What to do?

[Johnnybegood_5]

I need opions on what i should do.....

Im 17 currently working part time and i love 4wheeling. I do alot of driving and just recently i had to sell my XJ due to it being to dangerous for my DD(overheating, deathwobble). I love offroading and don't want to get out of it so im not sure if i should get another 4x4 and use it for my DD and offroader because ,i risk not making it back home on a wheeling trip far from home.

My other option is to buy a Tow rig which would be my DD. I'd buy a trailer and cheap 4x4 as well. With a tow rig i could trailer it around without worrying about braking down on the trail. But that also means i have to spend alot more money for a trailer and find myself something that can tow it for the best mpg as possible.

What do you think is my best option?

Thanks John

 

[Matthew Currie]

Thinking in a very general way here, I think you need to figure out how much money you have to spend, and how it will be apportioned. Also what level of mechanical expertise you yourself are going to put into it all. You need a reliable daily driver, and want an off roader. If reliability is an issue, what can you afford that will tow your offroader, and still be a reliable daily driver? You still might be best off looking for a good solid XJ that will serve as a DD, and then trying to get away with the lightest, least invasive mods you can get away with. Part of that will depend on what your priorities are. Speaking as a box-stock XJ owner who does mild off roading, I think that many people over-lift and over-modify XJ's for the kind of use they get, undergoing unnecessary expense and making them less safe just for show. Only you can say what level of wheeling you are intending to do, and what you really need, but a shovel, a jack and a comealong are pretty cheap.

It depends a little too on what you're looking at in the way of insurance. If your parents are titular owners of the vehicles, it may not be too bad even if you're the principal driver, but if you're on your own, you'll take a real beating on two vehicles. Not to mention, whatever you get that will be enough to tow a Jeep to the trail reliably will be pretty thirsty even when you're running empty.

As an alternative, you could get a really reliable little econobox for daily use and an ugly tough old XJ that is still roadable enough to take wheeling without having to tow it. That way you could modify it as you need, without having to worry about daily reliability. Of course you might still break it on the trail, but consider the relative cost of, say, a cell phone and carrying enough dough to pay for a tow (which you might never need), as against the cost of a whole tow rig.

 

[87manche]

I bought a honda civic to drive everyday, that left the Mj as a toy for the wife and I.

it can be built solidly, and still be roadworthy.
We just drove to Tellico, beat on it, and drove back, not one mechanical issue.
when I say we beat on it, ask anyone around, it was skinny pedal wheeling.
get an econobox, not only will it make it so you can go to work monday, it will pay for itself in fuel savings.