GC Wj

[Grassland]

Sure! I had one for years, in between driving a couple of Big Blazers and my current GMC truck.

I found the 4.0 liter inline 6 cylinder engine immensely easy to work on. Plugs, coils, starter, oil changes. Did the fuel rail...Even doing the water pump wasnt bad. Then I reached out to KOLAK and added Iron Rock Offroad springs, new Crown Automotive spring perch isolators, Moog anti-sways, and Pro Comp 9000 series shocks. Then Wrangler wheels and tires. All done and it was a nice tight turning, camping-mobile! Two kayaks, dogs, gear and the little lady.

Having said all that, watch for a few things...


Door wiring at the hinge boots...Chrysler never gives enough wire at their connections. Over time the ground wire just snaps. This causes interior lights to stay on after the doors are closed and similar gremlins.

Same goes for battery cables. I changed them out completely finally.

The rear control arm is an interesting triangle type o had never seen before, too.

Oh, and the hvac blend doors. When the crap out on you, its easiest to remove the glove compartment door, reach to the back, cut a panel open there and replace them that way

Hope that helps

Is Kolak still around??

The rear triangular swing arm has the ball joint in it and if it's rusty (like every WJ within 1000 miles of where I live) it's easier to replace the entire arm than trying to take it out and press.out the joint and put in a new one.
They are OLD in general. Poor fuel economy, slow, quite small by today's standards.
You are talking about something designed in the mid 1990s, produced from 1999-2004 for model years.

Personally, if you live somewhere that 20+ year old unibody SUVs aren't rusted out heaps, I'd go for the 4.7 V8 as you get a transmission with more gears, and a Dana 44a rear differential, more HP and torque.
Ideally I'd look for one with the tow package as well.
It's been almost a decade since my 2nd WJ but if you keep the lift mild you can run 245/75R16 tires, and keep stock length control arms. 265/75R16s if you are down with trimming.

Got rid of my 2002 with only 206,000KM in 2016, because everything was rusting away and every fastener was seized and everything was at the age where it needed to be replaced, which sucks to do when it's become one rusty mess.

Best of luck!

 

[ThundahBeagle]

I've never been a fan of an 8 cylinder in a vehicle this size, but I know why @Grassland and others like it. What he said.

KOLAK...I can only say he was around about 5 years ago when I ordered the parts for my WJ, and he was around about two years ago when I ordered the Billstein shocks for my GMC Sierra.

Both interactions with him were spot on.

 

[Zeep]

Kolak still has contact info on Jeepforum!

 

[KENPERK]

I've got a '04 Limited I bought new . Its got the 4.7, put a Kolak 3.5 lift on it 10 years ago...it just turned 187,000 last week. just use it now to tow my flat fender now.

 

[Todd780]

Yep! It was a 1999 and I stupidly sold it in '09 with under 60K miles on it.

4.0L, Selec-Trac so I got 2WD as well as the 4WD modes and the trailer tow pkg which gave me 3:73's + 2.5" OME lift, M/T's...

Loved that thing....





Still probably my favorite body style of Grand and the some of the most comfy seats I've sat in.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Yep! It was a 1999 and I stupidly sold it in '09 with under 60K miles on it.

4.0L, Selec-Trac so I got 2WD as well as the 4WD modes and the trailer tow pkg which gave me 3:73's + 2.5" OME lift, M/T's...

Loved that thing....

View attachment 777287

View attachment 777288

Still probably my favorite body style of Grand and the some of the most comfy seats I've sat in.

My favorite body was the original ZJ, though I've never owned one. But the WJ was unkillable.

As far as the seats are concerned, the WJ seats are some of the LEAST comfortable I've sat in. And then the frame broke on the driver's seat (a common issue with these) and it wobbled. Even before that, The transmission bell housing tunnel made the angle of my right leg oddly towards center

To be fair, I was coming from a full size GMT 400 truck with lots of room

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Thanks for the replies,
I pulled the trigger on the 01 wj, sold my 70 baja trail runner.
I'll post a picture when I figure out how to accept cookies on this site.

 

[Todd780]

My favorite body was the original ZJ, though I've never owned one. But the WJ was unkillable.

As far as the seats are concerned, the WJ seats are some of the LEAST comfortable I've sat in. And then the frame broke on the driver's seat (a common issue with these) and it wobbled. Even before that, The transmission bell housing tunnel made the angle of my right leg oddly towards center

To be fair, I was coming from a full size GMT 400 truck with lots of room

Funny enough I owned a GMT-400 ('94 Sierra rcsb) at the same time as my WJ...

Can't find a pic of it but it looked like this but I stripped off all the trim and swapped on sport mirrors.

 

[1stDeuce]

There is a big difference between the leather seats in a Limited and the cloth seats typically in a Laredo... I always found the GC leather seats to feel like a soft couch, which was not "comfortable" to me. The cloth seats were a bit firmer, which I found to be far more comfortable. I would bet that others would have an opposite take on the same comparison...

Jeep flipped this for some models... We had a Limited Liberty for a while, and the leather seats were some of the most hard and uncomfortable that I have ever sat in. By contrast, I got in a sport with cloth seats and found them very comfortable.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Funny enough I owned a GMT-400 ('94 Sierra rcsb) at the same time as my WJ...

Can't find a pic of it but it looked like this but I stripped off all the trim and swapped on sport mirrors.

View attachment 777547

Yep. This. The one in your picture is a 2 wd, but like you I had rcsb 4x4, in the picture below, and then two different big Blazer K1500 Silverado 2 doors of this body style. Frigging great trucks.

 

[Todd780]

Yep. This. The one in your picture is a 2 wd, but like you I had rcsb 4x4, then two different big Blazer K1500 Sikverado 2 doors of this era. Frigging great trucks.

View attachment 777697

The one I had was a 2WD like in the pic I posted. Loaded SLE with the TBI 350.
I had a set of 20" Centerline Smoothies and a 5/7 Bell Tech static drop lined up to get installed for this look:
.

But then another project car caught my eye so I traded the truck for this car:


A '64 Riv with a straight body from California and a 401 nailhead.

Shouldn't have sold that Riv either. Like selling the WJ I regret that sale....

Also regret selling my '64 Wildcat conv. and my '71 Riviera GS455....

Now I'm depressed.....

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

pretty happy with it so far.
Gets better mpgs than my sd

 

[Todd780]

pretty happy with it so far.
Gets better mpgs than my sd View attachment 777782

Congrats! What are the details? Or did I miss that?
Tough to see in the small pic but it looks like it already has a small lift with a which bumper already?

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Thanks, the only modification, 3" lift stock 4.0
Lots of new parts by po
Yesterday I ordered 373's with LS.
It will stay mostly stock..been down the " modified " road.

 

[Todd780]

Thanks, the only modification, 3" lift stock 4.0
Lots of new parts by po
Yesterday I ordered 373's with LS.
It will stay mostly stock..been down the " modified " road.

Need to see some more pics!

Pretty much the same as the one I used to own. Mine was just a 2.5" OME lift.