so i have to make a decision between cars

[MANN]

Wrong.

However, I would not go for the Jeep, being that:
*Drink gas
*Upgrades expensive
*Youll get hooked

I know for a fact that the transmission in them are POS. I have had 2 friends that both had their trannys go out, and my family owns a transmission shop, and gets TONS of buisness from them.

That being said I would not buy a jeep cherokee. At least not an older one. (for 4 grand that is probally what you are looking at.)

As for volvos I dunno. never really liked the name.

[master_alexander]

toyota < jeep

fixed.

i would go with the jeep--im a jeep guy. i dont trust myself with a fast car. not because i would wreck it, but i couldnt afford a speeding ticket :). my friend let me drive his GT mustang, and, well... i hit 100 where im usally at 65. so jeep is my car.

also look into this: making a jeep an off-road vehicle... usally geared toward mudding or rock crawling. i enjoy both however for me, mudding was cheaper. get a small lift and some bigger tires (im running at 2 inch body lift for tire clearance from 33's) and you will be set.

[chettacheez]

You can make the Cherokee fast and have the best of both worlds. All you gotta do is stroke that 4.0l to a 4.6l

And MANN, the AW4 in Cherokee's are very stout, they'll hold up to just about anything. Its the same trans behind auto supras. I'd have to say your buddies were doing some dumb stuff with em.

If you maintain your jeep, they'll last forever. I know a few guys over 300,000 miles on the stock 4.0

[PyRo]

Figure 14-18 MPG around town with the Cherokee, probably 18-22 on the highway.
As far as offroading with it what do you want to do? A 1.5in body lift (don't go any higher on a body lift) is probably $150 and that should get you up to 31s. Any more that that is going to be a suspension lift which can get pricey. Figure around $400 for a cheap one, $650 for a decent one, and $1200 for a very good one. For anything under 3in you don't need to worry about much. Over 3in you need a transfer case drop (which makes the lift pointless) or an SYE and a new drive shaft. If you're running 33s you can probably get away with going very easy on it and keeping the stock axles for a while. Once it brakes though you're going to want to put in an 8.8 or DANA 44 at least. Larger than 33s and you are going to need new differentials right off the bat. You will also need a whole lot of stuff I forgot to list.

Overall the Cherokees are pretty good vehicles. People complain about gas mileage but compare it to similar vehicles and it's not bad. As far as transmissions go they go go bad like any car. I'd try and find a 5spd with an AX15.

What I would do is go pick up a late 80s, early 90s Cherokee for under or around a grand. Then what it does break you can afford to fix it and learn to do some work on it. Once you learn a bit then you can start doing lifts and such because if you're planning on paying someone to do the work for you you better have pretty deep pockets.

[chettacheez]

Figure 14-18 MPG around town with the Cherokee, probably 18-22 on the highway.
As far as offroading with it what do you want to do? A 1.5in body lift (don't go any higher on a body lift) is probably $150 and that should get you up to 31s. Any more that that is going to be a suspension lift which can get pricey. Figure around $400 for a cheap one, $650 for a decent one, and $1200 for a very good one. For anything under 3in you don't need to worry about much. Over 3in you need a transfer case drop (which makes the lift pointless) or an SYE and a new drive shaft. If you're running 33s you can probably get away with going very easy on it and keeping the stock axles for a while. Once it brakes though you're going to want to put in an 8.8 or DANA 44 at least. Larger than 33s and you are going to need new differentials right off the bat. You will also need a whole lot of stuff I forgot to list.

Overall the Cherokees are pretty good vehicles. People complain about gas mileage but compare it to similar vehicles and it's not bad. As far as transmissions go they go go bad like any car. I'd try and find a 5spd with an AX15.

BTW you cant body lift a cherokee, they're unibody.

I'd say, throw a LSD in the rear, 2 inch spacers, and throw on some 31's and go have fun. Thats cheap and enough to get you through just about anything and you wont be breaking things left and right.

[PyRo]

BTW you cant body lift a cherokee, they're unibody.

Opps, I got it confused with a wrangler there for a minute.

[master_alexander]

Opps, I got it confused with a wrangler there for a minute.

yeah.. when i was talking about my car i meant wrangler for the body lift.

a friend of my has a cherokee..

paging etjoyride

[skife]

Figure 14-18 MPG around town with the Cherokee, probably 18-22 on the highway.
As far as offroading with it what do you want to do? A 1.5in body lift (don't go any higher on a body lift) is probably $150 and that should get you up to 31s. Any more that that is going to be a suspension lift which can get pricey. Figure around $400 for a cheap one, $650 for a decent one, and $1200 for a very good one. For anything under 3in you don't need to worry about much. Over 3in you need a transfer case drop (which makes the lift pointless) or an SYE and a new drive shaft. If you're running 33s you can probably get away with going very easy on it and keeping the stock axles for a while. Once it brakes though you're going to want to put in an 8.8 or DANA 44 at least. Larger than 33s and you are going to need new differentials right off the bat. You will also need a whole lot of stuff I forgot to list.

Overall the Cherokees are pretty good vehicles. People complain about gas mileage but compare it to similar vehicles and it's not bad. As far as transmissions go they go go bad like any car. I'd try and find a 5spd with an AX15.

What I would do is go pick up a late 80s, early 90s Cherokee for under or around a grand. Then what it does break you can afford to fix it and learn to do some work on it. Once you learn a bit then you can start doing lifts and such because if you're planning on paying someone to do the work for you you better have pretty deep pockets.

people run stock axels with supports welded in running 38"s in toyotas.

[SCpoloRicker]

people run stock axels with supports welded in running 38"s in toyotas.

With 22Rs. Making <150hp.

Honestly, if you're actually using the vehicle off-road with 38s, you're gonna need better axles.

I snapped my Dana 30 on 31s in my TJ. And it wasn't even that hairy of a situation.

[neppo1345]

With 22Rs. Making <150hp.

Honestly, if you're actually using the vehicle off-road with 38s, you're gonna need better axles.

I snapped my Dana 30 on 31s in my TJ. And it wasn't even that hairy of a situation.

Agreed.

Bigger tires = Bigger Brakes + Bigger Axles and so on.

[skife]

With 22Rs. Making <150hp.

Honestly, if you're actually using the vehicle off-road with 38s, you're gonna need better axles.

I snapped my Dana 30 on 31s in my TJ. And it wasn't even that hairy of a situation.

thats a dana 30.

these are stronger than a 44, and with a few mods people have said they can be as strong as a D60.

:P

[SCpoloRicker]

Isn't stock basically an 8.8 ring? I mean, yeah, it's better than a D30, but "like a D60 with mods" sounds a lot like "My Ion is as good as your XXX, its upped to the max".

[maxama10]

people run stock axels with supports welded in running 38"s in toyotas.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/techarticles/129_0012_toyota_rear_axle_upgrade/index.html

interesting read
notice how they say standard D60 though, not heavy duty.

/has bent a dana 44
//isnt saying the Toy 8.0 isnt a good axle
///owns one :)

[etjoyride]

As far as jeep axles are concerned I'm going to add in that people commonly run up to 35" tires on a front D30 without problems (although i strongly suggest you use alloy shafts). The C8.25 rear is also known to be able to go up to 35's (again with alloy shafts). It also has a lot to do with how you drive. For example, I pretty much smash my gas when i drive (at least at times) which would make it difficult and possibly dangerous for me to run large tires on these axles, but some people can pull it off.

Also, as far as suspension is concerned, Rough Country, Rustys (don't suggest) and a few other makers make some decent 3ish or so inch lift kits for at or under 500.

Also, i'm not sure if this is allowed, but here is a link to a GREAT JEEP forum www.jeepforum.com

[PyRo]

Go to Jeepforum.com and tell them you're going to get a rough country lift and run 35s with stock axles. You'll get laughed right off the boards :)