ive got a 98 with a 3in lift with 30s an its 2wheel drive an i have only got stuck 2 times an the str8 6 is the way to with an auto trany an the seats are cumfy

 

is the 98 same as the 99

 

The site that the guy had a link to says that the 97-01's are the best models/years. I guess they would be the same, if not almost identical.

 

97 to 99.
in 2000 they went to the low pinion d30, and all of a sudden cracked heads became an issue.
'97 was the first year for the 29 spline 8.25.

 

Not necessarily as 2000-01 have a low pinion Dana 30 and have a distributorless ignition system, and those are two of the disadvantages of those years.

 

I think the 95 is the best year - a lot cheaper than the newer models and easy to find JY parts. ;-) But I may be a bit biased...

 

also i would recomend buying a stock one for one you will save money and you wont have to worry if someone else messed up putting on a lift if they didnt know what they were doin plus if you install all your own parts you will start to learn more about your xj and trail fixes will be that much easier good luck

 

A 99 is mighty fine!!!

 

I agree with the 99 opinion. Don't get anything older than a 91. You want to avoid the Renix controlled oldies.

A 99 with a Chrysler rear axle is your goal. Some 99's still came with the worthless D-35 rears. The AW4 auto is near bomb proof. The 91 thru 99's came with the reverse rotation D-30 front axles which are 30% stronger and have more clearance than the later std rotation D-30"s

 

Hey now!! My 89 runs like a top. (or it will when Im done with the Ax-15 swap )

 

My vote is for 98 as best model year

 

What is bad about distributorless ignition? I have a 99 with the distributor, and I'm just curious.

 

1999 is where its at but my 89 is got 362,xxx miles. just sayin, original engine and tranny.

 

There are no bad years of XJs. Like someone said before, stay away from the Pugot 5 speed. There was a small number of 00 & 01s that had heads that were prone to cracking. People on forums like to make it sound like every 00 & 01 XJ will have a cracked head. Not true. I have a 2000 with almost 130k and have had no problems with the motor at all. I don't know why some folks prefer the ditributor ignition on the 99 and older models. I kind of like the fact that all I need for a tune up is a set of plugs and an air filter.
I'm not sure what part of the country you're in, but be sure to look at the underside of the truck.XJs are unibody, and rust is bad news for unibodies.

 

Amen to that Brother!!!!!! X2 X2