jeep people
 

I'm really looking into getting a jeep. I wanted to know how long you have had yours, problems you have had, common problems, likes and dislikes, also how many miles do you have? How much MPG do you get?

If any one has some good info please let me know.

What type of Jeep? Wrangler, Cherokee, Wagoneer, etc? I can tell you that the Dana 35c axle blows dead goats in the moonlight to start off...

the auto transmissions are like tin cans. but the I-6 will go over 200k easily

Says who? There are quite a large number of automatics found in various Jeeps, some are great, others not so much.

Matt, as stated above, what year/models are you looking at?

- Justin

I've had my jeep cherokee for 5 years now i think. I bought it high mileage, with 167xxx on it, i have since brought that up to 283xxx miles and have had very few problems with it. Right now its starting to show its age, there's some knocks and squeaks in the chassis, but the drive train is phenomenal (4.0 ftw). The 4wd has never let me down, trans has never had a problem shifting, right now i leak oil because i need to replace the valve cover gasket. Really not a big deal except i haven't gotten around to it. I've replaced rear springs twice i think, had to get the door hinge re-welded and have floor pans put in. all in all nothing that's a big deal for soemthing that i've managed to put 120k on myself.

a bunch of mid-late 90s grand cheerokees i know of all had trans issues, well like all my friends, my sisters crapped out with like 80k only. thats the only issue ive heard about/ had experience with. :shrug: i guess its us north jersey drivers FTW drive it like you stole it!

I bet all/most of them were pre 99 with the 318 v8 and 4spd auto. Those trannies suck, and are known for dieing early. Most others are good though.

I have an Aisin trans in mine (AW4), which was used in a lot of Supras.

- Justin


PS - Matt - check out www.jeepforum.com....best source on the net for info about all Jeeps.

I would like a CJ or wrangler, but Cherokee's are really starting to grow on me, if i got a Cherokee it would Be a late 80'-early 90's, I like CJ7's But they aren't practical for daily driving. I found an 88 4dr Cherokee for $750 but I am not ready for another car till I get mine back from josh.

If you want a Cherokee you should only be looking at 91-92 and up. Avoid the late 80's ones unless you have no plans to use it for anything but a daily driver (no offroading or anything) and you can get it for DIRT CHEAP. They are inferior to the later ones in pretty much every way you can think of.

The only thing to look for is that a small number of 87-89s came with a rear Dana 44 stock.

- Justin

:werd: I bought my '01 Cherokee in March of '05 with 48K miles on it. I just rolled 70K today, and haven't had any trouble (knock wood) outside of regular maintenance stuff (shocks, brakes, battery, oil changes). Well, the AC sucks; I think the evaporator has a leak, and that's behind the dash, so I'm not looking forward to fixing that. But, it's got the bulletproof 4.0 with AW4 trans, and the better 8.25 rear, so this thing will hopefully go a loooong time. If you want a good budget-friendly Jeep, look for a stock Cherokee that's been well maintained. You can fit a decent amount of parts in the back of one; I've had 8 rims and tires in the back of mine with the seat folded down, and had my 350 in the back with the seat up. :)

The early WJ Grand Cherokees ('99-'00ish) are prone to electrical gremlins; my mom's '99 has had a few (like door lock solenoids and window regulators), but it's been reliable for the most part. And my wife's '03 Liberty has had no issues whatsoever, but it's only got 24K miles on it.

I will start looking for a 91 and 92 model Cherokee, Theres no fun in owning a jeep if you cant take it off roading ever.

the only input i can give here that is that wranglers are great IMO but they can be very very frustrating to do alignments on....the toe especially, its constantly resets to like 5 or 10 degrees off of what you adjust it to...

and ive seen and delt with this issue several times without an exception

crank position sensor goes bad on most 4.0s, common
the rears arent that strong if your gana wheel it seen it many times
4.0 strong running engine
trannys strong
t-cases are a weaker chain drive unit
some years prone to cracking exhaust manifolds
4.0 sounds good with a flowmaster
replaced quite a few electric window regulators
other than the small **** they are solid

My 92 was a beast. 4.0 Cherokee Laredo 4wd. The thing was alot of fun, I took it from 80k ish to around 140k. The rear main seals leak like crazy on alot of them I have seen, but its an easy fix. Other than that no problems, ran like a top!

I bought my 96 Cherokee 3 years ago with 140K on it and I have 190K right now. I've had replace a front wheel bearing, rear axle seal, a front caliper and tires. I have a manual trans in mine, so I just have to worry about clutches (haven't changed it yet!). the 4.0 H.O. is a great motor, mine still runs just as well as the day I brought it home. I also dynoed 133 hp and 208 tq last year at TTP 8) . the valve cover gasket leaks on mine, very simple fix but I havent gotten around to it yet.

any more questions, feel free to ask.

Depends on what you get. The Dana 35 is junk, but the 29 spline (97-01 cherokee) 8.25 rear is almost as strong as a Dana 44, which was also found in some older Cherokees. The 27 spline 8.25 is still better than the D35, and is fairly easily upgraded to the 29 spline axles.

The rest is all true though :)

- Justin

my brother had a 91 jeep cherokee the body was rusting but you couldnt kill the engine and trans the reaon my bro got rid of it because someone stole it and crashed causeing the front diff to crack

they run 16's all day...faster than your current f-body...hell, faster than a lot of 3rd gens

First of all, I'm stealing that one. Nice job!

Second of all, Justin knows of what he speaks. The V-6 motor in the early Cherokees is the same anemic 2.8 in early Camaros. Underpowered. Grossly underpowered and plagued with problems. Also, some of the early Cherokees came with Peugot transmissions that were absolute poo. They, just like the dana 35 rear axle, blow dead goats in the moonlight (There it is already!).

If you do decide to go Wrangler, you can get a decent YJ (Square headlights, 87-95) for about two grand. Look for something in the 93 to 95 range with the 4.0 inline six. Same goes with the Cherokee: The inline six is the best motor ever produced for a Jeep, and while the new V6 is pretty good, it's nothing like the torquemonster it's replacing. With proper maintenance, you can easily get two to three hundred thousand miles out of one.

And the Cherokees work just fine off road. Right, Justin?

I have a 92 wrangler with 270k on it, of course the 4.0L and 5 speed combo would not have it any other way hate driving auto, I mean i got it with the intention to do a frame off and keep it as my daily driver and to do some basic offroading with and just to have fun with it. First of all there extremely easy to work on and parts are really really cheap. I got mine with 220k on it from a family friend sat in a barn for a few years cause the guy who owned it passed away and his wife is the one who actually sold it to me. I bought the jeep for 800 with both hard and soft top. I got it home cleaned it up did brakes, suspension, and of course changed all fluids. I drove it then for another 30k or so motor had a bad valve tap but drove it anyways, till one day i pulled the dip stick and saw that i had anti freeze in my oil i'm still debating on what was wrong with it either cracked head or a bad head gasket instead of fixing that motor i just called up jasper and had and yanked the old motor in a day of course while in there i did clutch, flywheel as well. Three days later i had a motor sitting in a crate in my driveway cost me all together about 2400 for everything with the clutch and all with a 400 dollar core charge on my old motor. I mean i knew getting into this jeep it was going to be a project so i really did not mind. I think all in all with the misc things that broke i am into it about 5k with the purchase price i replaced everything just about the only thing that is original is the trans AX15 which i hear and have seen first hand is amazing it's got the original 270k on it as far as i know and i been chirpin second every now and then knock on wood no problems. My heater motor just went bad so i recently in the beginning of winter replaced that the only mods i really have on the jeep are a 2 inch shackle lift and 31 inch all terrains and full exhaust since any car with over 200k is going to have exhaust issues so i just replaced everything. I painted the frame with POR15 and next comes the body work going to prep it myself and have macco spray it for me. I don't need a show car just want it to look nice the jeep does go in the woods often so it occasionally gets scratched here and there.

Any Questions feel free to ask

Jason

My friend has a 98 cherokee sport...4.0, auto, 33" tires, 6" lift, 155k miles, no probs. He also has a CAI, hi flow cat and flowmaster.

i just bought a 2004 grand cherokee limited the day after christmas. so far i have absolutely no complaints other than convex mirrors for the side views are a necessity. Stock mirrors have MASSIVE blind spots.

i've got the 4.7L HO motor w/5 speed auto trans w/OD. bought it with 48k miles and have put about 2k on it since. no problems whatsoever and the thing gets out of its own way in a hurry. it's also one of the most comfortable vehicles i've ever been in. got all the luxery u could ever want on the inside but rides and handles like a HD truck. full-time 4x4 makes it thristy as hell about 14city/20hw mpg. it handles surprisingly well through the curves for a vehicle with such a high center of gravity, not a corner carver by any means but nonetheless impressive.

jeeps hold their value very well and as afore mentioned, last forever. they come highly recommended by me. good luck with ur search.

As for longevity, I forgot to add this, my one friend has a 89 Cherokee thats closing in on 300k miles. Looks like it will be rebuilt right around that time, because the main bearings are going.

Yup....as we XJ guys say on JeepForum all the time (in defense of the crap slewn at us by dumb TJ owners...no offense to anyone here), Station Wagons like to get muddy too! :D

- Justin

why a jeep though matt? why not something more efficient if you're gonna be buildin up the 84?