I went from a '99 XJ to a '99 WJ with the 4.7.
Its a love/hate relationship, today I love it, so I would highly recommend them!:gee:
They do have a couple issues, none are anything too terrible but can be overwhelming. In no particular order:
-Leaking heater core, requires entire removal of the dash. Mine was done twice before, and I did it again about a year ago. Its an easy process, just takes ~8 hours to do. They might have fixed that in the later models, but I doubt it.
-Brakes warp and cause brake shudder. They fixed that in the later models with a new caliper design. The new calipers can be swapped onto the old axles.
-Death wobble if there are any worn suspension, and is very obvious in lifted vehicles.
-Loose steering box, feels like you are driving a boat. Personally I attribute this to the two above issues of warped brakes and DW. You hold the wheel, and the wobble is transmitted into the steering box, which eventually wears out.
-The seats are stupid comfortable, but the leather holds heat like nobodys business. My body temp gets a bit warmer than most, but I am regularly sweating through pants.
-Tail lights will go out, its a combination of a circuit board in the tail light, blown bulbs or connectors failing.
-Headlights are terrible. You can find replacement housings on Amazon, and and HID swap seems pretty easy to do.
-NV247 not in "AWD" is very common, is caused by people not changing the fluid and the viscus coupler failing. They use a dealer only fluid that is pretty expensive for what it is. You can swap in a 242/HD242 or 231 pretty easy.
-On some models there are CV joints on the front driveshaft, and can fail if you lift the Jeep.
-Lack of aftermarket support, or at least to the degree I am used to on XJs. There are only a few companies making parts for these things, and IRO seems to be the most popular. I despise them, and will never use any of their products, so options are even more limited.
-The LP D30 does not cross with any other vehicle, and use CV axle shafts. The rear axle can be a D35 or aluminum D44. The D44 is not a true 44, and has a small aftermarket.
-Spare tire is under the rear floor, above the gas tank which makes two problems. The gas tank is thus stupid low, and the spare tire area is very small. I forget what tire size you can get in there, but its not much bigger than the stock tire.
-5x5 wheel bolt pattern. Not that bad now, but before the prevalence of JK take offs wheel options were pretty limited.
-Axle swaps are limited if you want to keep ABS and the speedo. You can use JK axles, but those get pretty expensive. Couple companies offer bolt in options but are pushing $4k for a single assembly.
-Power adders for the engine are limited, but as you guys have already mentioned, the engines and trannys cross with the Duragos/Dakota. No one really does any forced inductions on these things. Maybe NAJXA can get Boostwerks to do some work on a couple?
I would suggest you look for the 4.7HO, or settle for the 4.7. The I6 will be underpowered and previously mentioned, the tranny is a POS. The power of the 4.7 is better than the I6, but its certainly not a rocket ship. I would look for the 242 equipped Wjs, which will also have LSDs front and rear. They are becoming pretty rare, and also command a premium, but would be nice to have in the winter/offroad.
With 245/75R16 Duratracs Im getting ~17 MPG combined. Highest I have seen was the flats of WY and was in the low 20s. Worst Ive seen is the flats of WY against a head wind and was pushing ~10. Im at 180k miles and am hoping for another 50k!
All the problems listed above are pretty easy to fix, dont let them scare you off. Heated seats, V8 and AWD are pretty sweet in the winter. The plush ride was awesome coming from an XJ, and its amazing how much bigger the interior feels.
Novel finished, no I didnt proofread it!
