept an eye on it and made sure to keep refilling it with air.
Back at the shop I removed the tire and spotted the problem right away. There was a nail in the tread.
Continue reading “How to Plug a Tire”I don’t remember how old my front shocks are. I got them several years ago. I was feeling some looseness in the front so I thought it might be the shocks.
On my last trip to Windrock, I noticed quite a bit of play in my steering. Driving in dirt and rock was fine but paved roads like P1 were kinda scary. Highway 116 was downright terrifying.
When I got home I checked out the steering. I found the track bar was really loose. It had play on both ends. Since this one did not have that many miles on it, I decided to upgrade to the JKS track bar.
Continue reading “Jeep Cherokee XJ Track Bar Upgrade”I like the stock seats in my 91 XJ. Actually, they were taken from a 90 donor but are still similar in shape and function.
One of my favorite upgrades to my XJ has been the LED lights. They really light up road signs and anything reflective like stripes on the road or center reflectors. They also work great in the fog and rain.
The exploding GM limited slip differential
While towing to Track Night at Atlanta Motorsports Park I noticed a strange noise. I kept thinking it was from the trailer or the weight distributing chains. I stopped several times to inspect the trailer and hitch but kept finding nothing wrong.
I noticed the noise was mostly after left-hand turns and was getting worse. As I crossed the railroad track 9 miles from my destination there was a very loud pop. That was when I realized the noise was coming from the rear differential of the Suburban, not the trailer.
Continue reading “G80 time bomb differential”Stopping a common Rattle on the Jeep XJ
One of the common problems with Jeep Cherokees with the AW4 automatic transmission is that the flex plate bolts back out after a while.
The flex plate is bolted to the torque converter with four relatively small bolts. With miles and time they get loose.
The noise is often diagnosed as a rod knock or something more severe and the Jeep gets sold cheap or scrapped. If all the bolts fall out the Jeep will have no drive in all gears and be misdiagnosed as a transmission failure.
Continue reading “Loose Flex Plate Bolts”
Tom and I decided to try out the Georgia Traverse Trail that runs across the northern part of Georgia. It is documented on the web site GeorgiaOverland.com.
For our first excursion, we chose the section that is between our homes. There are two alternate paths around the Cohutta Wilderness area – since the road through was closed years ago. We decided to run both and make a loop.
Adding LED dash lights to the XJ
I recently swapped in a used cluster to replace mine where the odometer had stopped working. The bulbs in it were pretty dim. I decided to try using LED bulbs.
Continue reading “XJ LED dash light upgrade”