Hooked

Ok, I know this is JK forum. I have been leary of building up my JK for off road. So, my wife had a thought, sometimes they are good thoughts such as this one. She mentioned me buying an older jeep and building it up. I know there are a lot of guys here that have built up jeeps. I have searched and searched, everyone has their own opinion. I value yours!

So my question is: Which jeep would be best for building up?

I am going to exlude 2003 - 2007 because of price. Yes, it would be nice to go pick up a rubicon and go from there, but that is too much money right now.

I am looking for a moderate off roader. Maximum tires will be 39". I am not planning on doing an engine swap untill I burn up the stock engine. I am going to do axle swaps. Nothing extreme to start with, but extreem in near future.

Also, if you have a forum that I should look at, please let me know.

Thanks
Hooked

astrogiblet

I'm guessing a TJ, as they are probably the most popular Jeep ever, and probably have the most available mods for them..



-Brandon

Piginajeep

its going to be cheaper to lift a JK to fit, not to mention the beefier D44 and HP30 that comes with the X model JK.

dieselsub

What are the basics?
1) Fuel injection is really nice - runs fine in the hills with no adjusting for altitude, runs at extreme angles, better mileage, better power. So this means the furthest you should go back is 90-91 for a 4.0 HO Wrangler YJ.
2) Leaf springs or coils? Up to 95 Wranglers used leaf springs which are cheap to build lifts for. On a mostly off-road jeep consider a spring over axles lift on a YJ which is really cheap and gives you ton's of clearance - equivalent to a 5.5" lift. Coils on the other hand give a much better ride, and *can* give better flex, but you'll want a long-arm kit which is a little more expensive and usually requires some fabrication.
3) Safety - air bags and ABS. YJs in 95 got air-bags, and then of course all the TJs have air-bags. TJs also have ABS as an option. I don't know how well ABS works with big tires, but with moderate sized tires like 33's ABS should still be worth something.
4) Inexpensive axles. Some TJ's came with Dana 44s in the back (I'm ignoring Rubicons in this discussion because they are still expensive), so you can either find a TJ with a 44, or swap one in relatively cheap.
5) Parts - either a YJ or a TJ has lot's of aftermarket support, wrecking yards are full of parts, and replacement parts are stocked at all your local auto parts stores at reasonable prices.
6) Knowledge - lots of people work on Jeeps so you can easily find a person who knows, or an Internet article to cover most anything you want to do

So what is my choice? I'm probably selling my 93 YJ to move up to a 97+ TJ mostly because of the airbags (I'll be driving it mostly around town - most peoples reality) and I also want to try out coils. I can get a beater 97 for $4500 (6 cylinder) or a pretty clean one for $6500.

Hope this helps.

ccdjeep

I couldn't have put it better myself....referring to the answer above me^.

I have a YJ right now and am in the process of fixing somebody else's F*ups. And I hate the dang thing. Course I'm prejudiced to YJs cause of that. But I was before anyhow. I had a CJ and yes ya'll all know what they say about us CJ people. Well its true lol. We look at the YJs as those bastard square headlight jeeps that replaced our beloved CJ's.

Personally I am selling my YJ once I fix the engine and hook the 4wd back up. And convert the hacked to death dash to a CJ style blank with Autometer gauges ect.

I would buy a TJ. Lots of aftermarket support and I have become a HUGE fan of coil springs. They ride so much better. I'm selling the YJ but I think my next project Jeep will be a Scrambler. Not for trail beating though. To restore and drive it and enjoy it. On road and mild off road.

pmjkunlimited

My opionion is that you buy something with enough room to accomodate other people, like fellow Texarkana locals that have silver JK unlimited's. Good luck and i have always liked the TJ's.

Phillip
Silver JK Unlimited Sahara
Texarkana

Hooked

Phillip, great to hear from you. You already have a lift on yours? I am going to order BB with shocks as soon as I find me a TJ. I'll try and call you tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have found a local 97' TJ that has a 4" skyjacker. It is a manual, I think I can overcome that. It has had 4.56 gears and lockers in the stock D30/35. I believe I will start with this one.

One thing that I forgot to mention, is this rig will not be road worthy. I am building it strickly for offroad. I will trailer it or pull it behind the JK.

If the axles are not locked on the TJ, do you think the JK would be able to tow the TJ?

I may slap some shoes under the TJ and roll until I break and axle then upgrade? Thoughts?

KT

jpzjk

Do you have a tow vehicle to get this rig to the trail with ? If not...I'd build your JK and go have fun. A jeep is expensive...two Jeeps are REALLY expensive

Two Jeeps and a tow rig /trailer .....better get another job, but then you won't have time to wheel !

Tedlick

The XJ model (Cherokee) can usually be found at bargain prices, and the 4.0 I-6 is a fantastic engine for it. I would include that in your search.

We have a 99 XJ which was the daily driver until early January when we got the JK. For now I plan to leave the JK stock (I will get black wheels & bigger tires though), and focus on the XJ for upgrades & mods (it's paid off, and daily mileage is 1/10th of what it used to be).

ALL THAT SAID-- if you are new to off-road fun, and/or new to Jeeps, you owe it to yourself to try the stock equipment for awhile and see how it meets your needs. I had the XJ for 6 years as a stock daily driver, and we had tons of fun on the logging roads in northern Maine.

The key is knowing the limitations of your rig!