My new Jeep

[festerw]

Well to make a long story short I traded my Dakota in for a 1998 Jeep Cherokee Classic, so I had to show off the Jeep and the used Snoway I bought to go on it.

The Jeep, I looked it over for a good week before I finally decided to make the jump, not a spec of rust on the entire body and 81K on the clock. Best part is no more payments and actually got $1000 back from the dealer (Cherokee was $8000, they gave me $9000 for the truck). I just finished a tune up on it and it runs great, it still had the original plugs/wires/cap/rotor 1eye2 and ran suprisingly well considering the best plug had a .045 gap, the worst was around .060.

http://www.dodgetrucks.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Picture_002.jpg

and the Snoway....I've been tinkering a bit, in case you didn't notice. It needs a few things (especially some paint), but I only paid $500 for it so I can't complain.

http://www.dodgetrucks.org/gallery/data/500/medium/Picture_0031.jpg

So now the question is what do I need to do to beef up the front end. I was thinking of some Grand Cherokee coils and air shocks up front and maybe a set of air bags in the back (after I replace the sagging springs back there).

[bud16415]

Will

Looks sweet !!!!!!!

When I added air bags to the back of my F150 I actually think they worked better with weaker springs that forced the bags to work more. And the way I saw it the springs main job became keeping the axle lined up. I don’t know if that’s the right way to look at it or not but you may want to do the bags first and see what you think.

I’ll be looking for you around town now. The plow looks like a diamond in the rough also.

Good dealing

Bud

[wyldman]

Nice truck.:D

I don't think the GC coils will fit the Classic.There are HD coils available,as well as air shocks.

If you have the Snoway stripped down,I can give you some hints to beef up the weak spots. ;)

Beef up the outer ears on the quadrant.The rectangular tubing will begin to twist.Bend the trip spring mounting tabs so the springs are aligned perpendicular to them.Otherwise the trip springs eye bolts will snap off often.Pay close attention to the pump mounting plate.It will bend,and crack,and stress the pivot area,which pulls the bushings out of the aframe and the quadrant.

Good luck with the new truck,and the plow.It should be a good little plow truck.

[festerw]

Thanks guys!

Chris thanks for the tips on the plow, I'm having Jerre install if sometime this summer so I'm sure it'll get a few more upgrades along the way.

The only real problem with the plow is the guy I bought it from pretty much cut the harness out of it, nothing too bad but a pain none the less. I had to replace the main connector out front because all of the wires were spliced together rather poorly about an inch back from it and I'll have to put a new wire in the control harness because the casing is worn off. Other than that I'll need a new pivot pin and some new bolts to go across the top of the Lexan and I'll probably try out a urethane edge on this one, I'm tired of 'grading' the parking lot at work, LOL.

[snowplowjay]

Good luck that truck will do well for you. My cherokee has never let me down........

:D


Jay

[Pickering Snow]

Fester

Looks great and the xj is a good rig better in my opinion than the grands and with the 4.0l you will get years of service from it like most said you can get spring upgrades easy ad air shocks A little history with jeep when chrys bought jeep from amc it was the xj your model that brought them back from years of neg revues the xj and the tj Wrangler both make good compact plow vechs i love our tj for plowing and once in awhile in the summer i still take it ok trail riding good purchase and smart move you will be happy!!!

[SIPLOWGUY]

Very nice! Good luck. You made a wise choice! I have just one question: How can you live in Erie and not have a Blizzard?

[festerw]

Very nice! Good luck. You made a wise choice! I have just one question: How can you live in Erie and not have a Blizzard?

Because I'm broke, LOL.

Just an update, got the plow installed last week, looks good but I'll need some front end support I think. I also got the B&M transmisson cooler in, the Airlift Ride Control bags in the back done and the trailer hitch done. I have to say I was fairly intimidated by the tranny cooler but it really wasn't a big deal. Biggest PITA was the hitch that rear bumper is a pain and a half to get off. In case your curious here what the hitch is for. I have to say it pulls it pretty well.

[Jerre Heyer]

Fester, I see you finally got a little polish on that boat. Looks good.

After putting that baby snoway on the Jeep I don't know if the front air bags are a necessity or not. I know mopar made original equipment for them but discontinued them. Do a search here on on the dark side site for the part # I know I posted in in the past.....Then again the part # from the manual is 82202562 from MOPAR. If they don't have it avail then maybe an aftermarket search.

[festerw]

Jerre I'm still undecided as to whether or not I need anything. It seemed to ride pretty low but there also wasn't any ballast so I'll have to get out my measuring stick and see where I'm at with some weight.

Hopefully the boat will get in the water this week, the teak oil is still drying on the swim platform

[Stik208]

Are the Cheerokee's full framed or Unibody construction? And what is the difference?

Jason

[Mowerpan]

Cheater:P I like how you have the boat so it looks like its hitched to the jeep but the the trailer jack is down:P

[festerw]

Cheater:P I like how you have the boat so it looks like its hitched to the jeep but the the trailer jack is down:P

LOL I was waiting for someone to catch that, I forgot I had the camera until I had everything disconnected.

[Will]

Are the Cheerokee's full framed or Unibody construction? And what is the difference?

Jason

Unibody. That means the frame and the body are all one piece. Most other trucks have a ladder frame that the body is bolted down to.

Unibody's arn't as strong as full-framed vehicles, which is why us Cherokee guys have to be a little more careful :p