In The Market - I think

[BrianAg95]

Well here goes another new person post.... I am sure you regulars are like geesh enough already (3 in the top 4 threads right now) but anyway..

I have always loved the Grand Wagoneers and I think I am ready to go for it. I have a few questions I hope those of you familiar with them can answer..

1 - I want a Daily Driver - sure I know this is totally dependent on the condition of the vehicle I find, but what else shoudl I keep in mind if I want to use a GW as a daily driver (besides the low gas milage)

2 - I want an 86 and up GW as I like the last grill... What are specific issues that I should be aware of when looking at these vehicles.. what are the common failure points, and what would be a red flag to walk away from a vehicle...

3 - I have been trying to find out what Tcase's were offered on these and it seems both the Select Trak and Quadra Trak were offered on these vehicles.. Is this correct? how can I esily tell which one a vehicle has?

3b - Which of the above Tcase's is better (ok that depends I suppose on use... I plan on Daily Driving it in Denver, CO for the most part, camping, some offroading, and mountain trips on occasion of course..)

4 - It seems there is a whole huge range of prices on these things... (Besides the restored/refreshed vehicles which I can't believe those places want 40k for).. what is the reasonable price range for these things?
(for a 91', KBB, and Edmonds both say 3k ish for a vehicle in good condition, but prices seem to be all over the place)

5 - I understand rust is an issue with these (well a lot of older cars), what states should I steer clear of in my search?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help, looking forward to getting moving on this process.

[funwheeling]

1) You do understand the gas milage on these?
2) Rotted Vac lines (ruff running but use as a bargining tool), Oil in the airfilter or on top of engine (either pcv valve or blow by which may mean rebuild). Allaround a great rig.
3)NP229 select-trac. Not sure others were offered. I'm sure others will chime in .
4) You can get a decent rig for between $1K to $5k.
5) Anyone that use salt.

And Welcome to the madness. Where are you located.

[BrianAg95]

I am soon to be in Denver. Currently I am in the Middle East supporting the troops, but I ship back stateside March 8th. My wife has lined up her job, in Denver, so now I just need to find one, though honestly I am looking forward to a break... I work pretty much non stop over here... Looking forward to spending some time with the kids too... :)

My wife's job puts her right by DTC, so probably we will start off on the south side of Denver, till I find permanent employment after which we will decide where to buy a house, and truely settle down. I have been chasing a job with a cmopany in Broomfield.. but another has been following up with me and I believe they are south side somewhere.

[scantar]

Welcome to FSJ madness! And welcome to Denver too!

10mpg is about what these will give you +/-

When shopping them, look for rust underneath, though if you buy a Colorado Wagon you shouldn't see too much beyond surface. Make sure the electrics work to your satisfaction and ability to trace/repair. Vapor lock is more than likely going to haunt you here at 1 mile up. Cooling issues can also come up for you. If you absolutely need AC, make sure that's working and blowing cold.

Make sure that your Wagon will pass emissions...a lot of them fail the first time through because of high HC readings. This is usually because the carb hasn't been touched in 20 years so either plan on rebuilding your carb if it looks like dogdoodoo or tune it/clean it so that it's running properly. A lot of times, your weak link in a good runner and a bad runner will be the carburetor. Another weak link area will be the vacuum system. There are miles of vacuum lines and it's not unusual to find that previous owners have neglected or yanked them.

If it's a higher mileage Wagon...and these days most of them are...check the compression if you can, look for oil leaks, look for oil in the air filter housing.

The best thing you can do for your Wagon and your peace of mind is something you've already done...sign on to this board. :thumbsup: Also hook up with the Colorado Full Size Jeep Association. The folks here and on CFSJA will help talk you through just about any problem you encounter.

Um...there are probably more things that I'm missing, but bottom line is these are good solid drivers that if properly maintained will take you anywhere you need them to go. If you slack on maintenance, prepare for them to let you know how dissatisfied they are with you. Kinda like women. ;) :hide:

Steve

[bigun]

May I say welcome to the addiction, be sure the house you buy has no convents restricting how many vehicles you have in the yard! LOL Thank you for your support work i the sand box. Search around there is a list here on the board outlining things to look for, ask your questions we all had to start somewhere.

[grand_wag_85]

One thing nobody has brought up yet is the factory gas tank skid plate. The gas tank is on the driver's side of the Jeep just about right under where you'd be seated behind the driver. Anyways look it over for rust and look along the frame rail for rust& rot as this is a common spot these rot out at. Take a good look arround the front fenders and the inner fenders once you pop the hood for bubbling.

86-up GW's used the NP229 transfer case which has 2WD, 4WD Full Time, Neutral and 4WD Part Time. Full Time meaning you can run it on the street w/o damaging it and Part Time meaning you can only use it on low traction surfaces like gravel/snow/ice.

Good luck in your search and keep your head down!

[oldmanb777]

They tend to require regular maintnance. Once you get ahead of it, it's not too bad, but when you get behind it can be a nightmare. They were "Ramblers" as such, when you get a good one it's great, but a bad one is again a nightmare. You DON'T want Quadra-crap. You want the select trac t-case. There is a very active support group here in the Denver area. Check out the Colorado Full Size Jeep Assoc. www.CFSJA.org (http://www.CFSJA.org) I think that will get you there. :D

[91G-Dub]

Welcome to the madness...almost

Plenty of folks here to guide you (they've been a godsend for me) on tech issues. All you have to do is ask and they come a runnin to help.

Just getting into the FSJ madness will happily increase your vocabulary (you'll begin to make up new curse words) and your stamina (pushing one of these by yourself will give you a h3ll of a workout). You'll become the only guy on your block that drive a "cool" looking vehicle, people that you have never met will talk to you about when their dad/grandfather/uncle had one and how many good times they had in it.

As for what to buy. Seems like you've narrowed it down pretty well. First thing to do is determine a budget. Include extra $ for the things that will need to be fixed/replaced to get it running or to get it running better. Then search, search, search. Look everywhere inculding all of the usual places (Dabay and other sites as well). Ask lots of questions of the current owner (soon to be re-named DSPO) and remember if it sounds like too good a deal it may just be a painted harlot that you need to run away from.

Good luck.

[Ristow]

the '86 had the 228,which many don't like,it has an open diff instead of a viscous coupler.it wouldn't prevent me from buying a nice '86 model.

[BrianAg95]

Thanks for the info everyone.. Nothing is scarring me away yet.. ;)

My budget is about 6k initially... I figure that gives enough to cover the initial purchase and then the remainder in initial maintanence items... is that pretty realistic?

[bigun]

This one sounds like it might be a winner!
http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=63357

[shimniok]

Sorry to hijack but thought you'd want to know that there is an FSJ club in Colorado with mailing list and such. Good place to ask around for parts and advice. Also we do meet & greets, trail runs, wrench a thons etc. http://www.cfsja.org/

Emissions is going to be a royal pain for anything newer than 82... especially for 87+ as the numbers are based on the results of mostly EFI vehicles.

My best advice is hold out for one that is clean and very well cared for and one that feels solid in terms of engine power, trans, steering, brakes. I'd stay away from anything with a rear main leak. 360's often get tired around 150k so be wary of that.

Keep in mind that you can swap grilles around, so if you found a really nice earlier rig, you could put the later grille on it. However, the 86+ have the newer dash and that can't be swapped easily if at all.

Michael

Well here goes another new person post.... I am sure you regulars are like geesh enough already (3 in the top 4 threads right now) but anyway..

I have always loved the Grand Wagoneers and I think I am ready to go for it. I have a few questions I hope those of you familiar with them can answer..

1 - I want a Daily Driver - sure I know this is totally dependent on the condition of the vehicle I find, but what else shoudl I keep in mind if I want to use a GW as a daily driver (besides the low gas milage)

2 - I want an 86 and up GW as I like the last grill... What are specific issues that I should be aware of when looking at these vehicles.. what are the common failure points, and what would be a red flag to walk away from a vehicle...

3 - I have been trying to find out what Tcase's were offered on these and it seems both the Select Trak and Quadra Trak were offered on these vehicles.. Is this correct? how can I esily tell which one a vehicle has?

3b - Which of the above Tcase's is better (ok that depends I suppose on use... I plan on Daily Driving it in Denver, CO for the most part, camping, some offroading, and mountain trips on occasion of course..)

4 - It seems there is a whole huge range of prices on these things... (Besides the restored/refreshed vehicles which I can't believe those places want 40k for).. what is the reasonable price range for these things?
(for a 91', KBB, and Edmonds both say 3k ish for a vehicle in good condition, but prices seem to be all over the place)

5 - I understand rust is an issue with these (well a lot of older cars), what states should I steer clear of in my search?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help, looking forward to getting moving on this process.

[BrianAg95]

Not hijiacking, I signed up for the CFSJA mailing list already, thanks. Ewww thats not good news on the emissions checks...

Since I am new to all this, any chance any Denverites might be available to go for a purchase inspection with me when I get one I am serious about? Or is there a good place to get a PPI down by a reputable shop that knows their fsj's?

[Lindel]

Welcome, and you've gotten some excellent advice from some great folks. You're in good hands in the Colorado area. One thing not said, on a rig that has high mileage (140,000 or so), you might want to consider the heads, cam and lifters swap. Good luck!

[HeavyHauler]

Welcome aboard. Let us know when you find one.

[shimniok]

Not hijiacking, I signed up for the CFSJA mailing list already, thanks. Ewww thats not good news on the emissions checks...

Since I am new to all this, any chance any Denverites might be available to go for a purchase inspection with me when I get one I am serious about? Or is there a good place to get a PPI down by a reputable shop that knows their fsj's?

I'm sure some of us could help out, just post on the list. Another thought is you might want to drop in on one of our meet and greets and check out some of our rigs and compare; maybe some folks will let you test drive. E.g., I could demonstrate a good trans and tcase, but loose steering and poor brake boosting. :D

Michael