My daughter just turned 16, got her license, and her first car, a '97 Saraha that needs some love. This is what it looked like the day we got it home. This will be her daily driver. I'm crossing my fingers she doesn't take it off-roading yet 
This is our first Jeep. I didn't know anything about Jeeps when we bought this. After digging around on the forum and watching a lot of youtube videos for the last few weeks here is what I've learned so far.
It had a 4" Rough Country lift kit and 35 inch tires installed by previous owners. It doesn't appear any other modifications were done when the kit was installed. The axles are stock Dana 30 in the front and Dana 35 in the rear with 3.07 gears. It's a 4.0 with the 32RH 3 speed automatic transmission. The transfer case was dropped as part of the lift kit. The front trackbar in this kit is supposed to have a new hole drilled 3/4" toward center to adjust for the lift, that was not done. It is the stock trackbar hooked up to the stock mount locations and the front axle is off center. The transfer case linkage drop bracket was not installed when the kit was put on. The rear trackbar bracket that came with the kit was installed but only with the one bolt. The two other bolts that are supposed to be drilled and added are not there.
The frame has been patched multiple times. I wanted a professional's opinion on what to do with the frame so I took it to a 4 x 4 shop and had them look things over really well. They said it isn't in great shape but it will work for now. They patched the drivers side where the skid plate attaches, and said it may need more patching in the future.
The engine has a cold start knock which goes away after warming up. Once at temp it has a tick. I've learned that the tick is most likely lifters, but I worry the knock is rod or piston related. I changed the oil, using Valvoline High Milage Maxlife synthetic blend and a Wix filter. Right now my plan is to ignore the engine noise and focus on other things. If / when it blows I'll buy a reman and the tools I need and learn to swap it.
Pretty sure the heater core is leaking. It smells like antifreeze with the fan on. I ordered one from Performance Radiator and it arrived today. The shipping was super disappointing. It came in flimsy cardboard box with NO padding. The box was damaged, I think the part was slightly damaged as well. I plan to pull the dash and put it in sometime soon. I'm highly considering a full cooling system overhaul while I'm doing the heater core, but it was close to $600 bucks to get the parts recommended in the FAQ here and right now it runs rock solid in the middle of the temp gauge, so it isn't as high on my priority list as the steering.
The steering wanders pretty bad at high speeds. It doesn't wobble at all, but it wanders enough that it concerns me. At the 4 x 4 shop we decided to take the 35's it came with off and replace them with new 33" Falken Wildpeak AT3W 33x12.5R15's. I've got the PSI at 28 right now. They also recommended a new steering stabilizer as the existing one was shot. They were up front about that not being a fix but it was cheap and it needed it anyway. The new tires and lower pressure helped quite a bit but didn't resolve the issue. Against my better judgement, I adjusted the preload on the steering box pitman shaft an 1/8 of a turn. The box is leaking a bit anyway and if I shortened the life of it I'm OK with that I'll throw a remanufactured one in (I found a link on this forum to one on amazon that seems worth a try). It helped a bit but still high speeds wander. Oh, the 4 x 4 shop replaced the front driver side bearing while it was in as well as there was obvious play in the wheel.
So this week I find myself learning about steering components and geometry. I'm thinking I should get an adjustable trackbar since one wasn't put on with the lift. The stock trackbar doesn't seem to have a lot of play in it but an adjustable one will center my axle again and not having any mechanical experience yet beyond changing the oil and the speedometer gear, I don't trust my ability to judge where the play is. The drag link and tie rod are pretty easy to roll. I took video hoping to get some advice.
I've read the upgrade advice here about the Currie Currectlync and the Crown HD Steering kit. For a daily driver that stays on pavement almost all the time the Currectlync seems like a bit of overkill but reading some reviews about the Crown HD kit there are complaints about quality.
So first, do the videos make it look like i need a new steering system? If so, what adjustable trackbar, tie rod / drag link seems like the right fit for on-road drivability as the primary concern?
If you made it this far, my apologies for the book
TIA,
Steve
This is our first Jeep. I didn't know anything about Jeeps when we bought this. After digging around on the forum and watching a lot of youtube videos for the last few weeks here is what I've learned so far.
It had a 4" Rough Country lift kit and 35 inch tires installed by previous owners. It doesn't appear any other modifications were done when the kit was installed. The axles are stock Dana 30 in the front and Dana 35 in the rear with 3.07 gears. It's a 4.0 with the 32RH 3 speed automatic transmission. The transfer case was dropped as part of the lift kit. The front trackbar in this kit is supposed to have a new hole drilled 3/4" toward center to adjust for the lift, that was not done. It is the stock trackbar hooked up to the stock mount locations and the front axle is off center. The transfer case linkage drop bracket was not installed when the kit was put on. The rear trackbar bracket that came with the kit was installed but only with the one bolt. The two other bolts that are supposed to be drilled and added are not there.
The frame has been patched multiple times. I wanted a professional's opinion on what to do with the frame so I took it to a 4 x 4 shop and had them look things over really well. They said it isn't in great shape but it will work for now. They patched the drivers side where the skid plate attaches, and said it may need more patching in the future.
The engine has a cold start knock which goes away after warming up. Once at temp it has a tick. I've learned that the tick is most likely lifters, but I worry the knock is rod or piston related. I changed the oil, using Valvoline High Milage Maxlife synthetic blend and a Wix filter. Right now my plan is to ignore the engine noise and focus on other things. If / when it blows I'll buy a reman and the tools I need and learn to swap it.
Pretty sure the heater core is leaking. It smells like antifreeze with the fan on. I ordered one from Performance Radiator and it arrived today. The shipping was super disappointing. It came in flimsy cardboard box with NO padding. The box was damaged, I think the part was slightly damaged as well. I plan to pull the dash and put it in sometime soon. I'm highly considering a full cooling system overhaul while I'm doing the heater core, but it was close to $600 bucks to get the parts recommended in the FAQ here and right now it runs rock solid in the middle of the temp gauge, so it isn't as high on my priority list as the steering.
The steering wanders pretty bad at high speeds. It doesn't wobble at all, but it wanders enough that it concerns me. At the 4 x 4 shop we decided to take the 35's it came with off and replace them with new 33" Falken Wildpeak AT3W 33x12.5R15's. I've got the PSI at 28 right now. They also recommended a new steering stabilizer as the existing one was shot. They were up front about that not being a fix but it was cheap and it needed it anyway. The new tires and lower pressure helped quite a bit but didn't resolve the issue. Against my better judgement, I adjusted the preload on the steering box pitman shaft an 1/8 of a turn. The box is leaking a bit anyway and if I shortened the life of it I'm OK with that I'll throw a remanufactured one in (I found a link on this forum to one on amazon that seems worth a try). It helped a bit but still high speeds wander. Oh, the 4 x 4 shop replaced the front driver side bearing while it was in as well as there was obvious play in the wheel.
So this week I find myself learning about steering components and geometry. I'm thinking I should get an adjustable trackbar since one wasn't put on with the lift. The stock trackbar doesn't seem to have a lot of play in it but an adjustable one will center my axle again and not having any mechanical experience yet beyond changing the oil and the speedometer gear, I don't trust my ability to judge where the play is. The drag link and tie rod are pretty easy to roll. I took video hoping to get some advice.
I've read the upgrade advice here about the Currie Currectlync and the Crown HD Steering kit. For a daily driver that stays on pavement almost all the time the Currectlync seems like a bit of overkill but reading some reviews about the Crown HD kit there are complaints about quality.
So first, do the videos make it look like i need a new steering system? If so, what adjustable trackbar, tie rod / drag link seems like the right fit for on-road drivability as the primary concern?
If you made it this far, my apologies for the book
TIA,
Steve
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