JimK's Cherokee X-Trail Revival

[JimrC]

Very cool build, have always liked that body Nice read and awesome pics Looks a fun rig for sure.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by JimrC

Very cool build, have always liked that body Nice read and awesome pics Looks a fun rig for sure.

Thank you! It is a fun little truck for sure.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

I've got a new set of brass diff covers and a set of steelies for the Cherokee.



Some great looking wheels for sure.



These are stamped steel wheels with an aluminum beadlock ring and hub. The set came with several extra screws and longer assembly screws as well.



These steelies are 62 grams heavier than the plastic G-made wheels.





Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

The wheels went together pretty smoothly with the assistance of a little soapy water on the beads. In my haste to put them together I assembled the first one with the slots not aligned properly.



Back together correctly.....much better.



I appears the new steelies have a bit more offset than the plastic wheels. Unfortunately I didn't think to measure the width before and after to find out the actual difference. The wider stance is noticeable by eye when I look at the truck.



A closer look at the drivers front wheel.



A driver's side view of the new wheels. I think they look pretty dang good and suit the truck nicely!!



Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

Wheels installed so next it's the diff covers. The brass diff covers are significantly heavier (34 grams) than the stock plastic covers. As with the previously installed AMK brass bits the fit and finish on these was excellent.





I was able to flip the truck over and swap out the diff covers with no disassembly required. I was happy about that and installation only took a few minutes.



Shiny new diff covers installed. Hopefully I can get out tomorrow and scuff them up a little.





Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

I mounted up another set of tires this morning. I've had these RC4WD Mickey Thompson Baja Claw TTC tires and white spoke wheels sitting around for a while now. They were originally on Blondie's Blazer but never even saw a single trail run before I removed them. I figured I'd slap them back together for a set of spares. These will fit on any of my trail trucks so why not give them a shot.



A dab of soapy water here and there and they went together without much struggle. Not a bad looking wheel/tire combo in my humble opinion.



I don't know what compound these are but the rubber is relatively sticky. I just used the stock foams that came with these and they seem to support the weight of the truck okay on the bench. We'll see how they do out in the dirt.



For fun I took a minute and mounted them on the Cherokee. Oh my....I think they look absolutely mint!! The white spoke and the larger size tire really look good on this truck!! I've going to check a couple things off the honey do list and try and get this beast out for a little trail run before I head off to work this afternoon.





Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JatoTheRipper]

White wagon wheels always look good.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

White wagon wheels always look good.

Indeed!! Thanks Jato.

[JimK]

I got out for about a 45 minute run today before I had to get ready for work.



I headed over to the Chrysler Greenway trail that is a couple kilometers from my house. This railway trail crosses the entire county from north to south and east to west with many off shoots that criss cross the area. I often ride my bike to work on this trail and it literally takes me right to my shops parking lot. Today it is a tiny truck trail.



About a kilometer or so down the trail there is an old bridge with a nice view of the marsh down in the ravine. This is a great spot for bird watching and viewing other wildlife too. It is not uncommon to see several whitetail deer while out walking or riding this trail.



I've seen this trail several times while riding to work and always wondered where it led to so today we went for a tiny truck adventure to see.



Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

Deer probably use this trail but I'm pretty sure this path is man made. Not far down the trail I encountered an old pallet and sadly I came across a few spots where people had left their garbage and empty cans in the woods.



One trail to the left took me down to the edge of the marsh that we saw from the bridge earlier. Very nice.





I took the right fork in the road here as it would send me back towards the greenway. I'll come back soon and see where the left hand fork takes me?



The trail twisted and turned through the woods and eventually brought me back to the greenway. Nothing too challenging for sure but it was a nice walk in the woods.





Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

Although not a real hardcore test of the new tires capabilities they performed well on the damp trails and got up and over many roots and fallen trees along the way. They also pulled off some pretty steep climbs along the side of the greenway trail on the way back to the car.

















Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

I put together another set of wheels this morning. The tires are Proline Trenchers and the wheels are RC Lion aluminum beadlocks. I assembled the beadlocks last night when I got home from work.



One down, three to go. The wheels and tires mated nicely and there were no assembly issues. For now the stock foams will have to do. They seem firm enough but not too firm. We'll see for sure once I get them out on the trail.



I plan to use these mostly on the Cherokee but they will likely see some use on my Gladiator too. For now I'm gonna toss them up on the shelf until I need them. I'm going trailing with a friend this weekend and will likely try them out then.



Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

I was hoping to get out for a trail run today but it's pouring rain outside. That makes it a good time to do a little fixin' on the Cherokee. A couple weeks ago the passenger window popped out and the mirror broke off too. Today I'm gonna fix that up.



I used gel CA glue to put the windows in when I built this truck. I'm going to use E6000 to reinstall this window and see if it holds up a little better. I'm going to use a 1.5mm screw from an SCX24 to reattach the mirror.



The mirror broke off quite flush so the two pieces should mate up pretty good.



I drilled a 2mm hole in the broken off piece to pass the screw through. So far so good.



Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

I trimmed the post off square on the inside of the body. The drill bit came through slightly off center but that shouldn't be an issue.



I used a 1mm drill bit to drill a hole into the broken off mirror. The 1.5mm screw will thread into that nicely.



My Dewalt drill won't hold a drill bit this small so I used my Dremel with a micro chuck to get the job done.



I used a body reamer to start the hole on center to keep the drill bit from wandering.



I drilled the hole without any issues and threaded the screw in before installing it from the inside of the truck body.



Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimK]

The mirror reattached nicely with the screw passing through from the inside



I put a small dab of E6000 on the mirror before snugging it down to hopefully make this repair a little more solid and to keep the mirror from spinning if it gets bumped again.



To reinstall the window I put a few dabs of E6000 where the top of the window fits into the three mounting tabs. I then put a bead of E6000 along the entire lower edge of the window. I used a toothpick to work the adhesive down between the window and the body and then pressed it firmly into place. You can see the screw head slightly off center on the mounting post.



Good as new.



I'm going to let this thing sit for 24 hours until the adhesive cures and then we should be good to go.



Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JatoTheRipper]

I will be curious to know how you like those tires. We appear to run on similar terrain and I have always liked the look of those tires.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I will be curious to know how you like those tires. We appear to run on similar terrain and I have always liked the look of those tires.

I'll keep you posted for sure. Only one run on them so far but I was not disappointed with their performance. The rears seemed to hold the dirt in the treads more than the fronts but that didn't seem to affect how well they hooked up on the climbs and over the wet trees and roots. Winter here is usually pretty wet and mucky and I'm hoping these tires will do well in those conditions. Time will tell?

[JimK]

Did a little tinkering on the Cherokee today. I noticed a little play in the front axle shafts that was allowing the outer bearing in the knuckles to slide out a little bit. If I grabbed the front tire I could actually move the tire in and out and feel more than an acceptable amount of play.



I dug through one of my screw organizers and found these 1mm shims. The hole in the center fit perfectly over the axle stub.



The shim fit perfectly behind the hex pin and eliminated all but the tiniest "tick" of play in the axle. I popped the front wheels back on and we're good to go now.



The next order of business was to make it easier to get the rear body mount clips into the posts. The spacers I made for the rear flatbed to sit on were just a little too thick and this didn't allow for the flatbed deck to sit far enough below the holes in the body mount post.



I took the spacers off and sanded them down taking making them roughly 0.025" shorter.



Both spacers ended up being 0.140" tall when I was done.



I slid the spacers back in place and reattached the body. The body mount clips slide into place nicely now with out having to apply any downward force to the bed of the truck. These body clips are tricky enough to install in behind the roll cage as it is so the less fiddling around I have to do the better.



Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[JimrC]

Nice updates to read along to JimK, similar looking trails here so interested also how the various tires are doing.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by JimrC

Nice updates to read along to JimK, similar looking trails here so interested also how the various tires are doing.

Thanks Jim. Being so close to each other I imagine our weather and trail conditions are pretty much the same. I'll try to post up whenever I run different tires.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk