Well, we (girlfriend and I) are thinking of adding a Charokee to the family. I was hoping you guys coulg give me your thoughts on some good/bad years of Charokees, etc. We are looking at a '99.

This is what we are looking at :http://www.advocar.com/PreOwned/VehicleDetailsCertified.asp?UvinID=A6773M


It will be mostly used for a daily drvier for my girlfriend. Might built it up a little.

Any thoughts will be appreciated!

Supe.

I personally like them - I once had a '00 cherokee classic and loved it. I wish they had never replaced it with the liberty though. I don't know much about the technical end of it, but it had plenty of space, but was still much smaller than the newer grand cherokees

Drivetrain: 2 Wheel Drive

The late model Cherokees are great. We haven't had any of the overheating probs that afflicted the early models.

The Missus built hers (2000) up and loves it to pieces. The above spec would probably be a deal-killer for us though.

As far as technical specs (other than 4wd), get a Dana 44 if you can (88 & 89 tow package and all former USFS XJ's). The Chrysler 8.25" is felt to be a bit sturdier than the Dana TurdyFive.

Later models had a vacc disconnect Dana 30 up front. The Wife swapped hers out for a non-disco Dana 30, but there is a mod floating around the internet that lets you change it from a vacuum disco to a cable disconnect. This is felt to be more reliable and easier to repair. Furthermore, as it can be disco'd in 4L, it lets you tool around in 2Lo for better maneuvering in obstacles.

The Missus runs the RE 5.5" Extreme Duty lift with drop brackets for the front radius arms. Very nice and plush ride.

They will creak and eventually crack the unibody. There are all sorts of trusses for the steering box, "frame rails", and roll cage that will stiffen the unibody, but be assured short of welding up an MJ frame under your unibody, it will eventually crack.

Hope it helps. The 3 year leases on the 2001 XJ's should be showing up soon on the used market.

Thanks for all the info guys.

Its actually just going to be a daily driver, We probably wont do too much to it. Just wanted to make sure we werent going to purchase a bad year of the Charokee.

I Got A 99 Xj, The Only Problem I Have Incounterd Is My Freeze Plugs Are Leaking But That Didn't Happen Tel I Turnd 95000 Miles, Few Mods.