[NoColoradoGT]

Well, I'm in the process of buying supplies for a week of hell coming up in the next week or so.

I'm getting ready to paint the Jeep and do a mini build here pretty soon. I'm shooting for a start date of between December 1-11. I need to find a good 7-8 days of sunshine because I'm going to be driving the Mustang that entire time and obviously: Mustangs+Summer Performance Tires+Snow=Fail.


Here's my to do list:
Full Paint (1 quart of Rustoleum Auto Primer, 16 quarts of Smoke Gray Rustoleum, and 1 quart of Rustoleum Automotive Clear Coat)

Shampoo Bucket seats and Rear Bench

Rip out all the old carpet and put in new carpet (the good cheap stuff from Lowes for like $.50 a Square Yard)

Replace My Broken Dash

Replace my U-Joints

Replace my Rusted out Muffler and give her new exhaust.

New Tires

(And crossing my fingers on possibly installing some new leaf springs.)

AND...be under $600 I'm going to be making some scrapyard trips no doubt.


My goal is $600 or less and under 7 days.


Here's the Current Condition.
1990 Jeep Cherokee Laredo - 149,xxx miles, 4.0 I-6, Bad Paint, Baaaad Carpet, Broken Dash, Bad U-Joints, Bad Tires, Bad Leaf Springs, Bad/Rusted Through Muffler. But she drives great and gets me through the Snow. She deserves some quality treatment.











Any comments or advice?

[HMUSN]

That dash will take about 2 min to replace. Also, (not that this wouldn't be over the $600 mark) if you are going to replace the leafs in the rear you may as well upgrade and lift it while you are in there. Take off that broken bug deflector. lol

My 92..

[flyin ryan]

here's my little brothers next to my syclone.. and yeah im no help sorry

[NoColoradoGT]

Oh yeah, the deflector is already gone. Nice XJ bud!

And yeah, I'm hoping to get a small lift on there soon, but money is tight because I'm working on my teaching degree, so I just wanna replace the rusted leaf's right now and then do a suspension overall in a couple months or so.

I think I may have found a donor jeep for parts too so some of the replacements should be easy to swap out.

On the dash piece, it looks like it's just three screws and it's out, is that really the case?

[HMUSN]

Thanks, and yes that it pretty much it. I assume you are just talking about the broken dash overlay of course. If you are just looking to replace rusty springs then hit up a junk yard like you said. I would wait on the tires unless they are dangerous. You will want to upgrade once you lift it. I have a 4.5 lift on mine.

[HMUSN]

So is this a DD for you or are you planning on modding it?

[NoColoradoGT]

It's a daily driver between November-March while it's snowing. I also like to go camping a lot since Estes Park is only 35 minutes from where I live in Colorado, so I take this up into the trails sometimes. And while some of the trails get freakin nasty, it's definitely not rock crawling. That's why I don't need a lift for now, but later on, it'll get a small lift so that those trails will get easier. The trails I take definitely push a stock set-up to it's limits, but it's not something that'll tear your suspension to shreds you know?

[HMUSN]

I hear ya. It is still a must that you lift it and turn it into a bad ass rig. It's a Jeep thing.

[NoColoradoGT]

Originally Posted by HMUSN I hear ya. It is still a must that you lift it and turn it into a bad ass rig. It's a Jeep thing.

oh trust me, It's comin' man!

I didn't think I was going to get this excited about a $300 Jeep. I think i'm going to be hooked very quickly. hahaha

[03SonicBoom]

Originally Posted by HMUSN That dash will take about 2 min to replace. Also, (not that this wouldn't be over the $600 mark) if you are going to replace the leafs in the rear you may as well upgrade and lift it while you are in there.

Originally Posted by HMUSN Thanks, and yes that it pretty much it. I assume you are just talking about the broken dash overlay of course. If you are just looking to replace rusty springs then hit up a junk yard like you said. I would wait on the tires unless they are dangerous. You will want to upgrade once you lift it. I have a 4.5 lift on mine.

There's a lot more money to properly lift the Jeep than just replace the stock leafs (unless there's some difference between the 1990 Cherokee and 2000 Cherokee). My buddy did just a 3" lift (because his rear leafs were sagging BAD) and it cost him close to $5k in parts (all work done ourselves). I'm sure it could be done for a little less b/c he didn't cut any corners. But it'll still be significantly more expensive than just swapping in new leafs.

I believe to go 4.5" requires a long arm conversion and more money (but I'm sure you have more knowledge about this then I do).

[HMUSN]

Originally Posted by 03SonicBoom There's a lot more money to properly lift the Jeep than just replace the stock leafs (unless there's some difference between the 1990 Cherokee and 2000 Cherokee). My buddy did just a 3" lift (because his rear leafs were sagging BAD) and it cost him close to $5k in parts (all work done ourselves). I'm sure it could be done for a little less b/c he didn't cut any corners. But it'll still be significantly more expensive than just swapping in new leafs. I believe to go 4.5" requires a long arm conversion and more money (but I'm sure you have more knowledge about this then I do).

Well of course. lol They are pretty much the same as far as the suspension goes. A 4.5 doesn't require long arms. That's were his money went.

[03SonicBoom]

Originally Posted by HMUSN Well of course. lol They are pretty much the same as far as the suspension goes. A 4.5 doesn't require long arms. That's were his money went.

He didn't lift it 4.5", he only went 3". But he went with new everything down to the nuts and bolts. That's what happens when someone has too much money and is a perfectionist.

[NoColoradoGT]

So I started some of the build today during my day off work. I went into the dealership and just used a bay. I managed to put on 4 brand new tires (Goodyear Wrangler Radials...not the best of course, but they'll do), complete alignment, replaced both U-Joints in the rear drive shaft and tightened my loose-ass steering column.

All to the tune of $296. =]

I love working at a dealership. hahahaha