Hey all,

Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.

As always, thanks for your expertise!!

Marty

 

In 97 they revised the dash, and introduced quadra-coil, which replaced your
leaf springs with coil springs, front and rear. Some say it's an upgrade,
some say it isn't. I had a 99 TJ and the ride was too bouncy for me. I
upgraded the springs to Rubicon springs and it was better, but still bouncy.

HTH

Carl


"Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1166920060.836853.244300@48g2000cwx.googlegro ups.com...
> Hey all,
>
> Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
> telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
> keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
> the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
> have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
> upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
> outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
> sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
> or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
>
> As always, thanks for your expertise!!
>
> Marty
>

 

In 97 they revised the dash, and introduced quadra-coil, which replaced your
leaf springs with coil springs, front and rear. Some say it's an upgrade,
some say it isn't. I had a 99 TJ and the ride was too bouncy for me. I
upgraded the springs to Rubicon springs and it was better, but still bouncy.

HTH

Carl


"Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1166920060.836853.244300@48g2000cwx.googlegro ups.com...
> Hey all,
>
> Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
> telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
> keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
> the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
> have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
> upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
> outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
> sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
> or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
>
> As always, thanks for your expertise!!
>
> Marty
>

 

In 97 they revised the dash, and introduced quadra-coil, which replaced your
leaf springs with coil springs, front and rear. Some say it's an upgrade,
some say it isn't. I had a 99 TJ and the ride was too bouncy for me. I
upgraded the springs to Rubicon springs and it was better, but still bouncy.

HTH

Carl


"Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1166920060.836853.244300@48g2000cwx.googlegro ups.com...
> Hey all,
>
> Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
> telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
> keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
> the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
> have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
> upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
> outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
> sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
> or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
>
> As always, thanks for your expertise!!
>
> Marty
>

 

I think it was around then that they moved from the AX-15 to the NV3550
- at least on the 4.0.

Carl wrote:
> In 97 they revised the dash, and introduced quadra-coil, which replaced your
> leaf springs with coil springs, front and rear. Some say it's an upgrade,
> some say it isn't. I had a 99 TJ and the ride was too bouncy for me. I
> upgraded the springs to Rubicon springs and it was better, but still bouncy.
>
> HTH
>
> Carl
>
>
> "Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1166920060.836853.244300@48g2000cwx.googlegro ups.com...
> > Hey all,
> >
> > Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
> > telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
> > keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
> > the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
> > have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
> > upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
> > outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
> > sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
> > or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
> >
> > As always, thanks for your expertise!!
> >
> > Marty
> >

 

I think it was around then that they moved from the AX-15 to the NV3550
- at least on the 4.0.

Carl wrote:
> In 97 they revised the dash, and introduced quadra-coil, which replaced your
> leaf springs with coil springs, front and rear. Some say it's an upgrade,
> some say it isn't. I had a 99 TJ and the ride was too bouncy for me. I
> upgraded the springs to Rubicon springs and it was better, but still bouncy.
>
> HTH
>
> Carl
>
>
> "Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1166920060.836853.244300@48g2000cwx.googlegro ups.com...
> > Hey all,
> >
> > Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
> > telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
> > keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
> > the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
> > have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
> > upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
> > outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
> > sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
> > or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
> >
> > As always, thanks for your expertise!!
> >
> > Marty
> >

 

I think it was around then that they moved from the AX-15 to the NV3550
- at least on the 4.0.

Carl wrote:
> In 97 they revised the dash, and introduced quadra-coil, which replaced your
> leaf springs with coil springs, front and rear. Some say it's an upgrade,
> some say it isn't. I had a 99 TJ and the ride was too bouncy for me. I
> upgraded the springs to Rubicon springs and it was better, but still bouncy.
>
> HTH
>
> Carl
>
>
> "Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1166920060.836853.244300@48g2000cwx.googlegro ups.com...
> > Hey all,
> >
> > Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
> > telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
> > keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
> > the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
> > have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
> > upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
> > outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
> > sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
> > or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
> >
> > As always, thanks for your expertise!!
> >
> > Marty
> >

 

On 23 Dec 2006 16:27:40 -0800, "Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Hey all,
>
> Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
>telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
>keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
>the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
>have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
>upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
>outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
>sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
>or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
>
> As always, thanks for your expertise!!
>
>Marty

Others here would be more informed than I, but I didn't feel like
lurking and waiting for someone else to answer you ;-)

I *THINK* there were improvements to the intake manifold, or the head
design or something in the '99 and newer 4.0L engines, which account
for a few extra points in HP and TQ...

So the question comes down to $4000 to $6000 (Or less) to do a QUALITY
engine swap VS finding a low mileage 97 Wrangler for the KBB value of
$8000 or so...

I guess if you're happy with the rest of your current vehicle then the
engine swap might be the better choice, considering you are familiar
with it's quirks and such, but then again, if you bide your time, you
might find a "well equipt" TJ with hardware that's "better than stock"
;-)

Either way, good luck, and:

Merry F'ing Christmas!

....

 

On 23 Dec 2006 16:27:40 -0800, "Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Hey all,
>
> Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
>telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
>keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
>the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
>have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
>upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
>outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
>sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
>or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
>
> As always, thanks for your expertise!!
>
>Marty

Others here would be more informed than I, but I didn't feel like
lurking and waiting for someone else to answer you ;-)

I *THINK* there were improvements to the intake manifold, or the head
design or something in the '99 and newer 4.0L engines, which account
for a few extra points in HP and TQ...

So the question comes down to $4000 to $6000 (Or less) to do a QUALITY
engine swap VS finding a low mileage 97 Wrangler for the KBB value of
$8000 or so...

I guess if you're happy with the rest of your current vehicle then the
engine swap might be the better choice, considering you are familiar
with it's quirks and such, but then again, if you bide your time, you
might find a "well equipt" TJ with hardware that's "better than stock"
;-)

Either way, good luck, and:

Merry F'ing Christmas!

....

 

On 23 Dec 2006 16:27:40 -0800, "Marty" <m_charles_baker@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Hey all,
>
> Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep
>telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They
>keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to
>the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I
>have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of
>upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine
>outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private
>sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable
>or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.
>
> As always, thanks for your expertise!!
>
>Marty

Others here would be more informed than I, but I didn't feel like
lurking and waiting for someone else to answer you ;-)

I *THINK* there were improvements to the intake manifold, or the head
design or something in the '99 and newer 4.0L engines, which account
for a few extra points in HP and TQ...

So the question comes down to $4000 to $6000 (Or less) to do a QUALITY
engine swap VS finding a low mileage 97 Wrangler for the KBB value of
$8000 or so...

I guess if you're happy with the rest of your current vehicle then the
engine swap might be the better choice, considering you are familiar
with it's quirks and such, but then again, if you bide your time, you
might find a "well equipt" TJ with hardware that's "better than stock"
;-)

Either way, good luck, and:

Merry F'ing Christmas!

....