1998 Jeep Cherokee (The XJ)

Lost Love

Man I loved this XJ!  I also loved to hate it at times, but I suppose that's how it goes.  After getting rid of the '96 and tooling around in a '98 forester for a while, I decided it was time for another XJ.  I got to work adding/fabricating the following: TNT Customs unibody stiffeners, TNT Customs rock sliders, TNT Customs HD track bar bracket, Advanced Adapters SYE, custom rear hitch rated bumper, custom from winch bumper, custom HD roof rack, custom 1/4" belly skid plate, custom suspension using Jeep JK front control arms.  I have many miles of memories with this Jeep in Colorado and around Moab.

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Full disclosure, my first custom suspension used johnny joints and poly bushings and was crap, so the lift shown here is my second go around with the JK control arms and Ballistic Fab lower mounts, which was incredible actually.

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In the end The XJ was heavy due to all of the 1/4" plate I used everywhere, and while the engine still ran great, I was longing for a v8, so I sold it in late 2010 to a guy on the Rock Frogs 4wd Club forum.  In 2015 I saw it driving around in Conifer after I had completed X4 in the Landcruiser.  It was cool to see it was still on the road.

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