My Unicorn, Z88Z Grand Cherokee

I was looking for a new daily driver to replace my 97 Grand Cherokee.  It was one of my sons first vehicles and he beat it pretty hard. ( including some trips to the bottom of the susquehanna river ) When he bought his Miata I bought it from him to use as a daily/DJ equipment hauler/Shop Truck.  Over time it has gotten less and less reliable and has now moved on to new home.

I looked at a lot of different replacements, but then I found a rough but decent 1988 Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited for sale about an hour away for a decent price.  It ran well, but was reverse delete.  It has a little rust and needs a good cleaning/servicing...  but it was a good base to start from and Hell, I've always wanted a 5.9.  Its rare enough to have unicorn status, but not to hard to find parts for. Seems like a good combination.  So I made a deal and drove it the hour home with no issues.

The Z88Z Grand Cherokee Limited 5.9 was the fastest Production SUV back in 1998 and are where the very idea of an on-road-performance-oriented SUV began, so my plan is to stay true to its heritage.  

Its going to get cleaned and serviced, to start with. I'll also address the rust as well.  It will need a passenger side outer and inner rocker and a hole or two patched up, nothing too horrid.  From there, it will be lowered all around.  Not Slammed, just a tasteful couple of inches to close some of the fender gap.  As bushings get replaced they will go to Poly, and I'll add some decent shock as well.  Wheels will be 17" wrapped with good A/T tires.

Driveline wise, I have a line on a fairly low mile rebuilt transmission for cheap from a rusty parted 5.9.  I also am planning on long tube headers, a 3" high-flow cat and a 3" exhaust.

That should be a good start and get it back on the road.  As time and money allow, it will get body and paint work done.

But for now, here are some pics from when I picked it up along with a few progress pictures:

She is a dirty dirty girl....

These fit like they were made for it...

Just a little added lowness

Nice. Lowered SUV's make me happy. I've always liked these. 

I was not aware of this vehicle, I thought all 5.9 ZJs were the same. Also, that explains the hood vents I've seen on some. Did they all have the mesh grille?

Nice rig!

Lower and A/Ts? Interesting.

I always like the 5.9 ZJs. I always thought the interior was really nice for the era. My mother pickup up a couple year old '98 Limited back in the day and I abused the snot out of it.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I always thought the only way you got the 5.9 was with this appearance package? Mesh grille/hood vents

Keith Tanner said:

I was not aware of this vehicle, I thought all 5.9 ZJs were the same. Also, that explains the hood vents I've seen on some. Did they all have the mesh grille?

You may be thinking of the 5.2 V8.   The 5,2 was available all years of the ZJ Grand Cherokee.


The 5.9 was only offered in the 1998 Grand Cherokee, and only as the 5.9 Limited.  All 5.9 Limiteds came with the 5.9 Limited specific mesh grille, hood louvers, body cladding, roof rack, leather seats, console lid, leather wrapped shift handle, t-case shifter, and e-brake lever, as well as specific door panels and different woodgrain on the dash and console.  Special engine displacement callouts were used on the front doors and rear hatch.


There were also quite a few drivetrain differences, as well, including the transmission exhaust tip, electric fan, and inline temp senders in the upper and lower hoses to control said fan.  


I've made good money parting these out over the years.

iansane said:

Lower and A/Ts? Interesting.

Those just look like the existing wheels and tires until he gets tires for the new 5 spoke wheels.

Hmm, my coworker has a ZJ that I swear is a 5.9. I'll have to ask. I think I remember hood vents (maybe I've just seen them on others around here) but not so much a mesh grille. But it's always dirty so who can tell.

Apparently our 4.7 WJ is 0.4s slower to 60. But we're all getting our butts kicked by an ND Miata. Finally, a Miata is faster in a drag race!

In reply to Keith Tanner :

The grilles break, and people can't find them easily in the JYs, so they swap in a garden variety one.    

If you'll notice, OP has a different driver's door on his, as evidenced by the body cladding, pinstripe, and lack of a 5.9 callout. 

Cooter is spot on about the differences between the 5.9 Limited and the rest of the ZJ lineup.  

The Wheels/Tires in the lowered picture were what was on it when I picked it up.  It had one factory wheel in the back as a spare.  I've since collected 4 more so I have a full set to go along with the Mustang wheels.I like to have options .  :-)   I have gone round and round in my head about wheels tires for a couple of weeks now.  I had thought about winters on the Factory wheels and something summer/performance on the 17's for summer...  but I keep remembering it a ZJ and its not going to handle like a race car and that's not its job.  So I went with 245/65R17 Cooper Discoverer A/t's They are not super aggressive and should be a good compromise.  If I don't like the look I can always sell them and change direction.

In reply to Cooter :

Yeah, That door and the hatch are on my list as soon as I get around to the body.  Unfortunately, Ill need to find a good 5.9 door panel as the driver door was the Laredo door panel.  I also assume ( but don't know for sure ) that I will need a limited door harness as Im sure it has the Laredo on in it now.

Coworker has a 1993 with the 5.2. I must have copy-pasted the hood vents from memory of seeing them on other ZJs. Now I'll be watching for them.

These were unibody like the XJs, right?

Lower this enough and I think it almost classifies as a wagon. Or at least a modernish AMC Eagle.

I had a 96 5.2 Limited that I semi-built for some street fun. Looked like a stock black limited but had some grunt under the hood. Had a ton of Mopar, Fastman and KRC performance parts on it. Kolak used to make a killer exhaust for them in 3" and Doug Thorley headers were great for opening up the crushed bent Y-pipe.

The biggest downfall of these trucks was the transmissions. Didnt matter which one(44RE/46RE) but they didnt last long even in stock form. 

I love these, there is a guy who bracket races one at the local track.. 

I see cut springs and 5 spokes on a Jeep. This is my kind of party. Excited to see where it goes! 

In reply to kevinatfms :

Thorley Headers are in the plan.  Hope to order them in the next couple of weeks.  I already have a high flow 3" cat and a 3" Jegs Exhaust for it.  I compromised on the exhaust to get the headers in budget.  I can always upgrade it down the road.

As luck would have it. I just got a smoking deal on a rebuilt trans with upgrades and only 30,000 miles on it.  The plan is to drop that in and get the original rebuilt and upgraded as well for when the eventual bad happens.

In reply to Gunchsta :

The tires and balance of the rear suspension parts showed up yesterday.  Hopefully I can get some pictures of it on the ground at ride height by Monday!  :-)

I had one of these 15 year ago - I dont think it ever got over 8 MPG :)

Gotta run the stock silverstar wheels!

Sad the abuse and neglect that rare GC has seen.    Hope you can resurrect it!

In reply to Kendall_Jones :

Yeah, Im not expecting economy.  Thank you pandemic for greatly reducing my commute to work.  I get great mileage from the bedroom to the home offce.  :-)

In reply to onemanarmy :

It was definitely not loved.  Im sure it will get the factory wheels at somepoint.  I collected a set just so I would have them for down the road.

Just an FYI, a 150hp shot of nitrous will wake up the Magnum engine quite a bit. In stock form you can get the 5.2L ZJ into the 14's.....ask me how i know.

Sneak Peek...

In reply to kevinatfms :

Now that sounds like a party!!!