Well new to me at least

After owning many Wranglers I finally bought a 1999 Cherokee Sport it has 105k. I have been eying one for a while now finally broke down and bought one.
I have a couple questions for the late Cherokee owners out there. First, is this is my first automatic Jeep and want to know how the transmission holds up and any issues that you have had with is. Second, how is the 8.25 rear axle? All my Wranglers have had Dana rear axles, loved the Dana 44 on my Rubicon btw. Thirdly, any over all issues I should know about with the Cherokees? Thanks.

 

1. Welcome to CF!
2. The AW4 transmission that can take quite a bit of abuse. You can't go wrong with it.
3. The 8.25 (29 spline - you have this one, compared witht eh 27 spline fromt eh mid-90's) is a pretty good axle. The D44 is stronger, but the 8.25 should do you fine without issues, and it's stronger than the D35 most wranglers had.
4. For all XJ's you may get the occasional electrical gremlin. Keep rust from happening (especially along the rockers), and remember that it's a unibody so any way you can strengthen it (stiffeners) is always a good idea.