1998 JEEP Wrangler

Best Vehicle I've ever owned

Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 4 Value Rating: 5

I was given a 98' Sport with a 5 speed, 6 cylinder and a 3" body lift riding on (initially) 32X11.5 tires as my first car. The "Bigfoot Edition" package had been put on by a dealership when new. It had 140,000 miles on it but was very clean. I kept it for the next 9 1/2 years and (for personal/financial reasons that weren't connected to the Jeep) sold it with 262,000 on the clock. With a set of All terrain or good mud tires, it was a beach machine. Dunes, mud, none of it stopped it...even with a trailer in tow in areas known to swallow much more powerful 4X4s. I used it to pull stumps, tow other vehicles, drive long distances and cruise through town. The torque of the 4.0 combined with a good 1st gear and 4Lo is very handy. My only complaint was that the A/C wasn't strong enough to cool the back seat terribly well in super hot weather. The heater, however, was astonishing. I could drop the top in 50 degree weather, wear shorts and have to turn the heater DOWN because it was scalding my feet. Everybody will ask if it is top heavy. Honestly, I've driven a stock height Grand Cherokee and felt much more likely to roll it. The following things failed and had to be replaced: Exhaust Manifold-Apparently every Wrangler will have this happen at some point. A shop in the next town replaced it but put a small "flex" joint after the header. Never had a problem with it after that. Power Steering Pump-150,000. Easy replacement Alternator-188,000 Not unexpected nor difficult to replace. Rear Axle-Mine had a Dana 35 rear in the beginning, bigger tires and was regularly used to tow boats, pull stumps and recover other vehicles. This failed at the 210,000 mark. I replaced it with a Dana 44 that was easy to acquire used and never had a problem after that. Seats-The support gave out somewhere around the 230,000 mark. I replaced the fronts with relative ease. Transmission - Synchros on 1st and 5th gear started to fail around 220,000 miles. I replaced it with a crate transmission for cheap at about 245,000. Soft Top-I replaced this twice actually. They just don't last much longer than five years it seems. Cheap to replace though. I misjudged the depth of a mud hole and killed the engine at the 232,000 mark. A dealership replaced the engine with a $400 donor from a same year Cherokee. This illustrates the final point I want to make: It is ridiculously easy to get parts for these Jeeps. Everything can be replaced in short order. There is no waiting on a part and it is relatively easy to work on the 4X4 yourself. The straight six isn't a powerhouse, but (unless it inhales a bunch of muddy water) it won't die.