4WD (Cherokee?) recommendations please

coyotefred · 2004-06-17T18:53:44+00:00

Hello!After 240K miles, my trusty old Toyota pickup is going out to pasture(literally, as a ranch work truck). I need a new main ride now, and Ithink a used cherokee may be my best choice. My driving habits areabout 70% pavement (with pretty good snow/ice coverages in winterthough), 20% dirt/gravel rural roads (sometimes pretty muddy in wetsprings) and 10% off-road (not recreational 4-wheeling, but gettingback on lousy ?roads,' 2-track or worse to hunt, fish, hike, etc.). ?No kids, just the girlfriend and a buddy or two now and then (andplenty of gear) for trips. 'Maybe some light towing now and then(small horse trailer). And I want to stay under about $15,000 if Ican.Like other folks with similar driving needs, I thought about some ofthe compact SUVs like the Subaru Forester and the Honda CRV. I likethe idea of a full-time AWD system to leave "on" at times when in myneck of the woods you're not sure where your next patch of black iceis going to show up. However, the lack of a 4-low option for slowcrawling and pulling concerned me, as did the basic fact that (basedon my reading the opinions of others) these are on-road vehicles with*some* limited off-road capability. I do spend a fair amount of time"off-pavement," and I need a vehicle that can deal with that.When I put everything together, it seemed to me a used jeep cherokeemight be a good choice. While I'm not thrilled with jeep'sreliability compared to the likes of Toyota, Honda & Subaru (myimmediate and extended family have driven jeeps for as long as I canremember, and they've spent more time in the shop than I think theyshould have), I need to think of performance as well as reliability. And when things do go wrong, my chances of getting decent service on acherokee out here in rural America seem a whole lot better than Subaruor Honda.From what I've read, it seemed like maybe a late 90s Cherokee sportwith the Select-Tract drivetrain (which apparently has a selectablefull-time AWD option or something...

Jun 17, 2004 23 Replies

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Steve 22 years ago

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L.W.(ßill) Hughes III 22 years ago

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DaveW 22 years ago

Sorry yours leak Steve. But I must point out that it is not a simple matter of hanging your arm out or not. The other term for wind wings is "no drafts". They provide ventilation without the noise and wind pummeling draft of an open window, even at highway speeds.

Not that my left arm isn't more tan than my right one, all the same.

Regards,

DAve

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Matt Macchiarolo 22 years ago

My brother's 1970 Ford Torino (which I drove thru high school) had both

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4WD (Cherokee?) recommendations please

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