Was wondering if any of you have or had a jeep YJ (87-96? ) as general statement has it been good? The cherokees ive had were pretty bullet proof, even at 180k+ miles. I would imagine its the same running gear. cant find much on stock gear ratios for the 4 cyl and 6cyl. just wanna leave it stock. Im tired of destroying my daily driver with xrtra goodies that make em undaily driverable

 

I own a 94 YJ, sadly, its powered by the 4banger. I bought mine when i was 15 and built it up from the piece of junk it was. My best advice would be PLEASE get a 6 cylinder, even w/ stock tires, the little 4 banger is still underpowered. Although its never let me down after banging the rev limiter numerous times, I still wish I had more power.

As far as gears, all 4cylinders came w/ 4.10's, and the 6's came w/ 3.73, all have Dana 35C rears and Dana 30 fronts.

Since its gonna be a daily driver, you might want to look into an early TJ, you can find them pretty cheap now. Not to mention they're alot more comfortable and you might even find one w/ the Dana 44 rear.

good luck
Jeff

 

Yup, I have a 4 banger '95 YJ. I like my 4 banger offroad. I have never had an issue with power. I stay on the rocks, and out of the mud and water as much as I can. But if I was to do it again, I would just get the 6 cyl. No issues with my 4 banger tho. 70,000 miles and I have only replaced the battery and starter.

 

Previous 92 owner. Dana 35 rear breaks when locked up dana 44 is much better. 6cyl is awesome w/5 sp.Don't run more than 33" tires. Run 4.56 gears!!

 

Had a '94 wrangler: black diamond 4" lift, arb lockers front and rear with 4.56 gears and a warn winch. It was a great little wheeler the only problem i had was some fuel delivery problems with the straight six but i think i got some bad fuel in moab once. Wish i still had it.

 

3.07 gears were available with the 6-cylinder as well - they're fine for stock tires (~27" tall) but if you ever do decide to go bigger it'll be a dog.

The D35 rear isn't a great axle, but a lot of problems with it are directly related to the right foot. The axle shafts are small, and because they're C-clipped it can be a real problem if you break a shaft. The YJs also have weak housings that are prone to bending. The D35 is easily replaced by a Ford Exploder 8.8 (also C-clipped, but shafts are much bigger, and many came with disc brakes).

Some of the earlier D30 front axles used small U-joints that don't hold up well, but later shafts can be swapped in without any other mods.

Even though YJs are good Jeeps, I'll agree with the suggestion for a TJ - they ride and handle better since they have coils all around, have airbags for safety, and in stock form are more capable off road. The stock suspension on the YJ doesn't flex well without some modification (ditching the track bars, disco'd sway bars), and the ride is rougher with the leaf springs, especially with the "backwards" shackles on the front.

Of course, I am biased...I have a TJ.