I belong to an Xterra owners forum and recently somebody posted this exact same thread. Needless to say, all they guys on that particular forum are biased toward the Nissan and so the opinions of course reflected that. Then I started wondering, "What, if anything, are the Jeep guys saying about our rigs on their forum?"

After some snooping around I decided to join up and start a hopefully good natured thread amongst my fellow dirt crawlers.

So now I wanna know, what do you think? Cherokee over Xterra? Why?

 

A spy!!! YOU WONT GET ME TO TALK

 

plus your not even really talking the jeeps like we are, youre comparing a xtera to a 2004 jeep grand cherokee

 

LOL - Yes, the guys sent me over to spy.



Seriously, I was just wondering what you guys had to say about your choice of your rigs over our rigs (mostly because I am bored and jobless today). Of course the important thing is we all like driving around in the mud and rocks, not what we choose to drive.

 

Good point. I'll try and re-direct the conversation over there.

 

we hate them

 

Aren't the Xterra's IFS? That's always a pain in the butt.

Yes Cherokee's and Grand Cherokees are unibody and yes it sucks.

But the problem is the jeep you guys are talking about on that forum is a WJ with a V8. I personally don't even consider that model jeep capable than much more than some sand and snow, unless there lifted.

Most of us have XJ's (cherokee's) with the 4.0 I6 and the aw4 Toyota transmission. If you look either one of those up on any none biased site, your going to find that together they make a pretty dependable power train.

All I know is that I beat the absolute **** out of my jeep and the only problems I have at 140k miles is a rear main seal. But im not one to skimp on maintenance.

The KEY here- You only know what you've experienced. So i don't have anything bad to say about the Xterra. The only thing I wouldn't like is the IFS.

 

i wheeled with members from some huge xterra forum at paragon in 2006

i had my $1000 91 xj with a 3" lift and 32's no lockers

they had thier $20,000 xterras with small lifts 30's-32's and limited slips for the most part

the jeeps made the xterras look silly.
the xj has a stronger solid front axle, far superior articulation, lighter.

and out of the box both vehicles are about on par. but you can build a capable xj a hell of a lot cheaper than an xterra. and the initial cost of an xj is a hell of alot cheaper than an xterra

 

He makes a good point. I didnt mention the price diffrence.

I would definitely say that you get way more bang for your buck with a jeep.

 

IFS is the compromise Nissan made to make the Xterra more street friendly. I'd love it if they'd make one with a solid front axle, but alas, no go.

 

Good thing about the newer Xterras is they come with an optional E locker for the back end. That has def helped me in a few bad spots.

 

Go to youtube and punch in "Jeep Cherokee jumping"

That sold me!

Mike

 

Ok, first things first, I am a fan of Nissans, and own 2 of them. A 2000 Maxima, and a 2007 Titan, and they are both great vehicles!! When wheeling comes to mind, a Nissan is not what I think of. I have owned IFS rigs in the past, and they are ok at best, for the terrain that I tend to wheel. Like was mentioned earlier, the Nissans are FAR more expensive in about every aspect of ownership, when wheeling is your concern. I know of guys that have paid $500.00 for a really nice XJ, then put a little more cabbage into it, and wound up with a great off road rig!! Of course folks on a Nissan forum are going to be biased to Nissans, that's going to be the same here, we will be biased towards XJs, it's our respective niches. I don't like the fact that XJs are unibody, but they are, and that is what it is!! I have, and will continue to wheel the pee-pee out of mine, and expect no real issues. One comfort is that I can pick up another XJ for a nominal fee, and put all of my stuff on it, and viola, I'm back on the road, or trail I mean!!

 

There's no arguing with the fact that just about nothing beats a Jeep off road. I bought my Xterra because it was a good combination of off road/city, was big enough to sleep in, got good reviews and I liked the way it looked. If my interest was an OR rig and nothing else, I'd have bought a Jeep (or if I had the dough a Land Rover Discovery).

 

I agree w/an xj cherokee being the best bang for the buck out there.

I think if you are looking for a compromise of off-roady/city, then I'd still get an xj. They are much cheaper to purchase, and maintain. And you'd be surprised at the gas mileage. I'm sure a stock xj gets better mpg's than a stock xterra, and has as much power and torque.

Unibody sucks, but so does IFS. That's why I sold my 2 4runners and got an xj. I did research 1st, and got my xj w/manual windows, the HO 4.0, and Aisin AW4 tranny. For about $700. I think I will get my money's worth.

I just sold my Infiniti QX4. I'd say that's pretty comparable to an xterra. It rode ok, but wasn't worth the extra weight, and horrible gas consumption. Never had a maintenance issue though. I'll give it that. Nissans are pretty well built.