JCoulter's Garage

[AJeepZJ]

When looking for something to trail I needed room for my wife and two girls. EVERYONE has a freaking Wrangler and I really didn't want one of those. Plus the guys I was hanging around with have a full size Chevy on tons and a K5 blazer on tons as well. I couldn't afford to go that big as it requires a bigger tow rig and trailer as it is the XJ will be heavy enough. S-10's are to small, Tracker's and Samurai's are hard to come by here. A Toyota might have been a good option but I didn't even look at those plus I don't know anything about those trucks.

Tracker's and Samurai's are too small too. Seals break on them all the time. the 4Low works on them ok. They aren't very durable in sand. When you got that XJ you did NOT settle lol. It's roomy, solid, and dependable... especially that 4.OHO. The suspension and engine are VERY easy to work with. Easy to convert rear to coils if you wanted. Your aftermarket support is available, cheap bumpers front and rear, cheap cheap cheap.... plenty of exhaust and CAI support in addition to tuners. I LOVED the cargo space and rear seats in the XJ... I like everything about it. I could doze off in the back seat. Or fold the rear seats, and and easily lay out - if I didn't want to bring a tent. The electronics are pretty reliable too. It's also not nearly as heavy as you might think... I think it's under 3400 lbs. The power-to-weight ratio is excellent... and the 231/242 xcase will NOT let you down... I think my ZJ is almost at 4,000lbs.... but it has alot more torque and hp... but the I6 is perfect for that Jeep. You will be very pleased... I can only say good things about the XJ... I just prefer the grand cherokee platforms... a little more refined.

[AJeepZJ]

Nice bro! One day I will have an XJ.

XJ's are DIRT cheap right now. When I sold my XJ I jumped on craigslist to start searching for ZJ's.. and some XJ's were popping up in the search for less than 2K bone stock. There were some XJ's lifted for about 3k-ish. The XJ's that are going to be pricier are the updated ones... 97-01. especially with those that have the 242 transfercase and SLIGHT improvement in hp and torque.

[IamJEEP]

XJ's are DIRT cheap right now. When I sold my XJ I jumped on craigslist to start searching for ZJ's.. and some XJ's were popping up in the search for less than 2K bone stock. There were some XJ's lifted for about 3k-ish. The XJ's that are going to be pricier are the updated ones... 97-01. especially with those that have the 242 transfercase and SLIGHT improvement in hp and torque.

It's not the lack of funds holding me back, it's the lack of parking space. If I sold the XK (I will probably get banned for saying that) I would get an XJ in a heart beat! I saw a white '98 fs in town for $1200, it looked mint just high mileage.

[AJeepZJ]

Space... you own a home. You have plenty of space! Go get your XJ, now! You can do what Sal does... And parks my former beloved Jeep in the Road, lol.

[Sal-XK]

Space... you own a home. You have plenty of space! Go get your XJ, now! You can do what Sal does... And parks my former beloved Jeep in the Road, lol.

I had it in the garage the other day. The bracket for the track bar was missing all its bolts but one which was loose LOL I added some bolts and fixed it up.

[jcoulter]

Welded the front up. Any bets on what breaks first? I'm bringing extra shafts and spider gears.

[Sal-XK]

OMG dude your crazy LOL

[jcoulter]

Maybe a little. Though I have a plan. Going out of two days next weekend. Should be it's last run. If the red XJ build takes longer and I completely destroy this front axle I will pull the front one out of the red one and replace it.

Either way it's going to be a blast!

[CmmdrDan]

Wait. Did you weld the half shafts together. Basically a poor mans locker? Is that what you did?

[Matt]

Welding the spider gears makes an open carrier a locked carrier