JEEP

[1990wade]

im thinking of getting a jeep wrangler...my dad had one and i loved it lol..


anyone else have any info on them that they would like to share.

[allmotorEJ8]

Fun but expensive.

[tnomud]

had 2 cherokees, beat the hell out of them for years, hit over 150K on both with no major issues. Put radiators in both ($100 new each), and had a few cat. converters go bad (just gutted them out)

[1990wade]

yea i was lookin at some cherokees.i might go that route because i believe insurance will kick my ass on a wrangler

[tnomud]

I love the wranglers too, same drivetrain, just as good. But realistically, tops wear out, they are noisey and bouncey, and A/C kinda sucks. try these sites for more info: southernjeeps.org, jeepsunlimited.com, and XJ forums

[1990wade]

thanks man i will look at these...

[allmotorEJ8]

Cherokees are nice for the wheelbase, but their downfall is that it's a unibody. Seen many problems with them twisting and ripping things off the unibody. Wranglers are nice cause you can take the top off or doors or both. Their wheelbase sucks for this area, but that depends on how extreme you get with it. Also Cherokees tend to overheat more often than a wrangler.

[1990wade]

i mean i really dont want to take them offroad just for daily use really..but i do like to play in the mud lol
i really want a wrangler because i can take the doors and top off..be nice for the summer time

[allmotorEJ8]

Ok then as long as you're gonna keep it on the street mainly, then it won't be expensive. I had an 06 Wrangler and a 94 Cherokee and took the Wrangler offroad a lot. I never got a chance to take the Cherokee before I sold it. I built my Wrangler for some pretty extreme abuse, but you've got to push it to find the weakest links. I stretched the wheelbase on mine to reach the length I desired for my style of offroading. I did a custom built setup and ended up running coilovers on the rear later down the road.

Stock wheelbase:



Stretched wheelbase:




The stretched pic is shown with a larger diameter tire. Oh and stay out of the mud, that shit tears up more stuff than anything.

[1990wade]

nice jeep...yea i will stay out lol..i just want something that i enjoy plus use to pull my fourwheeler and when i do get a boat

[punkr6]

make sure you get the 4.0 inline 6, they last forever....

[allmotorEJ8]

Yeah forgot to mention that. I had the 4cyl. in my cherokee and it's just useless unless you gear it extremely low.

[1990wade]

so 4.0 is the best way to go

[allmotorEJ8]

Yessir. Mine was the last year of the 4.0. The 07 and up have a 3.5L V6, it's just not the same. Some claim that it's better and it puts down the same numbers, but it does it at much higher rpms than the 4.0.

[lanning]

go with the 4.0 i had a cherokee lifted on 33s with an auto 4.0 and never had any problems

[punkr6]

so 4.0 is the best way to go

for sure, I've had 2 at well over 250k miles and no engine trouble...

[1990wade]

well im still lookin around comparing prices...i think the cherokee would be a little better because of insurance

[punkr6]

well im still lookin around comparing prices...i think the cherokee would be a little better because of insurance

cherokee's are great and you won't have all the wind noise the wrangler has....

[allmotorEJ8]

cherokee's are great and you won't have all the wind noise the wrangler has....

Sorry man, but that's not true. I've had both and the wrangler with both hard and soft tops and they are all the same. If you do get a cherokee make sure you check the unibody good. Check around all the mounts for the suspension and check the "frame" rail around the steering box for cracks.

Edit: Here is a pic of my buddy cherokee that cracked at the steering box after a light run in the creekbed.

[1990wade]

wat bout the jeeps from 2000 and up

[allmotorEJ8]

Which model?

[1990wade]

well i have been lookin at a 2000 jeep wrangler tj...

[allmotorEJ8]

Those are good. The coil spring suspension rides a whole lot better than leafs.

[SlowEG9]

I was going to get a wrangler last year but the ones i found in my price range were all 4 cylinders...every single 4 cylinder one i looked at had issues with running warm...dont know if its just the 4 cylinder issue but..

On the other hand, I have a buddy with a 4.0 cherokee he drove for about 6 months with a bad head gasket and it would never blow up it seemed...thing was a tank