My 2006 KJ 'Cherokee'

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harman5

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Hey all,

Long time lurker, first time poster, this forum has been a great help to me over the past few months, helping me to solve what few minor issues I've had with this vehicle, so I thought I'd give back a little :D

Here's my 2006 KJ 65th Anniversary edition 'Cherokee'. I picked it up in February and so far not much done to it, apart from:

1 - Replace original green grille which had broken tabs with a chromie (might Plastidip it black...) :rolleyes:
2 - New A/T tyres (cheapies - but some good reviews on other forums and in other research I did...)
3 - ScanGauge II (bought it eons ago, but very handy to see what the engine temps are up to)
4 - Some fluid changes (engine oil and oil filter, t-case and front diff - haven't done rear diff yet but poking my finger in, the oil is surprisingly clean so I might leave it for now)

So far (touch wood) I've had little issue with this rig. The main issues being (in no particular order):

1 - Hood was difficult to close and latch, requiring quite a slam; eventually when closing it, it slammed shut and later the interior latch wouldn't open it :eek: - found out the hood latch was slightly loose and was shifted down ever-so-slightly eventually moving down too far so it wouldn't open. Had to cutaway the plastic guard through the grille then open the latch manually and loosen the latch mechanism, move it a few mm upwards then re-tighten - was very thankful to have that fixed myself...

2 - The serpentine belt fitted to the car originally when I bought it was way too big, and I got mighty squeal from it when using the A/C for first few seconds. Replaced that with a shorter belt and I did the auto-tensioner while I was at it

3 - The original highway spec tyres were too big (255/70/R16) and rubbed - replaced them with the 245/70 A/Ts and all is well.

4 - There might be a slight weepage from the rear main seal? A pic below may show it.

5 - Park brake (e-brake) was out of adjustment so tried the drive-in-reverse-apply trick and this seems to have tightened it up somewhat.

6 - One front lower ball joint has a torn boot and the inner control arm bushes are apparently on their way out (no noises yet though), and UCA ball joint boots are also torn, all this will be addressed in upcoming 2" lift.

7 - There is a bulb out in the dash instrument cluster which means my tacho is slightly dim in one portion (from 4k RPM to 6-whatever...not that I'll need to rev that high normally anyway :p). I'm yet to find a definitive answer on bulb type so if anyone knows (and is still reading this), please let me know.

But all in all, very happy with it so far. Being it has a little over 190,000 km (around 118k miles), there is little to fault. The 4x4 modes work great (I found that rolling very slowly with main transmission in N is best way to achieve success with transfer case shifting into any mode), have done some trail-driving here and there so far, the rear axle articulation is really impressive and the LSD works well. Plus driving around in Full Time mode in the rain, it's quite sure-footed. And I love the low-range crawling ability!

The only thing I'm not too fond of is the fuel economy from the 3.7, although I do get around 21 MPG with 'normal' driving (going easy on it).

There is the usual front suspension sag and I have a 2" lift kit ordered and cannot wait to have it fitted along with the usual suspension bits refresh! I will be sure to post pics once I have it fitted. And then hopefully I'll be more confident taking it on some trails, sand, etc.

Right now in Australia there is a crazy demand for 4x4s (international travel very restricted due to COVID-19), and I'm glad I managed to get my foot back in the market (this is the fourth 4x4 I've owned so far) with this rig for way less than what you'd expect to pay for some other types of 4x4s out there.

Onto the pics... :)

Earlier pics from how it looked when I first got it:

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What she looks like currently:

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LibertyTC

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Yes very nice, like the green a lot. Never driven on the right side, wouldn't mine trying that one day!;)
 

harman5

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Man that undercarriage is to die for.

Gyro
Cheers yeah it's pretty clean thankfully.

I just ran VIN check the other day and turns out the previous owner hasn't done the rear lower control arm recall but judging by lack of rust, it's probably not required. Even so, I think it's probably worth it anyway to get brand new control arms lol (plus a trailer hitch)
 

LibertyTC

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The bushings inside the Lca can cause driveability issues.
At hwy speeds if you apply gas and then suddenly release gas pedal, if you feel front jumping around a bit, replace the lower control arms.
The rear axle can shift a bit because of the worn bushings mainly axle side.
 

harman5

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The bushings inside the Lca can cause driveability issues.
At hwy speeds if you apply gas and then suddenly release gas pedal, if you feel front jumping around a bit, replace the lower control arms.
The rear axle can shift a bit because of the worn bushings mainly axle side.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated
 

harman5

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Hopefully not wasting money on a spacer lift but a full spring OME lift at 118,000 miles

Definitely not a spacer kit :) This is a quality set of coils by an Australian manufacturer known as 'Lovells'. They do coils and leafs and shocks for a large range of vehicles in Australia and have some great reviews. Looking forward to having these fitted. They are 'medium duty' coils but offer a 50mm (2") lift. The way my Jeep is sitting now, I expect about a 3" lift.

I'm also having fitted new UCAs, lower control arm front bushes, and ball joints. A nice suspension refresh for the old girl :cool:
 

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tommudd

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Are the rear shocks the right length for the lift?
Wonder if they ship to the USA?
Can not find out if they do or not
 

harman5

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Are the rear shocks the right length for the lift?
Wonder if they ship to the USA?
Can not find out if they do or not
The shocks were included as part of the whole 'lift kit' as offered for sale online by a parts store, so I can only hope so...they are 'Webco' branded shocks which aren't the best from what I hear, and have a bit of a shaky reputation in years gone, but on the whole, I think they have been improving. Fingers crossed...

The coils on the other hand, being Lovells, score very good reviews.

They may ship to the US, look them up here: https://www.lovellsauto.com.au/

I just had the lift completed yesterday, and happy to report so far, I'm quite impressed. Definitely a big improvement over the sagging stock coils.

Now, there is a little bit of vibration coming from what appears to be the rear propellor shaft, but ONLY on heavy acceleration. During 'normal' driving and cruising (even 60mph+) there is no vibes.

I've read that these heavy acceleration vibes are a somewhat common occurrence post-lift? My uni joints look quite dry, so I may hit up a driveshaft balancing place and see if they can replace the unis and perhaps re-balance the shaft if required.

Measurements wise, from bottom of the rim to inner lip of fenders:

Pre-lift:

653mm front
685mm rear

Post-lift:

743mm front (90mm / 3.54" increase)
752mm rear (67mm / 2.6" increase)

Onto the pics...may need two posts for this lol...

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harman5

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Second round of pics lol...

Lower inner front control arm bushes, lower front ball joints and new UCAs with ball joints were also done as part of this lift.

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tommudd

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Need rear bumpstops for sure, did you get extended for the front ?
No bumpstops you will be blowing the shocks out for sure
Vibration is not a common problem unless your rear U joints are bad
take it for a few mile run then lay your hand on the ujoints if hot they need replaced

To get correct height measurement measure from middle of the wheel ( hub/centercap ) to bottom of the flare
measuring from ground up tells nothing at all
 

harman5

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Need rear bumpstops for sure, did you get extended for the front ?
No bumpstops you will be blowing the shocks out for sure
Vibration is not a common problem unless your rear U joints are bad
take it for a few mile run then lay your hand on the ujoints if hot they need replaced

To get correct height measurement measure from middle of the wheel ( hub/centercap ) to bottom of the flare
measuring from ground up tells nothing at all

Thanks Tom, no mod bump-stops at all... :( but I'll look into the hockey puck idea as I've seen on this forum...and see about fronts (Teraflex or similar)

Good to hear vibes aren't common, after the commute this morning u joints were bit warm but not overly so? I'll get a booking with a driveline shop soon in any case. The U joints look original (and dry as a bone) and probably due for replacement along with driveshaft re-balance possibly


The measurements were from bottom of alloy rim so not down to the ground...I know some ppl measure from hub centre as well, but it should still be valid from bottom of wheel rim
 

tommudd

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Not valid at all if you want to compare with anyone else
Everyone does middle of wheel to bottom of flare
 

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