John LaBombard

"Curb My Enthusiasm”

This is proving to be a lot HARDER than I would have thought.
When my wife and I first decided that we were going to get our 15 year old his first car we decided on a couple simple ground rules:
Had to be Safe
Had to be Reliable
Since we are on a tight budget she was only letting me spend $3k. I know how special my first car was to me so I felt a lot of pressure. I wanted to get him a truck and started looking at pickups but soon realized that buying a used car has changed since I bought my first car back in 86' (1978 Ford Thunderbird $400). Living in Upstate NY, I couldn't find anything in our price range that was not rusted out or 270k+ mileage.
I started looking at the Cherokees and fell in love with the XJ body style. I started digging through the forums and religiously checking Craigslist. In our area, I found a few 99-01 XJ's between $1700-$2900 but all of them had rusted out rockers/floors or were already lifted and I didn't trust them.
I have never done a lot of work on cars (I have done my own brakes and oil changes that is all) and did not want to buy a XJ that we had to fix before he could drive it. So, I started looking outside the area and found some great XJ's in PA, OH, MI, NJ, MA.etc. I was spending so much time investigating Cherokees that I forgot it was for my son and not me.
I was checking CL one morning and saw a 01' for $2500 that was just posted (by this time I could tell anyone what XJ's were for sale (and for how long) in any eastern state. The listing was very short and just said "107,000 miles first 2500 takes it" and two pictures of the side and back. The XJ was black and the pictures were dark so there was no way to tell what kind of shape it was in. We wanted to get the vehicle for him for Christmas as a surprise and it was just 3 weeks away so I called the seller and went on lunch to check it out.
I pulled in the driveway and was really surprised to see the XJ was in really good shape. I have never had Jeep so all I had to go on was instinct and what I have read on this forum. The body was straight, no dents, some scratches and the clear coat was coming off the hood and roof. Interior was perfect no stains, rips or smells just a lot of dog hair. There was a quarter size spot of rust on bottom of driver’s door and one the same size on the roof but it was just surface rust and being from NY I have fixed much worse before. Rockers and underneath were clean I couldn't believe the shape it was in. I took it for a test drive and 4Wheel shifted fine and no wobble. There was a little play in the steering but I figured it was just because I was used my Speed3. No unusual noises and it stopped and started no problem. Checked the fluids no burnt smells or discoloration.
I noticed inspection was a year expired, Seller told me it was his sons and he got a job in Florida and didn't take it with him. He said he takes it to corner store every now and then so it gets started and driven. I looked at garage floor and driveway and no oil stains, tires were about 75%. While I was looking at it he got two calls asking about it (maybe it was a sales trick but I bit). I gave him 100 then and ran to the bank for the rest (I was so pumped that I found a good one before Xmas that I didn't even try to haggle)
Got it insured and registered and took it to local shop for inspection and to make sure it was safe to drive. Now I am freaking out hoping that I didn’t just get taken and second guessing whether he would like it. I got the call from the mechanic and he said it was all set, it needed a wheel bearing and a headlight. He let me know he hasn’t seen one that clean in a while. I was very happy and relieved I would have to hear any @#$% from my wife for buying a heap. I hid the Jeep at my parents until Christmas morning.
Now all I had to do was look up all there was to know about mods for the XJ, the more I looked the more I got hooked. I literally didn’t sleep because I was more interested reading through builds and issues. I still checked Craigslist religiously (at this point I hadn’t admitted to myself I was now looking for me) to see if I bought to early or missed a good one.
Finally, Xmas and I know I was more excited than anyone. We waited till everyone was done opening gifts and I asked him to grab something out of my car and he flipped out (I had parked it in driveway overnight) I never saw him so excited and my wife and I were Heroes and of course she took all the credit.
So naturally through the day the conversation moved to mods for his jeep and we explained that we bought the XJ and he had to pay insurance and maintenance. He was surprised I had answers for most of his questions (thanks to hours and hours and hours of this forum).
He had saved up 1500 for a car on his own from his job reffing youth hockey. And he wanted to start with a lift. I asked a few questions and from other threads we decided on the lift and accessories I listed above. Now it has been almost a month of waiting for it to get above 15 degrees so we can put it in has been torture for both of us.
I have been searching for one for me (I have finally admitted I have a problem) and I have found a few but have also been reminded by my better half that the other two kids and bills must come first. So I am still (secretly) searching for the right one and I will find a way to make it work. (so if anyone has a 4dr Gun Metal blue 99’ that you want to have a good home let me know) (SERIOUSLY)

I was talking with my buddy and his father-in-law has a heated garage with a lift that we can us next weekend!!! We started with the PBBlaster this morning and will be ready.

extrashaky

Good looking Jeep and a great story.

One other mod I would suggest you do immediately (if it hasn't been done already) is to install a headlight relay harness. The headlight circuit on these Jeeps runs full power for the lights through the headlight switch. Over time this circuit builds up resistance, causes the headlights to go dim and throws off a lot of heat, which further damages the headlight switch and can cause it to fail. Failure in this case can range from the headlights just going off to the switch catching fire and burning out your dash.

The relay harness powers the lights directly from the battery, sending only enough current through the headlight switch to trip the relays. You gain a significant amount of brightness in the headlights (for safety for your kid driving it at night), and you protect the headlight switch from damage and failure.

The harness below costs $19 and comes highly recommended around here. It'll take 20 minutes to an hour to install, depending on your proficiency with a screwdriver and a drill and how badly your headlight bucket screws are rusted. There are other more expensive harnesses out there as well, but this one will get the job done.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CERAMIC-H4-...-/330997592807

John LaBombard

Funny you say that, I just ordered the updated harness from JHC7399 https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f74/he...pgrade-219596/
should be here tomorrow. Although I had no idea of the fire issue, i ordered it because of the claims of better power throughput.

My son just looks at me when I start talking about what we should do to the XJ and says "You know it's mine don't you" I just walk smile and turn around.

ijeeep

Justy, take note of what everyone is saying about MT90 or Synchromesh.

Years ago the was a copy/paste error in an edition of the service manual and it incorrectly specifying GL-5. It keeps getting repeated.