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Road Trip

BigRed

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Minnesota
I have a 98 XJ with about 86088 miles on her. The tires are BFGoodrich long trail and almost down to the treadwear line. I am very good about fluid, oil changes and tire rotations. It is a daily driver but will go off road when neccessary, of course! I may be taking a road trip from MN to the canadian rockies north of glacier national park and am wondering what needs to be done or checked before I depart. Will I make it? We have not had any engine problems or drivetrain problems since I bought it when it had about 34000 on it. We bought it used from a dealer. This is really long but would apprecieate any advice or feedback! Thanks fellow Jeepers
 
ummm, yea... of corse you and the jeep will make it. I really would be concerned about the wear on the tires, but other than that there should not be a problem. I log several 1000+ mile trips a year (going to and from college) and not once has my jeep ever let me down. Over the corse of close to 100K miles I have needed a new clutch (thanks to a trailer mishap :() and rear brakes. The usual oil changes and tires seem to wear out whenever I'm broke....

so other than the tires... i see nothing stopping you.
thats my .02
-Spaze
 
Some advise:

If you are going to Alaska this season make sure your battery is new or in good shape. Opitma would be nice. Block heater if you do not already have being in MN. The temps will cause issues starting.

Change the tires if they are of concern. bring at least a i lift jack and recovery tools to get your self unstuck if the problem arises.

Blankets and some food and water. also in the case of a stuck.

Just some normal safety items. Common sense stuff.

OH! don't forget you coat!!

Mike
 
Why wouldnt it make it (besides the tires)?
Get yourself some new tires, check all fluids, change engine oil. Grease everything.
You know your vehicle better than anyone. Take care of anything that needs attention. Its not saving you money to put stuff off, it just postpones it.
My wife and I are getting ready to take my 111500 miles XJ on a 2000 mile trip as we speak and I have no reservations about it at all. I wouldnt hesitate to take it anywhere. I bought it new in 96. Over 8 years old and 111500 miles on it and its still "my new Cherokee".
Same thing with my wife's 99 TJ. 96000 miles and I'd take it anywhere with no worrys.
I cant say that about my well used YJ with only 76000.
 
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With the exception of the questionable tires the XJ will make it. My XJ has 170,500 miles on it. The last 3 months has added about 12,000 of those miles mostly highway sometimes doing more that 1,000 miles a day. All I do is check the fluids and look under the XJ for leaks. MK96XJ gave some good advice. Have fun.
 
Drove my 1990XJ from Seatte all the way home which is several thousand miles. No problems. Some good advice given, and would say if you have concern about the tires, get new ones for the trip to give you peace of mind. Other than that, from my experience of what we went through, make sure you have a set of chains if you're going through the Rockies. You don't want to get stuck up there for sure. [Have been told that some passes require that you carry them] We hit snow coming through beginning of the December, and we're ok without, but can easily see why they're a good thing to have though.
Good luck with the trip!
 
You should check all the fluids, brakes, radiotor hoses, etc.etc. If you're going to be in the sticks bring a spare serpentine belt.

I would recommend if you're going to be loaded with camping gear and pulling long grades that you add a tranny cooler (if you're running an auto tranny).

Summer of '03 I did a 2.5k road trip from CA to CO pulling a tent trailer and spent two weeks wheeling around Silverton and Leadville. No problems at all. I was running a 2" lift with Goodyear Rt/S tires.

Another thing I would recommend beside replacing the tires is to have disconnects for the front swaybar.
 
BigRed,
Did you make it back with the XJ in one piece?
 
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