This meme: This is my New Year’s resolution. We picked up our 2001 Jeep Cherokee, aka, The PDXJ, in July 2016. Almost immediately, we started working on it, and we haven’t slowed since. Whether it was standard maintenance things, minor repairs, or aftermarket upgrades, I feel like all we’ve done is work on the thing….
Continue reading →
You’ve got your 4WD vehicle, and you’re wanting to add larger tires on it. Cool! You’ll likely be able to go more places and do more things with that extra bit of meaty rubber and you know they look good. However, there is one downside that comes along with adding larger tires: Your rig is now…
Continue reading →
Until recently, the where was something missing in our Cherokee’s JCR Offroad Vanguard bumper: a winch. After all, what good is a winch bumper without a winch? This week, I installed a WARN VR10-S into the bumper on The PDXJ, aka, Project Cherokee, aka “Cranky.” This is Warn’s latest winch in its standard-duty VR lineup. I’ll actually…
Continue reading →
I’ll make no apologies: I like Yokohama tires. I first had Yokohamas back in 2006 when I got a set of 205/50/16 AVS ES100 tires for my Scion xB . A couple years later, I shod my Toyota Yaris’ wheels with 195/55/15 S-Drives. In fact, I just replaced them last month with the same tires. So when…
Continue reading →
The Jeep Cherokee (XJ) was made from 1984–2001, and there have been tons of lift kits on the market during those 18 model years. So when it came time to choose a Jeep Cherokee Lift for Cranky, our Jeep Cherokee project, I decided to look to a company that had plenty of experience lifting Jeeps. Skyjacker has been…
Continue reading →
I’ve long held the belief that a vehicle’s nickname manifests itself. It shouldn’t be forced or given prematurely. Well, we decided that our project Jeep Cherokee now has a nickname: Cranky.
Continue reading →
Plans for our 2001 Jeep Cherokee (XJ) are starting to come together, and a multitude of parts are arriving. We’ve already got the awning and fridge from ARB and the rack from BajaRack on the rig, but here are some of the other goodies we’ll be installing:
Continue reading →
Admittedly, I’m particular about my wheel choices for our vehicles. And while I generally enjoy the process of finding a cool set of wheels, it’s almost agonizing trying to find a set that I don’t hate. The struggle is wheel … er real.
Continue reading →
New website, new project. While Crankshaft Culture will undoubtedly cover a host of vehicular topics, I thought we’d first introduce you to our Jeep Cherokee project vehicle. This is more than just a project for us, however. This Jeep belonged to my father, Jim, who passed away in January, 2014. It was his daily driver….
Continue reading →