Jeeps are good.

[ktup-flyer]

My 2012

 

[Chip Sylverne]

Sounds like a recipe for trouble. My son had a Ford Bronco II that had an electronic feedback system stuck onto its carb, and that thing never worked right either. Tried to find ways of removing or disabling it without making things worse, but couldn't do it. If it was taken out of the circuit, the rest of the system acted up.

Dan

I have an 86 F-150 that had that same type solenoid carb on my 300 six.

An offy dual port manifold, Clifford split header, 600cfm Holley 4160 and ditched the TFI ignition for old Duraspark distributor with a GM module. Solved the problem quite nicely.

Runs like a scalded cat.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

.



Before that, he drove an 02 Cherokee that, again, we ruined with a suspension lift.

So, in my experience the 4.0L engine is fairly bulletproof, and if you can avoid screwing up the suspension lift they are excellent machines for local driving and off-roading.

Key to a good suspension lift on an XJ is to replace the slip yoke driveshaft with a slip yoke eliminator and a double cardan, two piece driveshaft. Gets rid of all the vibration troubles. I also swapped out the weak stock Dana 35 for a Ford 9".
Also replace the front control arms to keep the geometry right. Anything over 4" doesn't look good anyway, IMHO.

Bought my 89 new. When my 4.0 goes tu (250k on it now), I'm going to bolt in a stroker.

 

[Skylane81E]

"My" first set of wheels was my dads 91 wrangler. We also had a 92 Cherokee that was donated as we had no use for it and the transmission sprung a small leak. Dads daily now is a liberty.

The Cherokee only had the trans leak and faulty AC that the crappy dealer couldn't fix.
Wrangler sprung a leak in the fuel tank once, the only issue not related to normal wear or abuse
And the liberty came home from Colorado on a trailer a couple years ago after it stalled and couldn't be fixed by the dealer in Salida... Local dealer had it fixed in less than an hour for about $200 as the issue was a cam sensor. Can't blame the Jeep for needing to be towed home when the fix was so simple.

 

[cessna182b]

Go with the fuel injection. I messed with carbs for years, but I got tired of stalling out on every steep incline.

I've had a series of Grand Wagoneers - and have generally been satisfied with them (though they are notorious gas hogs). The carb is the weak link. My last one had a habit of quitting when you made a sharp right turn. I figured it was the float adjustment - but fiddling with it did not make any difference. Then the problem mysteriously went away - only to return several years later!. I sent the carb off for overhaul - but it made no difference. The last time I tried to take it to a shop I was told "Oh! the guy we had who worked on carbs has retired". That car is long gone - but I still have an old one lurking in the back yard (it runs!). I second the motion.

Dave

 

[Steve Foley]

Sounds like a recipe for trouble. My son had a Ford Bronco II that had an electronic feedback system stuck onto its carb, and that thing never worked right either. Tried to find ways of removing or disabling it without making things worse, but couldn't do it. If it was taken out of the circuit, the rest of the system acted up.

Dan

Nah.

If you google 'nutter bypass', you'll see the mods to bypass the computer have been published and in use for years. It involved re-routing some vacuum hoses and one wire.

 

[SCCutler]

I've had a series of Grand Wagoneers - and have generally been satisfied with them (though they are notorious gas hogs). The carb is the weak link. My last one had a habit of quitting when you made a sharp right turn. I figured it was the float adjustment - but fiddling with it did not make any difference. Then the problem mysteriously went away - only to return several years later!. I sent the carb off for overhaul - but it made no difference. The last time I tried to take it to a shop I was told "Oh! the guy we had who worked on carbs has retired". That car is long gone - but I still have an old one lurking in the back yard (it runs!). I second the motion.

Dave

These guys are doing a land-office business buying, refurbing and selling Grand Wagoneers. When I drove by their lot, it looked like an old Jeep dealer.

http://wagonmasters.com/default.htm

They say business is great.

 

[Alexb2000]

These guys are doing a land-office business buying, refurbing and selling Grand Wagoneers. When I drove by their lot, it looked like an old Jeep dealer.

http://wagonmasters.com/default.htm

They say business is great.

This is crazy, $45K for a Wagoneer. I feel like I just woke up in another dimension.

I still remember my friend and I taking his parents Wagoneer out wheeling. We were having a great time until we caught some air, the battery (not bolted down), flew up and arc welded itself to the hood. That took out our electrical system, so we were stuck until we walked out the next morning..... luckily we had beer.

 

[CJones]

I've had a series of Grand Wagoneers - and have generally been satisfied with them (though they are notorious gas hogs). The carb is the weak link. My last one had a habit of quitting when you made a sharp right turn. I figured it was the float adjustment - but fiddling with it did not make any difference. Then the problem mysteriously went away - only to return several years later!. I sent the carb off for overhaul - but it made no difference. The last time I tried to take it to a shop I was told "Oh! the guy we had who worked on carbs has retired". That car is long gone - but I still have an old one lurking in the back yard (it runs!). I second the motion.

Dave

I had a Waggy for a few years but sold it last year. The body was in pretty good shape, but needed the frame rail patched and some serious work to get it to pass emissions in Georgia. I loved driving that thing. It was like driving a couch that got 11 mpg. If it hadn't been for the emissions thing, I would have kept it to tinker with. Sold it to a guy in Chattanooga for $1500 without him ever seeing it. Kinda makes me think I should have asked for more.

 

[CBeaulieu]

Great looking Jeeps Tom D and ktup.

 

[John Baker]

I had a CJ-5 that I gave to a charity after I started walking to work. I gave them all three of my cars so I would walk. I did the walking thing for about five or six years until I decided I wanted to learn how to fly, so I bought a Wrangler Sport, and have been driving it ever since. I just like the way Jeeps handle and feel, I'll probably always own a Jeep. I prefer the old ones that are made of metal over the new almost all plastic ones. My 98 is too much like any other car on the interior, plastic everywhere.

-John

 

[dell30rb]

my last jeep

 

[Alexb2000]

my last jeep

After a long day of wheeling, when everyone gets on the highway to head home, I bet everyone was jealous. That's the Cadillac of 4 wheelers.

Nice.

 

[dell30rb]

Best part was on 90 degree summer wheeling trips, the guys in TJ's were sweating, i had the windows up, a/c blasting and listening to music

 

[cessna182b]

I had a Waggy for a few years but sold it last year. The body was in pretty good shape, but needed the frame rail patched and some serious work to get it to pass emissions in Georgia. I loved driving that thing. It was like driving a couch that got 11 mpg. If it hadn't been for the emissions thing, I would have kept it to tinker with. Sold it to a guy in Chattanooga for $1500 without him ever seeing it. Kinda makes me think I should have asked for more.

Maybe you should move to another state. I believe that anything over 20 years old escapes emissions testing in NC. Even CA had a similar policy (that incremented every year) until a few years ago. Even now anything 1975 or earlier - or any that came from the factory with more than one carb is exempt in CA.

I agree about driving a Wagoneer - comfortable as an old shoe.

Dave

 

[CJones]

Maybe you should move to another state. I believe that anything over 20 years old escapes emissions testing in NC. Even CA had a similar policy (that incremented every year) until a few years ago. Even now anything 1975 or earlier - or any that came from the factory with more than one carb is exempt in CA.

I agree about driving a Wagoneer - comfortable as an old shoe.

Dave

Georgia is 25 years before you get an exemption and it was a '90 model, so it had several years before it would get a free pass. What really stinks is that emissions testing is only required in the counties in and around the Atlanta metro area and we are on the outer-most tier of counties.

 

[Maxmosbey]

These guys are doing a land-office business buying, refurbing and selling Grand Wagoneers. When I drove by their lot, it looked like an old Jeep dealer.

http://wagonmasters.com/default.htm

They say business is great.

I was driving around North East Iowa last summer and saw a 76 CJ7 that looked brand new for sale, The guy had rebuilt the whole thing from the ground up. New steel tub and the whole bit. I don't think that there was an original part left in it other than the frame. So the guy was asking $16,000 for it. He said that he was down from $24,000, which was what he had in it. If you think about it, there is a lot of hours that goes into restoring something like that.

 

[Maxmosbey]

Georgia is 25 years before you get an exemption and it was a '90 model, so it had several years before it would get a free pass. What really stinks is that emissions testing is only required in the counties in and around the Atlanta metro area and we are on the outer-most tier of counties.

That is one of the great things about Iowa. No inspections.

 

[timwinters]

The 4.0L straight six was indeed a bulletproof engine...owned 4 of 'em and they all performed wonderfully. And so were the old drivetrains. But they haven't made a real Jeep since they stopped producing the CJ-5 & 7 in the '80's.

But even in the old days, the bulletproof drivetrain was surrounded by a ton of crap.

I had a BiL who worked at Chrysler from '77 until they closed the Fenton, Mo plant a few years ago. As such, I was a "green sheet" buyer and bought about a dozen various Chrysler products over those 30-ish years. But, even buying them at cost, I found that couldn't afford to drive a mopar...or at least didn't want to...or maybe it was that I wanted a car that would be on the road more than it was in the shop...

Worst quality cars made in the US. Jeeps included. At least the ones I owned were.

 

[Alexb2000]

I thought this thread was good so I'll post again. Here is the exterior the the CJ with the TPI motor I posted earlier. It took me years to finish, but most all of it was built in the hangar where the picture is taken. Paint, interior, etc. all of it. It's a basic classic CJ with a few subtle changes.

If I had it to do again.... I'd just buy a TJ. It was enjoyable, just too much work for one person.