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With all the major rust holes repaired I moved onto the underside. Since there was no structural damage to the unibody I decided to wire brush it all and put a heavy coat of Chassis Saver over the whole thing.
I don't have any pictures of it but I did all the brake lines in stainless. I bought the Dorman kit for something like $140?... A deal if you ask me! Fit right up without much bending and will last longer than the car will. I also extended the rear soft line... in case I decided to.. ya know... lift it
After I Chassis Saver'd everything and my heart was content... It was time for paint. Couldn't bring myself to buy the tiny cans of Duplicolor for a ridiculous price... So I found a Rustoleum color that matched pretty good. Prepped my metal and threw a couple coats on. The match isn't perfect but it'll do.
Now it was time to decide what to do for suspension.... soooooo many options. I didn't want to go too high as it was going to be my daily driver but I also wanted to have some decent capability at a reasonable cost.
Narrowed it down to something between 2 and 3 inches... but what really made the decision was I couldn't justify having to buy an adjustable track bar... a custom driveshaft... and an SYE just for an extra inch of lift.
So 2 inches of lift it was.... but how? Well I knew I needed new springs so I started researching stock spring replacements and found that the Upcountry springs already provide an inch of lift. After reading through all the Dorman vs Crown debates... I decided to go with Dorman as the reviews for their springs seemed better. ( I know... I know... they're probably made in the same factory anyway)
Everything I read said that the Dorman 929-301 (https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-47809-929-301.aspx) springs were the Upcountry package springs. I did some more digging and found that Dorman also makes a seemingly heavier duty spring that is the REAL upcountry package spring. I've never seen it mentioned anywhere but it's the 97-547 (https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-137319-97-547.aspx) and it shows a 7 in arch length on their website compared to the 929-301's 5.5 inch arch length. Did I make a new discovery in Cherokee leaf springs? Perhaps...
Those are some clean stickers! If you don't mind I'll take the measurements from that skid plate. Did a quick search and I like the look of them... plus it would give me some extra protection for up front. Never been wheeling before so I'm sure I'll need it
For the other inch I bought a pair of Zone 1" shackles... they have to be the beefiest piece of the car. Finding shocks was a headache just like the springs. OME and Bilsteins were out of my budget but I also didn't want your standard cheap white body shock. I think I found a good compromise with Zone Offroad's shocks. They were cheap... but are apparently vehicle specific and most people who buy Zone kits seem to like them. Thought I'd give em a shot and upgrade later need be.
While waiting for the suspension components to arrive I addressed the issue of bump stops… the bolts broke for the old ones and I had no way of getting them out. Tried drilling… E-Z outs… and and air chisel with no luck. Finally just bent the nuts up enough that I could put a bolt head in the frame and weld it in. Worked out pretty great.
With everything I wanted to do underneath done… I bolted the axle In and rolled it outside for the first time in months. I was pretty shocked at how high it sat in the rear… I figured that the brand new springs just needed some miles on em to settle.
03-28-2024, 08:50 PM
