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.
I fail to see the "parts are cheaper" logic. Jeep parts are anything but cheap.
I've wheeled with Rangers, Bronco IIs, FSBs, XJs, WJs, CJs, YJs, TJs, JKs, Nissans, Sammis....
In the right hands and built right, they are all capable rigs. I would probably never own an XJ/WJ/etc because of the unibody. I'd rather start with a real frame than have to reinforce a unibody. Just sounds like a PITA. But that's me, I really have nothing against the Jeeps. I would just rather stick to my Fords because there is a lot of parts interchange. Especially now that I started modifying stuff - a lot of the time a repair becomes an "upgrade" which just so happens to match a bunch of my other trucks. That way I can stock my shed with spare parts and only have a couple different things which means less space taken up by spare parts and less trips to town for replacement parts (of course the parts stores hate when I make that trip with a pile of warranty items).
Jeeps are pretty capable off-road. My choptop had to be pulled by a Jeep twice because I blew up the heads on the trails (I had replaced the heads with used ones on a motor that had already blown up the heads, I think there was damage to the bottom end that was helping things along) and once because I snapped a D-28 shaft in a swamp (after some friends told me that I definitely could make it). My 89 Bronco II Eddie Bauer had to be pulled out three times (in it's defense, it was bone stock with front and rear swaybars). Once from when I went over a snowmobile path and got hung up, once when I was wheeling and broke through some ice into a large puddle (water was almost up to the doors), and once when I accidently ventured into a swamp with it. The Jeeps that pulled me out? YJ and TJ Jeeps running lots of lift and 34-36" Super Swampers.
Now that I said the bad, I'll say the good. I haven't really wheeled my choptop all that much yet, but it is a capable rig. When I buried it in the swamp, the Jeep that rescued me had to do a lot of tugging even with my other three wheels digging. It was the sort of thing that would have been easier to pull some winch line but neither of us had a working winch at the time. Of course, it was my stupidity for just romping on the go pedal and not having scouted the area before. As far as the 89 Eddie Bauer goes, I wheeled that a good bit and the Jeeps I wheeled with at the time were very impressed with how well it did. The first time I took it out, we were wheeling through some trails and came to a big mud puddle, the Jeep told me that I would probably want to go around but he was going through it on the CB. I hung back and watched him go through, it was deep but I thought I could do it, so I followed him through. He couldn't believe I made it since he was on 34's and it was fairly deep. Later that year I pulled a TJ on 36's out in the snow - snow so deep I was pushing it with my grill all day.
My choptop on 33's... I spent a total of $1,537 on the truck at this point, including what I paid for the truck. Bear in mind, it was a 2wd when I bought it.
As it sits today, grand total of about $3,200 spent. I have 35's on it now and half of the roll cage is installed (the other half is in my shed).
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