Gopd buy?

Ok, I have a 97 SE 4.0L, Manual, 2wd drive with 160,000 miles on it. I can get this from my dad for 1,200 bucks. Or, I found this jeep about 300 miles away:http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c...&advcd_on=y&doors=&=&fuel=&color=&cardist=322

It's got 214,00 miles on it, 4wd, manual, and its a sport, so power options. How long could i drive it with out having to have a rebuild on the engien? Or does it need one now? Basicly, how long do cherokees last?

If taken care of, the xj's last a long time but.... for a 97 the 214+ seems to be way high (I drove my 98 a lot and it only had 150K when it rolled last month).
Anyways the 97 is not a bad deal and the conversion to 4wd is not that hard if you can find donor vehicle with parts. I'm in a process of swapping over auto for a manual and for all intents and purposes I am doing as much work (if not more) as you'd have to do since along with the transmission swap I've swapped out the axles and I got almost all the big stuff done in 2 weekends with 2~3 people helping out each time.

Another vote for your dad's rig is that you know the history of it and for the $1000 differnce you can get a front axle, shifter linkage and tranny and tcase and driveshafts and still have a few $$ left

St3mpy said:

Ok, I have a 97 SE 4.0L, Manual, 2wd drive with 160,000 miles on it. I can get this from my dad for 1,200 bucks. Or, I found this jeep about 300 miles away:http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c...&advcd_on=y&doors=&=&fuel=&color=&cardist=322

It's got 214,00 miles on it, 4wd, manual, and its a sport, so power options. How long could i drive it with out having to have a rebuild on the engien? Or does it need one now? Basicly, how long do cherokees last?

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Mine's a '93 Sport with 245,000mi. Sounds like a diesel when you first start it. (piston slap). But it just keeps on truckin' . I know there's others in this group that have more miles than that on their rigs. 4.0L is a really good motor. Lasts long, like the old 225 slant-six that Chrysler used to use.

Is there a way to modify the current transmission to work with the transfer case? I can't a single parts car around here that is a manual trans. In fact I can't find any manual trans cherokee for sale period. The one I showed you was 300 miles away.

St3mpy said:

Is there a way to modify the current transmission to work with the transfer case? I can't a single parts car around here that is a manual trans. In fact I can't find any manual trans cherokee for sale period. The one I showed you was 300 miles away.

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It's easier/better to find a trans/tcase already mated. Then you don't have to worry about housing issues or spline counts.