Hi.. I am Robs wrenching friend, Dave

Rob, me and his son went wheeling in Panamint Valley CA in his 2001 Cherokee that we lifted, and replaced the head and cam as you can read about in prior posts. It was a blast crawling over the rocks.

Now I am kind of hooked and want a Cherokee also, Been looking on Craigslist in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. looking at 2001 and before models.

My other cars are manuals, my 2wd slightly lifted Vanagon did well on 100 miles of Death Valley trails back in January when Robs cherokee was down for the cam, I found shifting just fine with the vans stick shift, but being 2wd, I avoided the worse stuff.

I Panamint Valley this month's with robs lifted cherokee, we crawled some neat trails, this is an automatic cherokee.

I my search for a cherokee I see autos, I see sticks. For off roading, which is best? I can see difficultly crawling super slow with a stock geared stick shift, a lot of clutch work might be needed I only own stick shifts, but that has been for roads, not crawling trails.

Should I pass up a stick shift cherokee for an auto?

Advice appreicated.

Thanks!

 

The aw4 auto and ax15 manual are both good reliable transmissions when taken care of. It basicly comes down to personal preference, both have advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation.

 

Also, what are the difference I should be aware of in the 2001 and back cherokees, I see some for sale from the 1980's I know early ones had a diberglass hatch back, what are the pros and cons over the years 2001 and back?
What factory options should I look for for best wheeling?

Thanks Dave

 

I did not personally like the NV3550 manual and definitely prefer the AX15 manual. I'll second the statement that between Auto and Manual, it's personal preference and there are pros and cons for either - it's up to you.

The NV3350 will be the OEM 5-spd in a 00 or 01 XJ whereas the AX15 will be the OEM 5-spd in 99 and earlier. I say "OEM" because the NV3550 and AX15 are very similar and it's always possible a person swapped between them. I dislike the NV3550 due to the many problems I had with it in my 00 TJ - everything from a rattle in neutral (from day 1.. I bought the TJ with like 7 miles on it.) to broken disc springs, to an internal bearing failing causing an awful grinding that finally pushed me over the edge to move on from the TJ as my DD.
My dad had a 94 XJ that he taught 3 teenage boys to drive a manual in and it had zero problems and only a single clutch service through 400k miles. It was still in perfect working order when he moved on from the XJ due to extensive body rot.

 

All XJ's are 2001 and earlier.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/loo...osting-224555/

This thread will give you an overview of the variations throughout the years. As you're thoroughly aware of already, there is a casting defect in the OEM 0331 heads used in 00 and 01 4.0L I6's.

 

If I was looking for an xj I would avoid the 00 and 01 models because of the cracked head issue, the coil on plug instead of distributor, and they have a low pinion dana 30 front instead of a stronger high pinion like 99 and earlier. I would look at the 91-99 models, and if you are going to use it off road get one with the chrysler 8.25 rear axle not the dana 35. As for the nv3550 transmission I have only driven one that was in a 2002 TJ and it was the smoothest shifting manual transmission I have ever driven.

 

It was smooth, but the smoothness was definitely not worth the trouble.

When I was shopping for an XJ I looked at an 01 with the NV3550 and the thing was horrid - it whined like it was "in reverse" - but it sounded like that in every gear. When I looked at the 95 I ended up buying with the AX15, it shifted beautifully and quietly and still does.

To each their own though, there are plenty of folks that like the NV3550 - I can only speak for myself and my own experiences.

 

Another .02 input: Had my first XJ for 19 years, 600K km and it was an auto. My "new" XJ is a '98 with stick. I love the stick off road, would not deliberately go back to an auto.
"Go with what ya know"