detailbarn
Adventurer
Ok I will try to keep this short but no promises. About a year ago my wife and I decided that we wanted two similar vehicles that would last us a very long time , our hope was to not have to replace them unless they where stolen or damaged in a accident. Our requirements where , classic looks , DIY friendly strong reliable engine/drivetrain , solid axles front and rear, four doors for her two for me. So after searching for about six months we decided our vehicles would be a 2000 Jeep Cherokee for her and a 1989 Jeep Comanche for myself. The Comanche would be a more involved project a ground up rebuild including updating the sheet metal to 2000 pieces as well the complete drive train would updated to new pieces. So while I'm building this I purchased a left over 2006 Unlimited Wrangler to be my daily driver. work truck.
So I purchased a 2000 Cherokee with 100,000 miles on that was extremely clean it was previously owned by a navy officer who used it to commute between bases so it was never abused. I stared the minor mods we where planning on the Cherokee which include a OME lift w 245/65 BFG AT' a Dana 44 rear with ARB locker , ARB Bull Bar, rear bumper with tire carrier and a set of Detours off road slider - unibody stiffeners.
Before starting these mods I wanted to make sure the truck was in all around good order which it is , a few very minor items need attention nothing major. One of the small items is the drivers door hinge is toast , not pulling away from body rather just worn out from alot of opening and closing. No problem body shop is going to take care of it for $250.
Ok here's where my concerns come in , after reading a few things online and speaking to a few body shop guys I'm under the impression that the unibody on the Cherokee will with out a doubt ultimately fail even under normal use. My plan included unibody stiffeners which I thought would help eliminate any unibody problems , now I'm being told these will only make it worse. I've been told that the unibody will fail at the A pillar , effectively bending down and destroying the truck. This is under normal use meaning a grocery getter , I plan to use this truck for my wifes daily driver and a family camping rig that will see regular use on an off road. Nothing major but certainly above average use.
The only fix I've been offered is to cage the truck , which really isn't something I want to do. So here is my dilemma if this is true then these are not the long term trucks I was planning on building so I would rather get out of them now rather than put any more time or money into them. If this is inaccurate then great , I just need to get a definitive answer because I plan to have these trucks for a minimum of 20 years. Thanks for reading my unbelievably long post , and any help anyone can provide is much appreciated.
So I purchased a 2000 Cherokee with 100,000 miles on that was extremely clean it was previously owned by a navy officer who used it to commute between bases so it was never abused. I stared the minor mods we where planning on the Cherokee which include a OME lift w 245/65 BFG AT' a Dana 44 rear with ARB locker , ARB Bull Bar, rear bumper with tire carrier and a set of Detours off road slider - unibody stiffeners.
Before starting these mods I wanted to make sure the truck was in all around good order which it is , a few very minor items need attention nothing major. One of the small items is the drivers door hinge is toast , not pulling away from body rather just worn out from alot of opening and closing. No problem body shop is going to take care of it for $250.
Ok here's where my concerns come in , after reading a few things online and speaking to a few body shop guys I'm under the impression that the unibody on the Cherokee will with out a doubt ultimately fail even under normal use. My plan included unibody stiffeners which I thought would help eliminate any unibody problems , now I'm being told these will only make it worse. I've been told that the unibody will fail at the A pillar , effectively bending down and destroying the truck. This is under normal use meaning a grocery getter , I plan to use this truck for my wifes daily driver and a family camping rig that will see regular use on an off road. Nothing major but certainly above average use.
The only fix I've been offered is to cage the truck , which really isn't something I want to do. So here is my dilemma if this is true then these are not the long term trucks I was planning on building so I would rather get out of them now rather than put any more time or money into them. If this is inaccurate then great , I just need to get a definitive answer because I plan to have these trucks for a minimum of 20 years. Thanks for reading my unbelievably long post , and any help anyone can provide is much appreciated.
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