96 ZJ, built... school me Jeepers...

[chasespeed]

Hey all.... Not a Jeep guy... used to work for Jeep in the 90s...but, that is about it...

Came across a 96 ZJ, guy wants to trade across, with 1k cash towards my Cummins...

I am hesitant, and know I will be taking a hit...

The 2 big pluses are, 1, I dont have to deal with trying to sell it.... and 2, a back seat so I can take the whole family...

Okay, has an Iron Rock Long arm kit, running 35s, ford 8.8 w/ 4.11s. "Built" D30(trussed and moly inners)... which, would have to go come spring, for a 44.

ONLY rot, rust I on the whole freakin' thing, is the rear bumper brackets... no floor pan issues, rockers, etc.... no carpet, so, easy to check all the floors.

I think my concerns are... first off... automatic... I have no love or trust for a slushbox...

Second, it is sitting on 35s, and would occasionally need to drag my boat around(19ft cuddy).

Third, realistically, how thirsty and DRIVEABLE is this combo over the long haul... I will need to be able to drive this thing, anywhere, at any time....

FYI, ONLY gripes w/ my truck, are 1, no back seat, 2, too freakin big for any of our trails up here...

Thanks,
Chase

 

[Doctor W]

What engine has it got?

If a 4.0, it'll use a fair amount of fuel with these mods.......

If it's a 5.2 it'll use a fair amount of fuel also.

Beware of rust, these Jeeps have a fully galvinised body and shouldn't rust unless accident damaged and badly repaired. If the bumper brackets are rusted then get some from wreckers as replacements.

Good thing about Jeeps and that includes ZJ's, is the low cost and huge choice of upgrades.

 

[chasespeed]

DUH.... sorry.... 4.0... I am a fan of inline 6s... no leaks... just a leaky/ or cracked exhaust manifold.

Like I said, I poked and proded everywhere.

And FYI, just about every Jeep in this area is ROTTED away. Hell, my 10 year old truck is on its second bed, and due for another set of fenders....

Again, my MAJOR concern is drivability......


Chase

 

[StumpXJ]

Depending on the tires (brand, kind MT or AT etc etc ), it could be very drivable, but 4:11 gears is still kinda high for 35's with an auto. I assume is has the AW4 tranny? If so, its a DANG good auto and rarely give much trouble. I have two jeeps (XJ's) with that same drivetrain combo, and tow with both all the time. One has 160K on the clock, and the other has 215K and have stock OEM motor and tranny. Maintain them, and they will last quite a while. Fuel mileage...honestly, with that set-up, maybe 14-16 corrected mpg's. The 8.8 is a big plus, and the beefed up 30 will probably not give you much trouble, just depending on how much you beat on it. Long arms do ride pretty nice, as long as everything else is set-up properly (shocks, alignement, driveline angles, etc.)

Best thing to do is take her for a nice long test drive and you be the judge.

Also, dragging a 19 foot cuddy around may not be easy. Definitely want a aux. tranny cooler installed, and a re-gear to 4.56 or 4.88 would be in order for anything over towing the boat around the neighborhood. (I used to pull a 20 foot enclosed trailer with my DD cherokee)

 

[Doctor W]

DUH.... sorry.... 4.0... I am a fan of inline 6s... no leaks... just a leaky/ or cracked exhaust manifold.

Like I said, I poked and proded everywhere.

And FYI, just about every Jeep in this area is ROTTED away. Hell, my 10 year old truck is on its second bed, and due for another set of fenders....

Again, my MAJOR concern is drivability......


Chase

Yeah, I really like the Jeep 4.0 I6.....

A cracked join where the exhaust joins in the pipe is very common.......I've heard/read you can weld it up and add some strenghtening webs after removing the exhaust manifold or replace with a heavier/higher quality or stainless set up or fit headers (but becomes crowded).

My ZJ has only a modest lift and tyres, so I honestly can't give an opinion on drivability with that lift and 35" tyres.

 

[bob91yj]

IMO, you need at least 4.88's to run a 4.0L and 35's, especially if you plan to tow.

4.0L is never going to be a power house or economical, rear main seal is going to leak, not if, but when. If the engine has had regular maintenance it will run damn near forever. Champion Truck plugs every 30k miles are my plug of choice, 4.0L's are almost guaranteed to misfire running platinum or any of the other wonder spark plugs.

Swapping a D30 out for a D44 is a loser IMO. I've never been in a position where selectable hubs would have been a benefit for me, honestly, I prefer the Jeep unit bearing design (I can live with the spinning front dshaft). Bearing and axle shaft swaps are stupid simple. I've seen more blown hubs on D44's than I've seen failures in the D30 unit design, actually, I don't know that I've ever seen a D30 hub fail, just heard about it happening. D30 failures usually occur at the axle shaft u-joint...the same 297x u-joints that fail in a D44. If it already has Cr-Mo shafts, use a quality full circle clip u-joint in them and call it good.

If it has the AW-4 transmission in it, that is a stout auto, plenty of Jeepspeed teams running them in their race cars. If equipped with a full time transfer case, they can be problematic, viscous coupling is about a $900 part. It fails in the locked position so it won't leave you stranded. We ran that tcase in our DJR Jeepspeed car (2010 Baja 1000 Class 1700 Champion) so they can take some abuse.

 

[Doctor W]

Depending on the tires (brand, kind MT or AT etc etc ), it could be very drivable, but 4:11 gears is still kinda high for 35's with an auto. I assume is has the AW4 tranny? If so, its a DANG good auto and rarely give much trouble. I have two jeeps (XJ's) with that same drivetrain combo, and tow with both all the time. One has 160K on the clock, and the other has 215K and have stock OEM motor and tranny. Maintain them, and they will last quite a while. Fuel mileage...honestly, with that set-up, maybe 14-16 corrected mpg's. The 8.8 is a big plus, and the beefed up 30 will probably not give you much trouble, just depending on how much you beat on it. Long arms do ride pretty nice, as long as everything else is set-up properly (shocks, alignement, driveline angles, etc.)

Best thing to do is take her for a nice long test drive and you be the judge.

Also, dragging a 19 foot cuddy around may not be easy. Definitely want a aux. tranny cooler installed, and a re-gear to 4.56 or 4.88 would be in order for anything over towing the boat around the neighborhood. (I used to pull a 20 foot enclosed trailer with my DD cherokee)

1. I also think lower gears might go better with 35"'s (or how worn are tyres?.....maybe swap in 33"'s ?)

2. I think that a '96 ZJ with 4.0 might have a 42RE auto tranny, my '97 does but it's really a ZG (a RHD ZJ built for export by M-Benz Steyr in Austria)

3. I get 14 litres per 100 kilometres highway averaging 90-100 Kph,(Without a roof basket with stuff, it got 11L/100 kph!) to 18L/100klm combined usage and 20L/100klm in town according to the trip computer - I'll try and find a conversion method/tables.

4.I agree that the Dana 30 as you have it now would be considered adequate for non-extreme use, I would think. Also the Ford 8.8 is regarded as a good choice for a non-extreme use upgrade.

5. Maybe consider changing down tyre size, when the 35"'s wear out - that way you'll have better gearing (without swapping to lower gears) and it'll be a bit easier on both diffs (without needing to fit the D44).

 

[Doctor W]

IMO, you need at least 4.88's to run a 4.0L and 35's, especially if you plan to tow.

4.0L is never going to be a power house or economical, rear main seal is going to leak, not if, but when. If the engine has had regular maintenance it will run damn near forever. Champion Truck plugs every 30k miles are my plug of choice, 4.0L's are almost guaranteed to misfire running platinum or any of the other wonder spark plugs.

Swapping a D30 out for a D44 is a loser IMO. I've never been in a position where selectable hubs would have been a benefit for me, honestly, I prefer the Jeep unit bearing design (I can live with the spinning front dshaft). Bearing and axle shaft swaps are stupid simple. I've seen more blown hubs on D44's than I've seen failures in the D30 unit design, actually, I don't know that I've ever seen a D30 hub fail, just heard about it happening. D30 failures usually occur at the axle shaft u-joint...the same 297x u-joints that fail in a D44. If it already has Cr-Mo shafts, use a quality full circle clip u-joint in them and call it good.

If it has the AW-4 transmission in it, that is a stout auto, plenty of Jeepspeed teams running them in their race cars. If equipped with a full time transfer case, they can be problematic, viscous coupling is about a $900 part. It fails in the locked position so it won't leave you stranded. We ran that tcase in our DJR Jeepspeed car (2010 Baja 1000 Class 1700 Champion) so they can take some abuse.

X2 on all of the above good info!!!.....only thing is I understood the Viscous Coupling (part only) was about $200.....maybe it's $900 R/R???..... or swap in an XJ's 2WD,4WDF/T,4WDP/T,4WDLo Transfer Case (the 231???) if you want choice of 2WD or 4WD instead of locking front hubs.

 

[bob91yj]

$900 for factory parts, still not cheap for aftermarket. Found these on a quick search...

http://www.jeep4x4center.com/jeep-grand-cherokee/viscous-coupling.htm

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Your 96 with the 4.0 has the 42RE transmission with the 242 transfer case, which is actually very well made and can take a lot of abuse, more on that here http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/np242.htm The 42RE is taking a lot of heat with those 4.11's and 35's, either upgrade the gearing or downsize the tires before you have to replace it. I love my 4.56's and 33's, but anything larger and my little 4.0 will not like it too much, we are also at higher altitude and may not be as much of an issue for you. I have upgraded cooling, as well as coolers for the P/S and transmission with a dedicated fan. On occasion I have borrowed a friend's 16ft flatbed trailer to tow stuff to the dump or haul a Miata race car, starting and getting up to speed is not hard, but stopping is. In the near future I will be buying a Cummins to tow the Jeep with so I can push it a little harder on trails and put 35's under it, but right now it's not a big concern because we have 2 other cars to drive.

 

[chasespeed]

Thanks. I thought the 35s were a bit much. 33s are about all I would want anyway. I need to drive this too. 33s on a 7.5 inch lift... i would have to find a way to knock it down a couple inches... hard to justify taking that much of a hit, only to have to dump MORE money into a vehicle.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I believe the lowest you can go on that long arm setup is a 4.5in coil, which is where you want to be anyway, go with Rubicon Express. You may actually find a set of used springs for cheap if you look around.

 

[FishPOET]

I love my ZJ.

My ZJ was marginal at best when stock towing 4000#. I'm at 6" of lift on long arms and 35s and I personally wouldn't tow any trailer over 1500# now. A lifted ZJ does a lot of things well but towing a 19' cuddy is not one of them, especially with the 4.0.

The stock ZJ brakes are only adequate. IMO once you lift, add the big tires, the skids, bumpers etc and then your family and their gear the stock brakes are woeful.

 

[K2ZJ]

Most of this is spot on. Not a great tow rig with that height and tire combo. MPGs will suffer with that combo. Don't do the Dana 44, not a real upgrade. What does your t-case selector say? 2hi 4hi N 4lo (231), 2hi 4 full time 4 part time N 4lo (242), or 4hi N 4lo (249)?

Also if you want to swap your t-case, from the 249 vc failure, you need a 23 spline from a 94+.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Most of this is spot on. Not a great tow rig with that height and tire combo. MPGs will suffer with that combo. Don't do the Dana 44, not a real upgrade. What does your t-case selector say? 2hi 4hi N 4lo (231), 2hi 4 full time 4 part time N 4lo (242), or 4hi N 4lo (249)?

Also if you want to swap your t-case, from the 249 vc failure, you need a 23 spline from a 94+.

Read, he DOES NOT have a 231 or a 249, in 96 the 4.0 ZJ only came with a 242.