I have been looking to get back into an xj again there is one near me its a 1997 with 172k and a composite plow...i am familiar with xj's i have driven and wheeled 2 and all togethor have owned 4 this will be my dd/ weekend rock crawler for a bit then down the road a few years a trailer rig...

what should i look for idk how long the plow has been on im thinking obviously check the subframe but any other suggestions? going to look tomorrow and if i buy plow comes off and gets sold

 

That would make me kind of nervous, but if the PO didn't plow to hard, then you might be ok.

After the frame, which would be my biggest concern with an XJ as a plow truck, I'd have two other big concerns with that plow.

1: the transmission and transfer case. A lot of people think they're indestructible when they have a plow and push their vehicles beyond anything they were designed to do. So make sure it is shifting smooth through all the gears, check the fluid... See how smoothly the 4wd engages and disengages. Listen for any grinding, clunking, thunking, plunking or any other noise that would indicate that it has been used up.

2: The whole front end. From steering linkage to suspension. Since most of that isn't to expensive to replace, it might not be a deal killer for me, but could give you an indication of how hard he has pushed it. Check the control arms... see if you can tell how much those springs are sagging.

If he didn't push it to hard, then it might be an awesome vehicle, but plows on uniframe vehicles ALWAYS make me nervous.

 

well the one upside i see is it is using a composite plow i have seen xj's with full fledged steel plows and they look torched i am gonna ask how long its had a plow from the pics it looks like its sagging a little from the weight

 

Re-read OP