dtaylor21

I found a 1994 cherokee sport, 175k miles, he told me that the front driveshaft was squeaking(says it was u joints) so they just disconnected it, and the old man hit something like a sign or small pole. they said minor front end damage and everything was replaced except the front bumper and he said the bottom of the rad support is bent a little bit. the bumper is no biggie because my buddy wants to build me a tube bumper. anything else i should look for? it's an old man, its only $600 and supposed only minor damage. I'm looking at it tomorrow so is there a way i can check the front rear and transfer case without jacking it up? and just by looking at it will i be able to tell if it has any frame damage? please help!!! I'm going to check it out 2pm tomorrow.

tampaviking

You could look where the bumper mounts to the uni body, and check and see if it has any wrinkles or cracks. Look at the floorboards from underneath to make sure is is not rusted out.

FlyingLow

crawl underneath with a good flashlight. Look at EVERYTHING. rust hides in every little crack and crevice on these things

zr2toxj

Look at the floor pans, rockers, etc for rust.

I looked at a 95 that was $500 & it shifted hard into 4wd. He said it was normal, but since I bought my 99, I realized it wasn't normal.

Just take your time, look things over in good shape. Take someone with you for another opinion. $600 isn't much, but if you buy a headache you'll regret it.

I decided to spend more & get something in better shape. I'm still not sure of my decision, but I'm feeling more & more confident as I work on it.

Good luck!

G_P

For 600 bucks if it drives good and the unibody is straight and the body damage is not too bad then grab it. Even if you use some parts on another jeep then part it out on craigslist you'll probably still make some money off of it.

If you do buy it and drive it make sure that radiator mount isn't bent badly. If the rad in it now ever needs replacing and the mounts are all bent out of whack it will make putting a new one in rather difficult.

dtaylor21

thanks for the quick replys, i'm looking for something cheap that i can dd and wheel, i plan on a small lift(enough to fit 33s) with fender trimming and a home made snorkel. i was reading a bunch of threads about people dealing with floor rot so i kind of already knew to look for that. I wanted to make sure that driving this without the driveshaft wouldnt hurt the transfer case, I heard something about if you disconnect the front driveshaft on one of the small suvs it basically kills the transfer case. now to check the front rear and transfer case i was thinking about watching under to make sure the pinion yolks spun while someone drove the jeep slowly forward and back. does this sound like a good way to check those 2? i don't really trust people selling me things so im trying to find the best ways to check everything out and make sure i'm not getting beat. I really want this thing to be good and straight because the next cheapest thing i've found is a couple of 88s and 89s for $1000 plus.

G_P

I have seen plenty of trucks break the rear driveshaft and simply remove it and drive home in 4wheel acting as front wheel drive. there may be some vehicles where this could harm the Tcase but i dont think it would hurt a jeep.

FlyingLow

As long as it's fully removed and not flopping around it won't harm anything. It'l just act like it's in 2WD if you engage 4WD.

G_P

Ha! Me and some friends were wheeling once and saw an old F-150 pulling out of the trailhead with his rear driveshaft flailing around. We flagged him down and told him about it and even offered to help him remove it as we had a decent amount of tools with us but he refused and said he has driven it home like that before!

We just laughed as he pulled away and it sounded like a trainwreck as he gunned it pulling out onto the paved road to head home.

FlyingLow

And these actions are why us good natured wheelers a bad wrap. Definitely sounds like a born and raised ford guy. lol

G_P

Yeah... I'm a chevy truck guy myself but my wife bought an old 86 F-150 plow truck a few years ago for 500 bucks. That thing was rusted beyond any amount of rust i thought possible (all brake lines rotted away and massive frame rot holes) but it had the 300 straight 6 with a 4 speed granny geared first gear tranny and the PO had modified it over to a normal non-electric controlled carb and that thing was a tank that could plow through anything. Ended up selling it for 400 after putting about 200 worth of parts into it but it make us a few thousand in its plowing career.

I still prefer chevy/dodge but that truck made me rethink the reliability of Fords.

FlyingLow

I am a bowtie guy myself but I gotta give a nod to the reliability of the Fords. Just the area I go to school and live in NO ONE takes proper care of their ford trucks. They're all rusted out, beat up, and holding on with the aid of a buttload of duct tape.

G_P

I dont even think duct tape could have saved my old plow rig. when you took a corner the whole cab felt like it was about to slide off the frame. The 1/2 ton of sand/salt in the bed was the only thing keeping it from flying off when you hit the gas. Hell the exhaust studs that held the pipe to the manifold were broke off so i put some small C-clamps on to hold it in place so it didnt sound like a top fuel dragster. But no matter what that old straight six just soldiered on. That might be why i have a fondness for the Jeep 4.0!

dtaylor21

alright so it ended up being another dudd, listening to you guys i looked at the floor.....rot and nothing at all in the front end lined up. the previous accident was bad enough it pushed the fan into the radiator the hood/fenders/grill were all completely out of whack and the interior was trashed.

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/1181173787.html

thats the add if anyone is interested. on a good not it did sound healthy and the owner swore it drove perfectly straight but when i noticed that the only gap between the fender and the driver door was the gap created by the door folding in the edge of the fender i figured something deffinately had to be out of whack. again thanks for all the help guys. I'm sure i'll post up questions on the next one i decide to look at lol(hopefully the next one will be something worth buying.) again thanks for the help
p.s. I'm a chevy man myself but with gas going back up again and the fuel economy on a nice 3/4ton going down every inch the tire grows I decided i'd give a cherokee a try.