[FourthGenHatch]

I was thinking of getting an XJ but TJs are catching my eye. Tell me about them...

[Owen]

What do you want to know?

This thread is useless without Pics....

[Whybu1]

What do you intend to do with it? Trail rides in the forest requiring tight turns, haul kids and camping stuff, just play in the mud? Each one has its pros and cons.

As you can see I own a TJ and WJ and they are definately good at different things. (hard to put wife, parents, dog, chairs, luggage and cooler in the TJ)

[Jerry Bransford]

As a former happy Cherokee owner, I am a thousand times happier with my TJ! It's more fun, more chicks try to see who the gray-haired geezer is driving it, it's great on warm sunny days with the top and doors off, it offroads like a bomb, what more could you want or need in life?!

[dzp]

The TJ is the ultimate convertable. You can go from complete compfort with hard top/ full doors with a/c, to an easy to convert soft top with half doors with a/c on need, to no top or doors, and anthing in between. Including removing the rear seat for additional, truck bed like storage.

Off road, you will be hard matched to find another stock vehicle that can out perform it off road for general purposes. Of course there are limitations, but a few mods usually get rid of most of those...

The TJ is coil sprung at all corners for excellent flexibility, handling, and ride quality. They are very easy to modify and lift because of this. It can hold 31" tires stock, 33" with only 2" of lift, and 35's with 4" of lift. If you get one with the I6 and a D44 rear end, then you will have a drivetrain that can handle almost everything except the extreme. Get a rubicon and you will get a quasi d44 up front too, all disc brakes, and 4:1 low gearing transfer case, and lockers front and rear, making it close to unstopable.

If you buy one new, then get the dual top option. This will include both the hard top and sailcloth soft top with full doors.

On the other hand;

The TJ has some quirkes. If you plan on carrying 4 people, then plan on them holding whatever they want to bring, as free space is limited unless you remove the rear seat or get a rack.

If you get the I4 engine and the standard d35 rear axle, you will also be limited as to how many mods you can do before you run out of power or break things. But of coarse, there are lots of people that dont let those things hinder themselves, and still push these vehicles to their limits and behond, and still use them as a DD (ie, me)


Here are some pics of my Jeep in close to stock form with the 4cyl and d35:

Rack for extra capacity:


Stock Flexibility (sway bar disco'd):


Some Climbing:



A couple of video's of mudding/water crossing
Video
Almost drowning

Hope this helps you make your choice.

Zack

[FourthGenHatch]

I would like to get into some trail riding. I don't really need to seat many people (my current car is a hatchback with racing seats and no rear interior) so I can only hold 2 people in my car as it is. I probably wouldn't get a new TJ because they are honestly too expensive for what they are. I was at the dealer the other day and a Rubicon is like $28k. You can get a lot more vehicle for that money else where. So I will probably just get a used one for around $10k.

Do they have the same 4.0 I6 as the XJ does?

Also what T-cases come in the TJ? CommandTrac and SelecTrac?

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally Posted by FourthGenHatch

Do they have the same 4.0 I6 as the XJ does?

Also what T-cases come in the TJ? CommandTrac and SelecTrac?

Essentially the very same 4.0L engine in both, but Selectrac is not available in a Wrangler. The Wrangler comes only with the part-time CommandTrac transfer case.

[FourthGenHatch]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bransford

Essentially the very same 4.0L engine in both, but Selectrac is not available in a Wrangler. The Wrangler comes only with the part-time CommandTrac transfer case.

Why is that?

Are there engine swaps for the TJ, cuz I know for XJ they are really too much work. But didn't CJs have V8s in them? So maybe this kind of Jeep its easier to do.

Also I like Manual Transmission but if I was getting an XJ they are rare, or I heard they aren't as good as the Auto. I think I've seen more manual Wranglers. What would you guys go for?

What grades of TJ is there? I see some that say Sahara on the side. Is that a type of TJ? Are there others?

Do the 2.5s come with the crappy wheels and the 4.0 come with the nicer ones? Just cuz I want to be able to pick out the engine type by looking right at the car for hints.

[chris06]

Originally Posted by FourthGenHatch

Why is that?

Are there engine swaps for the TJ, cuz I know for XJ they are really too much work. But didn't CJs have V8s in them? So maybe this kind of Jeep its easier to do.

Also I like Manual Transmission but if I was getting an XJ they are rare, or I heard they aren't as good as the Auto. I think I've seen more manual Wranglers. What would you guys go for?

What grades of TJ is there? I see some that say Sahara on the side. Is that a type of TJ? Are there others?

Do the 2.5s come with the crappy wheels and the 4.0 come with the nicer ones? Just cuz I want to be able to pick out the engine type by looking right at the car for hints.

go to www.jeep.com and you will see all the TJ's

[Scootr]

If you're looking at used TJ's go with one that has the 4.0 I-6 (190 hp stock). I owned a 97 TJ with the 2.5 4 cyl (120 hp)and was literally gutless.The fuel economy between the 2 engines is only a couple of mpg's. The 03 TJ's have a new 4 banger(150 hp) but I haven't heard a whole lot about em. Just be careful of what you get that's used. You don't want someone else's TJ that they ragged out or jumped off a side of a cliff. Models include SE,which is stock basically with a 4 cyl,steel wheels and small tires."X" model upgrades the engine to a 6 cyl and few other options that you can see on the jeep.com website."Sport" model (which I have) which also has the 6 but gives you the option for a Dana 44 rear (what I ordered in mine) and a other options like dual tops if you're so inclined. "Sahara" which is more of a luxury TJ in my opinion,just a little different than the sport other than it has painted fender flares which match the paint on the body,badging and seat colors.Then there's the rubicon...you'll have to go to the jeep website to see all the goodies on that. They also came out in 03 with the Freedom Edition.I haven't seen too many of those but I believe they fall in between the "X" and Sport models.
Good luck!

[Scootr]

Here's mine,she has a way to go but that's the beauty of a TJ...it's endless in what you can do to them!

[Owen]

DZP rocks... Jerry Lets see some Geezer Jeep shots...

[dzp]

Originally Posted by FourthGenHatch

Why is that?

Are there engine swaps for the TJ, cuz I know for XJ they are really too much work. But didn't CJs have V8s in them? So maybe this kind of Jeep its easier to do.

Also I like Manual Transmission but if I was getting an XJ they are rare, or I heard they aren't as good as the Auto. I think I've seen more manual Wranglers. What would you guys go for?

What grades of TJ is there? I see some that say Sahara on the side. Is that a type of TJ? Are there others?

Do the 2.5s come with the crappy wheels and the 4.0 come with the nicer ones? Just cuz I want to be able to pick out the engine type by looking right at the car for hints.

The command trac transfer case is a "part-time" transfer case. This means that it is not for use in high traction instances such as on-road (even if wet), hard packed dirt roads, ect.... Check How 4wd works for a nice explanation on how 4wd works; how differentials and lockers work
for how they work; and how other cool auto stuff works

Manual vs Automatic transmissions is a long debate with pro's and cons for both. Base it on your preference, and you should be fine. I'm not going to get into it. I prefer manuals, but when crawling, an auto would be nice sometimes....

Besides a decal on the side, the sahara's painted flares, and the rubicon sticker, the difference btwn Jeeps is un-noticable from the exterior. In fact, if you bought a rubi, removed the stickers, then it would look almost exactly like a SE with 31" tires on 16" wheels. That is one thing that I praise DC for. Screw styling, change what matters.

Find an I6 and dont worry about a engine swap. I've got the 2.5 and will be swaping in a 351 when it dies. Alot of work though. That or trading mine in for one with a I6 and D44. I was less-knowledgeable when I bought mine, so i'm keeping all of my mods down untill I decide......

Another point that I forgot to mention. The windshields still fold down....

[FourthGenHatch]

Originally Posted by dzp

Another point that I forgot to mention. The windshields still fold down....

You ever driven on the highway with that down

[dzp]

Originally Posted by FourthGenHatch

You ever driven on the highway with that down

Not at any speed. Off road, its nice when you've got branches and such over the trail to keep the windshield from getting broken or scratched..... But even then, they are only $100 new....