Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 Project ZJ Part 23 Testing New Long Arm Suspension Setups Before Rubicon

1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4x4 with 5.2 V8 and automatic transmission. Full info below...

Suspension Info:

Rear is on RE 3.5" XJ front springs. It has the IRO long arm kit with sub frame which allows fixed upper arms to be adjusted and the lowers are adjustable. Rear shocks are Doetsch Tech 8000 Prerunner Series part# 8403 which are 32" extended, 18.7" compressed, 13.3" of travel with integrated bump stops. Rear uses a Rusty's Offroad adjustable track bar. Rear drive shaft is stock with no issues.

The front is on RE 3.5" springs with JKS ACOS, Iron Rock Offroad long arms and IRO 3 piece subframe assembly. This kit has a one piece driver side control arm called the Iron Y which includes both the lower and upper arm in one piece with a caster adjuster. The passenger side uses only a lower control arm, no upper. Front shocks are Doetsch Tech 8000 Prerunner series part# 8421 which are 32" extended, 18.25" compressed, 13.75" of travel. The shocks are mounted to IRO bar pin eliminators. Extended stainless steel brake lines were installed to support the additional lift and flex. Front uses a Rusty's Offroad adjustable track bar with HD frame mount. Front drive shaft is a double cardan u-joint style to replace the OEM CV shaft which broke and also would not have worked with the long arm kit. JKS Quicker Disconnects which are adjustable are used on the front sway bar.

Steering Info:

Iron Rock Offroad OTK, over the knuckle, steering kit. The kit includes a 1.25" solid cold rolled steel tie rod and drag link with 5/8" grade 8 hardware. This required us to drill the steering knuckles on both sides as well as the drop pitman arm with a 5/8" drill bit. The kit is very solid and no steering stabilizer is being used.

Check out my other videos if you want more info on the steering box brace which has been a great addition since I'm running 35x12.50 tires. The steering box was recently replaced with a new one. We've swapped out the drop pitman arm for one that is about 2" shorter than the one we had installed previously because it will work better with my lift and IRO OTK steering kit.

Axle Info:

The front is a Dana 30 with IRO almost alloy Spicer 760x u-joint shafts, Solid diff cover, stock gears, and no lockers. The CV differential yoke has been replaced with a u-joint yoke for the new drive shaft. The axle will soon be rebuilt with 4.88 gears, and Aussie locker. The font axle also has heavy duty Rusty's Offroad lower control arm mounts to replace the bent stock ones.

The rear is a Dana 44 with stock gears and no locker. It will soon be rebuilt with 4.88 gears and Aussie locker.

Tires and Wheels:

35x12.50x15 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R Kevlar on OEM 15x7 wheels with 2" wheel spacers.

Jeep also has IRO on board air, Rough Country winch and mounting plate, Taurus 2 speed electric fan and B&M Supercooler.

5.2 V8 Engine Notes:

The motor is finally dry as a bone, leak free thanks to Joel Gonzalez!!! Oil pan was dropped and rear main bearing cap was removed because the two piece rear main seal was leaking. The rear main seal was replaced and a high volume, 25% over stock, Melling oil pump was installed. The pan was resealed with a Fel-Pro one piece gasket. The timing chain had some slack in it so it was replaced along with new timing gears on the crankshaft and camshaft. A new timing cover was installed with a new front seal to replace the original timing cover which had a hole in it. The original harmonic balancer was cleaned up and reinstalled along with the original crankshaft pulley. A new water pump was installed with a new bypass hose to the intake manifold. The thermostat housing was replaced along with a new 185 thermostat and Fel-Pro gasket. A new tensioner was installed because the old one was nasty to say the least. The original broken EVAP canister, damaged by the front driver side tire, has been removed and replaced with a new relocated canister. A new power steering pump was installed.

The motor also has an MSD external coil and K&N intake and air filter.

Muffler was a Flowmaster 40 series cutoff before rear axle, but muffler has now been removed. Exhaust setup from muffler to engine is stock with brand new catalytic converter.

Special Thanks: Thanks to my great friend and mechanic Joel Gonzalez for all of his hard work and dedication to Project ZJ. Thanks to Mario for selling me my first Jeep. Thanks to Nate and Mitchell for the awesome compressor mount. Thanks to Mark and Mike at All Muffler Service for their work on my exhaust and also for removing the stock lower control arm mounts in the front. Thanks to Rob at Les Schwab for all of the great advice and for doing my initial alignment. Thanks to Redline Tire for doing my final alignment and mounting and balancing my new tires. Thanks to all my loyal YouTube subscribers for their continued support and comments!!!