I think I'm in love

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/08/heavy-duty-jeep-j8-now-available-everywhere-but-here/

I would buy one in a heart beat... 2 years old that is.. well.. I might be swayed to buy it new, if it was avaialble as a stripped out model..

But.. I am in love.

edit except for that "wonderful Vm Motori engine that is....

Wow. A real Jeep. Not a sissy jeep. Damn, when was the last time Jeep made something that wasn't all sissy?

(edit: After some research, 1987)

86 actually.. 87 was the first year of the yj

I'll take one

ignorant wrote: 86 actually.. 87 was the first year of the yj

Which of these things made the YJ a sissy?

1. Fully boxed frame.
2. 4.0 HO
3. AX15

Every new jeep has been superior to the one that preceeded it. YJ is better than CJ. TJ is better than YJ. JK is better than TJ. Jeep people just like to bitch.

jk is the new designation?

DILYSI Dave wrote:

ignorant wrote: 86 actually.. 87 was the first year of the yj

Which of these things made the YJ a sissy? 1. Fully boxed frame. 2. 4.0 HO 3. AX15

1.. meh... The debate is out on that.. One of the successes of the original flatties is the flexible frame with wonderful riveted construction..

1. Not in 87

2. It's no T-18a

In all honesty.. Having owned a 71 and a YJ and a zj.. it's a feel thing.. The new vehicles just don't have the same feel. They are too comfortable and have never given me the same feeling that running around in an early jeep does.

Yes.. you are right they are more trail capable. yes the T-90 wasn't the best transmission nor was the Dana 27 front end on my old jeep anything I would consider acceptable. But.. top off cruising down a trail.. The new jeeps are too automatic almost robotic and take a good deal of the fun out of it for me..

One thing, the T-90 was easy to fix. I logged a lot of miles in a CJ-5 and a 4WD Station Wagon plus other related Jeeps. I know own a Liberty,oh forgot,KJ.

T-90 was easy to fix, but it was weak. 10 spline input?

Looks like a LWB Samurai.

DILYSI Dave wrote: Which of these things made the YJ a sissy? 1. Fully boxed frame. 2. 4.0 HO 3. AX15

That would be:

1. The Target Demographic

I understand the jeep thing thats why I drive a Landcruiser!

I've got your Jeep thing and now it hurts when I pee

nice try rex.. but you showed a CJ.

btw.. what is with the formatting in this thread?

Having owned a CJ and driven several Wranglers both on and off road....I'll take the Wrangler any day. I don't care about Dana this or Spicer that...just give me a fun to drive, reliable, decent off-roader that doesn't beat the snot out of my on the highway nor spend most of it's life waiting for repairs. I'd like to pick up a YJ someday just for fun, even if the headlights are the wrong shape.

ddavidv wrote: Having owned a CJ and driven several Wranglers both on and off road....I'll take the Wrangler any day. I don't care about Dana this or Spicer that...just give me a fun to drive, reliable, decent off-roader that doesn't beat the snot out of my on the highway nor spend most of it's life waiting for repairs. I'd like to pick up a YJ someday just for fun, even if the headlights are the wrong shape.

meets all the above criteria.

About 5 months ago I picked up a 01 Wrangler that sat topless at a condo building on the beach for $750. It had a mystery drain that ended up being that the underhood light that stayed on.

It is just a base model 4cyl manual with 31X10.5 All Terrains and 61,XXX miles.

Picture here, I should really have a before and after. http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/475/

So far I repainted the dash, fender flares, part of the roll bar that had surface rust and the mirror mounts. I have also POR-15'd most of the surface rust underneath it. Replaced the shocks and brake pads, threw in some used seats (the original ones frames had rusted) and put on a used top. I took off those ugly chrome bumpers and blacked out the chrome headlight rings.

So far I about $1250 in it including registration. It gets roughly 20 mpg around town if I don't drive like a jackass. It will bark the tires shifting into second if you run out first gear, however then it gets about 12 mpg. I have no idea what it gets on the highway besides passed. 70 is about as fast as you can go without running the poor thing too hard. I haven't done any serious off-roading in it for fear of breaking something and going from having $1250 in the Jeep to $3000.

Overall it has been reliable for the short amount of time I have had it. I have only put about 2500 miles on it almost all of them around town. It really is a nice "in town" vehicle.

Maybe it is because I never spent more than $2500 on a car but I couldn't fathom paying the $5000 + dollars that most people pay for these. Then proceed to beat it up and spend even more on repairs and upgrades. ( Oh right, we do the same thing but on the track.)

I have about $5K in mine. Bought it for $3500 and then lifted it, put in an SYE, mud tires, etc. I've also got a few comped pieces on there from work - bumpers, seats, etc. I do beat on it pretty good, but I have no qualms about it being "nice". It's made for beating on. I've added a few dents. It will end up on it's lid at some point I'm sure. You bought that TJ VERY well. Even bad jeeps generally bottom out at $2500. One big difference in price is 4 vs. 6 cylinder. The 4 cylinder doesn't get a lot of love. Perfectly capable off road, but they run out of breath quick on the highway.

Did'nt they make a jeep like afew years ago. Scrambler or Rambler some type of blur like that?

Volksroddin wrote: Did'nt they make a jeep like afew years ago. Scrambler or Rambler some type of blur like that?

Scrambler. They actually did it twice. The CJ6 was a stretched CJ5, and the CJ8 was a stretched CJ7.

Dave,

I don't need or want this thing to be nice. I truly enjoy off roading and envy real rigs. I liked the look of yours a the Mitty, did you get bigger tires after your recent lift?

I have thought about it and I just don't need another automotive hobby. Having dumped a bunch of money over a 6 years timeline in an 84 RX-7 is enough.

I just don't want to blow up the rear end or transmission and have to put another $500-$1000 fixing it. All of a sudden the Jeep would become "hey I can make money when I sell this" to "I hope I break even" to "Damn, another money pit"

Correct me if I am wrong but I have the weak Dana 35 rear and AX-15 tranny?

now to postscript what I said above.. I'm a curmudgeon.(like you all didn't know that already)..

I hardcore into jeeps when the TJ came out. I owned a YJ(also a 71cj5, but couldn't keep it running well enough to count) when TJ's came out and dealt with hatred from both CJ owners and TJ owners. The older jeeps do have a cool feel to driving them, its very akin to a vintage sportscar vs a new sportscar. Sure a Miata is faster and better in all technical aspects than a bugeyed sprite.

Most of my comments are just good natured ribbing, which in person is pretty easy to detect, but is harder on the internet. I believe in Jeeps a good deal. I firmly believe that my dad's ZJ saved his life. If it were not built so solidly, he'd probably be dead due to a drunk driver.

I like Dave's YJ.. Always place for another jeep(any flavor) or sami or FJ or whatever on the trail. And I've already prompted the wife.. I'm getting another jeep come hell or highwater.. Just gotta make sure it has a backseat this time ;-)

back on topic.. If they made a TJ based pickup.. stripped down Heavy Duty/military style. I'd buy one(even if buying new is not a smart decision). Make mine a diesel please.

Greg Voth wrote: Dave, I don't need or want this thing to be nice. I truly enjoy off roading and envy real rigs. I liked the look of yours a the Mitty, did you get bigger tires after your recent lift? I have thought about it and I just don't need another automotive hobby. Having dumped a bunch of money over a 6 years timeline in an 84 RX-7 is enough. I just don't want to blow up the rear end or transmission and have to put another $500-$1000 fixing it. All of a sudden the Jeep would become "hey I can make money when I sell this" to "I hope I break even" to "Damn, another money pit" Correct me if I am wrong but I have the weak Dana 35 rear and AX-15 tranny?

I hear you on the "don't need another automotive hobby" thing. That was probably my biggest hesitation. OTOH, it's been a whole new set of variables, set ups, and techniques to learn, and I enjoy that. I've gone so far down the sportscar road that there's not a lot I haven't seen. Going to a radically different discipline makes me a noob again, and that's kinda fun.

Mine has the same tires it had at the Mitty, but with 4" of additional lift. It's actually too high now. I need to remove some body lift.

You do have the Dana 35, and yeah, it does kinda suck. It's not as bad as the internet would have you believe though. I've still got the 35 in mine, and while I do have a Super 35 waiting in the wings, the standard 35 has served me well. Since yours is a 4 cylinder, it's going to punish the axle less than mine does. One nice upgrade is the Ford 8.8 from a late model explorer. Your 4 cylinder already has 4.10's I beleive. Find a junkyard 4.10 8.8, weld brackets on, and you have a MUCH stronger axle for a few hundred bucks. It's really close in width and uses the same wheel bolt pattern. It also gets you rear disks and, if you shop right, and LSD.

I think you have the AX5, not the AX15, but I'm not sure. Either way, they aren't bad. Better than the peugot trannies from the early YJ's, not as strong as the NV trannies from the late TJ's, but not bad.

One nice thing is that mods seem to retain their value pretty well. If you do your own work, you can reasonably expect to get the parts price back out of upgrades to a Jeep.

I had an AX5 for a while, aside for the internal slave cylinder for the throw out bearing it was OK.

yes the 4cylinder will have 4.10 gears. It's a good torquey engine and with the right gearing will go anywhere a I-6 or v8 will go.

my girlfriend's '06 had the 4 cylinder and would pull her ~2800lb boat and trailer up the ramp out of the water no sweat. completely stock other than the hitch.