• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

possibly Looking at/for an XJ 2dr or 4dr

Jim74656

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Connecticut
Ok I first off want to say in advanced, please forgive me if this is not the correct area to post this, but I looked through the other area and while part of this post/thread may involve technical items I felt perhaps due to the non technical nature of the this thread it may not fit the best there.


anyways My name is Jim and I currently have a Jeep Wrangler JK (yea the Jeep bug bit me on that one) and my Ford F250, I have had a Ford F150 and also a Ford Mustang.

I work on all my vehicles so fixing used vehicles and replacing parts, swapping parts and so on is nothing new for me, worked at a parts house for little over 3 years so again I know my stuff pretty well, not every thing and I don't claim to be perfect but I can at least find my way around a vehicle to fix things...anyways enough of my blabbing....plus im sure im about to beat yet again the dead horse......hastas



I am wanting to acquire an XJ to not necessarily take over primarily as my DD, but more to shift 90% of the DD responsibilities off of the Wrangler, as I don't want to obviously tear it up, and if it does break down I want to have something to still use, and reason I am considering the XJ is mainly due to my truck not being used for over a full year now (just parked in the drive way) and logically no longer makes sense to keep it, as I don't use it for work anymore (used to) but ever since I moved to Connecticut it has just sat so yea, time to get something a tad smaller and slightly(????) better-ish on the fuel economy scale...


anyways I been searching the interwebz for information on the XJ and also browsing around here as well, and I know the 2000 and 2001 XJs were known for not so good heads that tended to crack around 100,000 miles in, so I am looking to gain more info as to what should I be looking for, is there really a "best year" XJ? can I get a 2001 with the bad head and swap another head in that is better/redesigned to last longer? should I go 2 dr or 4 door? I really want a manual XJ (all my cars have been manuals from the get go) but they seem to be so rare I might as well find one, and then stick a unicorn horn on it, paint it white and call it a unicorn.....


anyways I apologize for a super wordy post, but I would like to gather more info as to what I should be looking for aside from the obvious things like the drive line, oil leaks, ect)

to kinda give an idea of what I have in mind I kind of listed my wants if you will


2 dr or 4dr
manual trans (preferred, but I understand these might be like the all mystical unicorn)
4 wd capable
preferably 2001 model year
useable as a family hauler
would like a Police XJ (calibrated speedo)
base model preferred but any trim level OK (not picky as long as it has cruise and manual windows but not set in stone on this)
white or black preferred but don't mind other colour options if it has what I want as far as Manual trans
 
I expect manual trans to be much easier to find than a police package. And to expect all of that in one particular model year may require a good deal of patience. But unicorns can be found. There are several unicorns here on NAXJA.

There seem to be fewer manual trans late models than there are earlier years with manual trans.

I would shy away from a 2 door on the basis of the door hinges. XJs have pretty weak door hinges and once you add some weight to them the hinges start to pull away, off the body. The extra weight of a longer door is a pretty consistent factor in hinge failure.

You may also want to be aware of the part time/full time 4wd transfer cases. The NP231 is the part time T-case and the NP242 is the full time T-case. They each have their place. The NP231 is preferred for those who want to build something for more serious off road purposes. The NP242 is useful if you want to be able to leave it in 4wd during those times of the year when the road conditions vary from dry to icy within a morning's commute.

I would also suggest shying away from ABS because that means a D35 rear axle. The D35 is not highly regarded. It is probably fine for a daily driver, but if you add a lift and tires it starts to show its weaknesses.

Those are the thoughts that come to my mind.

Welcome aboard.
 
Thanks, im not looking to turn this into a super built OMFG ROXORS rock crawler type thing, this I plan to do perhaps a mild build for my area and then use it more for DD and when ever my parents come into town and I need to seat more then my two seater Wrangler can fit if that makes sense, would you have any recommendation on where to look for a Police model (or SSV variant?), im not afraid to throw time into fixing the weaker points on any vehicle, so having one that needs minor TLC is fine with me, obviously buying used is a crap shot and I understand that, been looking at one, but hesitant because of the lack of underside pictures, but the asking price is kinda really nice, as in less then $2K nice, so I could theoretically sell my truck for $4K and buy the Cherokee and still be positive......
 
also how can I quickly tell if the Tcase is the NP242 VS 231? I am not afraid to do a tcase swap when I hopefully have my new place soon.....
 
I have no idea where best to look for a police version. I think luck will be the name of that game.

As to the different T-cases, do an image search for NP231 shift bezel and NP242 shift bezel. You will see that the NP242 has two 4wd positions, one for full time and one for part time. The NP231 only has one 4wd position (part time). (That is excluding the 4Low position.) Assuming someone didn't swap cases without swapping bezels, that is going to be your quickest way to tell which T-case the vehicle should have.
 
ok cool, and thanks, I am not dead set on the SSV XJ (though I would love one as they have the truly calibrated Speedos) but any XJ would be a good XJ, I just want to be sure I don't get one and it turns out to be a lemon the next day as that would not make me happy (want to enjoy it first before the modding happens LOL).


any other suggestions on things I should look for or look at when checking these things out? known issues perhaps?
 
Unless you love doing body work get one with as little rust as possible. When we bought our current XJ we opted for higher mileage (218k) and an almost rust free body. Other than a high idle switch and different gauge cluster I don’t think the police package gets you much in an XJ. I’ve had/have 2 5-speed XJs and a 5-speed TJ and have liked all of them. I would also get a 4.0 I6 as opposed to the 4 cylinder.
 
If you want to utilize the back seat, stick with a 4-door. For that matter, sit in the back of an XJ. It's OK for petite people, not so much for the dimensionally disadvantaged.
 
1998 or 99.
 
Back
Top