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Thinking of buying my 1st cherokee, what should I get?
Wanting to buy a Cherokee.
Just not sure which one would work best for me.
Xj, zj, wj ?
I Live in Louisisana In very rural area, my family and I like to get out on the weekends and play out in the woods and on dirt roads when it's raining, more dirt roads than "black top" around my property.
Will be used for slow speed trail riding, mostly iron ore and clay land out here, lots of hills and creek bed like terrain.
Would really like to run a 33" tire for axle/differential clearance.
I see fender clearance being an issue but xj and z/wj have different fender openings.
Prefer not to have it lifted so tall that it's tippy when climbing hillsides.
What would be a happy medium there, with tire / lift combination.
This will not be a daily driver either.
My baja beetle does great out here but is costing too much money to keep up being everything heavy like engine and trans has to be shipped out of state to have machine work done to them.
Would like something more domestic and common.
Have a 98 yukon 4wd but it's huge and heavy, has poor approach angles + ifs torsion bar suspension sucks.
Thank you for any insight & advice.
Last edited by Constantine; 11-16-2015 at 10:09 PM.
If the trails are tight I would do xj otherwise its up to you which one. You can do 35s on 4.5 inch lifts with enough fender. I'm partial the the notch customs flairs. They are about the highest flair you can get and look relatively stock.
If the trails are tight I would do xj otherwise its up to you which one. You can do 35s on 4.5 inch lifts with enough fender. I'm partial the the notch customs flairs. They are about the highest flair you can get and look relatively stock.
A friend of mine has a 95 xj 2wd with RCX 3" basic lift and 31x10.50 tires that does great for the most part, has the 4.0 H.O.
4wd would really help it but he does have a decent winch.
The travel seems to be limited quite often though,
I had planed on the RCX 4.5" or 4", depending on what i ended up with, flex series lift but the lift thread suggests that RE lifts be used instead?
Any way, his does great I just think a little improvement would help alot.
The WJ's I call Chrysler Grand Cherokee's as they are more Chrysler than Jeep, still fun but expensive to build (I have owned a few)
I would look at XJ or ZJ, The XJ is a little more nimble and cheaper to build but both are capable off road machines. I have had several XJ's, but have yet to own a ZJ yet, its on the list to get one day though. A ZJ is a little more roomy, and has a coil rear suspension, but again a little more expensive to build.
A coworker of mine has this zj that he said he would consider selling for $2600.
Think it's a 94.
Has the V8, 3" RCX lift & adjustable track bar.
Some kind of aftermarket radiator support, like Kore or something.
32x11.50 kenda klevers.
He was saying something about it would be best to swap the rear axle out for a ford explorer setup and it really needed a transfer case swap, I think it may be full time 4wd.
Wasn't really sure if it would be a good foundation for what I want or not.
Seems like room would be limited under the hood.
Bumpers are high $$$ for it too.
I remember when he bought it about a year ago, it was completely stock and he had to have the trans rebuilt.
Last edited by Constantine; 11-17-2015 at 12:13 AM.
i would look for a 99 xj. best year of the newer style xj's for many reasons.
you are right, zj bumpers are pretty expensive, but that's because they are bulky and not many makers. they are also difficult and pricey to fit 33's under them lift wise as you cannot trim as easily as xj's.
wj's are nicer than zj's, but again, difficult and pricey to fit 33's. not many lift options either.
i would look for a 99 xj. best year of the newer style xj's for many reasons.
you are right, zj bumpers are pretty expensive, but that's because they are bulky and not many makers. they are also difficult and pricey to fit 33's under them lift wise as you cannot trim as easily as xj's.
wj's are nicer than zj's, but again, difficult and pricey to fit 33's. not many lift options either.
After spending the last few days researching and browsing through this forum I'm leaning toward an xj.
They don't seem to be common in the local classifieds like the zj and the overly available wj's but I think it would be easiest to build and maintain.
But the initial cost of the xj will be cheaper and help to keep cost of the project down.
As long as I start out with a well maintained machine.
Plus my buddies 2wd just won't die, he is very rough on it.
I'm am curious to know the difference in a 4.0 H.O. and regular 4.0?
More insight is welcomed as I don't know the differences and what to look for under an xj.
Like you saying 99 is a good one...
Any good info threads I can look up to help me out with differences?
Last edited by Constantine; 11-17-2015 at 08:01 AM.
After spending the last few days researching and browsing through this forum I'm leaning toward an xj.
They don't seem to be common in the local classifieds like the zj and the overly available wj's but I think it would be easiest to build and maintain.
But the initial cost of the xj will be cheaper and help to keep cost of the project down.
As long as I start out with a well maintained machine.
Plus my buddies 2wd just won't die, he is very rough on it.
I'm am curious to know the difference in a 4.0 H.O. and regular 4.0?
More insight is welcomed as I don't know the differences and what to look for under an xj.
Like you saying 99 is a good one...
Any good info threads I can look up to help me out with differences?
The 4.0 h.o. started in 91 and all are h.o. after, the regular 4.0 was pre 91 with renix fuel injection system.
This is my opinion, don't mean to offend anyone. RE: XJ's
The interiors of the 97-01 are nicest in my opinion (like TJ's vs. YJ's)
97 is the first year of the new style and has a few kinks to work out (only a 97 trans will bolt in a 97, a 96 and older trans will bolt in with some wiring mods.
98-99 are my first choice if just buying one as is and don't want to swap a lot of stuff.
00-01 have Dana 30 LP "Low Pinion" up front, but easily swapped to a Dana 30 HP "High Pinion"
00-01 also had the dreaded 0331 cracking head, these actually are my favorite to buy though, I like not having a distributor, I get them dirt cheap with blown motors, swap a 96-99 engines (91-99 will fit) in using an ebay header to fit the bigger exhaust ports on older heads, then do the "Viper Coil Swap" to get rid of the rail coil, big reason I like these is I see a lot of deep water here in Florida and coils run better through water than a distributor, I can usually buy these in nice condition 00-01 for $1000-1200 with a blown motor, get a motor for $300 or less, and spend $200 to swap it in. $1500 and I have a nice running clean jeep.
Things to avoid or at least think about;
Later year Grey key jeeps, they have the ignition theft chip in the keys are expensive to duplicate the keys, and you have a non-starting vehicle if the system goes bad.
242 Transfer-cases although deemed factory stronger, you can tell because it has part time 4x4 and full-time 4x4 on transfer-case lever, but harder to do a SYE (Slip Yoke Eliminator) which helps eliminate driveline vibes when lifted, 231 has a bolt-on kits with new stronger shaft as well as other upgrades available, 242 you have to cut, drill, and tap the existing hardware. (or its expensive but one company has a shaft to swap in but you have to send it in to them to get it done.
Dana 30LP vs. 30HP - The High Pinion is something like 35-40% stronger and gives better driveline angles when lifted. Good to 35's
Dana 35 rear axle - ugggg avoid or plan on swapping out this axle for a rare Dana 44, Chrysler 8.25 29 spline in 96-01 models I think - earlier had 27 spline which is workable, or look at the Explorer 8.8 swap with disc brakes.
Check undercarriage rust, these are unibody vehicles so rust is not good!!!!!
A front "Lunchbox Locker" start at $200 (Lokka), you wont notice it in 2wd, and it will make a word of difference in 4wd.
Anything over 33's tires and you need to start looking at Steering Upgrades, Axle Upgrades, etc. Bigger than 35's and look at swapping out for bigger axles.
I have an 99 XJ Sport 4.0 and a 04 WJ Overland edition 4.7HO with every option Jeep offered. The WJ is more of a DD but quite capable off road with factory skids, D44/D30 both posi's, 3.73 gears, 17" tires wheels on and on all factory.
The XJ is now lifted 4 1/2" with lots of extras added for off road use mostly run 2 sets of tires/wheels 33x12:50x15's on steel wheels and 35x12:50x15's on Beadlocks both 8" wide wheels.
For comfort the GC's win hands down or in my case anyway as its leafs vs. coils. Off road the XJ has more clearance so will go more places than the WJ abet slower for sure. Here are 2 photos of my Jeeps the WJ has the XJ on a trailer behind it is the reason it is sitting lower in the rear in this photo.
Ya'll are really putting the effort in and I sure do appreciate all the help and advice.
I believe I found a candidate about an hours drive from my location:
http://shreveport.craigslist.org/cto/5317367328.html
Don't get me wrong, I love the WJ's, they ride great, tow great, real comfortable to sit in, full of options, but they have some issues that drove me nuts;
The trans vent hole is behind the Torque Converter, so you have to remove the trans, plug that hole, drill a new hole on top, tap it, add a fitting, then run a new vent line.
The Heating/AC fan power harness has a tendency to burn up under the dash
The Cooling Fan Relay is electronic instead of a relay and is buried in the bumper and pain to get to.
They seem to eat through Window regulators, everyone I had need at least a couple of them replaced.
The bumper, lifts, and everything else to put big tires on are far more expensive.
Would I own one as a daily driver again, yes, but I don't think I would build one to wheel unless I had a lot more disposable money.
The Blue one was 2 Wheel Drive and my daily driver for a while, the Maroon one was 4x4 and I started to build as my Trail Rig and once I started to get into it said screw it and went back to building XJ's
11-16-2015, 09:57 PM
Thinking of buying my 1st cherokee, what should I get?
