AppleJack

I find it so strange that so many had a different experience than I did. I had a '93 XJ 2dr with a 4.0 H.O. I put a MOPAR mid range cam in it, and it flat screamed!! Honestly the build quality of Toyota's are better, the truth is the Cherokee is WAY cheaper to build into a capable trail vehicle than an IFS 4runner. 3-$400 for a 3in. lift to fit 31's, $80 for sway bar disconnects and you've left a stock 4runner at the gate, locker or not. I know this. I've learned to appreciate the build quality of Toyotas and that enough for me. Yes 4runners are capable, but to give you my un-biased opinion, if it's cheap trail worthiness your after, buy a Cherokee, if it's pep, buy a Cherokee, If you want something that feels solid and is solid with a superior reputation of reliability, buy a 4runner. I loved my Cherokee it was a great rig but, after my 4runner, the little details of quality had me won over.

Skrillah

Good post!

Greg_Canada

My bud has a jeep a few years older than my 4runner and it looks 15 years older... things just fall apart.
Oh and his oil gauge maxes out when he hits the gas... says it's normal.. LOL

aviator

you can fit 31s under a 4runner stock no lift lol...
Generally speaking Toyotas will be far more reliable, and if you take care of the basic service far cheaper in the long run. If you break something in the rear on the trail you can just unbolt the rear drive shaft take it out, put her in 4wd and drive home no worries... heck you can drive for almost ever that way if you have to lol, not so with the jeep.
Plus the toyota forums [like yotatech] are much more fun then any jeep forum.

flatland4runner

I've owned both. The Cherokee was a nice ride and had plenty of power and was actually not to bad on the trails in stock trim. When I came down to buying another SUV about 18 months ago (after my Blazer was thankfully stolen) I was blown away by the 4Runner. I drove vehicles all across the price range I was in which included mid to late 90's GM's and Jeeps. The last drive was my '91 4Runner. You could tell the difference in quality as soon as you sat down even my co-pilot (my dad came to scrutinze for me) hopped in and said "this is the best one yet" and that was before I even turned the key. Overall, I've learned that I should have held out for a 3rd gen w/ the 3.4 (my 3.0 is a little lacking) and maybe a e-locker but in all honesty I will likely never be without a toyota SUV in my driveway simply a great made, super reliable vehicle.

CJM

I ve driven and worked on XJ's, its biggest limitations is the unibody design. However they arent bad vehicles, quality isnt on par with toyota at all, but the engine and drivetrain will last dang near forever on one of them.

Overall if I had to take the XJ I would be a bit bumed, but its infinetly better than a ZJ..

flatland4runner

and the aftermarket support is actually very good for the yota's

elripster

I want to back up AppleJack's post.

My good friend who got me into wheeling had a Cherokee. I helped install his lift kit and he help me install mine. We wheel both trucks side by side through all sorts of mods. Stock, solid axles out wheel IFS. Heavily modded and put to the test, the same is true. Put a locker in there and a resistance to body damage and things get interesting.

That said, and he agreed, he was replacing parts on his engine well over 100,000 miles sooner than I was. Now his engine never failed him, but water pumps and other things were leaking and needed to be fixed.

He was smart and got one with no power options so he avoided those head aches.

As we built our rigs and I was running a welded third, Truetrac up front, 4.88's, 33X12.5 mudders, 4" lift, ball joint spacers, etc.... he had a new 8" Terraflex by this point and both trucks were fairly equal with the only exception being that in certain cases his solid front axle would keep him from flopping where my IFS would not. We never actually encountered that thankfully. It was on the trails that the biggest benefit to the 4runner really shined: a rigid fully boxed frame.

We were running John Bull and he came off of this tree stump landing on his rear ARB bumper. It caused the side of the Cherokee to bow out and no longer match up with rear lift gate. I slammed down on to that when it was my turn and I was good to go. Even if I had hit the body, it would not have done that kind of damage.

Clearly years later I'm on another 4runner because it won me over. The refinement and reliability mean you can spend money and time on upgrades. He has a Rubicon now, no time for truck building anymore with kids, etc...

Rear 4X4's are built not bought and either can be built but I think you'll be happier in the long run with the 4runner. The rigid chassis will stand up better to the torsional loading of off road driving and the truck will just plain stay nicer longer.

Frank

aviator

Another plus Toyota's work really well in the cold... the XJ not so much...

Djlarroc

Applejack and elripster,

The buddy that got me into wheeling has an XJ. It's pretty modded but that thing flexes like very few trucks I have seen. WOW.

I still like my Runner. You can put 33" tires on a stock Runner, but depending on which engine, you'll need a regear. You need a solid 5"+ of lift to fit those same tires on a Cherokee. That is weak! But then again the power of those 4.0's is pretty impressive. Unibody on the Cherokee is pretty weak too.

If I were you, I'd get either a 1st gen Runner (85-89) or I'd get a 3rd gen (96-00) w/e-locker.

chop_suey

thanks for all the post, i think i will get a 4runner. it just seems to be the best choice like you say, plus you really cant beat the reliability. now i just need to sell my tahoe

Joe's Toy

I have no useful info to add to this post because i have a Tacoma (i love it by the way) but I wanted to say good luck with the hunt for a good vehicle and we hope you stick around. Welcome to yotatech!

4Mogger

How about resale? Jeep will be worth dogcrap in a few short years and the Toyota will still be in demand with good value...even modified.

4Mogger

I do like wheeling with cherokees though, just stay behind them. You can usually pick up beer and tools when they dump out the cargo door as it pops open when the body flexes.

pdyebrasil

I've owned two cars, an XJ and a 4Runner. I love them both. My '86 Cherokee was my first car and it was a blast to drive. It was very nimble but it lacked some power (not a 4.0). It was a manual though, so it was bearable.

Now I own a '98 4Runner, so we can't really say I'm comparing apples to apples, but the cherokees really didn't change much through their lifetime.

My 4runner is bigger, so it's not quite as nimble as my jeep but there is more room for people and stuff, and it's by no means huge. My 4Runner is totally stock suspension wise, but with the e-locker it outperforms the jeep in most situations offroad (jeep had a 3" lift with 32's). Build quality on the Toyota is awesome, albeit the jeep was 12 years older. I must say though, I worked on that Jeep quite a bit, and I've only performed routine preventative maintenance on my 4Runner. It drives like it's brand new w/ 150,000 miles on it

I'd say both are great choices. Basically, like has already been said, Toyota will most likely give you less problems, but the Jeep is more easily modded. Since I got my 4Runner my family has bought another one. It's been a pretty big hit.

X-AWDriver

Sittign in the backseat of a Cherokee is murder since there is no leg room compared to the back of a 3rd gen which is fine for people up to 6".

Getting into the back of a Cherokee isn't pleasant.

I like my Runner since you can fit 32" under it stock and the factory locker is nice.

toy_tek

I've owned both. No question. This is my post from the other Jeep thread:

demo11

I'm another noobie here, and used to have a 93 Cherokee. I have had my 99 4Runner for 2 years now and no doubt the fit and finish is way better on the Runners. Um, time for the mods to begin....

91Toyota

Don't know if someone already mentioned this but jeeps have no frames...Unibody....ewwww

SigEp4Runner

I recently had work done on the transmition of my 4Runner, so I was stuck driving my dad's cherokee for a coupld of weeks and I hated it!!!!! Among all of the other things you guys have mentiond about the differences, one big one is driving. They just dont feel as good as a yota at all. I can't tell you how happy i am to have my runner back. The cherokee also sucks on gas compared to the 4runner, it's not a huge difference but it is noticable.