Topic: By choice or coincidence?

[Tr00b]

I was wondering, do you own a 4 cyl Jeep by choice, or by some outside power?

It seems like many people spend a great deal of money and time compensating for the shortcomings (low strength, low power etc) It just seems weird to me that someone would choose this if they are expecting more. Is it the fact that you got a great deal? Were looking for better fuel mileage? Why did you do the mods you did?  Why do you have YOUR Jeep?

[aw12345]

The original reason to buy my first Jeep was low cost for something small, we liked the Liberty but couldn't afford it so we bought a wrangler. Then I took it offroad things haven't been the same since lol

[jfrabat]

Price was also the selling point for me (although, if you think about it, with what I have invested in my Jeep, I could have bought a brand new Rubion!).  I started building it to make it look good, but then I started thinking about taking it home to Panama, and started building more with offroading in mind.

[sharpxmen]

in my case i looked for a YJ with low miles and sound and the one i found and liked was the 2.5L. it had 60k miles in 2003 (wow, it's been that long)

One memory in particular comes to mind that the 6cyl ones seemed more oily in the engine bay but could have been that the ones i looked at were high miles so not really a standard, the one i bought was very clean so that made the decision easy, would have probably got it if it was a 4.0L and  looking the same so really was just random and not by choice, i was set on a YJ regardless of the powerplant.

[chrisfranklin]

Figured I'd hold on to it for about 2-3 years, then get something else.  That was 1999...  Guess is was "choice" buying it at the time.  

Wanted a 5spd -- was looking for either 4 or 6 cylinder late model YJ.   Manual transmission, price, what was available for sale locally, and my need to buy within a 1-2 week time-frame were the main things in my case then.

I had driven a YJ 4.0L auto in the early 90s, but that transmission (3spd? ratios?) just seemed to kill the "H.O." power I was expecting.  Had also driven 5spd 4.0L -- probably would have held out for that, but the above "main things" and the 2-3 year ownership period I anticipated kind of won out.  

Ended up going out to test drive mine -- old retired government economist comes out of his townhouse and opens it up.  Says it was his daughter's while she was at UVa (where I got some book learnin' . She was getting her Phd.  Has only about 60,000 miles.  Didn't see any evidence that the gal had done much more than run errands, drive it from Charlottesville to the DC area dozens of times, do local commute to work/school/drum-circle .  Maintenance/oil change records were there.  So, I was thinking "creampuff."  And it was (money for it since then has mostly been spent on maintenance, minor modifications)

[neale_rs]

2.5 was all I could find here at the time (Monterrey, Mexico, 2006).  Few YJs were/are available.  I think they are all imported used, pretty sure they were never sold here new (CJs and TJs were though).  The power is fine for my driving, haven't felt the need to do engine mods.  It is also MUCH more fuel efficient off road than the 4.0 Jeeps. All mods have been for off road capability without messing up the on road driveability.  No plans to sell it, too much invested, would not be able to recover the cost.

[Tr00b]

Some cool stories coming out!

I got mine by coincidence. My parents bought it in 2003, but never really drove it. I always had HATED it because it was slow, clunky and dangerous (death wobble, broken swaybar links, demon posessed engine with hesitations, coughs and hacks)

I graduated from college in 2008, my grandad was killed in a car accident, and I had to take over his farm, my truck blew a head gasket, and I had no job and couldn't get a job... All at the same time. Student loan payments started in December I graduated in Nov. The Jeep was sitting there with no driver and the snow was DEEP that year.

So I drove the Jeep to job interviews and the resulting min wage job... Gave Jeep back after I got a truck for awhile, frame broke on truck, cab collapsed on another. Fixed the head gasket on the original one, then the transmission went out and a leaf spring broke off... Bought a trailer for the Jeep to haul wood with in 2010 and said SCREW TRUCKS...

And it became officially mine this summer, after spending about $2000 on it I wasn't going to give it back to the parents.

A trail of tears and misery, and I'm still not that crazy about it, but the stupid teal Jeep never let me down although the world has been pretty rough on me.

[aka-justin]

I always wanted a Jeep, but I had a mentally block about it and being too expensive to do. The free Tomb Raider Jeep 4x4 game distributed by jeep back in 2003 made my desire even worse - which looks like they still have it going (http://www.jeep.com/jeep_life/tombraider/). I finally bought my first in 08. A 95 YJ 4banger.

I liked the one I finally picked even though I didn't prefer a 4banger, but it was in the overall best condition I found at the time. I loved the snot out of it. Sold it in a haste along with my RV to get out of mounting debt - then bought a 03' Rubi as my daily driver (not just our toy and selling my car) on a whim after 6 months of severe anguish from missing the YJ and not tinkering with you'all.

All in all, I miss my YJ.  As much power as my new one has, and thank god for the AC, I still drive it 55 mph - like the YJ, it has 35"s instead of the dinky 31"s, but the YJ had close to the same acceleration and handled way better in the dirt due to the lower weight. Hard top, swing out, D44s, 35s, 6cyc, tube fenders, way lower trail mpgs (7-9 mpg) it feels like a tractor plow in the soft dirt or river bed I frequent. If I cut a bunch of weight off I imagine it would be better, but still miss my old blue jeep. If the opportunity arises, I'm going back for another 95 YJ 4banger... but, I won't sell my Rubi. It'd have to be taken by force outside of my own will.

[chardrc]

My dads coworker had a 1990yj that was a complete pile, guy didn't believe in maintenance, 1 tire blows out he gets 1 tire even though the otehr 3 are running on steel bands. one day driving to work the front drivers-side rotor worn down so much that the caliper overextended ad locked up on the freeway. so the old owner had it towed to work and told my dad its either going in the junk yard or my dad could have it for the price of the title transfer. At the time my entire family believed that any jeep that wasn't a flat fender wasn't a real jeep let alone a yj with the square headlights and 4 cylinder is such a "huge" jeep (comparing to the willys). s my dad didn't want it but i was 15 years old and was looking at the prospect of sharing a vehicle with my brother or adopting this jeep. at the price we figured it didn't matter what we did with it we could make money on the deal if we got it in working condition.

so after changing every u-joint, front and rear brakes, some axle seals, the driver seat, new valve cover and a new slave cylinder it was ready to drive again. it was a dog on road but it was a jeep and i was 16 by the time all that work was done. the next year i got a bds 2.5" lift for my birthday and took it on its first off road excursion and learned that the 2.5l is a powerhouse in low range (compared to 60hp willys). after figuring out the old owner had the wrong spark plugs in it and switched to stockers it even got around onroad pretty well. so i decided to start doing engine go fast mods. an electric fan and bored out tb later and it was driving on road like a champ keeping 70 on the highway something it couldn't do for the life of it when i acquired it with stock wheels let alone the 31's.

for better or worse i traded it in to get a 07 Rubicon in June. rear frame was getting rotten and that slave cylinder still gave me troubles when it got hot after tearing it apart 3 times. from time to time i miss it but not the little issues it had and i did get about what i put into it for the trade in (took off some of the offroad parts).

i would get another 4cyl wrangler again. would be nice to have a clean 2.5l yj or early tj to dink around in the woods with up north as the jk is too new and 4:1 is too low for the mud. but the jk is emptying my pockets and i already have 2 vehicular so that wont happen for a long long time.

what the yj did do was prove that new jeeps are cool and lead to my dad getting his 06 rubi and 08 4door and started doing jeep jamborees so it did alot to modernize our jeep addiction.    over

[stan98tj]

I was in school in the Bronx, didn't need a vehicle. Took a semester off and was living with my GF in sort of rural CT, needed 4wd vehicle for the winter. I spot a black 94 Range Rover, lifted, rear locker and on 35s on autotrader. Guy was asking $1000.00 more than I had, started talking to him and just became fanatic about that truck. I scraped what I could and gave him a call back-about 3 or 4 weeks after I first had seen it...he had sold it.

Snow was coming and I needed a vehicle as sharing the gf's car was becoming an issue with getting us both to work. I see a green 97 4.0l at a dealership, 80k on the clock, hard top and soft, 31s for a fair price. I call them up and set up an appointment to see the vehicle the following week. The dealership was an hour and a half drive. A few days before the appointment the GF suddenly can't let me borrow the car to get over there as she SUDDENLY needs it, basically tells me it's a real far drive to go see a vehicle, i should be more considerate and look for one closer...her mom in all her GREAT wisdom finds me a jeep 10 min away from our house. 98 4 banger, 31s, auto, 84k on the clock, private sale. I shell out nearly all my meager college student savings to the owner. 4 days later the motor blows up. That was 2007, and a ton more work and $$ has gone into it.  the Jeep is in my garage now with a grenaded transfer case. I still haven't forgiven my now Fiance, nor her mother.

[VA_YJ]

1. I always wanted a Jeep
2. I found a clean 95 YJ (Navy owner from Texas - NO rust, but dried red mud in out of the way places that was easily removed)
3. Low mileage - 59K on the clock
4. Cheep (sp.) - Paid $2200 and it had almost new 31 BFG ATs

Why I got it so cheap:  The Jeep would cut off at random times and refuse to restart.  The exhaust system was damaged from backfiring. The owner had taken it to three mechanics and none could find the problem - he was told to replace the ECU.  He bought a new Jeep and wanted cash right then to buy bigger tires.  It took me a while but I found the problem - the wire harness connector that attaches to the coil was making intermittent contact.  The little beast is my daily driver now (with some light offroading) and I have some 6 banger jeeps that I am building up.  The 4 banger will always be my first love. 

[Adams77]

someone answered my ad on craigslist, I had an 87 KLR650 and traded for a 92 yj.