This is somewhat off-topic but you are the gods when it comes to 4x4's. I have been thinking about getting a 4x4 beater, alot of my friend have had 4x4's and just starting wheeling recently. I love going out to the trails with them. I am just wondering what is a great trail rig that i can get for about $1500. Dont need something that will run forever just something to take out on the trail on weekends. Ive been thinking about a late 80's cherokee. Any thoughts on them and words of advise for me?

 

Check out first generation Broncos
Jeep CJ-5s
maybe a ram charger (ever seen lone wolf mcquade?)

 

cherokees do great on trails. they are small, simple suspension, and solid axles. Makes the super easy and cheap to lift and modify. The 4.0 motors are almost indestructable. A wanglers do good as well obviously. If you want to go even cheaper and like pickups more, look for a toyota. They are very strong for trails and last forever...there body's are another story lol.

 

I agree with ^^^. For very little money, you can get into an older cherokee that will be very capable with not many mods.

 

I'm a Toyota fiend for trails... They are small enough to fit in between a lot of the trees and stuff on the trail and they are quite reliable. The sweet spot would be to find a 1985 truck or 4runner with EFI and the solid front axle. The only problem is that you might have to search a while to find one for 1500 bucks - but it can probably be done.

What kind of wheelin' do you plan on doing? Rock crawling, mud, some of both?


Good luck!
Cartman

 

I’m a sucker for Broncos. Get a good Bronco with a manual tranny with a granny gear that thing will take you everywhere. The reason I liked that truck so much (especially since I dislike fords) is because I wrecked it. I hydroplaned through an intersection. I hit and totaled a 2001 Chevy Malibu which then hit and totaled a mint condition 87 Mercedes (Sadly they were on their way to sell it) which then tapped a 2001 Audi TT (Cracked their bumper cost me 5 grand). No one was hurt and my insurance paid for everything. The accident almost maxed my coverage out. It was funny because the father of the girl that was driving the Malibu pulled up and walked up to me all pissed off. He says to me really angrily do you have insurance. I looked at him and said yea I’m sure they are going to cover everything. Then he smiled so ok cool you know everyone makes mistakes but, as long as you have insurance then we’re alright. Then he offered me a blanket since it was raining out. Anyways They had to tow my truck away because when I jumped out to make sure everyone was alright I had left the lights on so the battery died. I went and picked the truck up from the junk yard and drove it home. I had to replace the grill and the drag link. Can you believe that that was all I had to replace. Not even the bumper was that messed up. That truck was freaking tough.

 

4.0L Cherokee would be my choice too.
Easy to work on, the manual trans is decent (Aisan not the Peugeot) and the auto trans is practically bulletproof.

 

Mostly mudding, i was looking around on craigs list and it seems the cherokee is the best bet in my price range. All the toyota's are 2500 and up, you cant even find first gen broncos, and wranglers are outragesly high priced.
Ice man what year bronco did you have, sorry about the accident but the fact that your truck was fine is kickass

**edit
Here are some pics of the main trails i will be going. http://www.4x4wire.com/trail/report/ca/turkeyday99/index.htm?
There arnt many trails around the sf bay area so it would proably be taken out once a month, unless we find some new trails.

 

XJs (cherokees) can indeed be made into very capable wheelers and they can be had for cheap. the issue with the cherokee is most aftermarket suspension set ups for them are pricey. the uni-body design can also be a downside and can make modifications much more difficult. my roomate has and wheels an XJ and it does very well, it has a good wheelbase for alot of things, however there have been a few things i could tackle more easily in my YJ (wrangler) than he could and vice versa. You can also find a YJ (call it the second gen wrangler. its not really as there have been many CJs but anyway) for pretty cheap and they are often cheaper and easier to upgrade, they also make fantastic wheelers.

the downsides to both Jeeps is the Dana 35 rear axle. its not known for its strength. However a ford 8.8 from an explorer is practically a bolt in upgrade. i know, i have one under the back of my YJ after i blew up my Dana 35. heres a few shots of both wheeling for comparrisson

my roomates XJ


and my YJ

 

Grand Cherokee
ZJ
Had one, Wheeled it loved it go on JeepForum and go to the ZJ section the things you can do to them, i like cherokees a lot but if you a want a V8 look more into the GC's good luck with the 4x4 though[sm=smiley16.gif]