techimoto has been hard at work the past few months rebuilding a 1990 Jeep Cherokee Laredo giving it a second life. The project started with a search for the right donor vehicle, after a few weeks of looking we came up with a $500 broken down junker that was soon headed to the junk yard for recycling, we saw something in it that the previous owner had not. The Jeep had a working 4.0 inline six motor with a blown transmission with 173,000 miles on the clock, the body and interior was dirty but rust and dent free. This provided us with a good foundation to build off.

Some of the appealing factors for this purchase were:

1. Laredo edition, this means the Jeep has power windows and locks.
2. NP242 transfer case, this transfer case provides 5 different modes of operation (2WD, 4WD Part Time, 4WD Full Time, Neutral, 4WD Low Part Time) this makes it ideal for highway and off highway use. 
3. The 87 – 90 use the same transmission, we already had one from an 88 Cherokee that we rebuilt. 
4. Body was in good shape with only a few minor dings, paint on the other-hand was in horrible shape. 
5. Dana 30 High Pinion front axle and Dana 35 rear with LSD, both geared at 3.73 gear ratio.
6. Factory Tow package prewired with class III hitch.

The criteria for the build was to create a reliable and comfortable daily driver (DD) that is also highly capable off highway in many different situations, this is not a rock crawler but more of a all terrain build. Because of that the Jeep must ride smooth on the highway yet still have enough flexibility to go over a wide range of terrain. The interior must have most the luxuries of modern vehicles yet still provide the ruggedness you would expect from an sport utility vehicle.

The photo to the right was taken on the first day we got the Jeep, right after the tow truck dropped it in the driveway.

The following series of articles will detail each step of the process building this Jeep from a Junker to a Off Road Machine, we will include many photos and detailed technical information that may help you on your own build. 

Here is the breakdown of the steps:

1. Purchase the Jeep, Transport home, and Register at DMV
2. Create plan for the Jeep, including what hardware to purchase, etc…
3. Rebuild transmission and get the Jeep drivable
4. Sand, Prime and Paint the body
5. Install Rubicon Express Lift kit
6. Install custom Slip Yoke Eliminator (SYE) and new driveshaft 
7. Rebuild the Roof Rack to make it more aerodynamic
8. Strip the interior, install Peel-n-Seal and replace the interior
9. Install the Electronics, Radio, CB radio, and GPS 
10. Drive It

Stay tuned as we will continually update the site with more Jeep Build articles, we will also update this page with links and other information for the series.