Get 1 of each. My XJ I'm turning into more of an overland rig my YJ is turning into more of a dedicated crawler

 

Get an XJ man. Up here in ohio we just get whichever is cheaper (so XJ's). Everything rusts and breaks and XJ parts are dirt cheap compared to Wrangler parts, plus most people underestimate the driveability as well as the offroad ability of XJ's. I love mine you just have to know how to work on them and they are nearly indestructible if you do your basic maintenance.

 

Waaay back in the day(1997), when the new TJ and refreshed XJ came out, Four Wheeler magazine put them head to head in their 4x4 of the Year contest. The XJ came out on top for a variety of reasons. Either way, you get a vehicle that is the head of it's class for it's time and you can't go wrong.
If you like the Wrangler, get one. Personally, I went from Wrangler to XJ a while back and have no regrets at all.

 

Ah but you can always remove the doors on a XJ/ZJ i have done it to my 2 door XJ and my ZJ it just takes two hands to put them back on...

 

My guess would be that your front end needs rebuilt. Control arm bushings, tie rods, and ball joints may need to be replaced. For me, these items at high mileage become a maintenance issue. There's no reason to wait until they completely break down. Your XJ should go straight down the road if properly maintained.

See this thread here:

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/xj-...ension-104513/

This thread is in reference to death wobble, but as these XJs get older and more mileage the front end needs gone though. This is no different than on a TJ. Both of which have coil springs up front, and the rear leafs on the XJs don't effect handling all that much.