I am looking into a nice WJ for my brother inlaw(16). I know very little about the newer jeeps. I owned a 97 xj sport w/ all the trimmings in 97-00. i also had a 76' j-10 on 38's both when i was 16 (26 now). I just lost interest in jeeps b/c it just cost too much to build them for the wheeling i do. My bro is in love w/ this wj. I want to be sure it's reliable enough for him. he wants to play off road, in little mud holes and few mild local trails, but mainly a mall crawler. Here are the specs on the jeep we're looking at: 02' WJ, v8, select-trac (part time) case. d44 rear guy said it was reverse? or somthing (made no sense to me never heard of such), d30 frt, 4:56 gears, Clayton long arm susp. frt and rear. safari rack, piaa lights on bumper and rack 4 froward 2 reverse. 589 eagle alloys, 305/70r16 nitto terra graplers. I want to be sure it won't nickle and dime him to death, it is a jeep. it seems in great shape and hardly wheeled. looks well built for a wj. what problems are they prone to if any? i doubt he will want to upgrade the axles and such or i would look another route. oh 94k miles and asking 12k for it i think i could get it cheaper though? ok sorry for the length just want to cover the bases. what would ya'll do? good deal for a 16yr old or let it ride?

It seems overbuilt to me to have not been wheeled very much. (I just can't imagine someone going to the trouble and expense of installing a Clayton setup and it only being a mall crawler.) Plus that's a lot of miles on a modified vehicle for that kind of money.

Of course your brother likes it. He's 16. The wrong head is doing all the thinking.

mmmmmmmmmm 16 Y/O, I don't think long term condition of vehicle matters as Statistics say he is going to total this vehicle. My only other comment is I have a 2000 WJ (stock), with 130,000 plus miles. It has been a great vehicle, but none of the repairs have been Cheap, which might be an issue for a 16 Y/O on a tight budget.

A Mall crawler most likely would not have bothered to regear. Any lockers?

Yep, he'll probably wreck it.
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