The Jeep Cherokan’t
September 29, 2021
Unsure why to this day, Jay fell in love this 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport from Dayville CT. This was a beautiful transition of beater cars from the terrible Honda Ridgeline to this terrible Jeep Cherokee. With 196,624 miles on the engine, the only known issues included the check engine light (for emissions), a broken exhaust, fender flares, quarter panel repair, a small unibody patch and it needed an alternator.
October 17, 2021 - October 20, 2021
First thing tackled on this hunk of junk was the unibody frame that needed to be patched. As pictured on the right, this patch was located just behind the rear shock on the passengers side of the vehicle. With his very rookie-like welding skills, Jay managed to patch the spot enough to pass an inspection.
November 2, 2021
Despite other pressing issues that needed attention in order to pass an inspection, Jay couldn’t stand looking at the rust underneath the Jeep. He decided to coat the underneath with POR 15 to prevent future rust and help preserve the metal that was still in good condition. Older Cherokees are known for rusting underneath so Jay wanted to take action early (for once).
November 7, 2021 - November 20, 2021
Next important issue in line; the quarter panel. The drivers side quarter on this Jeep was destroyed. Due to the salt, weather and about 197,000 miles worth of use, this quarter panel was beat all the way through. Jay first attached an inner sheet metal piece so that there was another support for the outer side of the panel to weld to. Despite the hideous looking patch on the backside, it actually fit in well. The outer panel was then installed and blended into the rest of the old Cherokee body.
You can see the finished product on this Burnout Extra.
November 20, 2021
After touching up the inner fender ridges with bed liner spray paint, Jay needed to have a permanent fix due to the wide tires. Instead of spending $140+ on new fender flares and needing to trim the original body in the process, he decided to fix the old ones. Although not shown in the picture, he welded bolts to the fender flare brackets in order to securely hold them to the car. Then he attached the flares to the now very secure brackets and realized it was stronger than the original Jeep design. In the end, it was worth the time fixing the old ones and it looks great.. from afar..
November 20, 2021
On the very same day he fixed the fender flares, Jay hopped in his car to drive back home, put his foot to the brake pedal and the pedal went straight to the floor. There was no brakes. Turns out, the front left solid brake line blew a hole in it and needed to be fixed. Instead of taking the time and making multiple bends to exactly match the shape of the old brake line, Jay drilled a hole in the inner fender and went straight up to where it needed to attach.
November 30, 2021
Jay fired up the Jeep for the first time in about a week and what happened? Gas starting spewing everywhere under the car. So bad that he lost about a half gallon in a matter of 20 seconds. When taking apart the fuel pump assembly, he noticed that the fuel pressure regulator had a crack in it. Rather than just ordering the part for $125, he decided to order the whole assembly for less than that.
December 7, 2021
Put simply, Jay got his Jeep stuck on a friend’s lawn. Yep, almost level ground. The ground was soft and it had rained for the previous 3 days. On top of that, the four wheel drive linkage was previously broken, so when he got stuck he was in 2WD. Despite going underneath the car and switching the Jeep to 4WD, he dug himself a bigger hole. Ultimately, he had to have a truck pull him out of his stupid mistake.
December 7, 2021
Once no longer stuck, Jay drove his now really dirty Jeep directly to the inspection shop. Although they admired the fact that he had already been “off roading”, the Jeep did not pass. Shockingly, it only failed for three things; windshield wipers (the blades were worn all the way down), the exhaust (it was side-piped.. ..they didn’t like that), and a muffler (there simply wasn’t one).
February 2, 2022
With the 4WD still not fixed, Jay thought it was a tremendous idea to take the Jeep out in the worst snowstorm of 2022. As expected, he got stuck again on an unpaved road with a foot of snow trying to make it up a hill. Revving at high RPM and trying to get momentum didn’t work either and he ended up sideways in the road. The Jeep overheated so bad that he shut the car off, walked home and asked his dad to tow him out. He later found out he had blew a crack in the side of the radiator. Idiot move, $130 fix.
February 4, 2022
Once done with the exhaust, wiper blades and the unexpected radiator swap, Jay took the Jeep back to the inspection shop and passed!
Update: A week later, the exhaust fell off..
April 18, 2022
After not having rear brakes for approximately 2 months, Jay decided to finally change the rear shoes. While doing so, one of the brake drums split at the curve. But really, what else would you expect..
Watch the Drum Brakes Tutorial in this Burnout Extra