Found a potential new beater

[iamwiz82]

I have had a lot of experience with Jeeps, but I still need some reassurance or thoughts. Since there was a Cherokee thread recently I decided to renew my interest .

So I took a look at a 1998 Cherokee today, 5 speed 2 door. It's got 130k miles for under $1000. I knew for the price there'd be some issues, but I took a look anyways because I want a DD/winter rig. So it's got fairly major damage on the passenger side, door doesn't open, no glass damage, though. It looks like it was T-boned and the sill/lower door took the brunt. The window seems to roll down (manual windows ), the door does not open, but the door panel is intact and not deformed.

Also, there is a good deal of rust throughout the outer body, doors, under the rear windows, part of the hatch (thought this was fiberglass?), but the underbody is CLEAN. Not freshly powerwashed cleaned, but no weird leaks, or even normal leaks. No rear main seal leak, no pinion seal leaks, no tcase leaks, no oil leaks of any kind, kind of shocking to me. It obviously hadnt just been scrubbed, either. The leak I did notice was the steering stabilizer, which I think has been the case with every Jeep I have owned.

So the drive went really well, no noises, clutch was great (a bit heavy), transmission was smooth. Absolutely no weird noises I could notice, other than a groaning steering wheel assembly, which I have experienced before with my old XJ. It honestly drove great.

The only really, really odd thing was that the front driveshaft was missing. The guy said he bought it that way. Now, I've driven my Jeeps with the front driveshaft before for various reasons, but it still makes me think.

Regarding the damage, the rear hatch opens fine, by the way. The drivers door rubs, but that is because of some light damage to the drivers front fender from another accident, it looks like. The alignment is not off at all, the tires are all worn properly, so I dont think that the unibody is tweaked much.

Thoughts? I am tempted.

BTW, it's a Canadian Jeep, including the instrument panel being all in metric

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
I have had a lot of experience with Jeeps, but I still need some reassurance or thoughts. Since there was a Cherokee thread recently I decided to renew my interest .

So I took a look at a 1998 Cherokee today, 5 speed 2 door. It's got 130k miles for under $1000. I knew for the price there'd be some issues, but I took a look anyways because I want a DD/winter rig. So it's got fairly major damage on the passenger side, door doesn't open, no glass damage, though. It looks like it was T-boned and the sill/lower door took the brunt. The window seems to roll down (manual windows ), the door does not open, but the door panel is intact and not deformed.

Also, there is a good deal of rust throughout the outer body, doors, under the rear windows, part of the hatch (thought this was fiberglass?), but the underbody is CLEAN. Not freshly powerwashed cleaned, but no weird leaks, or even normal leaks. No rear main seal leak, no pinion seal leaks, no tcase leaks, no oil leaks of any kind, kind of shocking to me. It obviously hadnt just been scrubbed, either. The leak I did notice was the steering stabilizer, which I think has been the case with every Jeep I have owned.

So the drive went really well, no noises, clutch was great (a bit heavy), transmission was smooth. Absolutely no weird noises I could notice, other than a groaning steering wheel assembly, which I have experienced before with my old XJ. It honestly drove great.

The only really, really odd thing was that the front driveshaft was missing. The guy said he bought it that way. Now, I've driven my Jeeps with the front driveshaft before for various reasons, but it still makes me think.

Regarding the damage, the rear hatch opens fine, by the way. The drivers door rubs, but that is because of some light damage to the drivers front fender from another accident, it looks like. The alignment is not off at all, the tires are all worn properly, so I dont think that the unibody is tweaked much.

Thoughts? I am tempted.

BTW, it's a Canadian Jeep, including the instrument panel being all in metric

Check your oil levels, it must be out of fluids

In this area that thing would be gone in an hour on craig's list, the price is right for those sorts of issues.

Does the rear hatch and all undamaged doors open with getting stuck? If the body is tweaked those often have issues. Heck, even with the suspension twisted up the rear hatch will bind up sometimes.

I'm a little wary about that drive shaft being disconnected, I'm wondering if there's something wrong. I can't really imagine what they would have fixed though by removing the front drive shaft. It could be that somebody took it to put on a complete jeep or to use as a rear axle (a buddy of mine did that to get a CV driveshaft on the cheap). For the price though it may be worth still getting it and fixing whatever is the issue. A used axle or transfer case would be relatively cheap.

If it was in my area it would be in the driveway already.

 

[iamwiz82]

Rear hatch closes fine. The drivers door does not, but that's because the driver fender was smacked in another accident, it looks like. Hood closes fine, too.

My guess is the front DS needed a rebuild and someone was cheap. The problem is it's a 5 speed, which is shorter than the auto, so that the DS is also shorter than standard. Still not a big deal, I found a few for $50.

 

[Bignate603]

Is it home yet?

 

[iamwiz82]

Sold out from under me

I shouldn't have dragged my feet :|

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Sold out from under me

I shouldn't have dragged my feet :|

Sorry, that sucks. Those 5 speeds are harder to find too. Oh well, maybe you'll find somebody with a better one that needs the money. That's how I got my '93 and my '97 XJs.

 

[iamwiz82]

Yes, I demand a 5-speed. 2 door was even better. oh well

 

[Bignate603]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Yes, I demand a 5-speed. 2 door was even better. oh well

Those are popular out in my area for turning into prerunner type vehicles. A two door 5 speed cherokee is about as good a platform as you can get for building a jeepspeed racer. The 2 door models are stiffer than the 4 doors.