'87 Cherokee Laredo

I just got an '87 Cherokee Laredo. Once upon a time it was a 4wd, but
the last owner wrecked it and it's now a 2wd. I've never touched
anything internal on a watercooled vehicle so I'm pretty lost as to how
to get it back to 4wd (VW bugs are what I know, and my baja didn't come
with 4wd. .
I'd really like to make it a good off-roader that can be driven on the
street too so I'll likely be back to you guys for help.

What do I need to get it back to 4wd, where's the best place to find
what I need and money is definitely an issue. Hehe. That's my first task
as everything else on it works.

Thanks in advance,

Kidd

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

"Kidd Andersson" > wrote in message
...
>I just got an '87 Cherokee Laredo. Once upon a time it was a 4wd, but the
>last owner wrecked it and it's now a 2wd. I've never touched anything
>internal on a watercooled vehicle so I'm pretty lost as to how to get it
>back to 4wd (VW bugs are what I know, and my baja didn't come with 4wd. .
> I'd really like to make it a good off-roader that can be driven on the
> street too so I'll likely be back to you guys for help.
>
> What do I need to get it back to 4wd, where's the best place to find what
> I need and money is definitely an issue. Hehe. That's my first task as
> everything else on it works.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Kidd

I would guess if the previous owner didn't think it was worth
making the four wheel drive repairs, than more than likely the wreck
punched out the front axle and transfer, probably replacing the front
end with their dummy tube. Take it to your local service station and
have the attendant confirm it.
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
http://www.billhughes.com/

Kidd Anderson wrote:
>
> I just got an '87 Cherokee Laredo. Once upon a time it was a 4wd, but
> the last owner wrecked it and it's now a 2wd. I've never touched
> anything internal on a watercooled vehicle so I'm pretty lost as to how
> to get it back to 4wd (VW bugs are what I know, and my baja didn't come
> with 4wd. .
> I'd really like to make it a good off-roader that can be driven on the
> street too so I'll likely be back to you guys for help.
>
> What do I need to get it back to 4wd, where's the best place to find
> what I need and money is definitely an issue. Hehe. That's my first task
> as everything else on it works.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Kidd

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:

> I would guess if the previous owner didn't think it was worth
> making the four wheel drive repairs, than more than likely the wreck
> punched out the front axle and transfer, probably replacing the front
> end with their dummy tube. Take it to your local service station and
> have the attendant confirm it.
> God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
> http://www.billhughes.com/

So what parts did your brother-in-law tell you it needed? Like, how
are we supposed to guess weather you have a front driveshaft or not?
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
http://www.billhughes.com/

Kidd Andersson wrote:
>
> 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

He didn't tell me anything except that it can be fixed "And go back to
4wd with the right parts and time". That was it. I would assume since
the front was the part that was damaged and "fixed" to no longer make it
a 4wd, you would be able to come up with *something*. What part do you
remove from the front to turn it from 4wd into 2? That would obviously
be the part that's missing.

K.


L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:
> So what parts did your brother-in-law tell you it needed? Like, how
> are we supposed to guess weather you have a front driveshaft or not?
> God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
> http://www.billhughes.com/
>

Sounds like you may need to look for yourself. If it still has the
front axle with the differential then it probably also still has the
transfer case - the cost of a new talishaft and drive shaft for the
rear is not trivial and it's a fair amount of work. Pretty good odds
that she just dropped the front driveshaft, altho I did see one where
they had clobbered the front diff and simply gutted it to get the
crunched gears out of the way. Hard to make a guess w/o knowing what
pieces are there and what's missing. Find out what's there and then
folks here can walk you thru a fairly simple routine to see what works
and what doesn't.

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 04:34:52 UTC Kidd Andersson
> wrote:

> 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:
>
> > I would guess if the previous owner didn't think it was worth
> > making the four wheel drive repairs, than more than likely the wreck
> > punched out the front axle and transfer, probably replacing the front
> > end with their dummy tube. Take it to your local service station and
> > have the attendant confirm it.
> > God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
> > http://www.billhughes.com/
>


--
Will Honea

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
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Kidd Andersson wrote:
>
> I just got an '87 Cherokee Laredo. Once upon a time it was a 4wd, but
> the last owner wrecked it and it's now a 2wd. I've never touched
> anything internal on a watercooled vehicle so I'm pretty lost as to how
> to get it back to 4wd (VW bugs are what I know, and my baja didn't come
> with 4wd. .
> I'd really like to make it a good off-roader that can be driven on the
> street too so I'll likely be back to you guys for help.
>
> What do I need to get it back to 4wd, where's the best place to find
> what I need and money is definitely an issue. Hehe. That's my first task
> as everything else on it works.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Kidd

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 Honea wrote:
> Sounds like you may need to look for yourself. If it still has the
> front axle with the differential then it probably also still has the
> transfer case - the cost of a new talishaft and drive shaft for the
> rear is not trivial and it's a fair amount of work. Pretty good odds
> that she just dropped the front driveshaft, altho I did see one where
> they had clobbered the front diff and simply gutted it to get the
> crunched gears out of the way. Hard to make a guess w/o knowing what
> pieces are there and what's missing. Find out what's there and then
> folks here can walk you thru a fairly simple routine to see what works
> and what doesn't.
>

>>
>
>

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 driving w/o the front drive shaft, BTW.

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 22:51:19 UTC Kidd Andersson
> wrote:

> 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 Honea wrote:
> > Sounds like you may need to look for yourself. If it still has the
> > front axle with the differential then it probably also still has the
> > transfer case - the cost of a new talishaft and drive shaft for the
> > rear is not trivial and it's a fair amount of work. Pretty good odds
> > that she just dropped the front driveshaft, altho I did see one where
> > they had clobbered the front diff and simply gutted it to get the
> > crunched gears out of the way. Hard to make a guess w/o knowing what
> > pieces are there and what's missing. Find out what's there and then
> > folks here can walk you thru a fairly simple routine to see what works
> > and what doesn't.
> >
>
> >>
> >
> >


--
Will Honea