Underside Photos of the Obama Cherokee

[xj-jake]

Had one on the hoist in the shop installing a trailer hitch so I thought I'd snap a few photos

[4.3LXJ]

Thanks Jake. It doesn't take rocket science to figure out why you cannot lift one

[xj-jake]

Moar

[4.3LXJ]

Man, that rear axle looks really skimpy. Surely not the trail hawk

[xj-jake]

Last few

[XJ Wheeler]

And the shame is it probably took a ton of time and money to come up with that mess.

Sent via messenger pigeon - i talk, he types.

[xj-jake]

No this is a limited. The last photo in my first post just baffles the crap out of me. A short chunk of exhaust pipe for a brace? I don't get it. :crazy: And the whole front carriage is a slab of cast aluminum which to me makes absolutely no sense at all. The front control arms are bolted to the "frame" through a chunk of 2x2 square aluminum tubing.

[4.3LXJ]

It is all about gas milage vs weight. Supposedly the new Wranglers at some point will have lots of aluminum as well

[xj-jake]

That's the rumor, for 2017 anyways. One other thing I thought was goofy was the 3 piece rear driveshaft with 2 hanger bearings. Just dumb.

[4.3LXJ]

Got to keep the engineers employed :D

I bet some of those drive shaft parts will show up on the shorter Renegade

[bluedragon436]

What in the mother hell... is that rigging from a stage or something under there on that first set of pictures, lower right picture?? That little useless section of pipe and the joints at each end look like something I've helped put together for a lighting & sound structure when I was in school!! Or even better an antenna mast like for a home base station CB or HAM setup..

[xj-jake]

It is quite the cluster f under there. You're probably right Steve. That thing might be interesting underneath also.

[4.3LXJ]

I would guess that the front is the same underneath, as well as same tranny, rear end, A arms etc with just a shorter rear drive line and lighter spring rates

[xj-jake]

Who knows. If you guys want any more detailed photos of the new jeeps just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

[bigjim350]

Those half shafts look plenty thick enough for the amount of power it puts down. Looks pretty easy to lift to me.

[4.3LXJ]

You might get some coil spacers in there, but the consensus is that that front piece of honeycombed aluminum is the front frame as well as transaxle. There have been lots of companies that have given up on that as too expensive to market. I have to agree with them. You have to drop the front diff and lower A arm mounts to substantially lift a vehicle. Normally you can just add a welded up sub frame that bolts in. But in this case, you have to drop the engine and trans too and the people that have looked at this that market suspensions have agreed that yes it can be done, but not for an affordable price

[msmoorenburg]

Those half shafts look plenty thick enough for the amount of power it puts down. Looks pretty easy to lift to me.

Yea jimbo style!!!! sawzall and tires and it's lifted :beer:

[autotech98]

Compared to our xjs its a shame to call it cherokee:-(

[downsy]

Why does the oil drain have a NACA duct?

[WhiteDevil1311]

Looks like the belly of my GP. A kid at one of the installs ive done recently has a obamakee...heard him tell his buddies my old xj was what he wanted when his parents bought him a "cherokee" I looked under his and laughed