Jeep Wrangler?

[hyunelan2]

I was following a Jeep covered in mud the other day, and thought: "it would be kinda fun to have a 4x4 Jeep to play around in." Not as my main vehilce, but just a 3rd fun-car. I had a few friends in college with Jeeps, and thought they were pretty-cool little vehicles. My wife likes them, so that's an added bonus. If I were to get one, it would be a $3K-$4K early 90s 4cyl, 4x4 type, that I can just tool around in with the top off and do some light off-roading. Anyone have any opinions on the Wrangler?

Other thing is, wife says 3rd vehicle, or a boat... not both :( So I would also need to think about that. Not like I'm getting one tomorrow... just thinking...

[ilanpro]

I had an 89 wrangler 4 cyl, It had lots of torque

[Vampyrate]

love the torque of em, but hate that they can flip over so easily...

[Mad_Hatter]

they flip easy as hell man, wide tires! and as for the older wranglers...hell yaeh they are compatable with anything...you want to drop a chevy sm in it...do it they make the mounts...ford? no problem. and they are so easy to maintain...like legos!
-bill

[ricerrx7]

They suck on the freeway, they're so loud...

[BobMs_wht2k2]

Mid 90's Sidekicks. Or early 90's Samarai. Will never buy a Jeep. To finicky to deal with. Everyone I know who's owned them spent more time fixing them than playing in them.

I personally want to play in the Wife's Gran Vitara. For some reason she won't let me.

[hyunelan2]

Do either of the Suzukis have many products made for them? I like the wrangler for the simple fact I could just about build a new one from any autoparts store / JC Whitney.

[only1db]

just watch the old 4.0s leaked oil like a sieve! they were horrible on gas too...

[hyunelan2]

I've heard that about the 4.0L I6 as well, that's why I'd lean towards the 2.5L I4. Not like I would try to build a monster off-road climber out of it, just something with a little clearance that I wouldn't be mad if I scratched it up.

[BobMs_wht2k2]

Check out www.calmini.com There are tons of things available for the older Samarai's, even 4.3L Chevy V6 swaps.

Oh, and beware of those 2.5's on the wranglers. They weren't the best engine Jeep ever made . . .

[steelmalu43]

big fan of jeeps but hate that they can flip over so easily

[robs02elantra]

my friend has a late 90's jeep and loves it. He's gone approx. 6" lift and has massive tires on it. He's one of the best off roaders in his club now, and hasn't had any troubles with flipping it or anything of the sort.

He did have an early 90's model before that did leak a little oil and had a cracked frame as a byproduct of rust not being treated by the previous owner and misuse...but like I said, this one he has now, just great. There are pictures of it in my gallery on here if you go looking for them.

http://www.elantraxd.com/photopost/data/500/IMG_0475.JPG

or I can just post one for you. haha

[rubenz]

yeah watch out! jeeps just flip over even when parked. it's crazy how often you actually see one that has flipped on it's back or side....
i see atleast 10 of them a week.

[only1db]

yeah...but its also how people drive them as well...the vehicle is not just going to flip for no reason...it needs an incompetence driver to help it out!

yeah the 4 cyc suck massive balls...

[Vampyrate]

i dunno, the early jeeps had the "Iron Horse" 4cyl that GM stupidly sold the rights to.

[SuperGLS]

My friend recently picked up a late 80's Samarai for $800 to use for fun. Seems like a pretty fun project car and apparently the aftermarket is fairly good without the inflated prices of Jeep stuff.

[rubenz]

oh and i was being sarcastic just in case nobody picked up on that.

[selmor50]

If you get on like edmunds or something you can read up on comsumer reviews, the only thing iu see is i love it i love it i love it. I had the jeep monkey on my back for a while too and almost even bought one. The four banger is a little doggy but it will get the job done and parts are so cheap and readily avaliable that if something did go wrong you could fix it on ur own. If you look at the 97, they did a lot of changes to the engine, transmission, suspension, steering, and things like that. They generally are a bit more money, but they are more civilized to live with. Something to think about.

We had a boat for about 10 years and this how boats work out. The first 2 or 3 years your on the lake every weekend tearing it up and having fun. Then the boat starts to cost a lot of money after u've been using. Then you get to the point to where your so sick of boating that you go once or twice a year. Then you have a 12,000 dollar investment you don't use sitting in ur driveway. The saying about boats is this "the two best moments about having about are when you buy it and the day you sell it"

[ba_feitl]

I'd love to have one for playing in too .... but keep in mind you live in Plainfield, where are you gonna go trail riding ? I personally think it would be a pain in the buttocks to drive an hour or more just to get anywhere near to a trail. Thats why I haven't invested in one, if I did it would be a 70's vintage with the small V8 or the 80's 4-banger.

Brad

[BobMs_wht2k2]

86 Samarai with the 4.3V6 conversion. Perfect trail toy.

[hyunelan2]

ba_feitl: I live SW of plainfield, out on the fringe of nowhere. I wouldn't just want it for trail-riding. Driving around top-off in the summer, and playing in fields is fine by me. Winter-time is another reason I think the Jeep outweighs the boat - I can use one of them in December.

[BobMs_wht2k2]

Trust me, you don'twant an older Jeep in the winter. You will freeze your azz off!

[hyunelan2]

Probably right - which is why it would just be a toy, and not my car (3rd Vehicle). Put on the snow-suit before playing in the Jeep, lol.

[BobMs_wht2k2]

The little 'zuki's must have gotten their heater design from GM, they'll cook you!