New to wranglers, buy stock or modified?

[joeylead]

Hello, let me introduce myself, I am new to wranglers, but not offroading. I am going to purchase a wrangler in the near future. I live in Long island and will be using it for ocasional rock crawling, local dirt wheeling and beach running.

My background is rooted in toyotas, I have owned and built several of them. I also owned a 96 cherokee but never did more than routine maintenance on them. I used to rockcrawl mostly with my 99 taco on 35's (IFS) i built myself. I took a break when I first had kids and am now looking for an open top wheeler and the wrangler is perfect for my current needs.

My dilemma is this, i am looking at 2 option right now and am unsure which way to go.

#1) Stock 97 TJ, 4.0, 5spd 111k great condition. Has all the amenities (2 tops, A/C, good stereo) runs well and needs nothing immediately

#2) 88 YJ, sprung over, 4:1 tcase, 8.8 rear, 4.88 gears and arb lockers, roll cage and winch and is fuel injected (mopar conversion i think). Needs tires, front seats, fuel pump and prob alot of little things. Has been sitting for a few years.

I have a set of old 35's I could either put on the YJ or trade for a nice set of 32" MTR's for the TJ.

Both jeeps are going for the same price, about 5k

My dilemma is i cant decide if i want to jump into an already modified vehicle considering it is pretty much set up as i would personally build a YJ or go with the newer TJ knowing that it would cost more but be a more comfortable ride. I am also afraid of opening a pandoras box on the YJ. But I do trust the guy selling it. I like working on trucks and know that building it myself would give me the ability to fix it on the trails when i break stuff. I wont be using either for a DD, well unless i wanted to. I am looking for suggestions from peoples personal experiences. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

And if this is in the wrong section, mods please move. I looked for a newbie section but didnt see one.

 

[Midnightsecurity]

Like you said there are many positives by building up your own unit, but it is nice to buy a rig that has some extra goodies, if money isn't an option I'd go with the newer TJ and build away!

 

[superj]

i would go with the new one. i would never buy a previously modded vehicle because you don't know how they did anything or what was used.

i bought this 87 wrangler with an engine mod. they put a 98 block in it because the 87 was knocking. now i am having a hell of a time getting parts when i need an alternator or water pump.

 

[jeepfreak33]

The thing that would scare me the most about the YJ is the fact that is has been sitting... I have had experiences with cars that have been sitting and while they looked in good shape.... many things came back later to bite me in the ..well you know what. So unless I want a project.....if I hear it has been sitting...no thanks.

But I am partial....I love CJ's, TJ's and XJ's.... but not so much the YJ's or the JK's.

 

[jeepingdan]

I'd go with stock and build it.
Reason is you never know what you will find on a bought rig.
I've seen a lot of people buy built rigs and they turned out looking nice but beat to crap.

 

[Harro]

TJ TJ ,forget the YJ ,you would be asking for it ,buy the TJ fix it up it will cost you less in the long run anyway ,good luck

 

[Utah_jeepster]

I would have to follow the crowd here, first off the TJ is a coil suspension. Way better in the rocks than,a coil over, where spring wrap is a major problem. Second, since your building it, you know the components, and you decide the geometry of the lift, tire, and gears.

Although if you trust the builder of this YJ and your comfortable with the design of the jeep, the YJ is a better deal having lockers,4;1 and stuff. The money you saved buying it, you could add a Rock Krawler coil over kit for the YJ and get the best of both worlds.

Sent from my Android using Jeepz

 

[TerryMason]

Is this going to be your daily driver? If so I'd go with the TJ.

Chances are that you'll end up spending the same amount of money - modding the TJ, or fixing the YJ. I'd start off with a solid base first.

 

[joeylead]

I do like the idea of coils vs. Leaf springs. I need to figurevout just hoe muc repairs the yj is gonma need

 

[jps4jeep]

All Depends. Most jeeps around here with 4" lift and 35" tires have never been offroad; that said, probably have not been beat on. Generally a bolt-on modded jeep, will price point at about the same as a stock jeep. If it were me, I would look for something that fit this criteria as it will save a significant amount of money in the initial investment. Things I look for that tell me a jeep is a mall cruiser and not a wheeler;

Chrome D-rings
No dents or scratches in the bumpers or paint.
No dirt on the carpet or in the little nooks and crannies of the dash
Snorkle
Lots of "off road" light
I look at the bottom of the axle tubes for scratches
I look under the drivers dash knee bolster, any wiring that looks non-stock is most likely a hack job.
Stock sized spare tire
Missing bump stops (generally a non-wheeled TJ, the bump stops are never replaced after a lift install, I dunno why, just is that way)



I would be more scared to purchase a overly personalized jeep that has all sort of doo-dads and do-hickies.. a jeep that looks like it was made from a "bolt on crap magnet" and drove through the stickon plastic chome aisle in autozone, a jeep that apeared to be poorly maintained with worn out components. You really need to make a good assesment of what your looking at. If the seller tells you that it has 8" of custom lift that cost $3000 and you look under the jeep and see stock short arms, I would personally move on or try to pay way way way less than it is actually worth because it is most likely a hack job. Do your homework and be dilligent.

YJ verse TJ is more preferance than anything. I've owned and driven both, on road and off. I prefer the simplicity and predicability of a YJ versus a TJ, but this is my opinion.

 

[joeylead]

It is a tough call. The yj has been beat on as it was built for and used on hardcore rock crawls. But it was built to handle it. It was done right I just don't know what could be lurking because its been sitting. My experience w keeps is that sitting isn't good for them. That was one plus or my tirade, I could let thek sit forevor and it never mattered. I had an xj that always seemed to develop some issue if it sat at all. The plus of the tj is that I could use it as a de if I liked it for that. My current ed is my 03 ram quad cab hemi. I love the truck but it is a gas guzzler and notbthe most practical vehicle for a dd.

 

[superj]

neither jeep will get good gas mileage.

 

[joeylead]

I shoule have been more specific, i dont expect to get good gas mileage out of any jeep. I didnt mean that. My cherokee got about 17-18mpg and i would expect less out of any wrangler. it was more about the practicality of a jeep would be better than the ram. Then again, i do love that hemi power...lol.

 

[superj]

ok, i just wanted to make sure you know that gas mileage would probably not improve over what you are getting now.

i get 11 in town and about 13 or 14 on the highway in mine. some people get in the high teens and some get in the low 20s so hope for the best but expect the worst so you can be happy to end up in the middle.

mine is fine getting 11 because my wife has a pt cruiser and thats our family car. my jeep is just a play truck for me to take to soccer practice or work when i have something else going on but some people couldn;t live with 11mpg

 

[joeylead]

Thanks for all of your input. So here is where I am at. The YJ is out, it has been sitting for 2 years and has a bad fuel pump so curently it is not running. Especially with the fuel injection kit, I am leery to buy a jeep i cannot test drive, regardless of who built it. And he wants 5k for it without the winch, 6k with it. Way to much for a non starting jeep. So i am going to look at the TJ tomorrow. If it worst out, it will e in my driveway! then i can start posting real tech questions. My immediate plans are to get a set of TJ rubicon axles for it, just because I coworkers husband is swapping them out of his rubicvon because he blew something up in the rear diff. So i can prob get them real chea as long as i can repair the rear.

 

[superj]

cool.