[MovingTarget]

Does anyone in here know much about them?...

I used to have an old 85 and loved it for camping and just out 4x4ing - it had a straight 6 that was dependable and rugged..... But it overheated....allot

I may look into getting a newer one but I don't know when they stopped using that sealed or enclosed radiator setup....or when they started to have fewer problems with overheating...

It'll be for a daily commuter and camping from time to time in the mountains.... so no extreme lifts on it and all that jazz....

Any info?

[El_Presidente_Pufferfish]

I don't understand how you can say something is dependable and rugged right before saying it overheated a lot...

[MovingTarget]

The motor and transmission were great - they didn't have any problems. The Radiator/cooling system was a bad design and it can't take the heat in AZ during the summer.
They used a closed system which made it difficult to tweak and maintain....

But given the lack of comments I can safely presume that nobody has had great working knowledge of XJ's.....

[offroadin]

Jeep XJs are very capable stock. They are a decent unibody construction and have a good powerplant.

I'd stick with the newer models with the 4.0L HO. ALso, the manual trannies are junk so stick with the auto unless you want to swap in an AX-15.

Personally, i'd find one with a set of 3.55 gears and the Dana 44 rear end. Most come with the Dana 35 rear which has a weak flexible housing which loads the axles shafts and boom. The Dana 30 front is plenty durable for what you need. I'd look for XJ with a non vacuum disconnect front end. THe vaccuum coupling on the long side front axle shaft is unreliable at best, but if you have to you can convert it to a cable setup witch provides positive engagement.

Throw on some 31x10.5s and you'll go lots of places with no other mods.

I'm not sure what year they switched the cooling system but i know the 4.0L HOs have ample torque and i haven't heard of the heating problems associated with the earlier models.

Things to check would be floorboards (unibody means if they are rusted, the chassis integrity is compromised). Check the body alignment to see if it's been in an accident, look for misaligned body panels, and cracked paint on the subframes.

THat should be enough to get you started.

[MovingTarget]

Those are great tips offroadin!

I appreciate it immensely! This is the kind of info I've been looking for... I googled the hell out of it but got mostly pages of "check out my tricked out XJ.... and a bunch of debates about manual vs. automatic.....and sazwalling the fenders to put massive tires...

From what I read the HO's came out after 91 but anything after 96 (ish) isn't that great.... So I guess it kinda puts me in that age group...so now when googling I can narrow it down further! HUZZZA!

[Jishory]

xjs are pretty cool, pope john has a 2 wheel drive with the manual tranny and as far as i know the transmission holds up fine. my cousin has one too, its stock and he uses it to go four wheeling when his blazer is broken all the time and he loves it. i bet with gas prices going up you can find a good deal on one

[MovingTarget]

Yeah.... I loved the one I had before....

For a 6 cylinder they got decent gas milage as well...and I only live a few miles from work....like 5-6. I signed up with an XJ club for Arizona to get good tweaking ideas for the overheating problems.... These guy are enthusiasts and do some pretty hard core shit in the desert.... They gave me a bunch of great ways to do it up right...

The trick is to find one for sale in the next few weeks.....

[Jishory]

ive heard good things about this website, maybe you can find a good deal in your area North American XJ Association

[MovingTarget]

Originally Posted by Jishory

ive heard good things about this website, maybe you can find a good deal in your area North American XJ Association

Thanks! I'll check it out tomorrow after work....