97 Explorer - VS - 97 Jimmy

do yourself a favor and don’t even consider a jimmy…they are terrible all around…

Jimmys are sweet you get to replace the balljoints and tierods all the time :tup:

thanks for all the links howie…

interested in the plat. 5.9… but i think it is out of my range right now. I want to stay in the 6k range (cause I don’t have to takeo out a loan) and then I can save for a new car purchase in 07-08 and not have huge payments on it.

I love my 99 explorer…and its the slow 4.0 but its sweet stock in the snow…never played much in the dirt with it…but its been good to me…tranny has had its garbage but its original jsut with some new valve body gaskets.

my mom had a 96 jeep grand cherokee…it blew…was in the shop everyday…so she thought it was a lemon…but liked them got a 97…was shittier…but still liked them so bought a brand new one in 2003…was a brand new pile of crap…i highly do not recommend them…we had a lot of gay rental cars all the time

My jimmy has been great for the most part other than the trans. Cracked sun gear casing, had to replace the trans. Other than that it has never broken down on me or anything. I did the standard ball joints and wheel bearings myself last winter. Jeeps are def nice trucks though too. Only reason i’m selling my truck is because in 5 months i’m moving to FL and I already have a 2nd car thats never seen snow/salt.

I think the reason that happens so frequently in these cars is because they’re about the last vehicles still made (well, up til MY’05 when they finally killed the blazer) with greasable joints and tie rod ends, whereas sealed joints have been the standard for about 10-15 years. I think alot of people are either too lazy to grease them or are unaware they need to be greased at every oil change.

My father had a '95 (handbuilt preproduction model too), 97 and 99 Blazers and I bought an '03 last summer, none ever had any problems. The 4.3 is a solid motor, but I think the weak point of the S-trucks is typical cheap GM switchgear - window motors, electrical items, etc.