Rusty's Crossmember
Rusty's Off Road has a badass replacement crossmember for either a 1-inch or no drop of your transfer case. The 3/16-inch steel crossmember not only can take much more of a beating, but even the 1-inch transfer-case-drop version has more ground clearance than the factory crossmember. We bolted ours up directly into the original four holes on our unibody's rails, and also had no issues getting the transmission mount on.
Nth Degree Slider
Watching Dave Kennedy rack a pinion yoke on a rock in the Super Duty one day, we realized that we don't want to be landing on the 1310 yoke on our Dana 44 in the back of our Cherokee. Nth Degree Mobility has these rock sliders for Dana 35 and Dana 44 rear ends that quickly bolt on using three U-bolts. We put our slider on while we had the rear axle removed for a better visual, but even with the axle on the vehicle, this install should not take you more than 5 to 10 minutes.
DPG Leaf-Spring Plates and Bumpstop
DPG has these new rear bumpstop plates for any axle that you could find in the back of a Cherokee, including applications for a Ford 9-inch or Dana 60. Made from 3/8-inch high-grade steel, these raise the point at which the factory bumpstops contact the axle. Three adjustment plates come in each pack, so you can choose how much you want to limit your compression according to how severe your tire and fender contact is. The DPG bumpstop plates bolt directly in place of the factory spring plates and make a nice safety buffer in case we really stuff the rear tires on our Cherokee.
Raingler Cargo Barrier Net
This might seem a little funny for an enclosed vehicle, but we saw these coincidentally the day after we got in a little fender bender, and some heavy cargo in the rear came flying forward, broke down the back seat, and nailed our driver seat so hard that it ripped holes in it. If that flying crap had been about a foot higher, we might be in a nice relaxing coma about now. These nets take a few minutes to install or take down, and can be very valuable in the event of a rollover or sudden stop--it may just save your life. There are six attachment straps that tie into factory hinges and brackets in Cherokees. To keep yourself a little safer, try picking one of these cargo nets up.
T&J Chassis Stiffeners and Skids
These have got to be one of our all-time favorite bolt-ons for Cherokees. T&J Performance has these chassis stiffeners and skids that not only protect the lower unirail on a Cherokee, but also stiffen up the unibody, giving a better ride and a more responsive vehicle. The stiffeners bolt into your factory lower control-arm mount and the front perch of your rear leaf springs. Once you have them bolted on, you drive down to your local muffler shop to have them spot-welded at each place they touch the unibody (unless you can weld on thin sheetmetal yourself). The skids (being held up for visual effect) are a Stage 2 kit you can add onto the stiffeners anytime you choose. The stiffeners and skids work in conjunction with control-arm drop brackets and any aftermarket or factory crossmember.
Rubicon Express Control-Arm Relocation Brackets
The control-arm relocation brackets by Rubicon Express have got to be one of the greatest bolt-ons for a short-arm lifted Cherokee. These steel relocation brackets bolt into place of the original control arms, and lower where your control arms mount by 4 inches. Bringing the control arms back to a more parallel position with the ground gives a much smoother ride and increases suspension droop, as long as nothing else is a limiting factor--like too short of shocks or brake lines. We also got some of the optional support braces to keep them in place. Though the concept of the installation is very easy, it'll take some time to get these bolted up and move the axle into the correct position to put the control arms back on. It's easiest to do one side at a time, and even easier if you have a vehicle lift rack or a buddy who has one. We went to see our friend Frank Gilliland at South Bay Truck & 4x4. He let us use his rack after hours to slap on the Rubicon Express relocation brackets.
Currie Steering Brace
This steering brace from Currie Enterprises made a noticeable difference in the driveability of our XJ even just around town. The brace bolts on in between the passenger-side sway-bar mount and the unibody rail. A long shaft goes from there across to the driver side, where it clamps onto the steering-box housing around the sector shaft. Installation should have taken us about 15 minutes, but of course, one of the factory nut plates in our Jeep's unirail did not line up very well, and we had to slot one of the holes on the steering brace to fit. Hopefully, your XJ is in better condition than ours, so it'll be easier for you when you bolt on your brace.