Budget beater with a heater, small-midsized-SUV quirky-not-a-Cherokee Edition

Swank Force One wrote: So Saturday, i'm going out there with a mechanical pressure gauge, checking it, finding out that it has awesome oil pressure, not saying a damn thing, then driving home with it.

Insert ethics comment...

'98 Sidekick JLX

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/4727017183.html

JFX001 wrote: '98 Sidekick JLX http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/4727017183.html

If you don't buy that I will stop reading all of your future posts.

4 door Samurai from the previous page had winner written all over it.

Budget? Check. Beater? Check. Heater? Check. Small-midsized? Check. SUV? Check. Quirky-not-a-Cherokee? Check. Check. Check. Check, Check, Check check checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck...

In reply to 2002maniac:

He owns a shop. If he can't be bothered to properly diagnose a vehicle, then don't care much. I used to take my cars to him for stuff, got sick of him messing them up.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: will to live fading... Just buy something already.

I will post this again.. This thread is stupid..

I said from the beginning I wouldn't be buying til November and this was just research. I'm ahead of schedule!

Another vote for that 98 Sidekick, that thing is awesome! Plus, he forgot to put his finger over the license plate in pic 6, so now you can track him down/Facebook stalk him/get his DMV photo/whatever else you can do with his plate number...it's a free-for-all!!

I don't know anything about those. Learn me?

Intriguing backup plan due to low miles and cuteness.

In reply to Swank Force One:

imo you should avoid the sidekick sports like the one linked(1.8L I4 and wider than the non sports) because of little to no aftermarket

The Sidekick/Tracker, XL-7, Vitara and Grand Vitara are all fine.

1988-1998(2 or 4 door) Sidekick/tracker: IFS. 3 or 4 speed auto available(2 doors are all 3 speed gm TH180's if auto and a 100% mechanical auto at that) but the 5 speed will bolt into a 3 speed tracker. G16a or G16b (80hp or 100hp 8v vs 16v) largest aftermarket

1998-2006(4 door only) XL-7: 2.7L V6 185hp 4 speed auto and 5 speed essentially a stretched Grand Vitara some aftermarket

1998-2006(4 door only) Grand Vitara/(2 or 4 door)Chevy Tracker: 1.6 G15b 100 hp or 2.0 J20A 130 hp 4 speed auto and 5 speed R&P steering so harder to do a suspension lift on. some aftermarket

Swank Force One wrote: I don't know anything about those. Learn me? Intriguing backup plan due to low miles and cuteness.

Rust. More rust. And Even More Rust.

Ok, crawl all underneath it. Check the tubes that connect the frame rails. Check the body mounts. Check the floor pans. These things can look great from a few feet away and be 90% gone underneath. BTDT

And yeah, having had a 1.8L Sidekick before, and now with a 2.0L Vitara, go for the 2.0. Major improvement in livability, with no decrease in MPG. The '98 and up (rounded) body style seems to be less rust-prone compared to the earlier generations also.

rcutclif wrote:

JFX001 wrote: '98 Sidekick JLX http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/4727017183.html

If you don't buy that I will stop reading all of your future posts.

WHERE HAS THAT GUY BEEN STICKING HIS FINGER?!

Well I hate red cars and didn't want a Cherokee.

So, got that red Cherokee. Paying asking price, didn't bother putting a gauge on it. Clear cut sender/cluster issue.

5spd gearing in these trucks is beyond hilarious.

Its more than likely a sender issue. There are two types of senders for the XJ. One for the basic gauge cluster which just has an idiot light and one for the higher trims that is actually a gauge. When I had my 1992, I swapped out the base guages for the higher model version. I had to swap out the sender which was super simple.

The AX15 5 speed is pretty robust. Make sure you use GL4 lube since GL5 has sulphur which eats the bronze syncros.

Do you know what type of rear axle it has? It could either be the Dana 35 or Chrysler 8.25 depending on the ratio.

Oh and PICS NAO

Yeah our 2000 eats senders like they're candy.

It's the 8.25" rear end. The truck is mechanically identical to our 2000, just with a man pedal and less doors.

Pics to follow in the next couple days. It should come home Tuesday.

Look what just popped up on the local CL:

War Wagon

I miss my XJ

Swank Force One wrote: Well I hate red cars and didn't want a Cherokee. So, got that red Cherokee. Paying asking price, didn't bother putting a gauge on it. Clear cut sender/cluster issue. 5spd gearing in these trucks is beyond hilarious.

So basically everyone in this thread wasted their time trying to help you out and you did the exact opposite? Great, so you're just like 99% of the automotive public that we all bitch about that ask our opinion and go the complete opposite direction. I guess I'll wish you luck with the Cherokee.

Also, why would anyone want to see pictures? Its just a Red berkeleying Cherokee whoopdedoo!

I was excluding Cherokees from the beginning because there weren't ones worth buying in my price range. I said in the first post that another Cherokee would be the perfect solution.

I'm slightly disappointed from a "this isn't a 1st gen Montero" aspect. But this was an opportunity not to be passed up.

Oh well.

I uploaded pics but don't know how to access them from the phone.

I said I wouldn't read posts but I didn't say I wouldn't look at pics.

Should be a sweet truck.

In reply to The_Jed:

That's a two pack a day smoker's finger if I ever saw one. I had a nasty yellow tinge on my left hand middle and pointer finger from a pack a day habit at one point.

At least I only make long drawn out posts about buying a piece of E36 M3 instead of making 7 pages of how I don't want to buy the car I just bought.

2 door, 4.0 HO, 5 speed, 4x4 xj? Got to be fairly rare.... Sounds nice. I'd be happy to score that.

I'm told it's unheard of in the later years. Every Jeep guy so far has reacted with "WTF?!?!"

In reply to Swank Force One:

Awesome rig. I drove a similar one in Charleston SC a while back. Too bad it was from UP michigan and had holes the size of my fist in the floor.

In reply to moparman76_69:

(2nd part of the post.)

I think this thread was basically Swank fighting the forces of inevitability and reaching out for a bit of help.

Kind of like me at a Chinese buffet; it doesn't matter what I'm after when I leave my seat, or how much I focus on the other offerings, General Tso's chicken always lands on my plate.

It's not perfect. Driver's side door is missing the moulding. (I was going to remove anyways.) Unfortunately, passenger side moulding is held in with two wood screws put through the door. I'll probably just weld up the holes, grind flush, then just... bedline below the body line on both sides of the truck.

Tailgate has a dent, so does rear bumper. I'll probably just pop the interior panel off and push it back out for a 95% fix and live with it. Rear bumper, i'll get a sheet metal bumper eventually. Passenger rear quarter is dented, i'll probably push it out best as i can as well. Then just... not care.

Zero rust on this thing. Nice enough to be presentable, not cherry enough for me to care about little things. I'll be using it hard.

that's too many red vehicles for one driveway.