I no longer own one of the answers.

Should've bought a Grand Cherokee. Oh well, I can't convince everyone lol.

After camping in the back on my old WJ, that 'burb would've been like camping in the Taj Mahal.

Now you've got me looking at Suburbans. This one is fascinating:

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/3729710855.html

total poverty spec work vehicle. Vinyl interior, crank windows, no a/c, rubber floors, steel wheels... but it's a 4x4 with the 6.0. I didn't know they made them that basic in 2001!! Seems like a great deal if you can cope with the lack of a/c. If my pickup was sold I would go look at it.

dculberson wrote: Now you've got me looking at Suburbans. This one is fascinating: http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/3729710855.html total poverty spec work vehicle. Vinyl interior, crank windows, no a/c, rubber floors, steel wheels... but it's a 4x4 with the 6.0. I didn't know they made them that basic in 2001!! Seems like a great deal if you can cope with the lack of a/c. If my pickup was sold I would go look at it.

Sounds like a cop. Looks like a cop, Dom.

That thing is screaming for a little lift, solid axle up front, and some knobbys. I'd rock crawl the F out of it.

cant blame you for making the switch, I LIKE jeeps, wranglers and cherokees, but at least for my needs I cant justify one. Like you pointed out EricM, they are on the small side, arent any more economical than several much larger, more powerful options.

I'd take Ron Suburgandy any day.

An excellent upgrade! I've had great experiences with both Suburbans.

Right now, mine is having new exhaust installed. I have a feeling that I'll be driving it a bit more over the next few days when I get it back.

Like you pointed out EricM, they are on the small side, arent any more economical than several much larger, more powerful options.

I admit this is nitpicking but im not convinced there are similarly priced options that have better power-to-weight than a cherokee unless you get a cheap deal on something way newer. A vortec 350 suburban certainly does not win on power-to-weight vs a cherokee.

Tonight igot the non functional door lock functional again. Well, not fully functional. The lock would not move at all. I took the door paleness off and started fiddling with the linkage. It became apparent that the solenoid for the power door lock was frozen. I disconnected it from the linkage that operated the lock and all was well. Now it is a manual lock. We will just have to remember to lock that one door after me use the power locks on all the others.

I also put my CB in the rig. It isn't a high end one, but it still picks up the highway trucker chatter. Here you can see it mounted on the center console. Sorry about the dark pic, I was rapidly running out of daylight.

I can now say we are officially "road ready". We leave Thursday for our 19 day trip to Colorado.

I should change my avatar to something else.

I guess so. But that was a very good Cherokee pic, what with the jaunty angle and all. I will be sad to see it go..

19 day trip to Colorado! GRR HISS BOO (jealousy). Taking a longish trip to colorado is one my main reasons for wanting a jeep. How ironic..

So far towing I got 13.5 on first tank, and 12.5 on second tank. Just a little better than the jeep got, so I will call it comparable.

As long as you weren't too attached to the XJ then I think you did ok. I traded my '98 XJ for a brand new '13 Rubicon 4 door and I STILL miss it.

Everybody brags about how good the 3.6 Pentastar is but I really don't think it has much on the 4.0 in the real world. It does on paper - sure. But in the real world they run about the same. Same mpg; same performance if you discount the fact that the Rubi has 4.10 gears. The Rubi pulls everything a gear higher but it's just the ratios. No more power at all unless you're talking about over 5k rpm where I never drive anyway.

No more power at all unless you're talking about over 5k rpm where I never drive anyway.

You could have made that the first sentence instead of the last and just left everything else out. If you are willing to use the entire intended rev range i dont think there is ANY comparison between the 3.6 and the old 4.0. I mean, a new wrangler with the 3.6/6spd runs low 15s in the 1/4, bone stock, on its big and heavy tires. You can put slicks on an old 4.0 wrangler and launch the piss out of it and powershift it all you want and it probably wont get close.

berkeleying check engine light tonight..... I will head to autozone in the morning and pull the code.

pinchvalve. for the kids, warmer clothes and/or sleeping bags. portable generator for the heater.

The check engine light was that I didn't get the gas cap on tight enough, whew.

The AC is working but struggling to keep up with 91 degrees here in Denver.

The check engine light was that I didn't get the gas cap on tight enough

dork..

Well the AC charge is already depleted. Also, it is 100 degrees here in Denver. Looks like I will be chasing a leak down.

Was there dye in the system? Most leaks are DIY find-able with dye. If it quit working all of a sudden it could be a big leak, and those are sometimes findable just by pressurizing the system with a rubber tipped air hose.

If you need tips on DIY a/c repair/filling just lemme know. Vigo327@gmail.com if you're in a hurry and leave your phone number.

Or if you dont plan to fix it yourself, hopefully you can find somewhere that won't make you wait too long..

Thanks, I will chase down the leak when I. Get back to Illinois. Here in the mountain in Colorado it is windows down during the day and heater at night :)