drinkdrankdrunk
New member
No sure about numbers but it will never compare as far as being a real jeep. The xj was the last great family station wagon, a memory maker. It was 100% purpose designed to be user friendly and utilitarian. To get mom to the grocery store, the family to the campground, the kids to school, practice etc. Hard to kill is an understatement. The 4.0 was IMHO one of the best motors ever, it gave you everything you needed and nothing more. It was perfect in its simplicity.
I've had 4 jk's including a 6.4 brute and a jk350 now and I say this with all sincerity - the jk line gave rise to starwood motors conversions, angry grills, rgb headlights, 5 light bars and 37's but no re-gearing or lockers and the gutless wonders that are the 3.8 and 3.6 At least the aftermarket is deep enough so some of them aren't total rolling abortions.
Most everything you said about the XJ can be said about the ZJ and WJ as well, with the only difference being some of the higher trim ZJ/WJ's had quite a few bells and whistles. Same bullet proof 4.0, SFA, a bit more spacious and luxurious inside, and at least in the WJ a stronger unibody, biggest draw back is the lack of a manual option and the WJ can be a bit heavy for the 4.0, especially with larger tires. Some of the XJ's had the chrysler 8.25 rear which is awesome, and definitely had the better transmission options. But I will say I do believe the jeep lineup (save for the wrangler lineup) died after the WJ, and to a lesser degree after the TJ/LJ.