I wanted to love WJ's actually owned 2 at once, have never owned a ZJ, and owned a number of XJ's

And I am sorry, but the WJ is a Chrysler Grand Cherokee more than a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Yes WJ ride better, Pull a lot more, Look "Cooler" when built, Have more room and these might be enough reason to buy one.

But.........

• The 4.7L is prone to Oil Sludging and Oil Problems - see them all the time with blown motors.
• The "Electronic Fan Controller is a PAIN to get to under the bumper.
• They burn up the wiring going to the Fan Motor
• They eat Window Regulators like they are going out of style
• The transmissions don't have a vent hose, but a hole behind the transmission, if you are going to forge any water that you might get stuck in, you need to pull the transmission, tap and plug (or weld shut) the vent behind the torque converter, drill & tap on top of the transmission add a fitting and run a hose.
• Some come with brake calipers that are prone to problems
• The 2000-01 4.0L have the Same 0331 cracking head problems as the XJ, but a replacement motor is more expensive.
• Parts are a lot more expensive for the WJ vs. XJ (Transmissions, Axles, Motors, Lift Parts, Bumpers, Driveshafts, Etc. Etc.
• And if you worked on Jeeps, then worked on WJ's you will definitely agree that there is a lot more Chrysler than Jeep in the WJ's

I see nothing Chrysler in the 97-01 XJ's except the 0331 head and pre-catalytic converters on the 2000-01.

If you are looking for a cheap trail rig that is cheap to maintain, cheap to build, cheap to buy, cheap to repair then buy an XJ.

If you are looking for something to tow over 3000lbs, has a better ride, and a bit roomier, and have a lot of money to build and don't have to work on it yourself buy the WJ.

With that said, I love the way a lifted WJ looks and if I did not have to work on it and had twice the budget I might start to build one again. But I love the simplicity and value of my XJ's, on the trail they turn tighter, not as wide, not as heavy (big issue when stuck), cheaper to fix, cheaper to build, and far easier to work on, and more reliable in my opinion.

The Blue one below was my 2wd daily driver, the Maroon one was 4x4 that I started to build, but after working on it a while and pricing out all the parts, I decided to sell it and go back to XJ's for my trail rig, and sold the Blue one and went back to a Toyota sedan for my daily driver.

Just my 2 cents, we can agree to disagree on this one.

 

skip all the cherokee stuff, get a lj, its a tj w/ a cherokee wheel base & a real frame.

 

And an LJ is about $4-6K more

 

Yes it is.
Revert back to the disposable money issue.
Main reason I didn't go with a wrangler style of jeep.
Early to mid 90's Leaf sprung wranglers in my area are still going for 8 to 10k.

 

Bought 5 33" LTB's today.
They look huge but measure to 31.25" diameter.
Center tread is 11/16 of an inch tall.
Used balancing beads in them.

 

Been crawling under a few xj's and test driving but no keepers yet.
Stay tuned.

 

Patience will pay off, its got to be tough having the tires already to go..... keep collecting parts as you search for right XJ.

 

Yes it is a little tough.
I'm also finding it hard not to order the parts to complete my lift and the sye stuff.

 

Bry man I'm starting to get really discouraged.
I closed my last searching for an xj from craigslist chapter with another few hours wasted.
Have set up a time to look at a '93 Friday but I cancelled.
Has 225 xxx miles with a 2000 model engine, some interior electronics don't work, has body damage for 2500.
Just not what I want or what I want to start with.

I'm tired of looking and dealing with people dude.
I have no set budget, just been going and looking at them no matter the price.
Had 3500 in mind for one that needs tune up brakes maybe ball joints and such.

I'm a vw enthusiast, I'm used to high priced junk.

But xj's are just priced rediculous.
At 2500 it either needs a trans or engine, less = needs both or the financial equivalent of both.

I can't justify dropping 6-7 grand into a stock cherokee with 1/4 million miles on it before I even a dress worn steering and drive train parts.

For my goal price range they don't need either but have 200+ k miles
And will need one or the other soon.

I'm thinking craigslist is my main problem, where else can I look.
Is a max budget for a stock xj of 5k too small?

 

Around me 5k would get you a spotless, rust free XJ with 50k miles. Maybe travel a ways to find one?

 

Man I've been looking out of town and out of state on craigslist.
Some one at work told me to try auto trader and cars . Com.
I don't mind driving a ways as long as it is there when I arrive.

 

I've been looking at auto trader and have found quite a few but traveling to get one isn't a problem for me. I bought a Comanche from Texas sight on seen had to have it trucked to Mi sold it and tripled my money. Looking back wish I still had it it was the cleanest XJ I've ever seen.

 

Have you tried eBay? I have seen a few listed.

 

I did look last year sometime but not recently.
I saw some prices on there that really hurt my feelings.

 

An XJ is not the vehicle to buy off eBay. You need to drive it and physically look at it to inspect for all rust