I am wanting a Cherokee, but my friend was saying that because of the unibody the body can twist when offroading, have you guys notices anything like that or are they pretty good off road?

 

Yeah but it's nothing serious. If you wheel really hard you can damage the unibody but I wouldn't worry about it. They make weld-in stiffeners for the frame rails that make it a lot more rigid

 

I wouldn't worry about it... unless
your planning on doing stuff like this lol

 

You really have to put huge heavy tires and axles on your XJ and flex the $**t out of it for a long time to have any noticeable twistage. I speak from personal experience. I have beat the crap out of my XJ every wheeling trip for 6 years now. I had one minor issue where the driver's side door started leaking when it rained. I just opened the door, pulled in on the frame about and closed it. Leak was all gone and haven't had another twist issue since.

 

I thought one of the uni-body construction advantages was it's stiffer, no?

 

Thats the impression I was under too. No frame and separate body parts to twist and rack. All one thing so it has much more structural integrity.

 

Yes but the metal used is much thinner. It just kinda wears out of shape with heavy wheeling. you have to get it pretty crossed up though and a over time. Doesn't hurt to strengthen the rails.

 

are they pretty good off road? look up some vids on y tube

 

They're ****ing awesome off-road.

 

Awesome, that is exactly what I wanted to hear! Thanks for the awesome videos too.

 

It's not just unibody, it's uni-frame. That way they can get by with thinner metal as the design has built-in strength without the need for heavy metal.

Uni-body is a design that has no real frame and has sub-frames attached to the front and the rear with no structure extending full length.

 

Really? I didn't know that, I will have to research that.

 

Coming here for advice on an XJ is like going to a donuts forum asking if they like donuts. Hell ya! . I love my uni body i can t tell the difference. It creaks a little thats about it.

 

Might want to take advice from your friend with a grain of salt.LOL

 

If that was the case Wrangler owners would nit be able to give us hell for not having a frame.

And I often hear talk about how the Cherokee is at a disadvantage due to the lack if a true frame.