Mike’s 1999 jeep Cherokee

This project began with a set of Mickey Thompson 15x8 classic lock rims on a stock jeep Cherokee. Of course that just made it look like it was missing something, so the owner proceeded to begin the transformation. In the first wave of moods we installed an Explorer Procomp 3 inch suspension lift in conjunction with 2” blocks under the rear springs. Those classic lock rims also received a set of Mickey Thompson 31” Baja claws tires.

As these things are bound to happen the owner got the itch for further additions to his Cherokee. Next we worked on the bumpers and winch set up for the jeep. The front and rear bumpers were discarded in favor of heavy duty steel upgrades that have 2” receivers front and rear. This allowed us to use a removable winch set up that can be mounted in the rear as well as the front. This system uses Warn’s wiring kit that has a quick connect plug located at each mounting point. The stock battery was upgraded to an optima yellow top unit. The rear bumper also incorporates a swing away tire carrier so we could mount a full size spare on the rear. Then we moved up top with a roof rack for all the extra cargo. Inside was also fitted with a removable rack in the rear behind the back seat. This wrapped up the second wave of changes made to this 99 xj.

Finally we come to its current state as of the writing of this project description. Since the Baja claw tires decided that they we not happy with the factory flares a set of bushwacker flares were installed along with the ARB snorkel. This style flare from bushwacker is not offered for the 97-01 Cherokee’s so we had to modify the ones for an 87-96 model. A fair amount of body, fender, and flare trimming was required to allow for proper fitment. The biggest interference came from the snorkel kit that overlaps the flare mounting position. Major trimming to the flare was required here. A lot of time was spent trimming and fitting to ensuring we did not ruin a set of costly flares. The ARB kit comes with a dinky washer bottle to replace the original that must be removed for clearance of the snorkel hose. We found that an earlier model jeep Cherokee bottle works great and is inexpensive as well.

Also some performance products were added to the jeep. The exhaust was enlarged to 2.5” with a flowmaster muffler. The intake system received an airaid throttle body spacer and a k&n replacement air filter. As for the interior it is to difficult to clean some things out of carpet, and so the interior was removed and a spray on bed liner was applied to the floor wells. The front bumper would not be complete without a set of Hella black magic lamps. Future lamps are planned for the cargo rack but that will be next time.

Overall this jeep came out real nice not to over the top and still a good daily driver. After the flare installation I think it needs some larger rubber but the Mickey’s still look good.