Hi all... this might be a weird question... but here it goes....
Even with all the occasional "hissy-fits" that our old Jeeps throw... I just can't see myself getting rid of her. Overall she's been a pretty good egg with only 105k on the clock.
She's spent most of the last year and a half in smaller cities/towns in Colorado and now in Northern AZ. Runs pretty good minus having to swap out some old vacuum lines shortly. And is virtually rust free.
I will be moving to a bigger city in southern TX that's only a couple hours from the coast.

I'm not in the position to just by a newer vehicle outright. Love being able to work on our older jeeps even though they can be needy children at times. A wrench, some knowledge, and generally reasonably priced parts (and nearly all still available).... and an old XJ makes sense.
I'm just concerned about her having to pull DD in a city that large with that much traffic with some of the issues that our older XJ's can be prone to. If I do keep her for DD in a big city... those that use theirs in the same fashion in large cities... what are some recommendations? Or is the recommendation simply NOT to do it? She's never left me stranded, but being 20 years old, things can happen more often.
I'm probably already going to sell my motorcycle as I don't want to ride in a city with that many crazies... just not worth the risk. Maybe I could use the funds from that sale to beef up the XJ for serious DD use. Right now she sees a mild commute of about 10 miles a day in a small town. Does well, but that's nothing compared to big city streets and traffic.
So any honest ideas / thoughts... on either side of the coin would be greatly appreciated.
If this is just a completely bad idea then so be it...but hoping that wont be the case
Thanks!

 

Wouldn't bother me in the least if I had to run my XJ as a DD in the city. A GOOD cooling system. GOOD a/c and heating system. Auto transmission. City driving is hard on brakes so the rear disc swap is nice. Only two things I would possibly change for a more comfortable ride would be a less aggressive tire (got wildpeaks right now) and a lighter duty shock. BUT that would depend on the road conditions in the city. I know Baltimore City has some of the worse. Like running an obstacle course dodging DEEP potholes and who knows what else. DEFINITLEY worse than our local roads.

 

As far as 4x4s go, the XJ is pretty nice for getting around in more crowded areas because it has excellent visibility from inside, and is a tiny vehicle by today's standards.

 

I abhor large cities personally, however I've never worried a bit about driving a Jeep (either my current XJ or my old Jeep TJ) even though it was a stick shift. One of the major advantages of driving an old Jeep anywhere is that you get a significantly higher level of respect and deference. I see this weekly as I drive my 95 XJ primarily, but usually one day a week I'm driving my little Corolla due to it having the kids car seats. Folks give you more room, are less likely to cut you off, etc.etc.

If you're comfortable driving your XJ, keep driving it. Worst case you give it a chance and find out that for some reason it's not working for you or things start breaking faster than you can or want to address them and you make a change at that time.

 

One thing that has been pissing me off to no end is getting a steering gear box that works the way it is supposed to. Feels like I'm driving a 1976 Ford LTD (gun-boat)
I crawled under and replaced the tie-rod ends last year... and then a box at that time... it lasted for about a year... did another one about 3 months ago and it already had friggin' play in it. what a PITA.

Cooling seems to be good on it... a/c I dont use... might need a charge not sure. But in the winter the defrost works great so I'm pretty sure the heater core is pretty clear at the present time.
I don't really mind the rear drums on mine... just redid all of the brakes a year ago..and she stops pretty well.
I guess I'm mostly concerned that she does well in a town the size of 50ish thousand...but moving to a city of a couple million. So I don't want to drive her into the ground just by the increased DD tasks.. that's why I posted this question. She's in good condition now, but don't want it to turn into an enormous pit by driving a 20 year old Jeep that hard/much in a major metropolitan city.

 

yeah... I considered selling her once...and literally couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm a Christian, and I know it's just a "thing"...a possession...but just seems something a bit special to me about an old boxy 4x4 with solid axles.
Plus the outstanding gas mileage an old jeep gets and being in a big city... lol... I just averaged 14 mpg out of my last tank and that wasn't going even going quite down to 1/4 left before filling up.
I know she's FI...but I think being at 7,000 ft. above sea level does play a little role as I was getting slightly better mileage living at 5600 just previously.

I personally hate big cities myself...but going there for work and my lady...so...I'm going.

 

Nothing wrong with having sentiment for your vehicle - so long as it's not impacting your life negatively or you're putting it above the people you care about. I sold my old TJ to a friend and long story short, due to issues with the title he went as far as to put a for sale sign on it and it was deeply disturbing to me. I sold it to him because he was the only person other than myself that I'd trust to "give it a good home". When I give him the title to it (which was shockingly easy to straighten out) I'm going to have a talk with him so if he ever does decide he doesn't want it that he gives me the opportunity to buy it back from him before selling it to Joe schmoe off the street.

 

I've been reading too much lately (past year or so) about low quality replacement steering gears. We put one in our '96 Blazer a while back that had to be tightened right out of the box.

"So I don't want to drive her into the ground just by the increased DD tasks"
You have a right to be concerned. Stop and go is the hardest type of driving on a vehicle and the worst on gas mileage.. Ask your local mail deliverer! But at least an XJ is sturdy built and you can maintain it yourself.

 

True - You have the choice of deciding "do I drive it in the city and put the heavy wear on it or take it off the road which isn't great for the vehicle and drive something else".. I'd still opt for the "drive it" option since it is such a sturdy vehicle and it's easy to maintain.

As far as the steering gear - did you try the Redhead steering gear? I've only heard good things about them and the Jeep gear only runs about $300. If I ever need a new gear for my XJ, I'm most likely going with the Redhead since the other common recommendation "trusted local rebuilder" isn't available near me.

 

Cruiser seems to be big on the ZJ steering gear for the XJ.

Wonder where the XJ is on the list of "desirable steals" in the city where RM's going?

 

I've heard good stories of guys using a Dodge Durango steering box. It's bigger, stronger, and mounts the same way. The only modification that might be needed is to reposition the pitman arm.

For the heat in South Texas, I would add an aux transmission cooler and an engine oil cooler. Also add a fan over-ride switch in case you need additional cooling in stop&go traffic. You might want to recharge the A/C. You might wish you had it.

I've used my XJ for 4 months now delivering newspapers. That's about the same as using it as a taxicab! Many stops&starts, low speed maneuvering, U-turns, K-turns, shifting into reverse often, long periods of idling. No problems yet.

 

A friend of mine used to use his XJ to deliver Chinese food, and he beat the hell out of it, and it is still running (260,000 miles). I may buy it off of him to fix it up if he decides to sell it.
I agree. I would definitely make sure that the cooling system is up to the task of stop and go driving in some pretty hot temperatures. An aux trans cooler is probably a good idea, and maybe even just a small oil cooler. I know Derale, i think, used to make a dual circuit cooler that would be a 4 pass (trans fluid), and 2 pass (oil). That would probably work ok.

See about upgrading the aux fan, I don't know what size but there are a lot of companies that makes fans that can pull a lot of air, and add the manual override while you are doing it.

Is the truck lifted at all? It probably would do best in the city on a stock or upcountry suspension with shocks with more road manners.

Also, tires, maybe consider some highway all seasons or some not so agressive all terrains (maybe goodyear wrangler all terrain, they dont seem too bad).

What gears does it have in it?

 

I live in DC and daily my XJ. Not a big deal. The roads stuck, so having tires with big sidewalls is a plus. As someone else mentioned, visibility is excellent.

 

I'm looking at installing a Derale cooler similar to what you describe from Summit for $53 along with a sandwich filter bypass plate from Earl's Performance at Summit also for $53.46. I've found my idle oil pressure is only 25 psi when hot, but is around 40 psi when the engine has reached temp but the oil is still cool. I think a cooler will help a lot. D&E in the Garage on YouTube says a trans cooler from a tow package ZJ fits nicely in an XJ so I'll be on the lookout for one on my next trip to the boneyard. Since my A/C compressor has been removed by the PO, I'm going to eliminate the rest of the system including the condenser which should improve airflow thru the radiator and help with the cooling. What do you think?

D&E also has a video about installing a 140 amp alternator from a Dodge Durango simply by changing the plug. I might go that route as well because of all the extra lighting I use doing my newspapers. Then there's the Extended Idle Switch I want to install. All you do for that is ground one wire from the PCM thru a switch to jump the idle in Park and Neutral to 1000 rpm. It's a designed in function used for Police service to keep the alternator online at idle to power their radios. It's the grey wire in cavity 12 of the A plug of the PCM.

 

Here's an alternator upgrade (new) that's offered at a site someone here posted. Seems like a descent deal.
https://www.ksuspensionfab.com/store..._-_NEW%21.html

Trans and oil coolers are a good idea. I have a B&M trans cooler in line with the one with the radiator one. Couldn't you adapt the a/c condenser into an oil cooler?

Lots of things you could add to protect your XJ from other vehicles to. Decent bumpers for one. I got bumped in the rear a couple years ago while in Baltimore. My gas line pipe bumper never budged. Front has the same but with a small brush guard one it.