What's the best Wrangler for under 5K?

TerryMason

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I was talking to my buddy Dave, who's interested in getting a Wrangler for a second vehicle. He needs a soft top, AC, and will see some trails, but probably nothing hard core. He's a smart guy, and is willing to work on a Jeep, but wants something reliable.

What year and model would you guys recommend?
 

Well, you might be able to find a high mileage yj for that price, if you need something that runs. But if there is any way you can get into a tj, they are a much better vehicle. The coil spring suspension not only provides a much softer ride, but also allows the axles to much better articulate on rough terrain. When you get one wheel off the ground, which is easy to do with the old leaf spring suspension, that wheel is the one that gets power on a standard or "open" differential and so it just hangs there and spins. The tj's coil suspension makes it much harder to do this. Also, i've had a lot of trouble with ax5 & ax-15 transmissions, and dont even ask me about the horrible puegeot thing. My 89 yj had that awful plastic throwout assembly inside the bell housing, which makes major disassembly nesessary when the slave cylinder goes out, which it certainly will. Yj's also did not have fuel injection until '93 i think, and the feedback carburetor had to fooled with all the time as i recall. I loved that '89 yj, but i had to work on it all the time.
tj's are much more reliable, imho.
Cj's are very cool, of course. But now your getting into very old rigs that may need constant care and many times the gearing is so low that it's just not a practical vehicle for freeway speeds. good luck, john
 
YJ for a KISS simple setup and that's cheap and easy to mod. FI started in '91 in the 4.0L and earlier in the 2.5L.

Look for a TJ if he wants a cushy ride and a car-like interior, but mods will cost more and be more involved.
 
Are any years of TJs better than others? Do all pre 2002 TJs have the same axles and driveline?
 

the thing is, that for under $5000 you might find about a '97 tj with 150,000+ miles on it, in my part of the country anyway, hopefully one that drives. good luck, john
 
He found a nice looking 98 with a 4 banger for 4,600. I just don't know enough about the specific years to say if a 98 is better than a 97 or a 2000. Do they all have the same axles?
 
Most came with Dana 30 up front and Dana 35's in the rear, though some did come with Dana 44's in the rear.

The late 96-97 "TJ" was the first and it carried a lot of TJ/YJ inner marriage problems, the 98-99 was the better 90's TJ's.
2000 or 2001 they went to coil packs and finally lost the distributer. Although some of the comfort stuff still ran on vacuum, they didnt loose that till 2003.
 

i've only had an '05 tj with a 4cyl. 6-speed, but i just love it. a four cyl. is the authentic wwii jeep engine, y'know. i am sure that any 4 cyl. rig is going to have the dana 35 on the rear and dana 30 on the front, might be wrong about the exact number, but the little ones anyway. and it's not advised to put oversize tires on them because the axles aren't strong enough, but i've never gotten stuck in mine and i have tried! i'd buy that rig in a heartbeat. good luck, john
 
I was looking for a Jeep for years!! You all know the routine, which mostly ended at dead ends. I finally came across the TJ I have now. 99 Sport, auto with the I-6 It had 150,000 on the clock. I gave $6,000 for it. Keep an eye opened, there are deals out there. I wouldn't sale my jeep for nothin now. lol Nothin like a Jeep!!!
 
i've only had an '05 tj with a 4cyl. 6-speed, but i just love it. a four cyl. is the authentic wwii jeep engine, y'know. i am sure that any 4 cyl. rig is going to have the dana 35 on the rear and dana 30 on the front, might be wrong about the exact number, but the little ones anyway. and it's not advised to put oversize tires on them because the axles aren't strong enough, but i've never gotten stuck in mine and i have tried! i'd buy that rig in a heartbeat. good luck, john

First off, do everyone a favor and quit ranting about how you can't put any larger tires on the 30 and 35 than what came on it. It happens every day and there are very few incidents with people running 31's blowing up their axles. 33+ yes, 32-, no. I've been at this for a while, been president and vice president of a Jeep club for years. That being said, the only 30/35 combos I've seen break on the trail have been with tires 33"+ and most of the time with lockers.

Secondly, the 4cyl in Jeeps now is a far cry from the WWII engine.

Third, if you haven't gotten stuck you aren't doing it right.

Most came with Dana 30 up front and Dana 35's in the rear, though some did come with Dana 44's in the rear.

The late 96-97 "TJ" was the first and it carried a lot of TJ/YJ inner marriage problems, the 98-99 was the better 90's TJ's.
2000 or 2001 they went to coil packs and finally lost the distributer. Although some of the comfort stuff still ran on vacuum, they didnt loose that till 2003.

They didn't make TJ's in 96, all the rest is good info.

Terry, that sounds like a pretty good deal. I'd jump on it. The 98 keeps some of the simplicity and has the larger ujoints and the 2.5 instead of the 2.4.

And no, I don't have anything better to do this morning than correct people.
 
They didn't make TJ's in 96, all the rest is good info.

Ah ha!!! I got ya! actually they did make the first TJ's during 1996 and started selling them as a 97 in late September of 96, I will have to run over to my friends place to get a pic but the MFG date is 96.
95 was the end of the YJ and 97 was the start of the TJ....it took them a year to figure out how to glue coil springs to it.

And no, I don't have anything better to do this morning than correct people.
Funny I dont either
 
I found and purchased a 95 yj 2.5 automatic,soft top on 31's with a killer stereo and got a falcon tow bar and secondary towing brake system in So Cal
just a year ago for 5k.
It had 97,000 miles on it and new paint.
Runs great for a 4 banger so keep looking they are out there!!!!
I take it to the eastern Sierras all the time!!!
 
Ah ha!!! I got ya! actually they did make the first TJ's during 1996 and started selling them as a 97 in late September of 96, I will have to run over to my friends place to get a pic but the MFG date is 96.
95 was the end of the YJ and 97 was the start of the TJ....it took them a year to figure out how to glue coil springs to it.


Funny I dont either

Damn you... Is it officially titled as a 96 though?
 

When I was looking for a Jeep (this was back in early '06) I found an '01 TJ with 85k on it with a 4" lift, Mickey Thompson Classic Lock II wheels and 33" MTR tires for $8000. I don't know if anything was wrong with it but it looked sharp. Unfortunately someone bought it while I was looking it over in the parking lot. They also had a YJ with a 3" lift, I dont recall the mileage, but it was around $5k. It was in good shape but I was looking for something to be somewhat reliable and I wasn't sure about getting something that old. So anyway, my point is that there are deals out there if you look hard enough.
 
They should be titled as '97s but they were introduced a little early due to the 1year gap in production models. They '95 YJ was also built late with most '95.5 YJ's having many TJ components in them. My '95.5 YJ came with a TJ motor and a 231 that was like a cross-breed between the TJ and YJ.
 
I recently bought a 97 tj

150k miles runs great $4200

When i was looking i found a ton of early tj's with over 100k miles that ran good in Pennsylvania,New Jersey area

Only thing i found was most had 4 cylinders,a little under powered but the little off roading i have done so far it has been fine.

Good luck with your hunt
 

The 97,98, and a 2000 model TJ with a 2.5 liter has a 181FBI for the front axle and 2 choices for the rear, 194 and216 RBI. the only differnce on the 97,98 to a 2000 is the powertrain. the 2.5 liter is just called a Magnum .Whooptidooo. As far as the argument on the Manufacturing Dates, there was neither a TJ or YJ "Built" so to speak in 1996. this year was a transition year from the YJ to The TJ. Yes there were a lot of carry over parts between the two and they still do the same to the current productions. the 97 TJs has a mix of 95 production parts and 96. to later release as a 97 model. Chrysler doesn't even offer any Diagnostics for a TJ or a YJ on 96.
 
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