I would like to get rid of the piece of sh*t fan clutch and go back to a direct system with a spacer and no clutch. Has anyone ever done this? Do the older cherokee's have this same system?

yes you can...
is yours the 4.0l or the 2.8l?

pretty sure the company is Flex-A-Lite, and they make conversions to go to a flex fan with spacer.

hope this helps,
ctesla
nrt racing

its a 4L with a/c

You might want to try this site: http://www.perma-cool.com/Catalog/Cat_page20.html for Flex Fan. They have a section on the site for clutch replacer-spacers (they also sell fan clutches) Good Luck!