I know I'm telling the wrong crowd but I feel the need to share my discoveries ( no pun intended ).

Project greenlane / playday / every day 4x4

1997 R reg
2.5 turbo diesel
12 months MOT
3" lift kit ( springs and shocks )
31" mud terrains ( new, not remould )
Rock sliders and diff gurads
Wich bumper
Cheapo winch ( like a Champion / Britpart / etc )
Lots of creature comforts ( aircon / stereo / nice seats for 5 people )

AND THE WHOLE LOT PARKED ON THE DRIVE FOR LESS THAN £2500 including the car!!!!

HOW DO YOU DO IT?????

Buy a Jeep Cherokee!!!

Sorry for swearing. And yes I know that ultimately the Defender will way outdo it offroad but for serious value for money and a car that will do more than most people will ever ask of it you ca't go wrong for that money.

David

nothing wrong with it as a green laner.

Think the thought of repairing them / unkwown would hold most of us back. After all we do have a few spares for a LR don't we?

Nice one David.

Brace yourself for the cost of spares though - ask BBC how much a set of discs and pass costs!!!

Doesn't look that spiteful.

Each to their own.

Waste 5 minutes on Ebay or just get onto your local factor - pads and discs are barely any more than a Defender!

I just sold a Rough Country heavy duty steering damper to a bloke this week though. From me it was £30 and a bit ( as a ProComp would be ). At the main dealer he was quoted £157+vat for a standard one !!!!!!

Source the bits sensibly and they are not too hideous....

David

Mine is the later 2004 model ....................... almost everything is main stealers ............... expensive yes, but I have needed very little in way of spares in the last 90K miles.............. these are just the parts prices (I do the work myself) pads & discs(Once.... £140 fronts, £170 rears and £120 for front discs), rear pinion bearings (£400), cam belt (£140), Alternator (£210), and an air con pipe (£69)..............plus normal stuff like filers etc (cheap)

They are easy to work on and the 2.8VM diesel is powerful and reliable............ although it is noisy and a little agricultural.


Discs and pads have only just become available as third party items at a greatly reduced price (fronts £46, rears £60, front discs £40) .............. but any thing else is dealer only. Dealer spares are nearly always next day delivery and good quality and they always seem to get the correct part OK...........

From the technical & reliability standpoint then 'yes' I would buy Jeep again, but depreciation is huge.................


On the pre 2001 models rear axles are an issue ............... I bet you break it David






Ian

For the later ( post XJ Cherokees ) I accept the parts prices are silly as you are tied to a main dealer - this does apply to most 'newer' models.

The back axle is a funny one! Mine is rumbling nicely!! But when I speak to the sales lads at Rough Country none of them recognise the dodgy Dana 35. They all quote all the different models ( jeep, Ford, various cars ) that have no problems with them. And yet over here the only cars that have them ( Jeep, Ford Explorer ) are known for having problems.
Are we putting a European spec of oil that is nearly right but not really right in them, remember they need LSD additive or is it just because they bin the std diff and all put Detroits or Locrights in or something?

Either way it is lovely to drive, does 36 mpg, is very comfortable and I am assured ( though I haven't tested mine very well yet ) extrememly capable offroad. I will report back

David

chap in our club used to trial his cherokee - old P reg 4.0l beastie.

it did very well once he got some decent suspension on it - lift springs and longer shocks and long arm conversion. Without the long arm conversion it was horrible with rear wheel steer under full droop etc.
but the trick stuff to make them work costs an arm and a leg - telephone number sized invoices!

then the lsd spat itself out of the axle, autobox went horrendous and it cost him a fortune to run - so he sold it for a 90 and reckons its cost him half the amount to make it more capable offroad.

Are you sure its a 35 ? .................... some of the later models (pre2001) had the chrysler 8.25 fitted ................. this axle is also standard in the KJ that I have..................




Ian

Yes, it's a D35 with LSD

David

a disco would be about the same money, and your mates wont laugh behind your back

me thinks hes going to need a better winch its hard to help when your laffing

Ah, thats why you have been lurking on Jeep Forums.............www.birtydastardsjeepclub.com for one

Good bunch of people with some really good tech advice on there.

See ya at "Cheapfest" ??

Having worked in an Explorer Dealer, I can say, the main reason for diff failure on the Explorer, was due to poor servicing.
Mention a full fluid change to an Explorer driver and they're all for it, until they realise that's an extra £250-300 on the full service price (which was in itself £300+)
So they never got done!

Rear LSDs used to click/moan on full lock if the oil wasn't changed regularly, but if the service schedule was not carried out fully, diffs weren't covered under warranty.
I suppose the load placed on the bearings would be quite high if the diff's permanently locked!