im going to be picking up another Cherokee. right now I have a 93 Cherokee sport that I love. im thinking about making my second jeep a grand Cherokee. im only looking at snow ice light mudding and light trails. im thinking a older one such as 94-?. what im wanting to know from your guys experience and intuation what are the common problems of the grand Cherokee, pros and cons btween the two, or should I stay away from the GC and get a newer model Cherokee? please help me out. I was looking at prices and there is a difference and I was looking at another experience concidering ive had 2 Cherokees and no grands.

 

I had a 00 wj that I literally beat up. Jumped mud, whatever I could throw at it. It had no title and I gave 200$ so I didn't really care abt it. But it really suprised me. All I did was put a driver front axle in it cause of the cv joint broke but she never broke down LOL

 

I had a lifted 91 xj I built and have recently got myself in an 02 wj where my brother has an 01 xj. Ride quality and handling mine over his any day of the week

 

What are some of the quirks to the grand cherokee. I'm going to have enough time for research. I'm not getting it till tax time

 

One of the pros would be a v8 over a strait six other than that they go neck and neck from my experience my family has had 3 grand Cherokees and recently got an xj sport (which I prefer) but ride quality in Cherokees is nicer than gc's and parts are a little cheaper

 

Well they're essentially the same mechanically. Engine and drivetrain are the same, with the exception of some of the GC trans had a double reverse. Rear wheel bearings don't hold up in the WJ's, from what I've been told, I have no clue why. Also the gas tank is nice and exposed as well no decent recovery points from factory.

 

As a daily driver that are nice to me ride smooth enough power.Off road it takes more work and money then a xj tho but can be just as good.As far as what to look for just like anything used looked at everything.If its been taking care of it should be fine,If its been used and abused you will have a lot of problems.Stuff like trans problems and electrical problems are common if they have been used and abused.As far as buying one get a v8 limited and try to find lower miles and never been off road.

 

you can find an upcountry GC...then you have a few skid plates and tow points....at this point most people don't even know they have one...just look for the tow hooks up front to narrow down your seach (ie pix on craigslist) Then you can check the rest, skid plate for the gas tank, hitch, etc.

either level of cherokee will have it's own problems, as seen in the endless threads about both GCs and XJ having problems.

 

I'm trading a '95 GC in today and picking up my second XJ. I will miss the cushy seats and the ... can't think of anything else.

 

Why not just swap the seats before trading?

 

Lol people do the seat swap all the time Gc seats will bolt to the Cherokee rail
Think I might give the grand a try. Cause all I need it for is snow and Ice mainly. And I know the Cherokee has it's issues. The first one I got it was a junker constantly breaking down but it kept driving

 

I personally love the body style of the cherokees. To me a grand cherokee looks like a steamy pile of poo! Im not sure why but the square body style looks soooo much better than a grand cherokees more rounded body style.

 

None of the ZJ/WJ Grand Cherokee transmissions are spectacular, the 46RH/RE is the "best" one (93-95 with 5.2L V8, 98 with 5.9L V8), the 44RE used with the 5.2L V8 from 96-98 is weaker but still ok if maintained, the 42RE used with the 4.0L I6 is the weakest and most problematic (some early 93s with the 4.0L I6 had the AW4 but these aren't that common).

 

Nah, gotta be reminded it's a truck!

 

And the limited had the 5.2 right?