Hi from the dark side (JEEP)

[manxman]

Hello,
As some of you may know I recently sold my 16" doka, mainly as after sinking well over 10K into it I couldn't justify spending any more money on it especially I still have a house to finish building.
The fella that bought it is from down Devon way so you hopefully you will see it out and about. I advised him to sign up hear, for help/info.

I've replaced it with a cheaper Wrangler jeep and spent the left over cash on my house.

The Jeep is a standard 1997 4lt Wrangler Sahara auto with only 28,000 on the clock.

Why? well for a start I'm hoping the Jeep will be a Bit more bulletproof and reliable
plus it was cheap to buy, very basic so not a lot to go wrong hopefully, low milage, cheap spares, and no end of accessories available off the shelf.

First impressions;

So far I've learnt its very tail happy in the wet and has no where near as much grip on the road as the Syncro, as there is no diff in the transfer box (not sure this is normal on 4x4's?) you can't really drive on the road in 4WD, so any sign of a slope at a halt sign/junction, a wet road surface and slightly to much throttle one rear wheel spins, then the lsd kicks in and your going sideways! Fun but not ideal. The Syncro in the same situation would just grip and go. I've tried it on a course pebble beach, again not a patch on the Syncro even with 4wd engaged it just didn't seem to get as much traction.
I can see it being a bit handfull in the snow to, I learnt with the Syncro that the rear diff lock was a bad idea in the snow and now with an LSD I'll have no choice!
In its defence it's only got marshal A/T tires on at the moment where as the Syncro had BF Goodridge KM2's

That said It is great fun to drive, no doubt excellent off road, plenty of power and will be perfect in the summer, roof down doors off, just like my old 182 trecker I guess the ride and handling is something you'd love or hate, wolds appart from the Syncro, but I can see the appeal of both

MPG wise I tended to have to have my foot hard down 99% of the time in the pick up where as in the Jeep I can just cruise along below 2000rpm, so although I guess its slightly worse I don't think there'll be much in it + I refuse to ever buy any vehicle on the grounds of ecomomy, safety, practicality etc.


As for my VW fix, that job will be left down to my 1969 1500 beetle.

[syncrowjoker]

Snap, I found a low mileage Cherokee, for little money, aircon, leather, but not a syncro

[KarlT]

Clear off, bl00dy turn coat!

[mm289]

Wranglers are great fun - especially the 4.0l, makes controlling powerslides second nature as the combination of way too much torque, short wheelbase and RWD means you will be facing the other way real easy

If it is a 97 is it what they call a TJ, (round headlamps) - if so its the first of the factory RHD's, the earlier YJ (square headlamps) were converted to RHD in our workshops in Dover. TJ is good as it is a lot more modern and refined
(that is a relative term)

The 4wd system from recollection is Command Trac (same as fitted to the 2.5 Cherokee). Basically it is 2wd with a transfer box (and no diff as you rightly say) - Similar to a lot of the jap setups but unusual if you are used to Landy's that have permanent 4WD.

The Wranglers are pretty unstopable and in the right hands are on a par with a LR 90 due to short front/rear overhangs etc. Again if it is a TJ it even has coil springs rather than leafs

Just remember not to select 4wd on dry tarmac, with no diff you will get wind up in the transfer box and snap a drive shaft/damage transfer box. You also have a low range box for when it gets real tricky.

See if you can pick up a soft top - the entire hard top unbolts and 30 mins later you have a cool summer convertible

Right, now back to flat four world..........

MM