What Goes Down Must Go Up

Our Cherokee had been getting more and more ratty, but we still didn’t expect to be faced with the news that it was a write-off. Not to worry, though –that just meant it was time for Plan B…

Over the last few issues, we’ve been tracing the history of our old Jeep Cherokee XJ. As we explained at the outset, it started off as a sensibly modified off-roader that did the job well, turned into a bonkersly modified off-roader that did the job terribly and is currently in the Jeepey workshops being coaxed into a new existence as an off-roader that’s still bonkers but actually usable too.

Our most recent installment of the tale brought the story to the point where the first phase of the Cherokee’s life had come to an end. Almost by accident, we had found ourselves in possession of an 8” Skyjacker Rock-Ready suspension kit, and we sent it, and the vehicle, to a Jeep specialist who we thought would be up to the task of fitting it.

One initial assessment later, and back they came with the news: ‘This thing’s a write-off.’ What we had thought was a little ding in the chassis was in fact a bend serious enough to put the vehicle beyond economic repair. A number of other Cherokee experts since then have told us they think that sounds completely inexplicable, but the truck’s long gone and the guy who owned the company now lives on the other side of the world, so the story of L3 OJS ends there…