So I'm shopping for a clean 98-99 Cherokee and started thinking about wranglers. My budget would be $8k and hope to find something newerish.

I'm drinking, it's 11, and Rand Paul is ranting on cspan. Tell me more about them than some random guy I would find at the next stool over if a random bar.

I'm hoping for minimal problems but I realize mainance and repairs are required on an older vehicle. Should I just stick to Cherokees?

 

You should be able to get a good pair of wranglers for way less than 8k, hopefully it doesn't interfere with your Cherokee plans. Enjoy that rugged, outdoor lifestyle.

 

TJ or newer. Coils make it better all around. Depends on what you want it for. Jeeps as a daily arent the greatest. I've always prefered travel over height and big tires. Losing flex for height usually hasn't paid off.

 

Both are pretty reliable. 4.0 is a good engine. Tj has a much better ride. Clearly the Cherokee is more practical, wrangler is better for picking up chicks.

 

If this Jeep is used for daily driving, I would stick with a Cherokee. I have a TJ and love it, but when I did about 6 months of daily driving, it got old real quick.

Hard to beat a Wrangler for hardcore offroading. And I am not just talking about their capability. The whole offroading experience is more fun in a Wrangler.

 

It would be a DD 6 months out of the year. Miata is the other 6. I'm not too worried about practicality, the wife has the family mobile, I just need 4wd/awd, off-road capability, and towing. I commute about 20 miles and half is interstate.

For off-roading, it has to be something narrower since most of our trails are made for 4wheeler or just narrow in general. Which is why I'm looking at Cherokees and Wranglers.

I need to do some reading in to their common problems and reliability.

 

I've always wanted a wrangler.

IMHO, i'd go with a YJ over a TJ especially for trail riding. But if you're going for a good amount of city and DD driving a TJ would be the way to go. Plus YJ's are getting up in age and you're budget is a bit higher than that.

Wrangler problems are pretty much none. The 4.0 will just go forever. If taken care of it shouldn't have any major issues.

A 4.0 wrangler is on my list of "engines i've blown up before" though... Which is kinda sad.

 

I don't get it. The TJ is far superior. Those YJ square headlights, yuck. And the YJ has leaf springs, yuck.

 

YJ is a no-no. They are good for a trail only rig but don't be seen in one. The ride alone is not good for street use.

Jeeps have the Mopar wiring curse. Most of the time its grounding issues. The dirty nature of a Jeep doesn't help.

Never buy a 4 cylinder, yes they work fine in 4-low but no good for street use.

Try to find a model with an axle other than an open Dana 35 (turdy-5) in the rear. The Dana 30 up front is okay for 35" tires even with LSD. Axle upgrades are cheap and easy. The Dana 35 housing is a weak part and isn't worth even an axle upgrade.

Rubicon comes with better axles and lockers. Always make sure the lockers work and do not leak.

 

to echo what someone else said, don't buy a 4-cylinder and don't buy a YJ

 

LOL. That is what I have. The price was right, so I could not pass it up. Not really so bad on the trail though.

I have a yearning desire to do an LS1 swap, but in reality it will likely either be sold or I do a straight 6 swap.

 

They're overpriced.

If you're comfortable rebuilding most of the front end, they can be a fun project.

If you have to pay a shop for repairs it can get really expensive. A lot of the front end parts wear quickly and good parts aren't cheap, plus most of the work is labor intensive which will add to the cost of repairs.

Getting the front end of a wrangler rebuilt with shocks, a drag link, steering shock, tie rods, track bar, hubs, and front axle u-joints will cost you close to 2g's at most shops.

Also, pay attention to the brake lines going to the rear axle, if they look real rusted you're gonna need those done soon too.

The I6 is pretty bulletproof if maintained. Vacuum leaks/cracked rubber lines can cause headaches trying to trace. The valve covers usually leak and the coolant elbow coming off the front of the water pump corrodes and will start to leak. On the later models they had an ignition cassette style coil setup. If one failed you had to replace the whole thing $$.

Smell the oil dipstick and if it smells like gas I would walk away. The rings are failing and I would bet compression would be lower than normal.

With the Cherokee, you will have all the same problems since they share the same drivetrain, suspension/steering and engine, but you can find them for half the price of a comparable Wrangler.

IMO.

 

The 4 banger is ok on trails but that weight savings does it zero favors on the road

 

Believe me, I know that all too well.

 

Previous owner of a I6 YJ (95) here. It was a hell of a bunch of fun but it was never "nice" as my friends TJ. Just enough lift to fit 31's under it and then just drove over everything, zero ***** given.

Like everyone is telling you: do not buy a 4 cylinder if you expect to drive it on the road with other cars. I don't care what year it is, its going to have a problem getting out of its own way.

I'll be honest, I was impressed with the 4.0. The PO of mine never serviced the coolant, ever. It never overheated but I could never get all the rust out of the coolant system with the standard heater hose flush. When I pulled off the water pump to pressure wash the inside of the block and head, I discovered the fins had rusted off the water pump to the point where there was about 1/3 of 1 fin left and yet it still stayed cool crawling over rocks and sitting in traffic. That thing was dead simple and never left me stranded.

I sold it and bought the NB, but I still miss the Wrangler from time to time.

 

After my first car, a Buick Century, suffered an e-brake release failure and spun into a telephone pole, my parents bought me a new 2005 6-speed Wrangler.

The fuel economy sucked and driving it on the highway was like trying to skate with a rollerblade on only one foot. It had drum brakes and a useless first gear but boy did it haul the bitches. That was easily the best second car a 16 year old kid with a Motorola RAZR and a girlfriend who was down for anything could have asked for.

On a mildly related note, is it possible to pull videos off those old RAZRs?

 

Depends on the RAZR. Check dis: How to transfer pictures from a RAZR phone to a PC | Ricky Says

If its the super-duper old one, you will probably need a USB adapter, a serial driver specific to the phone model and a piece of software like BitPim or whatever works with the Motorola.

Just go hit yourself in the head with a deadblow hammer, its a much better use of your time.

 

If you're going to try and DD that bitch, invest in a hardtop. Seriously.
All the 4.0Ls leak oil, but it's almost impossible to kill them.
Avoid the 3.8L wranglers, which are out of your budget anyway.

 

If the Cam Sensor fails, get a proper MOPAR one. Same for any MOPAR TPS. In fact, god help you with the electronics on any of those products.

 

Seriously.

Cherokee.