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Auto or standard

bucklanddj

NAXJA Forum User
Hi all. I'm new to the board and looking for advice on an xj. I will be using it for a daily driver / weekend toy. I want the best fuel economy i can get so should i get an automatic or a standard.

I'm looking for a 97 or so. Thanks for any advice.
And no I dont want a honda civic for my daily driver.
 
The 5 speed will get you better MPGs on the road. When i was on 33s, i could get 16-17 mpg, (also geared from 3.07 to 3.73), all my friends with cherokees on 33s and automatics, were getting 13-15.

Personally i love the 5 speed, on road, and off road, although i would love a doubler or a 4:1 tcase. Some guys hate driving stick over rocks though.

Another thing to factor in would be the difficulty of finding a 97+ 5 speed, but they are out there.

And no one here is going to reccomend you a honda civic instead of a cherokee, a lightly modded XJ makes a decent daily driver. :)
 
I need to get some popcorn at lunch today.....

Personally, I prefer a stick shift. I've never owned a vehicle that I've customarily driven with an automatic. My 94 XJ has an AX15, and my DD has an NV4500 stick shift. Both have good gearing, and neither is a problem in traffic.
 
99 with an ax 15 4x4. I love it. Kinda a heavy clutch so your left leg gets one hell of a work out in traffic. I feel like the motor has to work much less compared to the aw4 i had in my 95. If you like rock crawling though this isn't the way to go imho.
 
I also drive a 99 w/ AX-15 and it gets on average 19 mpg. I love it, but sometimes wish I went with boring auto so my wife could drive it (she has no interest in learning) in bad weather or other times. Traffic is also a pain, you get use to it, but it is still annoying. Otherwise, it is fun to drive.
 
I love manuals and you will get better mileage but my left leg stopped aching when my new xj had an auto, still miss shifting through gears but worth the tradeoff
 
I guess it breaks down like this

2dr - 5spd- wheeling/ towing vehicle

4dr- AW4- picking up the kids from soccer practice
 
Both my AX 15's have been four doors. They do exist too. I've always preferred a stick shift, but the automatics are all right. Both hold up well. The fuel economy gain is small enough not to be a real factor in the choice, but it's a bonus if you prefer it anyway.

But definitely, if you like a manual shift, the AX15 is pretty free of vices. As long as you don't poison it with sulphurous oil, and don't actually break it with outrageous abuse, it will last and behave well. My current AX15 ride has 263 thousand miles on it, and the transmission actually has about 10K more than that.*

*I broke the other one. It turns out that shifting into reverse while moving, with the clutch linkage broken, is detrimental to the reverse idler gear. For some reason it got pretty noisy. Whoda thunkit?
 
depends on what you drive, manuals are fun to drive, but nothing beats an auto if you like wheeling slow terrain, i used to have a 97 with 4.10s on 33s ax15, it was ok but still wasnt low enough for crawlin, my new xj on 38s with 3.73s and auto rocks!
 
I like driving a standard, but haven't really wheeled one. My XJ is an auto and primarily trail only. Both have their pros and cons, but I wouldn't let either on steer you away from buying something. When looking for a vehicle I look for the best deal that I can find. Whether it is auto or manual doesn't make any difference to me.

And I DD a civic with a manual, nothing wrong with 38-40mpg Hwy. I can afford more Jeep stuff with my gas money now. Stop and go traffic gets annoying but I deal with it.
 
When my girlfriend was looking we couldn't find an auto to save our lives. She ended up getting a sick deal on a 98 with a manual and she's way happy with it. With 31s and stock gearing she gets close to 20mpg on the highway.

I personally prefer an auto for my wheeling style.

Around here the manuals are just as common as the autos.
 
where do ya'll live where all these 5 speed XJ's are hiding? I searched Craigslist and other classifieds for weeks untill Ifound my 98 5 speed that someone wasn't wanting a ton of money for because it is a "rare 5 speed cherokee"
 
I've owned 2 XJ's, a 1990 and a 1998 that were both automatic. I got pretty used to the way they drove and found the auto in the 1998 was really nice for cruising the highway, good acceleration.
I just bought a 2000 4dr 5spd recently and it feels...weird...to be driving a standard XJ. So far I much prefer the manual for winter driving and snow driving. It definately feels like the engine is working less hard with the 5spd transmission, it still pulls well at 1250rpm in 5 gear up a hill.
 
5 speeds are pretty rare here too, and it took me a long time to find mine. When my 99 finally goes belly-up maybe I'll have to take a trip to Utah.

As for wheeling, I don't do much more than logging trails and National Forest roads, etc., and not much of that recently. For that the 5 speed in low range is low enough. I guess it would run out of crawl if I were climbing rocks and the like, so if you were planning to get really serious with a 5 speed, you'd probably need to change the axles.
 
where do ya'll live where all these 5 speed XJ's are hiding? I searched Craigslist and other classifieds for weeks untill Ifound my 98 5 speed that someone wasn't wanting a ton of money for because it is a "rare 5 speed cherokee"

Utah. I swapped my 4 door from an ax15 to an aw4. My dad has a 2000 or 2001 (can't remember now) with a 5 speed.
 
I've owned two XJs and an MJ (Comanche pickup) with an auto. What you will generally find is an AW-4 automatic transmission. Its a good gearbox. They can take a beating and dont fuss much at all.
My current XJ has an ax-15 in it (the 5 speed manual) and i love it. I might be getting better gas mileage in it if i didnt have 33 inch BFG mud terrains. Once you start making the rig heavier and more built-up (which you are bound to end up doing. give it time) then MPGs will suffer unless you start re-gearing. If you are choosing based on fuel economy, its not that big of a difference and you may very well end up with other priorities after you start wheeling. Lockers, skid plates, bumpers, etc... Even in that instance its up to personal preference as far as auto or manual. Both are fun.
 
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