Hey Ferm, got a Jeep question

[Monkey Butler]

Whoa, I didn't even realize that we had Jeep experts here. This is too cool.

Anyhow, my 15YO has been saving his pennies and wants to buy a jeep Cherokee or GC in anticipation of getting his permit. He has about $600 which I will match. Lots of 93-98's for sale with various ills and milage in the $1200-1500 range. Any recommendations of what to look for and what to look out for? Ultimately he wants to put big wheels and tires on it but for now I'd like to find something that needs a few repairs so that we can find a deal and do some father-son work while he waits to get his permit.

Would you even consider a '96 in good shape that seems to run okay but has 232K?

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by spareparts

twisted, you forgot "wedge"

Don't need no stinkin wedge. What we got here is a real special matched set of tires, and they WILL HOLD on the outside of turn 4 ;D.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by Monkey Butler

Would you even consider a '96 in good shape that seems to run okay but has 232K?

Depends on a few variables, mostly being previous owner. One of the best runnin JEEPS I ever seen had 400K+ on the clock, and NEVER had an engine repair done. I personally like my JEEPS, espescially PINKY ;D. I don't know of any other vehicle that could take what I've put mine threw, and keep on goin. Mine spends enough time on the floor board, I might as well be covering a hole with the go pedal. There's much potential for the 4.0L's as well. My old style came stock with 150HP in 88, I'm pushing up around 185 with a $0 investment. Just a few secret tweeks. Or you can go hog wild and build ya a 4.9L KING KONG HP/TQ monster that will snap just about everything in the drivetrain.

[Monkey Butler]

Okay Mr. Ferm, we are hopefully going shopping over the next few weekends. Mind if I run some potential rides by ya?

What about 4 cylinders? Too wimpy even for first cars? I want to look at a 98 with a bad viscous coupler but my son is telling me this means AWD vs. 4WD which he says is less desirable.

Comments?

[Monkey Butler]

Another one, guy left a message on my vmx... says a front seat bolt "pulled thru", easy fix. How are the floors on these things? For that matter are they frame on rail or unibody. As you can tell we jst started looking.

[THEFERMANATOR]

They are UNIBODY construction on the newer wagons. The COMANCHE pickup was a UNICAB with integrated frame rails. If you think there is problems with the unibody, RUN!!! It is not a pretty site(or safe one) when the UNIBODY breaks apart, I've got a 97 that broke the UNIBODY under the passenger seat and rear frame rail at the hitch. The floors for the most part were OK, but if anything was ever spilled in the floorboard it will get trapped between the carpet and pan causing rot(my 88 has a rotted out rear pan over the tank).

The 4 cylinders were OK, but you won't be setting any speed records. And if you might tow, go with the 6. Another thing to consider is in the CHEROKEE's the transmission. The 4 cylinder's will be mostly 5 speeds which were pretty reliable, but will not hold up to any bigger tire. And the 4 cylinder auto's are DOG'S!!! The 3 speed auto's were sorry too. The 6 cylinder auto's have the very robust TOYOTA tranny, and the manuals were pretty solid to(also a TOYOTA design up till 00).

The viscous coupler doesn't always meen AWD. My 88 has a FULL/PART time 4WD, and uses a viscous coupler. But you have the option of 2WD. In the GRANDS with the 249/247 T-case, they are a full time unit. But many times a viscous is said to be bad when it needs nothing more than some posi-trac lube added to the transfer case fluid. If you have any specific questions, I'm more than happy to answer em for ya.

[spareparts]

no that we are on the subject of floors rotting out, I'm trying to find teh water leak form rain that keeps getting the carpet wet on the pasenger side floorboard every time it rains. Looks like its coming out of the fan housing where it bolts up to the firewall, I've allready pulled the drain out andchecked it(blew air back thru it). Water keeps leaking into the floor. Any ideas?

[Franco]

Open the hood, there is a screen over the cowl/plenum for the heater & a/c, there could be a s h i t p o t of leaves and stuff in there blocking the drains, Clean out the drains and leaves and such and see if that helps

[Skools_Dual]

i took one of those apart recently that had 243K miles the timing chain was worn outwhich is a very common issue with the straight 6 and the rod and main bearings were shot i personally wouldn't buy one with that many miles unless you plan to put new bearings and a timing chain set in the motor.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Service life on any timing chain should be 150K miles. And some of em do get run hard, and wear out the bottom ends. I tore one apart with 182K on the clock, and it still had the factory break-in coating on the bearings. They don't take well to not haveing oil changes done religously. I personally like the 91-95 4.0's myself, but that's just me. The 87-90 4.0's seemed to hold up the best though, mostly due to the lower HP rating(plus the old style ones got better milage, I got 20-22 on my trip to TENNESSEE this year with my 88).

And for your water leak SPARE, check the seal on the water drain tube for the evap. There is a connected tube that runs the water down from the A/C condensation, but rain water can run back in em. And like FRANCO said, check your outside air intake.