My 85' XJ

[Oddly Familiar]

Hey, I'm Oddly Familiar, but you can call me Joe. I just turned 16 and am new at all this. Me and my Pops are fixin up his old Cherokee.

Heres what I'm running:
85' Jeep Cherokee Command Trac Wagon 4X4 with a 2.8 L V-6 3speed auto tranny. My Axle ratio is 3.73/1 sitting on 30" Michelin tires. The tranny is shot, but in working order, the engine is a peice and the whole thing needs a complete overhaul. Everything sept tires are stock, to my knowledge.

Scared crapless:
The other day I took her out for a joy ride and the thing started to shake like hell when I hit 65. Very scary on the freeway. Obviously, I'm still here. I hit the hazards and pulled over and started it up about 10 miutes of sitting there.


Questions I got:
Any suggestions as to what I should do to it? I want to drop a new engine in there, preferably a V-8 and I am in dire need of a good tranny. As well as a working A/C unit. Also, what was the deal with the shakes?

[Dukes69]

You have experienced death wobble. Congrats.

Check for loose steering/suspension items, and replace worn junk. Some one else would be better to answer this, but I think the newer GM V-6's have the same bolt pattern as your old 2.8. some maybe a bigger V6 would be easier.

[Oddly Familiar]

I went and talked to my neighbor today. He has a 97 tj, by the way. He told me that he has heard about people droping Chevy 350 engines in older xj's. The 350's are a high performance engine, but I can buy it as well as a nice 3 speed tranny with it for $1,395. If only I had that much money. I'm not sure how the 350 would hold out in a jeep I plan to use for mudding and crap in, though. Any thoughts about this?

[Comrade Andy]

I went and talked to my neighbor today. He has a 97 tj, by the way. He told me that he has heard about people droping Chevy 350 engines in older xj's. The 350's are a high performance engine, but I can buy it as well as a nice 3 speed tranny with it for $1,395. If only I had that much money. I'm not sure how the 350 would hold out in a jeep I plan to use for mudding and crap in, though. Any thoughts about this?

add the price of axles and transfer case on top of that as the stock ones WILL die very very quickly with the extra torque and HP

you can actually do quite a lot to the stock motor, just chech out some of the chevy/gm performance sites for info... or go the bigger v6 route!