'87 Cherokee Laredo

It is usually cheaper to find a similar Cherokee with all of the parts that you need and switch them over. Rusted but running well will be a good candidate for you! JMHO later, dave AKA vwdoc1

She just didn't want to bother with it. She had her boyfriend fix it the fastest and cheapest way possible. I did talk to him and he said it could go back to 4wd if I want to put the time into it. My brother in law also looked at it and said it could go back. I just need to know what parts to get it there and likely I'll be doing it myself. I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to vehicles. Just a partial idiot. :)

Kidd

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:

He didn't tell me anything except that it can be fixed "And go back to

K.

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:

You should look for off road or Jeep clubs in your area so you can find a 'real' 4x4 mechanic to give it a once over for you.

Pretty hard to guess what was butchered on yours. You might only need a driveshaft or even only just a vacuum line or you might be better off buying a different Jeep if it needs everything...

Mike

Kidd Anderss>

Thank you, Will. It still drives fine. Just only as a 2wd. I'll find out what I can but I'm pretty sure the front drive shaft is gone (does that sound right if it's still driveable?). I don't know squat at this point, but at least I'm willing to learn. Thank you for having helpful advice.

K.

Will H> Sounds like you may need to look for yourself. If it still has the

Unless they swapped out the whole front axle you probably have at least all the pieces aside from the drint drive shaft. Visual inspection: if the front axle has a large "pumpkin" in the middle of it (to the drivers side of center), you have the axle still in place. If you look at the ass end of the transmission and see something like a shaft coming out on the front drivers side, you have the transfer case still in place. If there is a relatively short drive dhaft in the front, you've got basically the whole 9 yards.

The 87 had a split axle on the passenger side that used a vacuum motor to lock the 2 halves together. Come back with which, if any, of the parts you have: front axle, transfer case, and front drive shaft and we can start to figure out what you need to look at nexr.

No problem driv> Thank you, Will. It still drives fine. Just only as a 2wd. I'll find out

Okay, I had it looked at again and was told the only thing missing is the front drive shaft. You described what to look for very well so I'll also look for myself today after work. If someone explains things to me, I can understand so thanks. I'm hoping that's really all it is. I'll double check but let's assume that's correct. Where do I go from here? Can I get a drive shaft from a junk yard and would it even be worth it? Or do I need to just say screw it and get a brand new one?

Thanks again.

Kidd

Will H> Unless they swapped out the whole front axle you probably have at

They had some reason for pulling the drive shaft - maybe just a bad u-joint. The real answer lies in getting the Jeep where you can get the wheels off the ground, but if the front drive shaft is missing, drive it. At a reasonable speed, pull the hande up to the 4-HI position. It should go smoothly, maybe a slight bump, then run quiet

- you won't even know you have it in $WD position (or course it isn't in 4WD - the missing drive shaft takes care of that detail . If all is well in the 4-HI position, slow to a crawl - walking speed tops

- and pull the handle all the way up and back to 4-LO while just rolling. It may still complain and grumble as it goes in (if it will). Now run it just a little (don't get heavy on the gas - you can snap an axle in 2WD low range - and run it a block or so. You may get some whine and gear noise, but if it runs in 4-LO and feels like it's crawling with the engine racing your better than half way home as this means the transfer case is functional.

OK, that took 5 minutes tops. The next step is to get some wheels in the air. If you were really lucky, when you pulled it into 4-HI and

If the wheels don't spin as described or if the 4WD light won't come on, you'll have to check the shift motor. It's on the pax side of the axle on the rear of the axle tube. It will have 3 small plastic tubes running into a rubber plug. At this point, you'll want a manual. You should be able to see the shift lever that the vacuum motor runs. You might try having someone pull the lever in and out of 4-HI while you watch to see if the vacuum motor pushes and pulls the lever. If it moves and you still don't have the wheels hooked together come back and we'll tell you where to go from there. If it doesn't move the shifter on the axle, you can manually force it. Disconnect the vacuum lines and just move it as far as you can to one side - it will probably be all the way inboard so try moving it outboard. I may be bass-ackwards here as I don't remember which way it moves. Same deal

- if you can't get the two front wheels to hook up come back and we'll figure the next step.