Yes, Jeeps are now built for the street, not offroad. With independent suspension, you can't even lift them very much. It's a buyer's market and Fiat wants their share. The only jeep that's still halfway decent is the JK and JKU.

 

The 04 WJ was the last year of the front solid axle. That's why I'm seeking to replace it with another DD for my wife. So then I can build the 04 for the trails. I was hoping someone knew which of the newer Grands is the best to look for and which ones to avoid?

 

You'll have to do some research. Jeeps weren't too bad when Daimler owned them, but since Fiat got involved, they tend to have problems. Fiat only got involved because they wanted the US market for their cars and Chrysler had a large dealership network and reputation. So much for that!

 

A pity FIAT got involved...

Fix
It
Again
Tomorrow

 

I have nothing against the French because it's my family heritage, BUT they really put out some real junk when it comes to cars! It's funny because in the 30s, they built some really fast race cars (Delahaye and Bugatti).

 

Well, like dave says...WJ all the way for me. After that, they started using less than desirable engines in my opinion. Thats why i have yet to get anything newer. And in total, have had five wj's. And as far as i know, they're all still running strong. Only reason ive parted with two of them was that i made out like a bandit both times. Thw first one, well, i wanted a differently optioned one so i sold it and bought the silver one that was fully loaded. sold that and made a grand...
I traded the blue one for a bike worth WAY more than the jeep, then sold that and got my white one and another bike with the $$

 

Speaking of French, in the early '70s, I bought a '63 Peugeot 404, a vehicle with an abstract engineering concept, to me anyway, at that time I had experienced working only on Buicks and Chevys. It had a 4 on the tree manual transmission, and an interesting worm gear/ wormwheel differential, and everything else in it was opposite of American cars. To get the windshield wipers to work you had to open the hood and give the wiper motor housing a good knock to get them started, if that failed, I had a plug of Red Man chew under the seat to wipe the glass so the rain would sheet off clear, LOL! I feel spoiled driving my WJ

 

My Dad bought a 63 Peugeot 404 new and drove it until 69 with no major repairs. It had a 90 hp 4 cylinder hemi engine and had an emergency hand crank it start it if the battery went dead! 4 speed "on the tree" with an amazing O/D. Under 40 mph, it would buck because the gearing was too high for O/D, but it would cruise at 70 all day long. It had an electric fan clutch like an air conditioner pump and when that kicked in, the engine fell on it's face! I also remember a Fiat Spyder that was a tin box on wheels!

 

FIAT is an Italian car maker, not French.
Personally I avoid French cars.

 

I was thinking they were Italian, remember the commercials lol

 

Ah....Yeah! I don't know how I got started on French cars anyway! Oh...I know! I always thought of Bugatti as Italian, not French! My bad!

 

I have a 2004 WJ with the 4.0 Selectrac. Only option that I can find is the moon roof and CD player. Simple, mostly mechanical and easy to work on (for most repairs). Honestly if i had to pick an SUV made after the 2004 WJ, it would be a Toyota or Honda. I'll stick with the WJs for as long as possible.

 

Heck, my one doesn't even have a chipped key, and seems to be lacking many, if not all, options. I love it's simplicity. Less to potentially go wrong with it.

 

The French did own Jeep back in the 80s when they bought AMC and folded them both under the Renault flag. Then Chrysler bought AMC from Renault around 1990 and killed off all the cars and kept Jeep. Daimler bought Chrysler after that so Jeeps were under German direction for a while. They held them for a number of years before selling off everything to Cerebus, who is a US based capital management firm. Cerebus changed a few things and then sold them to Fiat, the Italian based company that is huge in Europe, but left the US market in the early 80s.

So yea, Jeep has been passed around a bit.

 

Sounds like my ex