names Evan, im a senior in high school in antioch Illinois. bought my first jeep last october for $1300 with 132xxx 5 spd. pretty bad rust though, and some 30" tires. built a bumper for it: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/hi...r-build-80244/
come spring i got a good paying job that was full time in the summer. was planning on getting a lift tires and fixing rust and what not. but i then i found the orange xj on craigslist. and i figured by time i put all the stuff into my jeep and fix all the rust, id be well past $2500 total, so i went to this guy and talked him down to $1500 after i had sold mine for $950. so i bought it. has a RC 4.5" short arm lift, adjustable track bar, 31" dick cepeks with bout 60% tread left. he had repaired all the rust and bedlined the rockers and floors. he did tell me that he installed some marine plywood in the cargo area, rather then getting all new sheet metal... surprisingly the cargo area isnt rusted to bad at all. so soon enough ill take out the wood and fix the metal. t has 220k miles on it and runs better then my old jeep. has 6 fog lights switches all wired has a tachometer and a gauge pod for voltage oil pressure and temp. usually runs about 190-200 degrees. so far ive installed a 12" kicker and 200watt amp, 4 new sony speakers, and a sony headunit. also i bolted up my homemade bumper. (took it off b4 i sold my old one). things to do:
-undercoat the whole bottom(some surface rust)
-fix clutch(pedal has been soft lately)
-look at front driveshaft(pop and whatnot when offroading)
-finish modding my hinges lol
so tell me what yall think i now its a lot to read =)

 

more pics

 

and more lol. both sway bars on! got to take out the rear and make some quick diskos

 

oh and JakeWI is the original builder of this jeep hes a CF moderator, so props to him!

 

Wow looks like a great start! Great rig for 1500. Love the color scheme too. the bedline in the middle of the hood is sharp, gonna have to steal the idea. Good luck with the build.

 

Thanks man! and steal away!

 

Wasn't there a topic about avoiding this XJ because the current owner was lying about certain things?

 

yeah there was. but i bought it knowing it had about 220k on it he told me that and i looked on carfax. idk what others people experiences are with him but he seemed pretty nice and told me all the flaws of it.

 

You can expect a vehicle over 20 years old to have some issues but these Jeeps are so easy to work on yourself, you would have to be lazy and have extra cash to pay someone else to work on it.

I think you got a good deal. I got mine for $1,580 with everything already on it. I'm just redoing the coolant system to a high flow sealed system and doing a major tune up.

 

could'nt be more correct! i enjoy working on my jeep its part of the fun! lol but yeah im a poor highschool kid so id figure id save myself some money by buying it lifted because the lift and tires on it are around $1200 alone. definitively a smart choice lol

 

antioch huh? i graduated from grant in 2010. maybe ill see ya around town or driving around. i got a 96 xj dark blue with cf stickers on the back windows. honk or wave if ya see me lol

 

i drive around fox lake all the time i live off grass lake road by halings marina. like 1 mile north of blarny's port. ive seen a drak blue xj with about 33's a few times in fox lake. do you have bushwackers? windows tinted? lol i think ive seen ya before

 

not me lol im still rollin on stockers til next week when i get my soft 8s in. i live right behind the jewel at 12 and 134

 

The Jeep itself was fine. It was the owner at the time that was in question.

 

oh ok gotcha. well theres a blue cherokee in fox lake pretty big. then theres a huge chop top one i see now and then. and a guy down the road from me with a grean one on 33's with chrome rims. i got some cragar d windows on mine cragars to to be the go to choice for rims lol. have you ever wheeled the spot off route 12 headed towards spring grove?