I have been running the Gabriel Hijacker air shocks on the rear of my Jeep Cherokee for 15 years or so. But the bags have developed leaks and no longer stay aired up. I searched for replacements but I could not find a replacement listing for the High Jackers for my Jeep. I did however find a listing for the Monroe Air Adjustable shocks.

I got my set through Amazon, although Advance Auto carries them as well. They are sold as a set of two so don’t get confused when ordering.

The Monroe shacks came with all the air lines and fittings needed to install them. There were also some extra bolts in the box that are not used on the Cherokee. I guess these shocks are also used in other applications.

The toughest part of changing the rear shocks on a Cherokee is removing the upper bolts. These are little 8mm bolts with 13mm heads. They are exposed to road salt and are in a hidden pocket in the unibody. So they are easy to break. I always begin by tightening them just a bit. This seems to help break the corrosion bond. Then I carefully work them out. I use a 3/8 ratchet with lots of extensions so I can get a good feel of how the bolt is turning. If it sticks, I run it back in a bit.

You can help loosen the corrosion by spraying something like PB Blaster or Liquid wrench into the space above the bolt. It is difficult to get to the actual bolt however.

If, you do break a bolt, there are several ways to fix it. You can drill through and put a nut on top or weld on a bar pin eliminator made out of an old sway bar bracket.

I was able to get all four of my bolts out intact. I then removed the lower 18mm nut and slipped the old shocks off the pins. I removed the old air lines from the High Jackers.

The Monroe shocks seemed a tad shorter than the Gabriel shocks and I had to lift the axle just a bit to make them reach. I started the top bolts first and then set the bottom on the pin. I put bolted up both shocks before attaching the air lines.

The new shocks came with a complete air line kit. I elected to retain my old air lines however. At first I had trouble getting the lines to seal at the shocks. After a couple of tries I noticed that the installation kit had O rings in it. Once I installed the O rings the old lines sealed just fine in the new shocks.

The air shocks give me adjustability and just enough lift to help keep it off the bump stops. It also helps to adjust for the trailer tongue weight as well.

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Christmas morning we woke up to 4 inches of fresh snow. White Christmases are rare in Tennessee. So when we heard the prediction of snow, we expected maybe a dusting. We were quite surprised by 4 inches and more still falling when were set out to for our family gathering at my Mother’s house across the county.

On a normal “snow day” in Tennessee, everything shuts down. Schools are closed, businesses close and most folks stay home. So, normally, driving around in my Jeep, I have the roads to myself. At least that is what I expected when I headed out our long driveway.

I was really shocked at the number of tracks in the fresh snow. I was even more surprised by the number of vehicles out driving in the snow. And not just Jeeps and 4×4 trucks but mini vans and Lexus cars as well. The worst part of the drive was the other cars who seemed to have no idea where the center line was under the snow and tended to use my lane and theirs too as they slid toward me. Those little bumps in the snow in the middle of the road are caused by reflectors folks. It is a good guideline as to where your side ends and my side begins even if you can’t see the stripes.

We managed to make the trip that normally takes 20 minutes in just under an hour. The country scenery was beautiful.

As we ate and opened presents, the snow continued to softly fall. By the time we left there were a good seven inches accumulated. My two grown boys built a snow fort and had a snowball fight.

Back home, we played with the sled on some of hills in the front yard and even made a few runs down one of our steep Jeep trails. The Jeeps enjoyed slinging snow much the same as mud.

The next morning, the snow had crusted over with some ice. This made the sled run even faster down the hills. Some of the snow had melted off the roads. In fact most of the main roads were clear even though our driveway was still covered in snow. We made several runs down the hill on the sled.

On Monday, we were scheduled to travel to Mississippi for a family reunion. The Suburban was still covered in snow and I damaged a windshield wiper scraping snow and ice off the glass.

Dad’s driveway was still covered with ice making it hazardous to back his car out of the garage so we changed our plans and picked them up in the Suburban. The 4×4 does not get much use in the big truck but it sure made driving on the snow much safer feeling.

There was one long patch of ice on the road leading to their house but the Geolander tires and 4×4 made it feel fine as we drove across. We made it up the hill to their house and even up their steep driveway as easily as we had in the Jeep.

We saw traces of snow as far south as Pontotoc, Ms, where we stopped for the night.

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On the lift I noticed that the right front axle U joint was loose. That was making more noise than the rear wheel bearings so I decided to tackle it first. Also I am very familiar with this job.

I began by removing the wheel and brake caliper. Then I removed the center nut and washer. I then pulled the three hub mounting bolts.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how easily the hub came out. Most of the time I have to hammer these out but this one can out in my hand.

I used a support to hold the axle up while I pulled the axle shaft out. This reduced the amount of gear oil lost from the differential.

I then move took the axle shaft to the vise to swap out the joint. This is a job I have also done many times as evidenced by all the roller bearings on the floor behind my vise.

This joint proved very stubborn to extract. I pressed and hammered and finally got one cap off. I then went to press the cross back through and the other cap must have gotten crooked because it jammed and the cap broke rather than come out.

I used a combination of hammering, pressing and using a punch on the anvil to finally extract the broken cap. The other two caps from the stub axle came out relatively easy after that.

I put the new caps on the anvil and tapped them in to the axle. Then I put in the other two caps. I used the press to move caps in enough to put the C clips on.

I slipped the axle back in and reinstalled the hub. Then I put the rotor back on and the brake caliper. With the wheel back on and the lugs torqued, Janice took it for a test drive and noticed that is was much quieter.

Now I still have to do the rear wheel bearings. I have everything on the shelf, I just have to schedule some time.

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