My xj conundrum

So im in the market for a new camping rig. The two finalists are xj and 3rd gen 4runner. This truck will be used for camping and trail running and occasionally a back up street driver. I love the look of the xj love the 4.0 aw4 combo, but every single one Ive test drove feels cheep! Theres squeeks and pops and road noise galor! Is this normal of an xj can it be remedied. I have about 6k to spend is it just the jeeps in my price range? Idk help I wanna do the jeep thing but its gotta be done reliably.

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The pops and squeaks can be fixed with frame stiffeners for about $140-200 and some welding. The road noise..... Well it's a jeep, deal with it lol

Stiffeners will help (I have done front and mid), but they won't eliminate the squeaks associated with the back seat and the rear hatch.

Polyurethane suspension bushings will also squeak.

The reality of unibody construction is that it is indeed cheap. I don't think there is any way around it. On the flip side, it makes for a lighter vehicle, and that is an advantage that is hard to obtain without spending cubic dollars or shedding body panels and glass.

The 4.0L engine is where the XJ really shines. I don't think you can find a V-6 that can reliably rack up the miles like an inline 6. If you want to step up to a bit better construction with the same 4.0L then you might want to test drive a ZJ ('93-'98 Grand Cherokee). The ZJ is still a unibody, but it was reinforced better than the XJ. Front suspension is the same as an XJ. Rear suspension is coils rather than leaf springs. The Grand is supposed to be a nicer rig than the XJ, but of course that also means it is a bit heavier. There are pros and cons with everything.

Enjoy your search.

Anak said:

Stiffeners will help (I have done front and mid), but they won't eliminate the squeaks associated with the back seat and the rear hatch.

Polyurethane suspension bushings will also squeak.

The reality of unibody construction is that it is indeed cheap. I don't think there is any way around it. On the flip side, it makes for a lighter vehicle, and that is an advantage that is hard to obtain without spending cubic dollars or shedding body panels and glass.

The 4.0L engine is where the XJ really shines. I don't think you can find a V-6 that can reliably rack up the miles like an inline 6. If you want to step up to a bit better construction with the same 4.0L then you might want to test drive a ZJ ('93-'98 Grand Cherokee). The ZJ is still a unibody, but it was reinforced better than the XJ. Front suspension is the same as an XJ. Rear suspension is coils rather than leaf springs. The Grand is supposed to be a nicer rig than the XJ, but of course that also means it is a bit heavier. There are pros and cons with everything.

Enjoy your search.

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Pretty much this I have over 300k on my 96 and its still going strong. I don't baby it either.

With a budget of 6k you can buy a good xj for 2k and put 4k into it and have a really nice and well built xj with some careful shopping and if your not afraid to get your hands dirty.

You cant build a 4runner for anywhere close for what you can do with an XJ. 6 grand for a xj is more than enough to build a camping rig that will be very capable. 6k for a 4 runner will get you a 4runner thats probably in rough shape with 300k on the clock, atleast in CO. Mods are expensive and at the end of the day you still have ifs and an engine with a timing belt. Not knocking 4runners but for a camping rig no question XJ.

XJ's are just loud cars. They run really well last forever and aside from rust are pretty durable. Unfortunately to make them affordable and (relatively) light they Chrysler/Jeep skimped on sound deadening.

Making it quite is fixable...kind of. Where it came from isn't.

Get the XJ, add some sound deadening etc and enjoy it. It was built here.