best year cherokee to look at

been thinking it may be time to start lookin for replacement for my van.. i want 4 wd and space.. like the cherokee. was wondering if anyone had thoughts.

In reply to BARNCA:

1992 an up had the 4.0 HO.

(It's 91 and up)

Space is not something a Cherokee has.

Yup, the only real difference is the switch to the H.O. engine. The trans is the same bulletproof AW4, the rear end changed, but not enough to be concerned with. There are a few AWD XJ's running around. I'd avoid them just for the fuel penalty.

Depending on what you're looking to haul... you can haul a LOT in the back of a Cherokee. I've had two motors and two transmissions in mine at the same time.

Is it as good as a full size van? No. A full size truck? No.

But if you want a small SUV that will still take quite a load (oh baby), it's great.

Basically, you want the 4.0, and you want the Auto. I've heard people say that 97 is the best year, but i haven't been able to figure out why. I've heard people say that 00-01 are the worst years because of head issues, but i've only seen internet stories about it, not actually seen a failure in real life. (My 2000 has 187k miles on it on the original head, runs perfectly, knock on wood.)

I like my 1990. It's a manual. Real men shift.

Joey

joey48442 wrote: I like my 1990. It's a manual. Real men shift. Joey

I'd like to drive a 5spd one some day, but the auto in mine seems to quell most of that desire because it's so good.

The one with no rust.

I have a '98, arguably the best year, and it will die from rust. I would take a renix jeep if it was rust free. Drove a 2.5, 4 speed stick '84 for years, killed by tinworm....

The body update ('98, IIRC) or so makes the interior quite nice.

And yes, my '98 was an auto with 4x4 and the auto was quite good. I could use it almost like a manual trans with just my right foot.

daytonaer wrote: The one with no rust.

This. I could be wrong, but except for the noted engine switch, I don't think there was a ton of change year over year. I had an '01 Limited 2WD, the last year for the Cherokee. It was a company car, got it fresh off the car hauler. Went into it not being a Jeep fan. 3 years and 87k miles of relentless beatings later I had a profound respect and admiration for it.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

joey48442 wrote: I like my 1990. It's a manual. Real men shift. Joey

I'd like to drive a 5spd one some day, but the auto in mine seems to quell most of that desire because it's so good.

Yeah, I've never driven an auto cherokee. I really like driving a manual all the time, and my wife WILL NOT allow me to buy an automatic. Plus- 23 mpg highway. Can't beat that!

Joey

joey48442 wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

joey48442 wrote: I like my 1990. It's a manual. Real men shift. Joey

I'd like to drive a 5spd one some day, but the auto in mine seems to quell most of that desire because it's so good.

Yeah, I've never driven an auto cherokee. I really like driving a manual all the time, and my wife WILL NOT allow me to buy an automatic. Plus- 23 mpg highway. Can't beat that! Joey

True story... my record tank was 21.99mpg.

I owned one and spent hours on Cherokee XJ owner sites. From what I remember, most people say mid to late 90's, 1999 being the best. They changed the head for the last two years(2000 and 2001) and they were prone to getting hot and blowing head gaskets. I've seen many from those two years on Craigslist needing engine's replaced or blown gaskets. You might be alright if the owner took care of the cooling system. Anywhoo, mid to late 90's from the owner sites.

I used to hear 99 all the time as the best. I think there were some ignition changes after that, but to be honest, your bext bet for this question is the naxja forum. Hell, they probably have a sticky on it.

Cotton wrote: I used to hear 99 all the time as the best. I think there were some ignition changes after that, but to be honest, your bext bet for this question is the naxja forum. Hell, they probably have a sticky on it.

After 99 they had the revised head and a COP ignition.

My 84 with the Iron Duke in it was awesome! I kick myself sometimes for selling it.

Swap out the carb'd mani with a later fuel injected mani and megasquirt it, then just riiiiiiide....

I sold my 93 auto with 331k on it. Rusted badly though

I had a '92 Sport 2wd which drove like E36 M3. Had to continually correct, could not get comfortable on long trips. Toed it in, toed it out, adjusted the steering box, swapped tires, no help. I sold it because of that. In '94? Jeep made a big change in the steering and suspension which makes them drive MUCH better. The newer interiors are much better; mine had the 'Pacer dash' and cheap panels, it buzzed like hell on a cold morning. The brakes were not up to towing 3500 pounds of trailer and bikes, three or four stops and there was noticeable fade.

On the up side, the 4.0 and AW4 were tough as nails, had good power and got reasonable gas mileage. I want to say the best I got was ~22 MPG.

Had a '85 Sport 2 door, 2.5 AX5 w/ 3.73s... kinda fun rowin' through the gears

When they changed body styles, they also made changes to the rustproofong treatment the body received. At least that's what I've read on many Jeep boards. All I know is my '89 was a rust bucket, and I haven't seen any facelift bodies with anywhere near as much rust.

Somewhere in there didn't they start galvanizing the body/frame on them?