FS: nice '97 Wrangler Sport, winch, 4.10's, MT/R's
 

I am selling my TJ to get a new truck. My old Nissan 4x4 recently died HARD
and I can't do what I need to do around the place without a truck.

This is a dark green Sport, 4.0L of course, hard top, A/C, sound bar, rear
seat... manual tranny.

It's on 31" MT/R's with about 7000 miles on them, tops. TONS of meat on
these tires, and I have them rotated religiously. The spare is a brand-new
31" MT/R. There are no suspension mods or upgrades (that was next,
sniff)...

THe Jeep has the following upgrades:

Rear bumper is an Olympic Rock bumper with reciever. It has 4-flat trailer
wiring.

Front bumper is an Olympic Rock with winch mount. It also has a reciever
hitch.

It has a one-year-old Warn 8.5 that I bought new. It's only been used once,
and that was simply that I spooled out the cable, attached it to a tree, and
then pulled the jeep to the tree to properly wind the cable. The winch is
mounted in the Rock bumper.

The battery is about 3 months old and is an Optima.

I had it professionally regeared to 4.10. At that time, I had them put
Detroit True-Trac gear-driven limited slips in both differentials, and they
used only the best new gears and all new bearings and seals. I have the
reciepts for this work, from Leonard's in Portland. That cost me almost
$1800.

The Jeep has 95K miles on it, give or take a few. It's been impeccably
maintened since I got it at 65K miles a couple years ago and is running
Mobil One oil. The only things I have had to replace were the oil pressure
sending unit and the alternator. The old alternator spiked the voltage ONCE
for about 10 seconds, and then was fine for a week after that, but I had an
elk hunting trip coming up so I replaced it anyway with a brand-new Bosch
high-output unit. I will include the old alternator if someone wants it. I
also did an electrical tuneup with a new cap and plug wires and plugs.

This is a tight, nice TJ. It had NEVER been offroaded as far as I could
tell when I bought it; not a scratch on the underside anywhere. I have done
some moderate wheeling but I am 40 years old and don't abuse things, so what
wheeling I have done is at low speeds, and I use torque and not horsepower
to get me places. In other words, I'm not sure I've EVER floored this Jeep!
I take it really easy on my vehicles.

Known issues: if it hasn't been driven in a few days, the SECOND time, and
only the second time, you use the clutch it will chatter a little... or
maybe not. It's done this the whole time I've had it and my mechanic said
no worries. Other than that the clutch feels perfect and I've replaced
several clutches in vehicles over the years so I know what they feel like.
The only other thing I can think of is that the radiator is the factory unit
still and it weeps ever so slightly up at the top crimp (they all do this
eventually). I put about a pint of coolant/water in there every few months
and don't worry about it. If it bugs you, a new radiator is about $200 for
a really good one.

the engine fires up instantly even if it's been sitting for days and runs
beautifully. If you are looking to build a jeep, this is the perfect
platform to start with... I've already taken care of the big mack-daddy
upgrade, which is the regearing. It's all set for a budget lift and 33's
and away you go. Or leave it as-is and with the two limited-slips in there,
it's a very capable rig.

Around here, on autotrader.com '97 Sport hard-tops are listed in the $10.5k
range. With the winch and regearing, I'd like to get a little more for it,
but I'm realistic about getting my money back for that kind of stuff. How
about $11,400?

I'm located in Oregon.

-jeff