Im lookin to buy a jeep

[diablokicks]

Im looking to buy a jeep sometime right soon, and was wonderin if yall could help me out by giving me some tips and such on what to be looking for. Heres what i know:
Dana 44 rear good
Long arm lifts good
... thats about it lol
Im looking to buy a 5 speed 6cyl. What else should i keep an eye open for?
Thanks,
Patrick

 

[Seth]

Are you looking for a daily driver, a project, a trailered rig....

 

[NoTrax]

stay CLEAR of a stick shift if your going 4 wheeling man...

 

[Caleb]

stay CLEAR of a stick shift if your going 4 wheeling man...

IMO, it's a personal preference thing. No reason to avoid one or the other, just what you prefer. Majority of the toys out there wheelin are stick and we all know they suck...

Personally I prefer an auto, but I know as many people that prefer manual as I do that prefer auto.

 

[Jeeptj98]

stay CLEAR of a stick shift if your going 4 wheeling man...

your smoking crack. There is no isues with a Stick Shift. I have one in my jeep. If you get a 4 to 1 Transfer case or a Atlas you are just fine.

 

[Jeremy]

stay CLEAR of a stick shift if your going 4 wheeling man...

why?

i had more fun driving with a 5 speed than i ever had driving an automatic. it can be a little more challenging, and you will wish you had 3 feet on occasion, but you will get used to it.

 

[diablokicks]

It would be a daily driver, but also my offroad toy at times

 

[1993yj]

What year are you looking for, how hard of trails, how much money, etc? The options here are limitless.

If its just to start out with, and a dd, I would do a 97 or newer, dont necessarily need to have the d44 rear, go with a 4" lift (not even necessarily long arm), and 33" tires. That would be the basic package. Anything above this setup would just be gravy. Also, I would not do anything bigger than 35" tires on a dd. You could probably do something like this for under $5k.

 

[Caleb]

What year are you looking for, how hard of trails, how much money, etc? The options here are limitless.

If its just to start out with, and a dd, I would do a 97 or newer, dont necessarily need to have the d44 rear, go with a 4" lift (not even necessarily long arm), and 33" tires. That would be the basic package. Anything above this setup would just be gravy. Also, I would not do anything bigger than 35" tires on a dd. You could probably do something like this for under $5k.

under $5K??? only if he gets a 2.5L and no the 4.0L. Also, I'd have to strongly suggest a long arm setup if it's a daily sriver. Your ride will be tons better (not that a Jeeps ride is great to begin with). I'd agree about the max be 35" tires for a DD, get much taller than that and you'll run into problems keeping it street legal.

 

[diablokicks]

na, i dont think i could find a 97 + for 5k's ive been looking pretty intesnly at every option for almost a month now (everyday bout 4 times a day lol) My max is about 14,000 tops and ive found a few, but nothing so far that i havent found a problem with, i guess im still waiting on "the" one. Ive just heard that the long arm was the way to go, as well as the 44 rear if i was gunna go wheeling.

 

[Bart]

i had more fun driving with a 5 speed than i ever had driving an automatic.

Sounds like you need to get out and have more fun.

 

[kyojin]

Sounds like you have a good idea of what you want. 97+ Wrangler with the 4.0L is a good start. I'm a fan of the automatic. I wasn't at first but it really grew on me. Its all personal preference.

Some things to consider is if you want a soft top or hard top. I prefer soft top for the ease of taking it off and putting it on. You also have the option to leave the top on and take the windows out to get some good air circulation. Also full doors vs. half doors. I bought mine with half doors and wished they were full. Rear Dana 44 would be really nice as you would not have to upgrade from the weak Dana 35.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

 

[diablokicks]

Why do you wish you had full doors?

 

[kyojin]

The plastic scratches pretty easily and my zippers had issues so I could not roll them down. This happens when you get a lot of dirt/mud in the zipper.

When it was hot I had to either take them out and put them in the back or leave them at home. Added security of a full door with glass instead of a half door with a plastic upper window.( I know its negated with a soft top). Glass is easier to keep clean and is harder to scratch.

I actually have a full driver door. I bought one after my upper was stolen from the back while at home depot. I like it much more than my half doors.

 

[Houndoc]

The one factor that I have not seen answered is how hard of wheeling you intend to do. Could have you "needing" anything from stock to lockers. I would say there is no need to buy alot more than what you need now as you can always upgrade as you go and you will have alot more options on finding a used Jeep.
Also beware of the quality of upgrades. How did the work? Cheap parts? etc. the folks with Jeeps will need to tell you exactly what to look for, however.

 

[chadr]

Keep your eyes open on the Rigs for sale. There seems to be quite a few come up that are already semi built and in really good shape for right around $14,000. Use them how they are for the time beind and then upgrade when something fails. Long arms can come later if budget is an issue.

I wish I had a budget to buy one like that.

 

[diablokicks]

What about a 8.8 FORD REAR END i know nothing of this, is it good or bad or ?

 

[diablokicks]

It has a detroit locker in it as well

 

[Xtreme Jeeper]

IMHO buy a bone stock TJ that you know that has been well taken care of for a price 2-3 g's lower than you plan on spending. I would then do the work yourself. it becomes more of "your" vehicle if you do the work yourself. practically anyone who knows their way around a car can put a lift on a TJ/XJ/YJ, its all unbolt and bolt-on, unless you go with a long arm but you are going to spend 2 grand on a good long arm. I would then buy some black spoke wheels and 35" MT/R's or BFG Mud Terrains... my .02

 

[Xtreme Jeeper]

btw if you end up buying a manual trans, gear it down to about 4.88 while you are at it. or buy a teralow 4:1 and you can walk faster than it will idle in 1st gear.