The Maintaining and Building of Jan the WJ

Stotch

Stotch

Caught the Bug
In preparation to having my third son a couple of weeks ago we purchased a 2004 Grand Cherokee Overland H.O. so I wouldn't have to drive a mini-van (Jeep - Van, Jan, get it? ;) I refuse to ever pay for a mini-van) full of kids. So here's Jan the day we got her:
Jan.jpg
She looks so short...
JanAndButters.jpg
She will mostly be a troop transport, but we would like for her to be our go-to camping and towing vehicle as well. It will mostly be maintenance to start, but hopefully I'll get to the fun stuff before long; so here we go...
 
Congrats. They truly are an all around great affordable vehicle for camping/exploring and still have a good setup for family and gear. And yes Dynatrac can make a ProRock 44 for one. :beer:

Which engine did you go with? EDIT: Just saw the HO, nice!
 
Sweet another WJ! And another silver one at that!! They are super capable rigs even with super minor mods. You'll enjoy owning one.
 
Front CV Shaft

One of the first things I noticed was a bad CV joint in the front. Thankfully a new shaft wasn't that expensive.
CVBefore.jpg
The hub bolts gave me a little trouble, but two 13mm sockets and a trip to the store for a new one got it off.
CVPulled.jpg
Out with the old, in with the new.
CVCompare.jpg
New brakes as well since they were grooved out (probably from all the CV grease sprayed on them).
brakesBefore2.jpg
All back together.
CVInstalled.jpg
 
WJCO said:
Congrats. They truly are an all around great affordable vehicle for camping/exploring and still have a good setup for family and gear. And yes Dynatrac can make a ProRock 44 for one. :beer:

Which engine did you go with? EDIT: Just saw the HO, nice!
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Yep, I was super excited to find an HO. She's peppy for sure!

NecessaryEvil said:
Congrats! You will enjoy the WJ.
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longarmwj said:
Sweet another WJ! And another silver one at that!! They are super capable rigs even with super minor mods. You'll enjoy owning one.
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Thanks!
 
Rear Driveshaft Bearing/Seal

When I got a closer look under her backside I noticed a leaking rear passenger axle seal too. This was a new one for me, but it went pretty painlessly.
rearAxleShaft.jpg
Started cutting of the old with the Dremel.
cutting1.jpg
More cutting...
cutting2.jpg
Pressing on the new seal, bearing, and retainer.
pressed.jpg
The brakes were coated in oil and the pads were low anyway so all the brakes were done as well.
brakesBefore1.jpg
All back together!
brakesAfter.jpg
Changed the fluid too for good measure. It took two bottles of 75w140 synthetic gear oil with 4oz of limited slip additive. The old seal was leaking a little also.
diffFluid.jpg
 
Stotch said:
When I got a closer look under her backside I noticed a leaking rear passenger axle seal too. This was a new one for me, but it went pretty painlessly.
View attachment 251906
Started cutting of the old with the Dremel.
View attachment 251902
More cutting...
View attachment 251903
Pressing on the new seal, bearing, and retainer.
View attachment 251905
The brakes were coated in oil and the pads were low anyway so all the brakes were done as well.
View attachment 251907
All back together!
View attachment 251900
Changed the fluid too for good measure. It took two bottles of 75w140 synthetic gear oil with 4oz of limited slip additive. The old seal was leaking a little also.
View attachment 251904
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Looks like you got the rear 44 too, sweet. FYI, that pumpkin is aluminum if you weren't aware. Just an FYI.
 
WJCO said:
Looks like you got the rear 44 too, sweet. FYI, that pumpkin is aluminum if you weren't aware. Just an FYI.
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Yup, I knew it had the D44 when I bought it, but just read last week that it was the aluminum differential case. This girl seems to have all the bells and whistles from 2004. I just keep finding more things I like about her. It's probably more capable than my Wrangler in some scenarios.
 
Stotch said:
Yup, I knew it had the D44 when I bought it, but just read last week that it was the aluminum differential case. This girl seems to have all the bells and whistles from 2004. I just keep finding more things I like about her. It's probably more capable than my Wrangler in some scenarios.
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Good to hear. It is a very similar platform. Are you planning to lift it?
 
WJCO said:
Good to hear. It is a very similar platform. Are you planning to lift it?
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Yes, but not much. 2-3 inches of lift with 31" BFG KO2 tires (possibly 1" spacers). I want to do a coil lift and shocks all around and have been looking at either Bilstein 5100s or Rancho 9000s, but I can't find much in the way of 2 or 3 inch coils. I did find some OME coils: #2936 (front) #2944 (rear), but I can't find much about how much lift they would provide for the V8. Any thoughts/suggestions?
 
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Stotch said:
Yes, but not much. 2-3 inches of lift with 31" BFG KO2 tires (possibly 1" spacers). I want to do a coil lift and shocks all around and have been looking at either Bilstein 5100s or Rancho 9000s, but I can't find much in the way of 2 or 3 inch coils. I did find some OME coils: #2936 (front) #2944 (rear), but I can't find much about how much lift they would provide for the V8. Any thoughts/suggestions?
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If you're only planning on 31s, I would really recommend a budget boost and shocks even if you have to trim a little. That way you won't have to deal with the drive shaft or steering angles. Sucky part of lifting the WJ is that you can't move the track bar up, it's stuck under the coil.
 
I put 3 inch coils from IRO on mine and been really happy with them. My drive line angles haven't been an issue. I am able to run 31's without trimming. Just a thought if you want to go coils. Nice looking WJ. Hope you really enjoy it.
 
Iac

I've had some trouble with Jan having a inconsistent idle while in park/neutral so I took a look at the throttle botty and found that the IAC module was pretty dirty. I cleaned it up with some TB cleaner (and the throttle body while I had it open) and she's got a perfect idle now! Gotta love an easy fix.
Here's the IAC before cleaning, pretty gunked up:
IAC.jpg
I didn't get an after, but you can always Google WJ IAC if you want to see what it is supposed to look like (metalic and shiny).
 
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