Welcome, and two questions!

Hey, I'm new on here, and wanted to know if anyone on here was in Maryland?! I see some nice XJ's in my area, occasionally, but I never, never see anyone on the board (which I check from time to time) who is from MD?

As an introduction, I have a '97 XJ Country in the classic white. It has the dark tints, and it's loaded (Up-package, tow.).

I also had a few questions about the car, seeing as how I am a new owner to the car...

1) Before I drove this, I drove a Tahoe, which was a workhorse V8... I could floor that thing all over the place if I wanted to (street-- of course), but with my new Jeep, I'm a little weary of really gasing it. It obviously dosen't ride the same or drive the same as the Tahoe, but it def. sounds different, and I'm not sure if 4,000 RPM (Not too often) will hurt my engine. It only has about 60k miles on it, so it's rather new.

2) What can I do offroad with a basically-stock XJ... I'm scared to do anything more than little trails.

Thanks, and it feels good to be here.

Anyone mind answering the questions

welcome to the family,sorry that nobody has answered you yet. i was waiting for someone to post that has wheeled it stock to answer you but i've wheeled with stockers and they were amazingly capable. I think the key is armoring the xj. no matter what height you have you are going to scrape underneath which isnt a problem with skidplates. dont wheel alone,you'll need spotters to get you over the bigger stuff if you do rocks and with open differentials you are more likely to get stuck in slick spots. wheel with us,these guys are so educational,they know the abilities of the xj and are very patient at guiding you through the trails. they've taught me so much. the 4.0 can handle 4000 rpms at short bursts without a problem. this engine has been around a long time and has proven itself to be strong.

Engine RPM's

I have an 88 4.0 that has 216k and I have no problems with it running at 4500-5000 rpms quite often. The 4.0 is a vernerable work horse that is very hard to kill IMHO. Also as gary92xj states this clubs membership will help you in any offroad situation.

im in Davidsonville MD, just south of annapolis to be exact.

the 4.0 has a 7 bolt main iron block. its plenty strong....i wouldnt advise flooring it everywhere, but that goes for any engine.
it will outlast any v8 i can think of (and thats something coming from someone in the middle of a V8 swap)

in any case, drop me a line if you want to chat or have questions
~John

In order that you don't get called on it by someone more irate .....don't call the XJ a "car".....GAWD, that hurt my fingers to even type THAT!

The XJ is a capable little "truck". The 4.0L is one of the longest running (as is each one individually, some to the tune of 455,000 miles) engines in automobile history, with roots to the Nash and Frazier automobiles which ran it's grandaddy.....also a straight six.

These things have the magic of a perfect wheelbase (104"), and often proceed thru stuff that will often stop a short wheelbased Wrangler.......

Greetings. I wheel a stock XJ. Mine's completely stock -- not even the Up Country package. It's an '88 with 228,000 miles on it. My only "mod" is when I go off-road I slap on a set of used 30x9.50R15 Seiberling tires I picked up on some stock Jeep YJ rims.

With that setup, I've done several trips to Paragon Off-road Park in PA (not the very hard core trails, but some of the moderate ones, lots more than just the haul road), as well as some trails around Connecticut and in Massachusetts. Over Memorial Day I went with a group to the Mohawk Forest area of Massachusetts. The group had several modified XJs, on lifted MJ, and a few modified YJs and TJs. I was the only stock vehicle. I stayed with everyone through the first two trails. Old Florida Road is the big Kahuna trail in that area -- I only made it about a third of the way through that before I had to bail out, but it was enough to leave the guys in the modified SWBJs shaking their heads that a STOCK Xj had been able to keep up with them. Never took a strap, either.

With the Up Country option, you're very nicely set up for moderate wheeling.

[quote:68e205adcc="STRYKER"]In order that you don't get called on it by someone more irate .....don't call the XJ a "car".....GAWD, that hurt my fingers to even type THAT!
[/quote:68e205adcc]

Gah! I'm going to chop my own fingers off!!!

I honestly get mad when my friends ask me where my "car" is. I hate how under-represented the XJ is as a truck. I've had experiences where someone will refuse to call it a truck, and after swiftly asking them what classifies a truck, and they give me something that either classifies as offroad, hauling, or a size definition, I properly instruct them with a ride home... at 4000RPM...

In one case, a kid at school teased me for a week straight about how it was a "car," and there was nothing I could do to change his mind. Well, yesterday (Friday), I gave him a ride home. And after having him and his backpack full of books bouncing around the truck, and instead of pulling up in his driveway (He lived on a farm), I simply jumped the curb in front of his land, and drove him to his doorstep through his lawn.

He timidly got out, and murmered a "Thanks for the ride... I guess it is a truck..."

...

Did I just threadjack my own post...?

On Sunday at Rausch Creek, there was a member named Bill from Virginia. He joined along with Jeeps RUs in helping cut a trail and do some trail riding. He ran a trail that I thought would have been impossible for any stocker, or at the least, cause carnage. He's stock height and has an engine skid and gas tank skid and rocker guards. He made it through without a scratch. He didn't even take the winch on the hillclimb that others needed (he used plenty of rpm's though :wink: ). Pics are at http://www.imageevent.com/tealj