I just want to check in and introduce myself and also vent a little. I have been lurking around this forum for some time now. I definitely like the idea of exploring vs crawling and am looking to get myself into some offroad adventuring. I purchased my Jeep (my first 4 wheel drive) in February, shortly after my 34th birthday. It's a 2001 Cherokee that had 96k when I bought it, now at about 105k. By VIN it's a sport but it was definitely a government vehicle. It has vinyl floors, no roof rack, ext idle switch, np242, no side trim, skid plates, d30 and d35 with limited slip and abs. Not one spot of rust anywhere.
Here's my vehicular history.
1989 Taurus SHO - First car. Loved it. Stayed stock
1995 Nissan Altima SE - Great car. Kind of an under acknowledged car. 52/48 weight balance. Independent rear suspension. Good torque. Factory LSD. Shorter gears than the non SE trim. I put springs, shocks, huge rear sway bar, intake and header. Great little car that handled awesome.
2006 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V - Bought brand new. Did basically the same mods as the Altima. Ended up getting carjacked and as far as I know it's still evidence in an attempted murder case.
2004.5 VW Jetta GLI 1.8T - Cool car. Recaro's, six speed, BBS Wheels. Liked the car but never really bonded with it.
I also had a 2005 DRZ-400sm for a while. Tons of fun but it ended up sitting for almost 2 years so I sold it.
My current vehicle is the Cherokee
It was completely stock when I bought it but I have been dumping almost every extra dollar into this thing since then. So far I have purchased a set of canyon wheels, 30x9.50 BFG M/T's, OME 3.5 inch leafs with Medium duty coils up front, OME shocks, IRO double sheer track bar, OME steering stabilizer, new head unit and speakers (couldn't deal with the clock radio sound quality), an alarm, and OE fog lights. I have also done fluid changes, tune up, and replaced all of the tie rod ends. So far I am very happy with this thing except for one issue. I have what I would consider excessive front axle movement when hitting big bumps at highway speeds. It is definitely not death wobble but feels like the beginning of it then settles down. I have experienced death wobble on a couple other vehicles before so I am familiar with it. It seems like everything I have done to stop it has had little to no effect, and it is beginning to get frustrating. I have a 40 mile commute and it's all highway. As it stands now the only things in the front end that I have left to replace are control arms, ball joints, and the wheel bearings. I'm shopping some RE superlfex LCA's now and I hope the added length and caster will help settle things. I have pried on the ball joints, they seem fine. I have also checked the unit bearings as much as I can without disassembly and they seem fine as well. The good news is I'm a used car dealer so I get a discount from the parts stores. I turn my own wrenches too, so I'm not paying anyone for that either. I'm sure I will get it sorted, it's just a drag that everything I have replaced so far has been worn out but hasn't helped. We've lifted 5 or 6 XJ's, a couple TJ's and a ZJ for resale and they've all turned out well, so I know it's possible to have a nice mannered lifted Jeep.
Anyway enough griping. The only plans I have at this point are to sort out my front end, replace other worn parts, Maybe a small roof rack if I can find a deal, some flexy control arms, swaybar disconnects, and install my OE trailer hitch and wiring that I snagged off a Cherokee at work
Great site here. Lots of good info and great Jeeps. Here is a before and a current pic of my money pit.
Here's my vehicular history.
1989 Taurus SHO - First car. Loved it. Stayed stock
1995 Nissan Altima SE - Great car. Kind of an under acknowledged car. 52/48 weight balance. Independent rear suspension. Good torque. Factory LSD. Shorter gears than the non SE trim. I put springs, shocks, huge rear sway bar, intake and header. Great little car that handled awesome.
2006 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V - Bought brand new. Did basically the same mods as the Altima. Ended up getting carjacked and as far as I know it's still evidence in an attempted murder case.
2004.5 VW Jetta GLI 1.8T - Cool car. Recaro's, six speed, BBS Wheels. Liked the car but never really bonded with it.
I also had a 2005 DRZ-400sm for a while. Tons of fun but it ended up sitting for almost 2 years so I sold it.
My current vehicle is the Cherokee
It was completely stock when I bought it but I have been dumping almost every extra dollar into this thing since then. So far I have purchased a set of canyon wheels, 30x9.50 BFG M/T's, OME 3.5 inch leafs with Medium duty coils up front, OME shocks, IRO double sheer track bar, OME steering stabilizer, new head unit and speakers (couldn't deal with the clock radio sound quality), an alarm, and OE fog lights. I have also done fluid changes, tune up, and replaced all of the tie rod ends. So far I am very happy with this thing except for one issue. I have what I would consider excessive front axle movement when hitting big bumps at highway speeds. It is definitely not death wobble but feels like the beginning of it then settles down. I have experienced death wobble on a couple other vehicles before so I am familiar with it. It seems like everything I have done to stop it has had little to no effect, and it is beginning to get frustrating. I have a 40 mile commute and it's all highway. As it stands now the only things in the front end that I have left to replace are control arms, ball joints, and the wheel bearings. I'm shopping some RE superlfex LCA's now and I hope the added length and caster will help settle things. I have pried on the ball joints, they seem fine. I have also checked the unit bearings as much as I can without disassembly and they seem fine as well. The good news is I'm a used car dealer so I get a discount from the parts stores. I turn my own wrenches too, so I'm not paying anyone for that either. I'm sure I will get it sorted, it's just a drag that everything I have replaced so far has been worn out but hasn't helped. We've lifted 5 or 6 XJ's, a couple TJ's and a ZJ for resale and they've all turned out well, so I know it's possible to have a nice mannered lifted Jeep.
Anyway enough griping. The only plans I have at this point are to sort out my front end, replace other worn parts, Maybe a small roof rack if I can find a deal, some flexy control arms, swaybar disconnects, and install my OE trailer hitch and wiring that I snagged off a Cherokee at work
Great site here. Lots of good info and great Jeeps. Here is a before and a current pic of my money pit. 
