[DanaT]

Hi,

I am not too active on the YJ board any longer? Why? Well, let me just say that the YJ found a new home. That is the bad news. The good news is that it was replaced with another Jeep, a Grand Cherokee Ltd. I haven;t got it off-raod yet, but I am not sure if quadradrive will be all that great off-road. Anyways, the GC was bought as a more "family friendly" vehicle after my wife and I had a little baby.

Anyways, back to my newest delima. I want to do some off-roading. The wife will most likely not let do any off-roading in the GC, only soft roading. She told me the thing better not get scratched up off-road. So that leaves me with a few choices.

1) Use the GC (see above)
2) Use my F150 4x4 (that is Scarey because of the size and 2:1 transfer case)


Now to my final two options. My mother has told me that she will give me her YJ that she no longer uses. It is an '88 with about 80K miles. It is a stripper. 4 banger. Stock tires measuring a monster 27 inches. No rust. Perfect body (i.e. not a SINGLE dent). It has been off-road about 2 times, both of which I did when I was in high school. Anyways, very nice little stock jeep. I also happen to have an ARB laying around for the D35.

That said, I don't want to take a perfectly straight YJ and tear it up too bad.

But having a free YJ available as the start of a build is a promising one. I was thinking front and rear ARBs. 32s or so (maybe 31s so I wouldn;t have to change gears). Some body protection. Just a mild build.

That was option 3.

Option 4 is to buy an ATV. It seems that it takes a very radical jeep to outperform an ATV. The other bonus with an ATV is I through it in the back of the pickup. Drive a smooth, quiet vehcile up. Unload an ATV. Screw around, and load it back up. If I break the ATV, it isn't my ride home. If I get it stuck, well, 600lbs is a lot less to pull out than 3200lbs.

So, for all you ATVers out there, tell me why I SHOULD go with the ATV. For the jeep boys, tell me why I SHOULD go the YJ route.

TIA
-Dana

[MeanGrnYJ]

I don't know what to tell you I ride 4wheelers and go wheelin in my Jeep. Both are fun.

[JustPassinThru]

If you wanna go Jeepin' you need that YJ.

I wouldn't worry about tearing it up, too much. A stock 1988 2.5L is pretty well depreciated.

[BESRK]

Just take the YJ and hit one of the quarter panels hard with a hammer. Once you put that dent in it, the rest is easy!!

[jpringlemn]

As far as the 31's go, I had them on my YJ and they robbed alot of power. It sounds to me like you are not looking for anything hardcore, just general offroading? And to make it look a little more like a decent Jeep to drive than a bone stocker? Try some 30" M/T's and 1/2" lift shackles. It will make beter use of what little available power you have and with the 2" or so taller tires plus 1/2" lift shackles it will give your jeep a new additude.

[sentinal02]

i've got both and while both are fun, they're really not that easy to compare. take a look at the trails you want to run and then decide. I've got a Suzuki LT500 quadzilla and it loves to fly along dirt roads, smooth trails and mud. but if you want to wheel anything harder and more technical, I'd stick with the jeep. pounding the rocks on a quad is back breaking and I'd much rather spend the afternoon crawling around in the jeep. I've gone over things on the jeep and had a blast that i would automatically go around if i was on the quad. granted it's definitely built more for speed than rocks, but that's the kind of wheeling i like to do with the quad. leave the rock crawling for when you've got lumbar support

an 88 in that condition will still sell for 3K or better (i bought mine for 3300) so it's got some value, but a jeep that doesn't wheel is a very unhappy one

[DanaT]

Thanks for the advice.

Yes, the little 4 banger and larger tires is what I worry about. The YJ I had was a 4.oL with 4.11s and 31s. That made for a nice road jeep. Since this would be an occasional use thing, maybe I could live with the 4 bangers gutless wonder feeling. Once its in 4low, it would do ok with 31s I think. But, changing gears isn't all that hard (I did it on my old YJ).

I never thought about an ATV beating you up badly. I guess I should have. I know if I ride my motorcycle for 4 hours on pavement I am sore.

Also, while thinking about, an ATV s a one peson ordeal. I couldn't take anyone else with me. I am leaning towards the free YJ now.

Does anyone think a 4 banger could handle 31 (or 32s) for off-road use? On road, I know it won;t pull well. But for a non-daily driver thats ok.

-Dana

[micfly83]

Originally Posted by DanaT

Thanks for the advice.

Yes, the little 4 banger and larger tires is what I worry about. The YJ I had was a 4.oL with 4.11s and 31s. That made for a nice road jeep. Since this would be an occasional use thing, maybe I could live with the 4 bangers gutless wonder feeling. Once its in 4low, it would do ok with 31s I think. But, changing gears isn't all that hard (I did it on my old YJ).

I never thought about an ATV beating you up badly. I guess I should have. I know if I ride my motorcycle for 4 hours on pavement I am sore.

Also, while thinking about, an ATV s a one peson ordeal. I couldn't take anyone else with me. I am leaning towards the free YJ now.

Does anyone think a 4 banger could handle 31 (or 32s) for off-road use? On road, I know it won;t pull well. But for a non-daily driver thats ok.

-Dana

Lots of people run 31s on the 4 banger with stock gearing, some even run 33s with stock gearing. It will not be anywhere near the performance of that 4.0L with 4.10, but its plenty driveable. It can handle offroad use really well as a matter of fact. The 4 banger has enough torque in 4 Low to do just about anything, and the lightweight and excellent center of balance only help. My 94 2.5L is on 31s with a 3" lift and its a daily driver. Its not bad at all. I can get it up to 60-65 and its a blast to drive regardless if its fast.

31s and 4.56 and 33s and 4.88 are the best set ups, and will give you stock performance back as far as I know. IMO 31s and 4.56 is sorta a waste, I'd just save up and wait for 33s and 4.88s.

[azgurney]

I have both. The older I get the more I prefer the Jeep. Both are fun. If the weather is perfet it is hard to beat a atv. The problem is this does not happen very often. In my jeep when it is cold I can have the softop on and turn on the heat. Same when it is hot, just turn on the air. When it is windy close the window. Same with rain. On those perfect days run no top or bimini top. Also on a atv you have to end the day where you start, at your truck. In the Jeep you can end up anywhere the trail ends and drive home. Also the Jeep can be used as a daily driver. In my Jeep I can bring freinds or pack a big lunch and other items. The price of new atv's is getting out of hand for the upper end models even though they are very capable with their lockers etc. And finally my wife does not complain when I need Jeep parts because she likes to ride along. She does not care that much for the aty's. My back also does not get sore in the Jeep as it sometimes does after a 5 hour atv ride.

[sjlplat]

Sounds to me like you need a Samurai. Zuks are cheap and easy to build, and they're extremely lightweight. You can load up 3 more people and a little gear, and easily run 36's with the right gearing, which is also cheap and easy to obtain.

[maui]

I run a YJ with a 5.5" lift, pro comp coil/4 link conversion that we use to follow ATVs with. Will it go where an ATV goes...no...but it does pretty darn good. I run 33's on it with no problem. Its a 2.5L too.
http://www.labusas.org/photopost/data/3105/1361649113_1312-med.JPG

[ErikJordan]

build the yj, and wheel the hell out of it.
mine was perfect before i raked it across the rocks. i feel good about doing it