Hey there everyone,

Thanks for having me. My name is Paul, I'm up in the mitten. I joined the group because of my son who's about to go off to college next year. Where I'm at in Michigan, we get roughly 30" of snow per year. Where he's decided to go to school, they get about 140" of snow per year. We jokingly (not so jokingly( say they shovel their roofs up there. Anyway, him and I over the last couple of years have put together a couple of ford trucks, a 96 F150, and his current daily driver which is a 79 F100, that's built for the street, not for the snow.

He likes to ski, fish, etc. So we obviously thought about an XJ. Getting something that has a decent body, frame not rusted through, good rockers, etc. Throwing some money and parts at it so we're comfortable with him driving it back and forth 7 hours when he comes home to visit.

Lastly, I'm not a "mechanic" I'm handy and capable, and I'm not afraid of figuring things out. I can obviously do the basics without issue, but when it comes to things like transmissions, rear ends, I'd be learning on the job.

So, my question to you folks. First, is the XJ even a good choice? Secondly, as a Jeep novice, what are some things that I should look for? (Our budget would probably be about $2k on initial purchase). Then throw another $3-4k at it to get it running properly.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for the help!

 

I love my xj. And I have a lot of confidence with it getting me where I need to go. Even though I am at almost 250k miles. However, I have owned mine for all of those miles except the first 15k. I know where it’s been.

Things to watch out for when looking. The later models 2000-2001 have been known to develop a crack in the head. I happen to own on of those models and haven’t had the issue despite blowing a head gasket about 10 years ago. But I watch my coolant levels like a hawk.

look for rust holes in the front floor pans. These rust from the inside out.

id get something as stock as possible and make it your own. Seems there are a lot of diy ers that mod xj s on the cheap. Don’t buy somone else’s cobbled mess.

 

Great advice. Thanks Lynn.

 

Also, look out for frame rot above the rear axle around the rear bump stops.

 

I think a XJ is a great vehicle for his purposes. It will get him around in the snow just fine with a good set of tires. Plus, they are not terrible on gas, dependable, easy to work on. He can haul a few friends, load the back with his "stuff" and keep it out of the weather to! Will look right at home at the ski slope/trail.

Is he going to MTU?

I'm looking for a rust free one myself. I am a Michigan native now living in Indiana so not far enough south or west to get away from the rust so I'm looking primarily in the SW and west coast at this point.

Welcome!

 

No, he's headed up to Marquette to NMU.

 

Nice! Beautiful country!