what up guys!

[jujuCO]

hey what going on guys!

first of i'm new to the 4wheeling thing. i have always been into imports but i have now complete my import project and wanna try something new.

i'm from Denver and they is lot of place to 4wheels i beleive anyways

i'm coming on this board to get some help on "the buying of a jeep"

first off. what years is best? manual or auto?
how good are the engine ?
what should i worry about? tranny? motor?

i'm gonna probably daily drive the car for the most part and need to do somewhat good in the snow.

i saw one for sell 180 000 miles(might be too much) its a 91 and has a manual transmission its the 4.0 V6 and has 32 inch tires cut out fender and an axels of a cuda.. and his asking 1500 dollar

http://denver.craigslist.org/car/258886458.html

only thing... it has cammo paint job....
anyways... thanks a lot let me know you opinion anything can help

 

[Frank Z]

Looks to damn rough to be worth $1500. Pretty obvious that it was beat on....badly!

Stay away form it, there are better rigs out there in the price range.

 

[WB9YZU]

Lots of questions, so little searching - just kidding!
These have to be the most asked questions about Cherokee XJ units.

I see you're from Denver, so you likely don't want a 2.8L V6 or a 2.5L I4 because of power, so that leaves you with the venerable and dependable 4.0L I6. That came in 1987 and up units.
The Automatics were all AW4.
Manuals ware Peugeot 5spd, AX5 5spd and AX15 5spd. The Peugeot 5sp is the least desirable and is identifiable by the split case (like an old VW motor). Manual Clutch master cylinders sometimes leak, and since the fuse block is below the CMC up till about 97, you need to inspect the fuse block for damage.
Early units had a selectable front axle which was vacuum activated, and later units had that feature eliminated.
On high milage units, the PVC systems act up on the early models and blow oil into the air cleaner- easy fix, but looks bad.
The 4.0L had been known to go well over 200K with out any more maintance than regular oil changes and the AW4 is the most dependable automatic on the market, bar none (atleast that's my opinion).

I'm sure most of that is right, if not, someone will post different or add to the info provided.

The rig you looked at looks well used. You would have to actually see it to see how it drives. Body work is a relative thing once these things hit the trail :roll:
As Frank mentioned, these things are hitting the market in droves now and you can probably find a clean straight unit for that price.

 

[Rockken]

Check out this other thread. I bought this book and it is loaded with good info on XJs. Not only stock info, but also basic mods.
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=901727&highlight=Eric

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Welcome newbie!

You'll find a whole lot of great info here and we encourage you to get REAL familiar with search feature on our forums before tossing out general questions.

Another thing I'd appreciate is that you don't copy/paste your posts from another forum into ours. I fixed this one this time - it had all kinds of funky links embedded in the post and included a jeepforums.com icon at the bottom. It was a mess.

The better years for the XJ are debatable, but in majority, most feel the '93 and newer are preferred. The XJ unibody went thru some strength design improvements in '93. The '97 to '01 XJ's offer more creature comforts and sound deadening qualities along with subtle exterior styling changes.
Anything '91 and newer offered the high output 4.0 engine and that's where most draw the line regarding how old a Cherokee they're willing to own.

The '84 - '86 XJ's had alot of issues. They had the puny 2.8 V6 as it's biggest powerplant and they were carbureated. These early year XJ's have problems at the emissions stations unless low miles and well cared for. They also were plagued with electrical problems with the main harness. 5 speed units had the hydraulic master cylinders mounted just above the electrical harness junction box and a leaky clutch master would cause big problems with the fuse box. They have the weakest unibodies and are prone to rust issues the worst.

The '87 - '90 XJ's are argueably the middle child of the Cherokee realm. These are available with the non-high output 4.0 known as the "Renix". These engines are a bit less reliable - particularly the fuel injection and ignition systems - in my opinion, but the overall vehicle quality improved during the years that Chrysler took over the platform from AMC corp.

In short, the newer the better - particularly for a daily driver vehicle. Keep an eye on Craigslist - that's where the deals are.