After a year and half of owning two Monte SS's, I decided it was time to buy something with a little more room. I knew stuffing two kids in carseats in the back of a 2-door G-body was more than my aching back could handle, so I wanted something with 4-doors, 4WD, and more cargo space than my wife's Jeep Liberty. I'm a Chevy guy at heart, but I know Jeep builds great trucks. My family has a long history with them, and they've been very reliable.
Personally, I like the styling of the '97-'01 Cherokees - they're a little more rounded off than the '84-'96s and the interior is much quieter and more comfortable. After looking at a few overpriced XJs, I found this Patriot Blue '01 Sport with 48K miles on it in March of 2005 at Encore Motorcars on Rt. 46 in Pinebrook. It has power windows, locks, and mirrors, along with the torquey 4.0L and AW4 auto trans. It was bone stock when I bought it, and "reasonably" well-maintained. After a new set of plugs and a fresh air filter, she ran much better. I also installed a new serpentine belt and changed the driver side window regulator - it was bad when I bought the truck.
Here's my Cherokee at the dealership the day I picked it up; bone stock, but not for long!
Now, of course I can't leave anything alone. A search of Cherokee parts on Ebay turned up these cool gauge overlays from 4x4mods.com. They come in several different colors, so my wife and I chose silver to match the stereo and contrast the white numbers in the gauges.
Next, I decided to remove the body side molding from the doors and front fenders since they were faded and scratched. I even got rid of the Cherokee Sport emblems and 4x4 badges off the rear quarters.
Since this is a "street-only" Jeep, I decided to improve it's ride and handling. The latest additions are the 18" Magnum R/T rims, Bilstein shocks, and Moog thermoplastic swaybar bushings and endlinks.
I've also added clear corner lights and set of Pilot driving lights below the bumper. And check out the body-colored bumper endcaps and airdam. My friend Ted sprayed my original parts to match the truck.
Another cool and cheap mod. "Jeep" brakelight!
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