The "It's not for me" learn me Jeep CJ/Wrangler thread

So, my dad has decided he wants a Jeep. He's almost 70, tall and needs, um, "a decent amount of room between the seat and and steering wheel" and easy in/out of the driver's seat. He's looking to put about 10K, maybe a little more, into it. Personally, I'm not a Jeep fan. I hate the way they ride and drive, so I've never really taken the time to learn about them. First of all, do any of the current or past models meet the room requirements? (He previously had a CJ-5 and just barely fit in that, about 70lbs. ago) Any recommendations for year/model/drivetrain to either look for or avoid? Any issues (besides the obvious "rust") to look for?

Sorry to throw out the standard "learn me, I'm a doofus" thread, but, again its not for me, so I figured I'd test the braintrust here rather than start from scratch.

As always, thanks in advance.

If this has already been covered extensively, links also appreciated.

EDIT: Found this thread already, so I know fun and unusual places to look for rust: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-road/looking-at-a-93-wrangler-fairly-soon-what-should-i-look-for/86981/page1/

The newer they are the more room they allow for expanding guts. My father in law is about as wide as he is tall and was driving one of the newer 4 door ones.

I imagine an early to mid 90's Wrangler should allow for belly room from what I remember. Earlier jeeps yeah not so much.

I believe the X trim level TJ is the best bang for buck. X is 2002-2006, it's similar to the SE (lowest trim level) but comes with the 4.0L I6. Assuming he plans to modify, and replace most stock components anyway I'd save the money and get an X or SE with the 4.0L.

If he's not going to do any mods, I'd spring for the Sport with Dana 44 option, or Sahara.

I'm biased towards TJs, JKs are still too expensive. I'm not a big YJ fan, but that would give you the cheapest buy-in of a "modern" Wrangler. I believe the TJ is a better platform.

I'd avoid the 2.5l like the plague. I own one, slow is an understatement.

• Lee

I had a 2.5 liter yj.

It checked the "has engine" box but got 6 cylinder fuel economy with none of the power.

A cheap tj would be a nice rig.

Nobody fit in CJ5s.