Tokarev

Hello everyone. I will soon be purchasing my first Jeep Cherokee XJ. I want to use as it as a daily driver, but also take it on some Arizona trails on the weekends. I probably won't be doing any hardcore rock-crawling with it. I drive on offroad desert trails all the time in work trucks. However, I'm new to jeeps and the offroading hobby scene - and I don't have much experience working on vehicles.

I want to know if you guys think it's better to buy a stock Cherokee and pay to have it modified, or to buy one already modified.

My dilemma is, a Cherokee already setup for offroading will be ready to go the day I buy it, and will cost a lot less than if I buy a stock Cherokee and pay to have all those mods done myself. However, it'd be more beat-up, and therefore more prone to breakage and less reliable as a daily driver.

On the other side, if I buy somebody's well-taken-care-of stock Cherokee that hasn't seen many trails, then It will cost me a lot more time and money to get it setup for offroading (lift, bigger tires, skid plates, roof rack, better suspension?... etc) than if I buy one already setup like that from the beginning...

Thank you in advance for your input.

_StationWagon_

My response prolly won't be very popular, but here we go. If you're an experienced driver (& I don't mean 6 months experience), then you should go with your budget and what looks good to you. If this is your first vehicle ever (meaning very inexperienced) I'd suggest buying stock & get some seat time under your belt before tackling a lifted vehicle. Then you can also learn about the vehicle as you build it to your specs. A stock Cherokee can take you places a lifted Toyota/Ford/Chebby can't.

IMO far too many young "testosteronies" who don't know anything about handling a lifted rig vs a Civic, end up becoming a statistic because they get over zealous. Just check sigs and see how many "Rest in Peace" or "rolled it" signatures are on these forums. I'm not accusing you of anything, just telling you what I have seen happen again & again. Ultimately you're gonna buy what you think looks good to you; I'm basically saying use common sense & let the ego take a back seat.

Acesnines

Get a stocker, and then you can figure out exactly what YOU want to put in it, instead of sitting in someone else's seat.

winkc10

its better if you a daily driver. road driven only and lift it yur self.. cuz if you get a lifted cherokee you dont no whats been done to it or if its been to hell and back.

The Rooster

Stock with out question... it may take time and more money in the long run but you will learn to fix your own jeep learn how it works and know exactly whats in it when something goes wrong...buying a fully built truck either could be someone else headache... that could be why it is for sale also if something breaks... you might not have a clue where to get the parts needed to fix it... thats my advice...

_StationWagon_

Agreed. Every mod on my XJ if I didn't do it myself, I commissioned it: researched, asked questions, bought the parts & am picky who does work on the heep. But I wheeled it stock for years while it was a DD. Rarely broke stuff while going where all the other club members went. I trust the parts I buy and I don't care for the "cheap" stuff. If you buy stock & slowly build, you'll know every part on it, the history of every part & so on. Yes, it takes longer & costs more but learning & growing aren't always cheap, & don't happen overnight. My XJ is now at 6.5 to 7" lift and it has taken about 9 years to get here from a budget-boost. But it's built like a tank & I know every mod intimately.

It's like washing your own car ... running it thru the car wash versus handwashing yourself. You will see/know every new scratch the kids put on it () because you've got up close & personal with the sheet metal from hand waxing. And I mean car - not Jeep.
Again - you'll end up doing what suits you. But I personally wouldn't buy from a stranger an unknown Jeep that's been lifted for a while.

EUGENE the JEEP

buy stock an go from there. get to know how to wheel first.

no rdplz

Start stock. Couple reasons for this:
1. As has been stated already, learn to wheel small and go from there. Too many people just buy something big and then think they can conquer anything when they don't have a clue how.
2. If it already has a lift, what gauruntee do you have that it was done correctly? Answer: none.
3. When you get it stock, it's yours to do what YOU want done with it, not what someone else already did.

Tokarev

Just to clarify, I'm a middle-aged guy and I've driven trucks and other SUV's on trails around here... I'm just new to Jeeps. I've driven someone else's 2 door Rubicon a few times and was totally impressed where it could go and what locking differentials could do for me. However, I need something I can fit my wife and kids in, so that's why I'm going with a 4 door Cherokee. The Grand Cherokees seem too fancy to me, so I'm looking into the newest XJ Cherokee I can find (2000 - 2001 range). Are the XJ's inherently better for offroading than the Grand Cherokees?

Also, is there any specific model of XJ that is better setup for offroading from the factory? Anything I should avoid? I've heard nothing but good things about the 4.0L straight 6 engines. Did any come stock with locking differentials?

Thanks again for your replies...

SteelBlue99

I vote stock. The reason, is like everyone else said, if you do the work yourself at least you know it's been done right. As far as myself, i'd rather do the work because I take pride in my vehicles. I love looking at my Jeep and thinking "Wow, i did all that".

One specific thing avoid is the D35, look for a Chrysler 8.25 rear-end. No Cherokee's came with locking differentials, some came with a trac-lock (limited slip) but that's pretty much useless. The 4.0L I6 is a great engine! As far as comparing the XJ with Grands offroad, the XJ is lighter and i definitely prefer that (The I6 is a little weak for the heavy Grand, however the 5.2/5.9/4.7 V8's make the Grand weigh quite a bit more, and are a PITA to work on in the small engine compartment). One thing the Grands have that XJ's don't is rear coil suspension. XJ's only came with rear leaf.

_StationWagon_

Tokarev if you're looking at a '00-'01 Cherokee, I don't think there was any "Up Country" or any other trim level that was more suited for offroading than another. I think they were pretty much the same in that respect. I could be wrong tho. Earlier models had a mild offroading package referred to as "Up Country" that I referenced just now. Since you have wheeling experience & seem hungry for more, I'm thinking you're likely past the U.C. stage.
I'd still go with the majority opinion here - buy a stock, unmolested XJ and make it your own. Doesn't matter whether you can do the work yourself or not. I didn't do much of my own "heavy" modding like axle swap & regearing, but I've done plenty. And like I said, I selected every part & made every important decision. Got in the way a lot too during some processes . Even at this level you get to know your vehicle better than you'll ever know someone else's hand me down.
Have fun out there!

flyboy141086

buy stock and u dont have to worry as much about getting something that has been beat to trash

Evilpopcorn

I guess I'm just jumping on the bandwagon by this point, but yea, buy stock, mod it yourself, that way you know what you have and you can say with pride that it's built, not bought. Besides, a stock XJ can do quite a bit already. And as for when you asked if an XJ is better than a Grand Cherokee offroad-
YES
And enjoy owning the greatest vehicle ever made in history.

dogger15

go with stock

-Dom-

Truth.
I'm 16 got my first jeep lifted and everything u can think of done to it.
I thought I could do what ever I want in it.
Two weeks later it was in four foot deep water and doesn't run.
All is good now I got it running it just wasnt worth the money I spent fixing it.
You can buy a moded jeep but don't be a retard like me lol