Offroad-Express

Right all you Jeep people out their,i'm thinking of a bit of a change and buying a Wrangler up to about $15000 and wouldn't mind if has mod's done [ prefer really ] NOW THE BUT BIT, i know very little about them so any advice,things to look for and what goes wrong with them..any help would be great....thanks

just remember they like fuel, but in saying that there is a endless supply of bolt on bits from america. the motors are virtually bulletproof, and the same as the xj's. I dont know exactly what to look for with wrangler, but no doubt there will be some of the north island people will be in the thread soon

I have a 97 TJ Wrangler auto ragtop
It has left me stranded and walking twice.
My experience with it:-
They drink fuel, they will not do much better than 18l per 100km. The rag top is real bad as the shape of it is equivalent to towing a parachute.
To agrivate the outrageous fuel consumption they are real slow to full up with fuel. If you leave the engine running while you are refueling it will never get full.
They are way under geared in the final drive at about 3.07 to 1 which means the engine labours all the time further sucking fuel. Stock tire size is 28inch anything bigger like 31inch and it will suck even more fuel.
On any sort of a trip make sure you can get to a gas station at least evey 300km
The engines last forever.
The water pump will crap out at about 100K Ripco have them for about $100
The Radiator will also not last much more than 100k they have plastic ends which are crap
The front sway bar ball joints are wofull and will fall apart on your second or third 4WD trip
The front brake caliper pistons are ceramic and will bind up sooner or later overheating the brakes. a Good fix is steel pistons avaliable from most brake shops.
The three speed auto is a dog of a slush box. Its a decendent of the old mopar 770 box from the 60s. Its Ok but it clunks and does not kick down very well. I grenaded mine with water in it as the breather is poorly located low in the bell housing. Its OK once you extend with a breather hose up higher
I have been sucked in to installing an electronic chip and a throttle body spacer to get more power and less fuel consumption, however both are a waste of money.
The exhaust manifold is gauarteed to crack and leak at anytime.

Apart from the above a TJ is a great vechile and I will drive mine for ever.

lol i love it i'm sold..sounds about half the problems i've had with modified Cruisers..lol,,f***k if thats all the problems they give i'm guessing i'll be lucky..lol..

Think I've bought one today a 2002 Wrangler Sahara hard top never been off road for $12000,i'll do a few small mods before i bring it home..small lift [50mm] snorkel and tyres,be the least modified 4x4 I've ever had ,,lol,, not sure for how long,thanks for the tip on breather on gear box

shot mate ,was it the one you were telling me about .....
i get better fuel consumption in my xj running 33s ..
now for the patrol diffs ,long arms and 37s
cheers wayne......

Hi wayne,yes pretty sure have bought,know for sure tomorrow [ just got to make sure that guy that bought Cruiser is happy ] will pick up in 2 weeks ,i can't even drive it as lost license through points

I'm changing suspension,new tyres etc [ snorkle of course ] bloody hell here we go again ..lol..