I haven't posted here in years, mostly because I haven't driven my Jeep in years.

I'm the original owner of bone-stock '96 2-door SE/5sp. 149k miles, I've been moving it around my yard for nearly 10 years. Decided to sell it and got the old gas out, repaired the wiring the mice ate... they can eat a lot of wire. Original clutch and the motor runs strong. Cleaned it up and posted it on craigslist. The wife saw it cleaned up and asked what it would take to make it road worthy again. Anyway, we're going to keep it. I can turn wrenches. I'd really appreciate your feedback. I've got a million questions. Most of them can wait but current pressing ones are:

*Where can I get nice looking (stock if possible) seat covers and can I still get cab and cargo carpet? Maybe even new interior door panels and arm rests? Chrysler says(on-line anyway) they still have the headliners

* I need to replace shocks and springs and at a minimum, control arm bushings. I'll keep the wheels and tires stock but I would like to lift it a couple (about 2") inches to make it easier to tow my boat. The rear sits lower than I like for a boat trailer tongue. I think anything over 2" would look silly with stock wheels and tires. Does anybody make decent a 2" lift kit? I've looked at OMIX-ADA's stuff with the front spacers and rear extension shackles. They also have a heavy duty rear leaf. But I have no idea if it's any good. No experience with this stuff. Also looked at Rough Country and Rubicon Express Super-Ride but nothing is lower than 3-1/2"
I'd really like your feedback on which direction I should take. This thing will probably never go off-road, It might be a daily driver (when not in my work van) and used to tow the boat a mile and a half to the ramp.

Again, any feedback would be appreciated.

Neil

 

HI, SN, sorry you didn't get any responses sooner. I think your title didn't get much attention.

I don't know where you can get seat covers, but I suggest Craigslist or this forum's parts and parting-out sections to see who has what near you.

For example, I've got decent-ish carpet for a 94, and good carpet for a 97 up for sale, and a good headliner for the 97. Should fit.

Omix-Aida is good stuff. Nothing wrong with it. I don't know about lifts, because I have no interest in it, but you could ask about that part of it in the Modified forum.

If'n it were me, I'd put some decent replacement rear springs & shocks on there, and use an adjustable height hitch, instead of lifting the Jeep.

 

Following,,,

I recently purchased a 97 sport 2wd and once I get the current problem,,,suspect blown head gasket,,,taken care of it will be on to the suspension. My plan is to replace all of the springs, bushings, and shocks. Looking for a heavy duty stock spring or maybe 1" lift.

 

You can try Morris4x4 for the seat covers. They have a lot of those kind of accessories.
https://www.morris4x4center.com/inte...eat-covers.htm

My rear springs were sagging so we got a main leaf from the junkyard, cut off the eyes, and added it
plus another small leaf to the pack. That gave the rear about 2" over stock height. That was five years
ago and it has come back down maybe a half inch. I also replaced the stock u-bolts as they were not
really long enough to safely accept two leaves. All in all a cheap, easy solution.

 

Thought this thread died, sorry for not responding. My wife has an -'05 Grand Cherokee and had to do struts, shocks, front driveshaft and pulled the front hubs to replace the brake dust shields that had rusted in to a swollen mess. That took a while, not as young as I used to be.


I've done some research and some cleaning. I took off one seat cover (R/F) and cleaned it. Getting it off as a chore, hope I can get it back on. Soaked it laundry detergent and a little bleach over night and it came clean. I might try to do the others while still on the cushions. Not sure yet. I do need to pull the seats to get the carpet out. I want to see how bad the floor looks. I's had a water leak coming in from the blower fan for years (best I can tell) and there's no standing water, just wet carpet. So I figure the floor is rusted through. Looked like a mouse nest came up through the defroster vents when I turned on the blower... right before it quit.



Looked into OME for springs. Looks like they can do what I want without spacers and shackles, not a fan at all of shackles if I don't really need them. I do need to bring the whole thing up an inch or two to keep it out of the water when launching my boat. Looks like I can just do taller springs, front and back and no other lifting. My leafs are bent upside down. Don't want to try to save those with add-a-leafs. I still think I'd have weak leafs if I did that.



The clutch is original. Chrysler doesn't have the clutch anymore so I'll do an aftermarket. Not exactly sure which. Haven't gotten that far yet. I'll also have to put in a new blower, and repair the A/C... Any info on repairing/troubleshooting or replacement of the A/C would be helpful. Also the clutch. I don't need anything fancy, the factory one was great. Pretty sure I can install new fabric on the headliner.



I won't get to this project for a little while yet (maybe 6 weeks) so I'd pretty much like to have all my parts before I get started and knock it out quickly. I've started soaking all my suspension and seat mounting nuts and bolts in PB-Blaster. Hopefully it will help when I get to that point. I know I'll be fighting rust. Drilled out the rear shock bolts years ago and have stainless in there now. Still... might have to get a hotter torch when this gets going. We'll see.


The front brakes/calipers are fairly new but I'll do all new rear brake parts, also needs parking brake cable... too stretched to adjust. I'll need to redo the brake lines and hoses. It would be great if I could get oem stuff so the look clean.



Sorry it isn't 100% stock with the taller springs but everything else pretty much will be.

 

You are wise grasshopper. If your springs are that bad, standard OEM will get you what you need. I used Crowns, and they gave me about an inch over stock height.



Yep. Lots have. Plenty of threads here on how to.

Or you could look for a good used one.



You will need the torch on the spring bolts. They are held in place with red Loctite. They are designed to not move without serious heat. If you put a long enough cheater bar on them, you can break things, but you won't move that bolt.

 

How hot of a torch will I need? Will my blue-can propane be wasting time?

 

I'm getting ready to do my leaf springs either this weekend or next weekend and when I posed this question the response was basically - MAPP might work better but Propane certainly is capable. You need about 500F in order to melt the loctite. I think that it's a question of getting the heat to the threads since those bolts are freakin' beefy. (M14x2.0x120)
One thread that I read had an interesting approach - cut the old springs and bushings off first, then you can get heat right at the bolt where it threads into the welded nut. I think this is the approach I'll try first.

 

Factory must have forgotten the Loctite when mine was built (or it was built on a Friday). I used no heat at all to loosen them.

 

That could happen, Earl, or maybe somebody replace them at some time and didn't use factory bolts. Buy a set at the dealer and you'll find they come with the red Loctite already in place.

If'n it were me, I'd use MAPP gas.

 

I bought it from the original owner who my wife worked with when she bought it new. So I know the bolts weren't replaced. BUT the reason for no Loctite is because it was built on 8/26/96. A MONDAY! That's worse than a Friday. lol

 

Mine came out without heat too. Half inch air impact and they were out in 2 seconds. They are indeed factory leafs with the correct part number too. I'll have to check the build date haha.

 

Don't get my hopes up for an easy job you guys!

O.P. - For clutches, the Luk set has a great reputation. I just put a Sachs kit in (it had the all metal TOB) and it's quiet and smooth, but the pedal is softer than I'm used to - though people say it will stiffen up with time, so we'll see.

 

Cool thx. I'll look at Luk. I'll also replace the linkage. It's a mess. More than once I've had to get under it and bang things around to get it out of 4wd. I see some aftermarket stuff but the original lasted a good while. I see original clones available.



I'm expecting to use heat. Been looking for a reason to buy a MAP torch for years anyway. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. I like the idea of cutting the leafs.

 

It does make life easier. An angle grinder with a cutting disc works great.