the truth about jeep xj?

[adsm08]

I MUST assume those were "abandoned" railroad tracks.

You hope.

 

[kryptonitecb]

I forgot about the aftermarket support. You can go to any 4 wheel store (not just 4wheelparts) and find jeep stuff on a the shelf or in the back.

As for the unibody the best comparison I can think of is a soda can. It is rigid and sturdy, but if you bend it enough it creates a weak spot and eventually folds in on itself. I would only go Wrangler if I ever got a jeep for offroad use. And I would never have one for DD duty, the mpg is horrible.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[wildbill23c]

I forgot about the aftermarket support. You can go to any 4 wheel store (not just 4wheelparts) and find jeep stuff on a the shelf or in the back.

As for the unibody the best comparison I can think of is a soda can. It is rigid and sturdy, but if you bend it enough it creates a weak spot and eventually folds in on itself. I would only go Wrangler if I ever got a jeep for offroad use. And I would never have one for DD duty, the mpg is horrible.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

Yeah the MPG on the Wranglers are horrible I can't understand why. My 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee LTD full time 4WD 4.0L I6 would average a constant 23mpg on the highway easily and around 17-19mpg in town every tank of gas was 420+ miles. Can't see why the Wranglers were so horrible and still are. The Grand Cherokee weighs more LOL. A friend of mine had a 1992 Jeep Cherokee same engine same transmission, but had the Selec-Trac 4WD system (best 4WD system ever built IMO), and would average 24-26mpg highway easily and those were the older style squared type jeeps no aerodynamics at all LOL.

Even my 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5 speed with the 318 V8 got 24mpg on the highway, so why can't the Wrangler's pass the 20mpg mark?

 

[RangerSVT]

Wranglers are not geared for mpg, they are geared for offroad. Most 6 cylinder wranglers come with 410 gears...

SVT

 

[kryptonitecb]

I was referring to the Cherokee getting bad mpg, and yes the Wrangler is worse. The gearing and the fact that its shaped like a box make it worse. I think less than 30 mpg is bad.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[rangerbum]

Man, my stock 90 xj sport(2 door) would go anywhere. I miss how light it felt on trails, but ive seen my friends that have xj's wheel; the more capable they get, the worse shape they get in. You dont really start tearing stuff up too bad until lifting them and stressing the subframe with big tires and massive flex. The flex is easy to achieve. Mine at stock height with stock tire size only managed 12 mpg so i cant say that they make a great daily driver. My 94 grand cherokee got the same mileage, but felt topheavy.

 

[Twister]

My brother got 18-20mpg in his 92 with 4in lift on 31's.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[wildbill23c]

Wonder why all of you never got any descent fuel economy in your Jeep Cherokee's. Course I never modified mine, and it had 3.73 gears in it. Great fuel economy and great towing capability.

 

[superdave1984]

Having owned 2 XJ's let me add my two pennies. 97 up XJ's have a better interior as well as a better suspension from the get go than earlier models. In 97 you got a 29 spline 8.25 rear. Pretty good for most things unless you go bigger than 33s locked. My 91 had a 3" lift and 31" tires. No rubbing or clearance issues even with factory flares. My 97 has the same exact lift and I run 33" tires. They rub the LCA and sway bar in tight turns. I also trimmed the fenders on this one.

Aftermarket parts are everywhere and usually pretty reasonably priced. The inline 4.0 runs forever unless you get a 200-2001 with the 0331 head.
The EPA rates the MPG for a stock XJ along the same lines as a stock Ranger. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=29388&id=13786 so everyone whining about gas mileage can just go ahead and stop.
You can buy frame stiffeners for the XJ if you want. If you go with long arms it's essential. I have seen and wheeled with guys who have beat the living crap out of their XJ for years and years without any problems at all with the unibody. Rust will do more damage than most wheeling over the long haul.

 

[swynx]

I have a buddy with a built 97 xj. Fenders trimmed to the max. 35s. Claims he's going to 37s on stock axles. He basically only snow wheels it. But I still think 37s are a bit much on a 30. That's like 40s on a ranger

 

[bigmark303]

I have a 2000 Cherokee 4.0L auto 4x4 and the only reason I do is because it was my cousins wheeling machine back when I was wheeling 2wd Rangers. Once I moved onto 4wd Rangers he pretty much abandoned it on my property because it was way to costly to upgrade to anything near as capable as a stock Ranger with 31s.

I scooped it from him because he already dumped a decent amount into it and it has a 3 inch lift, 31 inch tires, and a chrysler 8.25 rear. I paid $700 and have no intention of putting anymore money into it because its just not worth it comparred to my Rangers. Ill beat it until it gives and then sell the upgrades for more than what I scooped it up for.

When looking at the Cherokee in stock form vs the Ranger I cant understand why anyone would want such an ill equipped vehicle for off road use

Cherokee XJ
1. No Frame. Body will and does warp when wheeled regularly. My hatch doesnt close anymore.
2. Needs 6" of lift or better to clear and adequately flex 33" tires. Square wheel wells limit a lot of flex/tire size options also without a lot of lift. Im stuck with 31" tires because im not spending a ridiculous amount on another lift.
3. No tow points at all beside axles. No strong enough place to even mount a push bar or tow rings. Get stuck in sticky mud and you will be ripping tow rings or any kind of bumper you put on right off the unibody. Ive ripped/twisted everything off my Jeep trying to pull it out of mud holes.
4. 8.25 is strongest factory rear axle which to be honest is weaker than a Ford 7.5. D35 factory rear is just a slap in the face joke. I put a spare 7.5 under my jeep after the 8.25 gave out with an open diff.
5. Steering radius for such a small vehicle is wide as a crew cab long bed Ram 3500. Cant fit through anything my Rangers can. Everything is a 3-8 point turn with the Jeep.
6. No underbody protection.
7. Horrible gas mileage. 3.55 gears and 31x10.5 tires I am getting 12-15mpg highway. My extended cab 4.0L auto 4x4 Ranger with 33s and 4.56 gears gets 17mpg highway. My single cab 4.0L auto 4x4 ranger with 33s and 3.73 gears gets 20mpg highway.

Jeep runs great thats about all ill give it, but then again its only got 120k. It should run great. My Rangers just have 2" leveling coils in the front and 33" tires. Everything else came on it from the factory, tow points, skid plates, besides most of the drivetrain and important parts being recessed a good 6" above the bottom of the frame rails already, tight as a go-kart steering radius, and pretty strong just from the factory in general.

I dont hate Jeeps but after owning one and seeing how limited they really are without a huge investment I just cant understand why anyone buys them for wheeling when you can buy a truck that is just as capable in stock form than most jeeps after 2-3k worth the work put in.

 

[superdave1984]

Cherokee XJ
1. No Frame. Body will and does warp when wheeled regularly. My hatch doesnt close anymore.
2. Needs 6" of lift or better to clear and adequately flex 33" tires. Square wheel wells limit a lot of flex/tire size options also without a lot of lift. Im stuck with 31" tires because im not spending a ridiculous amount on another lift.
3. No tow points at all beside axles. No strong enough place to even mount a push bar or tow rings. Get stuck in sticky mud and you will be ripping tow rings or any kind of bumper you put on right off the unibody. Ive ripped/twisted everything off my Jeep trying to pull it out of mud holes.
4. 8.25 is strongest factory rear axle which to be honest is weaker than a Ford 7.5. D35 factory rear is just a slap in the face joke. I put a spare 7.5 under my jeep after the 8.25 gave out with an open diff.
5. Steering radius for such a small vehicle is wide as a crew cab long bed Ram 3500. Cant fit through anything my Rangers can. Everything is a 3-8 point turn with the Jeep.
6. No underbody protection.
7. Horrible gas mileage. 3.55 gears and 31x10.5 tires I am getting 12-15mpg highway. My extended cab 4.0L auto 4x4 Ranger with 33s and 4.56 gears gets 17mpg highway. My single cab 4.0L auto 4x4 ranger with 33s and 3.73 gears gets 20mpg highway.

The XJ is far from horribly equipped for off road.
1. True, it will warp, but so will your frame under duress.
2. Wrong. my 3" lift and trimming off about 1" from the fenders does just fine with 33" tires.
3. Any decent bumper will have frame connections that go well back past where the cheapo factory bumper went. Mine had a winch on it and I pulled out plenty of stuck guys with it and did no damage to mine whatsoever. Out back a receiver hitch will do just dandy if mounted correctly.
4. You have no idea what you are talking about. The 8.25 is as strong as the 8.8 under most circumstances and some model XJ you could get a D44 in the rear. http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/154-0708-weakest-to-strongest-axles/
5. You can't drive if that's the case or something is seriously wrong with that Jeep. Both my XJ's would turn around on a 2 lane road without leaving pavement.
6. Neither does a stock Ranger
7. Your MPG is better because of the deeper gears. Re-gear the Jeep and you'll see great improvements with that size tire.

Unibody vehicles aren't such a bad thing. Sometimes some body flex will help you more than a stiff frame will. There's a reason people love the XJ. It's a very good rig for DD or trail only or both. Try and take your wife and kids with you wheeling in your Ranger and see how that goes. Even the super cab models the kids would hate it back there.

 

[BLOODBANE]

Not too much to add, but I will add that Im one of those with a good a4ld. Its in my 94 Explorer, has the extra tranny cooler, and Im going on 230k on the clock. I run 35's with lockers at both ends, 4:88's, and do wheel the Explorer. Heat is the major killer of any automatic. I have wheeled with some very capable XJ's and have nothing against them. Im just not a JEEP guy and I have a 84 CJ7 on 38's (I gave it to my fiancee, she actually picked it out). I mainly run the Samurai's now (building a buggy out of a convertible 86) and have a 87 TinTop (19mpg out of it with 6.5:1 T-Case gears and a 1.6 16v engine swap), but I like to be the different one on the trails (hence building the Explorer in the first place).

 

[Red beast]

My xj will out wheel the shit out of my ranger. Plain and simple. In stock form xjs are capable. Lift height is a concern but once that is dealt with youre good to go. If you are wheeling hard you will want a roll cage . Which will definitely support the xj body from flexing. Most of us xj owners will do some type of frame stiffening where we plate the unirails to strengthen things. The slip yoke is a shitty setup but i run a slip yoke eliminator and a stock front cv drive shaft. Problem solved. Probably cheaper than a one piece driveshaft for a ranger. The aw4 with a trans cooler on it is damn near bullet proof as well as the 4.0. I run a explorer 8.8 but a newer xj with a dana 44 or chrysler 8.25 is just as sufficient. Aftermarket support is way higher than a ranger. And parts are cheaper. You can build a xj pretty cheap. The hp 30 non disco with cromo shafts and a locker is damn tough. 35s are max if you hammer on the skinny pedal. But people have run 37's. Not the best idea but its been done. Suspension wise xjs have alot of options. Just depends on what you want to spend. But if you build your own shit cut the price in half or better. Personally id daily drive my ranger over my xj which i do. But when i want to beat the shit out of something i grab the jeep keys. The only issue i have had with mine is the cooling system. The 4.0 takes up alot of space in the engine bay and fiiting a bigger radiator is next to impossible. Once you familiarize yourself to it and work out the kinks good luck stopping the jeep. They just run. Do some research and make your decision. There is so much knowledge on these vehicles that its easy to get lost in upgrading them. Check out naxja. There are alot of people there who would be more than willing to help you out. But i guarantee no one there will tell you not to buy an xj.

 

[wildbill23c]

I've only owned 1 jeep and it was a 96 Grand Cherokee limited edition 4.0L I6 4 speed automatic, and quadra-trac full time 4WD transfer case. It was a luxury model Jeep and it was bone stock except for an ARB winch bumper on the front. 232k on it when I sold it and it was offroad more than it was on the highway. It never let me down and I never got stuck, and I took it into some pretty nasty places making my own trails. Only failures were a starter, a radiator and just routine maintenance.

I don't do much of anything offroad at all anymore, I just don't trust my Bronco 2 to venture too far from home. Some day I'll have another Jeep but next time it will have the Selec-Trac 4WD transfer case and it won't have leather seats.

If you decide on a jeep find one with the Selec-Trac Transfer Case it gives you 2WD, 4WD high range part time, 4WD high range full time, Neutral, and 4Lo (2.72:1).

I towed my grandfather's 1993 Ford Ranger 4x4 from Sacremento California back to Idaho behind my Grand Cherokee never had a problem and was driving through Nevada in 100 degree temperatures with the A/C blasting and the jeep never got hot. I seriously kick myself for getting rid of my Jeep. Until you've driven a Jeep you don't know what you are missing.