Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hey my dad's mate is selling his stock as a rock 99 wangler and he said he would sell it to me for 16 grand with 70 000km on it, which I think is pretty good. However I have heard these cars break fairly easily and am wondering for a uni student if this is a good car to get. I am thinking of putting 31'' muddies on a 2" suspension and body lift and lockers front and rear. How will this car handle weekday city driving and weekend mud driving and are they reliable

Mate, price sounds good...and its a Jeep so you can't go wrong.

As for problems, pre-2000 seem to have a problem with cracked manifolds but that's about it. The old 4.0lt is strong and stout as an ox, renowned for just going and going.

Other than that, there's a few quirks here and there, but nothing major whatsoever (such as the fuel guage being completely and utterly useless)...but take the top off and head to the bush and you'll completely and utterly forget all your troubles...and with 31s, a 2" lift and especially lockers you'll have a very capable rig.

I've got a 2000 TJ since new, and couldn't be happier....I still get a smile on my face every time I see it!

Never had any problems with mine. I run 35's and twin lockers and it's a very nice vechile to drive on and off road, I waould SAY GO FUR IT.

As ben mentioned one of the major things that break are is the inlet manifold that tends to crack and a bit of a funny fuel guage.

yeah you'll be right mate..
if you maintain the jeep yourself, and have a stash of cash store some where, say around 100 bucks, some parts are not cheap...

you properly have to get drunk once a week instead of 7 times a week jsut to keep petrol in the jeep, i know its hard, i had to do it when i was in uni too..

price is good.. its a jeep, its good...

i also heard that pig flys, do you believe that too?
see it to believe it.

what does cost a bit of cash is the after market parts like suspention, ring/pinion sets, slip yoke eliminater and drive shaft. but if the tj is only going to cost 16k you got a good buy mate.
wish my tj cost 16k

and fuel, the 4lt love its fuel.

As mentioned previously -

1st mod - HD slip yoke eliminator ($800),eg JB conversions, Rubicon, Teraflex, etc weak point when vehicle is used properly ie right foot flat

2nd mod - alloy tierod ($200) eg Challenger (macromotive.com)

plus future mods/tips

ANY sort of suspension lift mild-wild whatever just get it's arz up a bit your undercarriage will thank you.

Have your Jeep wave reaction installed in brain to wave to all other fellow Jeepers you encounter coz we're all top blokes/blokettes -as the case may be

Get over to ausjeepoffroad.com to nab some cheap used bits from others that paid in kidneys for them when new.

Don't want to step on any toes here but I bought one brand new in 97 had it for 2 years and really couldnt wait to get rid of it. It was extremely un economical, chewed out front tyres on a regular basis broke uni's all the time, developed gearbox problems after 90,000 k's.
Heaps of things just never worked from new like seat belt retractors, console locks, factory bull bar rusted around the welds twice. As for ride quality it was a beautiful plush ride and very comfortable to drive except getting out at every second petrol bowser. The factory 2 years 50,000k's warranty is proof they don't believe in there product and the importer is very un helpful after they have your money.


The truth is its american and just cant come near the quality or attention to detail of a Jap built car. but they are fun with the roof down and turn heads like a sports car. Its a bit of a niche market aswell when I bought mine I had to have a soft top that could tow large boats ect and there really isnt anything else.

xtreem wrote:Don't want to step on any toes here but I bought one brand new in 97 had it for 2 years and really couldnt wait to get rid of it. It was extremely un economical, chewed out front tyres on a regular basis broke uni's all the time, developed gearbox problems after 90,000 k's.
Heaps of things just never worked from new like seat belt retractors, console locks, factory bull bar rusted around the welds twice. As for ride quality it was a beautiful plush ride and very comfortable to drive except getting out at every second petrol bowser. The factory 2 years 50,000k's warranty is proof they don't believe in there product and the importer is very un helpful after they have your money.


The truth is its american and just cant come near the quality or attention to detail of a Jap built car. but they are fun with the roof down and turn heads like a sports car. Its a bit of a niche market aswell when I bought mine I had to have a soft top that could tow large boats ect and there really isnt anything else.

You gotta admit buddy, things change. The same sort of things can be said about any new model during it's first year or two of production - take Discovery's for example. I've just done 50,000klm in my 02' tj and still have another 50,000klm left on my warranty. It was only 97 & 98 tj's that i believe had 2y/50k warranty - it's now the same as every other manufacturer except Mitsubishi which has the 5 year/ 130,000klm warranty.

Build quality is not an issue anymore as all those things you mentioned i & others havn't come across - perhaps you had a 'Friday arvo' 4wd? The only thing replaced on my TJ so far is the engine oil - but i heard that most 4wd's need that done every now and then The only TJ's that have big problems are those with lifts more than 2 inches & tyres bigger than 31".

newbyferoza, a word of warning - if you get a Wrangler, be prepared to score chicks bigtime and be the envy of everyone around you. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Drive it around town with the top off, that'll make up your mind if it's for you.

If you can explain the concept of a Friday arvo 4wd I may be able to answer that.

I have also heard that most 4wd's need the oil changed from time to time its just replacing the tyres between the oil changes that I havnt heard of with other 4wd's.

Yes some models do have teething problems during the first year of production, the big difference here is Jeep didnt stand by their product and instead just washed the hands of it.

xtreem wrote:If you can explain the concept of a Friday arvo 4wd I may be able to answer that.

I have also heard that most 4wd's need the oil changed from time to time its just replacing the tyres between the oil changes that I havnt heard of with other 4wd's.

Yes some models do have teething problems during the first year of production, the big difference here is Jeep didnt stand by their product and instead just washed the hands of it.

"Friday arvo 4wd" = made on a friday afternoon by workers in car factory who couldn't give a shit and want to go home for the weekend. In otherwords a Lemon. This apparently happens in the factories where cars are hand built in mass production. Most manufacturers have converted to automated production lines these days.

xtreem,

Mate I'll conceed the Japs make a better "quality" car.....but they just lack ANY personality....

Regarding your probs:
Yeah early TJ's got a crappy warranty - but new ones 99(?) onwards it was extended....
Fuel consumption - come on mate ...You'd have to be a mug to expect decent fuel consumption from a TJ and you WOULD have know that before you spent your $$$....It's just one thing that you do need to accept.....
Seat belt retractors - that is the frikken easiest thing to fix...You just got some crud down into the mechanism....seriously when I go mudding without the doors sometimes it happens & I can fix within 5minutes.....no cost, just cleaning.....
Console locks....Yeah they are cheezy....IMHo just like a lot of the Mopar accessories...If ya what the decent stuff yer spend less & go aftermarket ....Eg Tuffy do an awesome centre console....
Factory Bullbar rusting - I'll guess it was one of those cheezy chrome numbers...see my comments above - an ARB would have been a lot better option.....
Broke Unis all the time? Did you have a lift and not address the driveline angles? Did you check the yokes weren't rooted & need replacing? Sorry but IMHO Chewing unis is easy to trace & fix.....
Chewing tyres - again suggesting ya did a lift & didn't correctly realign the sucker afterwards.

Seriously mate the issues you've identified are all pretty minor and COULD have been fixed pretty easily. Shame you didn't get online and ask at places like AusJeep..... Or a Jeep club...

Some good points there Wodders, however the seat belt retractors where not dirty they never worked from day 1 they where replaced under warranty and after 2 weeks they were the same as the first set. The car was not lifted "at all" completely stock other than 31's and it chewed out the first original set as well. I am not the only person that had this problem just about every body I talked too couldnt keep the tyres up to them.

Alot of the problems were minor and could have been fixed fairly easy, but I paid $36,000 for the thing and it was not my responsibility to fix it. It was JEEPS and they were not interested.

Its a pity you spend that kind of money and you have to go online and ask around for help to fix a brand new car.

I am glad the Jap's dont have Friday arvo syndrome.

I was very surprised to find out that the same importer imports both Jeep & Hyundai. Because I own a Hyundai and they have always bent over backwards to please and answer any concerns "not that there has been many"

Must be orders from above.

You must have had a bad dealer or pissed one off. My dealer is top notch - all the managers know me by first name and i only ever go there for scheduled servicing!

Fair enough it wasn't your responsibility to fix the car but if you're rude or horrible towards a dealer then they pretty much will decide the the fate of your car. Holden is the same with a mate of mine but he's a asshole to them and deserves to have his car treated like shit. I'm not saying you were nasty to them but hey, dealers are people too and they have to deal with assholes all the time.

The jap 4wd's do definately have the firday arvo syndrome. Landrover expecially (well not so much now they are owned by ford), and porshe are apparently having a few teething problems. No manufacturer has yet got it right.

My mate has a spankin' new suzuki jimny and he's had heaps of things replaced under warranty - crank angle sensor, passenger side window, swaybars, interior lining, clutch (after 15,000klm), rust proofing redone 3 times, control arms needed rewelding etc. He's owned his car less than i've owned mine (1 year old) and has only ever followed me around bush tracks and rainbow beach - he does have a 2 inch Tough Dog lift, while i remain stock. When i attempt something hard, he usually backs out and just watches. So a stock jap car that has done 20,000klm less than my stock car and heaps less offroading has had heaps of problems. It's not driver abuse - just bad luck or issues from factory. The same can be said for any manufacturer.

I was definatly not rude mate. I got on pretty well with the dealer it was the importer in Sydney I had the problems with.

I didnt know Landrover & Porsche were Japanese, How silly of me. The Jimmys are pretty weak but are not really a hard core 4wd like the Jeep is supposed to be.

I think it's just one of those things, you get bad vehicles in every batch.

I've had my Jeep now for just over 4 years, treated it like crap and never had that much trouble with it except for stuff you would expect for a TJ on 35's, things like uni's etc.

Ditto lexxes comments - except replace 4 years with 7years.....

xtreem wrote:I was definatly not rude mate. I got on pretty well with the dealer it was the importer in Sydney I had the problems with.

I didnt know Landrover & Porsche were Japanese, How silly of me. The Jimmys are pretty weak but are not really a hard core 4wd like the Jeep is supposed to be.

Sorry mate, i didn't mean that Landrover & Porsche were japanese - just that they are respected names and they still have teething problems too.

Getting back on track, newbyferoza - do have any other questions? I think your only issue will be fuel use as you're a student. Currently i'm using about $50-$60 per week which is about tank and a half but my boss pays for my fuel. A lot of guys reckon you should only run TJ's on premium but i just run regular cause when i go out bush you can't buy premium anyway and it runs fine. If you lift it 2 inches and fit 31's and lockers it'll be a weapon offroad. I'm running stock gear and only 31's and it's still too capable for me! (ok, maybe a front locker would be nice sometimes ) You'll find that with coils it'll handle city driving pretty well and offroad with ease.

Cheers!

Xtreme, I can sympathise with you. I bought a brand new 2001 TJ and had problems within the first week and they never stopped until I sold it a year later. Tho my problems were insane.
The high pressure hose on the air conditioner blew off (i wasn't in the car at the time) and the gas went out everywhere. Gears kept jumping out.
Tried to stop a few times and had to pull the handbreak up because the floor at my feet was that hot, it curled up the mat under the break and got jammed. It lacked power. Rusted in heaps of places in the first 6 months, especially around the seats and in the engine bay. And it continues. Jeep knew me alright. They knew me well. It just got to the point of giving in. They should have replaced it the first time it nearly killed me.

I hated it, yet loved it all at once. Only took it offroad (to the beach) once because i was afraid it would fall apart. That came true when i took it to the beach.
I just wish i knew what i do now. I will never buy a brand new car ever again as i see warranties as pointless bits of paper and will never get my car serviced at a dealership. So now years later, i still dont have a jeep. But am willing to get another as i know so much more. But i agree, it shouldn't be up to the owner to try and fix the problems. Plus being a chick, they all thought i was a person with no brain.

Now i'm looking at buying an older Tj or Cj and working on it to build it how i want. Then i will rely on friends *hint hint LEXX* to keep it together.

Yeah Jeepgirl that sounds like the Jeep I know. Do you really want another one????????

i work on jeeps day in day out and havent found a wrangler to have any mayor problems.nothing really goes wrong with a wrangler. TOP BUY FOR $16K.

skippy's MQ wrote:i work on jeeps day in day out and havent found a wrangler to have any mayor problems.nothing really goes wrong with a wrangler. TOP BUY FOR $16K.

ummm. i had 2 recalls in a year? hmm perhaps it was 3. can't remember sorry. guess you never came across my jeep or extreem's jeep.
as for problems, feel free to come over to ausjeepoffroad.com and read the wranglers section.
but as we know, "its a jeep thing". we learn to live with it and move on.

"Theres only one jeep". Thank God.

xtreem wrote:"Theres only one jeep". Thank God.

Good call bud!

I can understand both sides of this arguement having owned and loved a Harley Davidson . Theres nothing quite like owning a brand new replica of days gone bye , but dont expect current performance & reliability standards of the asian engineered and made alternatives as american just dosen't make the grade. As for addressing problems and warranty issues you begin to know how saddam felt in the last days of Iraq's independence.

jeepgirl wrote:

skippy's MQ wrote:i work on jeeps day in day out and havent found a wrangler to have any mayor problems.nothing really goes wrong with a wrangler. TOP BUY FOR $16K.

ummm. i had 2 recalls in a year? hmm perhaps it was 3. can't remember sorry. guess you never came across my jeep or extreem's jeep.
as for problems, feel free to come over to ausjeepoffroad.com and read the wranglers section.
but as we know, "its a jeep thing". we learn to live with it and move on.

I've had 3. And lovin' it!

What you have worn 3 out already? You're probably not that old either.

Nope, 3 recalls.

1) Replaced ignition cause when it goes under water they old one might have short circuted. As if you're gonna have the steering wheel under water anyway...

2) Debris shield on manifold...???

3) Something else that was so minor i can't remember. Another debris shield? I dunno...

Mine was recalled because the air bags were going off when off roading.