Back in 2000 I bought my first XJ. Was a stock white 1990. I was 21 years old and didn’t really know anything about the community. Only thing I did to it was put 30x9.5x15’s and black steel rim on it.

I loved that Jeep. In 2001 I moved to Denver and within 4 years it was broken into 3 times and stolen twice... yes stolen twice.

First time it was recovered abandoned with a bunch of parts stripped and car rims/tires put on it to be able to ditch it. I didn’t want to give up on it, so insurance covered the majority and she was back to normal.

Second time, she was gone. So many good times with her. That was in 2005.

The worst decision I made was to get a pickup instead of another XJ. I was just so sick of ***holes messing with it, I went with something else.

Fast forward to 2017 and living in Wisconsin... Got the XJ itch again because I missed it so much. Took 6 months of searching for a clean, rust free XJ. I eventually found one and jumped on it... The one in my photos. Spent the last 3 years building her up little by little.

IMO these are the best looking/most capable Jeeps ever made. So I had to have one again.

Also, with all the round headlights I see now, I’m glad I have the rectangle ones.

Sorry about the long story, just felt it was relevant.

 

It's okay... we all have XJs... we feel ya. Comments like those only make sense to other old Jeep owners.

 

with all the issues that seem to flow through the forum on a regular basis... of course we drive 20+ year old vehicles... at some point older ones no matter what make will become problem children occasionally....
Thought it would be appropriate to bump this thread us to chime in on and post a good story about our XJs that shows why we choose to keep them around even in spite of them being grouchy at times.

 

One reason I love my XJ... I make it to work through 6+ inches of snow no problem without even using a shovel at my house. My buddy at work tells me he couldnt get his Ranger out of its parking spot because the auto hubs decided to not engage in the middle of a blizzard. No such problem with an XJ

I was curious and read about Ford awful decision with those style hubs in the few years they used them. What an awful idea

 

He can also upgrade to a manual hub for MUCH cheaper than you can...our unit bearings aren't the end all be all. Unit bearings can be more reliable stock for stock compared to a plastic hub from Ford but having manual hubs is a REALLY nice thing to have, especially when they're an upgraded version that adds strength and smoother operation

 

Valid point. Not going to disagree with you there.

 

I've had a number of vehicles in my time... but for some strange reason this one feels a bit different... kinda special in a way.
I really need a full sized truck for things now...but just cant seem to part with my XJ to do it. lol.

 

I'm notorious for buying, fixing, and then flipping almost everything I get my hands on. The XJs have always been the vehicle I hold onto the longest, now that I'm back in an XJ, I plan to just hang onto this one.

 

yeah I love my XJ... but I I can't justify paying insurance on extra vehicles... I already have my motorcycle...so.if it absolutely comes down to it, someone will get a very nice very low mileage XJ....but hoping that doesn't happen.

I always say... when you park it somewhere and get out.... if you DON'T look back at it..... you bought the wrong one.

 

When I crunch the numbers over a 300,000 mile service life cycle buying an XJ and shovelling 10K worth of parts into it myself to make it functionally new is much cheaper than buying a similar brand new vehicle.

The aquistion and build cost as well as the off road performance makes them the king of affordable off road vehicles.
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You're not wrong, when I think of the Jeep payment I had on our 2012 JKUR, month over month...I'll come out ahead with my new daily repairing almost every single major component while upgrading it in maybe six to nine months. Then just the cost of the BUILD to get my JKUR to run similar trails due to it's size and weight compared to the XJ would have been the ENTIRE cost of the XJ and many MANY upgrades for the it. I'm back where I belong and I can't wait to hit Windrock again with an XJ on the same size tires performing better than my JKUR ever could :-)

 

I weigh the payment argument all the time.... and I just can't stand to owe money on a vehicle.... I think the last time I had a loan on a vehicle was 12 years ago. So I figure if I have to dole out cash on some repairs now and then, I'm still way under the total cost of an every single month payment. I've always believed in properly maintaining my vehicles religiously and it always pays off. They last a lot longer.

The only thing that has been plaguing me with my XJ is I can't seem to pinpoint a slight steering issue....about 2 years ago I put in a Redhead steering gearbox, was tired of the reman. rabbit-hole garbage.
It's got fairly new tie-rod ends...track bar, the whole 9 yards... and even after alignment still drifts a little bit... but everything else is so darn reliable to this point... I just hate to part with it....so... in my garage she sits. Gets driven about a full tank of gas per month.

 

I'm not gonna lie to you, even my Rubicon had a slight drift...drove me bonkers with mostly stock components and nothing to extreme for modifications.

 

Same here.. nothing crazy... just a 2.5" lift. Everything else stock except running 235s. Which if I'm being honest... do seem to have a fairly soft sidewall as they are the ancient tread style GY Wranglers.
They were new when I bought it from the original owner so I just figured I'd run them until they either sucked for the area I lived in or needed something else as tires are not cheap.
They surprisingly handled well in wet, snow, dirt...so just left them...but I wonder because of that seemingly softer tire... if that doesn't play some role in the big picture.

I guess either way... I just want to make sure that I'm not ignoring something that will cause more damage later... I always try to be proactive instead of reactive. I think that has more to do with the wisdom the Lord's given me than my own.
And it keeps me going down the road instead of being stuck on the side of it.

 

Plus.... before I put a new set of shoes on her..... I don't want anything with the steering jacked up that will scrub up new tires. I mean if they were 10 bucks a piece I probably wouldn't care...but when you X that by 15 each... not something I want to get trashed if it's something that IS actually correctable.