for the 2nd time in the better part of the last decade, I am the owner of an XJ.
I started off my jeep ownership back in 06 with a 99 XJ sport 4dr/5spd. then my wife (gf back then) had to go buy a TJ and it was soooooo cool to take the doors off so I just had to be one of the cool kids. so I traded the XJ on an 05 wrangler unlimited rubicon, yes the creme-de-la-creme of TJ's an LJ RUBI. it it was nice. but 6 months after buying it, I bought a house and my wheeling budget went down the tubes, and at 14mpg I couldnt even drive it on a regular basis. I bought it strictly as a toy, but it turned into a garage queen, so down the road it went. then I thought, Momma, I wanna go fast. so I bought a used 07 mustang GT. and it was awesome, for about 6 months :doh: til I was following a corvette up the highway at 140mph weaving through traffic and thought. I am a freaking idiot. if something happens I am going to kill someone. :lecture:. I wasnt so much worried about what would happen to me, I was worried about what might happen to the innocent person(s) I might hit. so after 9 months in the stang I traded it in on a brand new F150. reg cab short bed V8. everything I needed but not much else. its great. I love it. it gets 17-18 mpg daily driving and 22-23 on the highway. plus it hauls my 2000lbs or more of scrap steel once a month like there is nothing to it. it tows 5-6k lbs with ease and still knocks down mid-teens mpg even while towing.
but I miss wheeling IMMENSELY. and I knew (and had known for a couple years now since I had dumped the rubi) that it was only a matter of time before I had another jeep.
which brings me up to about a week ago when I was searching craisglist (which I do regularly) for XJ's and ZJ's. I knew they would be my best bet for an inexpensive re-entry into the jeep world, not to mention they are the most usable of the jeep world in my mind.
so last saturday I went to look at and ended up purchasing a 97 XJ 4dr 4.0 5spd. HP30/8.25 (hoping its a 29spl, but wont know til I crack the cover)
its got 235k miles on it and runs like a dream. my only concern is the cooling system is NAAAAAAAAAAAAAASTY inside. I have a feeling I will be doing A LOT of cooling system flushing in the near future. but the best thing about it is a significant LACK of rust. I know these things can be very rust prone, so considering it appears to have spent its life here in the rust belt, solid floors and rockers with no real sign of rust at all was a MAJOR selling point.
for the time being its going to get a BB because I have spacers and some S10 leaf packs laying around. it will get some 30x9.50's that were left over when we did tires on the wifes TJ. eventually I wanna do an actual 3-4" lift of some sort and some 31's. but right now its just about getting it on the road and getting me back on the trails.
dang I miss wheeling.
I started off my jeep ownership back in 06 with a 99 XJ sport 4dr/5spd. then my wife (gf back then) had to go buy a TJ and it was soooooo cool to take the doors off so I just had to be one of the cool kids. so I traded the XJ on an 05 wrangler unlimited rubicon, yes the creme-de-la-creme of TJ's an LJ RUBI. it it was nice. but 6 months after buying it, I bought a house and my wheeling budget went down the tubes, and at 14mpg I couldnt even drive it on a regular basis. I bought it strictly as a toy, but it turned into a garage queen, so down the road it went. then I thought, Momma, I wanna go fast. so I bought a used 07 mustang GT. and it was awesome, for about 6 months :doh: til I was following a corvette up the highway at 140mph weaving through traffic and thought. I am a freaking idiot. if something happens I am going to kill someone. :lecture:. I wasnt so much worried about what would happen to me, I was worried about what might happen to the innocent person(s) I might hit. so after 9 months in the stang I traded it in on a brand new F150. reg cab short bed V8. everything I needed but not much else. its great. I love it. it gets 17-18 mpg daily driving and 22-23 on the highway. plus it hauls my 2000lbs or more of scrap steel once a month like there is nothing to it. it tows 5-6k lbs with ease and still knocks down mid-teens mpg even while towing.
but I miss wheeling IMMENSELY. and I knew (and had known for a couple years now since I had dumped the rubi) that it was only a matter of time before I had another jeep.
which brings me up to about a week ago when I was searching craisglist (which I do regularly) for XJ's and ZJ's. I knew they would be my best bet for an inexpensive re-entry into the jeep world, not to mention they are the most usable of the jeep world in my mind.
so last saturday I went to look at and ended up purchasing a 97 XJ 4dr 4.0 5spd. HP30/8.25 (hoping its a 29spl, but wont know til I crack the cover)
its got 235k miles on it and runs like a dream. my only concern is the cooling system is NAAAAAAAAAAAAAASTY inside. I have a feeling I will be doing A LOT of cooling system flushing in the near future. but the best thing about it is a significant LACK of rust. I know these things can be very rust prone, so considering it appears to have spent its life here in the rust belt, solid floors and rockers with no real sign of rust at all was a MAJOR selling point.
for the time being its going to get a BB because I have spacers and some S10 leaf packs laying around. it will get some 30x9.50's that were left over when we did tires on the wifes TJ. eventually I wanna do an actual 3-4" lift of some sort and some 31's. but right now its just about getting it on the road and getting me back on the trails.
dang I miss wheeling.
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