Found A Jeep - Need Your Opinions!

I found a Jeep here locally that i've been looking into buying. It's a 1988 Cherokee, 4 Door, 4.0 5-Speed. It has 1.25" Spacers all the way around with the fender flares taken off. The interior is stripped except for the dash/seats but everything electrical works. Has brand new 31X10.50" Super Swamper TSL's on it. Brand new centerforce clutch, and greasable u-joints. He said that the Jeep has 300,000 miles on it but it was rebuilt 40,000 ago and he said it runs just like a brand new one. But here's the problem he said that it has:

He says that the rear diff. needs some work. He said that he thinks its the pinion gear has grounded down some on the ring gear or the backlash is way off. He said that most of the time it works and it will drive fine but he said that on some occasions he'd have to put it up in 4-Hi and use the front axle. Is that something that would be expensive to fix?

I offered him $1000 and he said that he'd take it. Does that seem reasonable? Thanks guys!

i dont know much about messing with pinion gears and all that, but im sure you could just find a 5-speed cherokee in the junkyard and grab the axle out of that for cheap. a lot easier and theyre a dime a dozen. or if you wanted a little more gearing you could grab the 3.55s out of an auto (both front and rear axles) and bolt em all up.

Wow, thats expensive for an 88 IMO, $2000 up here gets you a 95 or newer. BUt I remember both my dad and uncle saying 'any jeep that runs is always worth at least $1000'....

RichP said:

Wow, thats expensive for an 88 IMO, $2000 up here gets you a 95 or newer. BUt I remember both my dad and uncle saying 'any jeep that runs is always worth at least $1000'....

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lol yeah thats a weird thing the way that works isnt it, but this does have brand spanking new tires and hopefully a decent rebuilt engine.

I would offer him $750 and see what he says, if you end up paying $1000 i wouldnt say you got robbed at all, if it runs nice and straight and isnt a rust heap (since your in NC) i figure an 88 holds it value better than in michigan where an 88 is nearing rust bucket age unless its specialy cared for.

If he has documentation on the clutch,engine, and the body's solid...it's a good deal.

Otherwise it's viewed as a 300K Jeep and should be priced accordingly.

Like all the other replies say, if the bodys decent, floors are solid and it runs fine, then a $1000 isn't all that bad, even with the rear diff problem.
I think probably the easiest solution would be taking a weekend to find the same rear axle in a junkyard and put it in. Seems like it would be easier than messing with backlash or ring gear, but I'm only saying that because I don't like working with anything to do with gears.

The one thing I'll add to this equation (and I agree, $1000 for a solid runner is pretty decent, though with that mileage I'd want to see a lot of documentation and/or visible evidence of proper maintenance) is that manual-transmission XJs have a lower towing capacity than automatics - 2000lbs. vs. 5000lbs. respectively. The Peugeot BA10/5 transmission in that '88 also doesn't have the greatest reputation for reliability, parts for the tranny are a bit scarce, tend to be on the not cheap side when you can find them, and the slave cylinder is internal to the transmission.

Having gone through a blown slave cylinder before on a Peugeot 505 with the virtually-identical BA7/5 (IIRC) gearbox, it's worth knowing what you're facing with that particular tranny. And it's not a bad transmission by any means - but the XJ wasn't the best application for it. Swap in an AX-15 and you'll likely be better off in the long run, but if towing's a consideration go for an AW4 - there're a lot of them out there, and as long as they've been looked after they're pretty well bulletproof. You'll also have better junkyard availability if the 'box ever does go south - at least in my neck of the woods, I don't tend to see a lot of manual XJs going for scrap.