OK, here's the scoop. My '01 Jeep Cherokee sport has 65K on it now and everything is original. It's due for brakes and could probably use new shocks and exhaust. We also have two small kids (my son is almost 4, and daughter is almost 1), and I always have some project to do around the house, so the extra space is nice. I've had it for two years, and it'll also be paid off as soon as we get our tax refund so that's a big plus. The only cosmetic issue is some rot in the lower door seams on both of the passenger side doors, but it's not visible from the outside.
But, I really miss driving a car. I see Tahoes, Escalades, and Expeditions with bigger wheels and low profile tires all the time, so does a "street Jeep" sound like a bad idea? I won't wheel my Jeep, because I have to cart my kids around in it all the time and can't afford to break it. I could install a set of slotted rotors and Hawk pads to improve the brakes since they need to be done anyway. I could put on a set of Bilstein shocks, polyurethane swaybar bushings/endlinks, and get a set of 17" rims/tires to make it handle better. Anything bigger is kinda crazy, because they look too big on a small rig like the XJ; we'll keep the Dubs for the big trucks. I would keep the 15s with 30" Goodyears for winter driving. I could also install a cat-back and a CAI in the hopes of improving the dismal gas mileage this thing gets.
Here's a pic of a Cherokee that I found. This one has 17" Bullitt rims on it, but it's black. Mine is dark blue, and I don't have the cheesy nerf bars or side moldings. Whatcha think of the rims though?
