NAXJA to Give Away a Jeep Cherokee:

Celebrating 25 Years of the XJ

NAXJA, the North American XJ Association, a group to which I belong and have written about in the past, is up to its old tricks again! They are currently building a 1996 Jeep Cherokee XJ in preparation of a giveaway event to celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the XJ Cherokee. The Jeep will be given away in Moab, Utah on October 10, 2008.

NAXJA did this before, to celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of the Jeep Cherokee in 2003! They built up a 1988 Renix Cherokee with the venerable 4.0 liter six cylinder engine, automatic transmission and the popular NP231 transfer case. It was donned with Rubicon Express 5.5 inch lift springs, a 4.88:1 ring and pinion from Randy's, it was locked up at both ends via Detroit binders, sported 33 inch BFG off-road tires and an 8000 lb winch supplied by Warn.

Along with the Cherokee giveaway, NAXJA also gathered and donated $1,000.00 to the Utah Shared Access Alliance, a group who fights to keep public trails open. The club believes in the Tread Lightly credo, and has actively joined in the battle for land use. This year the plan is no different; although the Cherokee is newer than the last giveaway model, and some very beefy components will be slapped on this baby.

The giveaway Jeep this year is a 1996 Cherokee, and some of the donated trail parts include a Dana 60 rear axle with alloy shafts, lockers, gears, a Dana 44 front axle of the high-pinion variety, Warn hubs and Tom Woods drive shafts. There is also a long-arm front suspension kit from Clayton Offroad, with the rear leaves to be supplied by BigOffroad. This Jeep Cherokee will have a full roll cage, roof rack, front and rear rock bumpers, and Hella H4 off-road headlamps as well as a remote transmission cooler and filter kit.