Blake Noble

I love the basic formula here, but I can tell you that a lot of Tahoe buyers don't buy Tahoes because of their off-road or towing capabilities. They buy them because they offer an all-powerful driving position, decent handling considering that they are modern-day land barges, and because they offer a metric ass ton of room. Put that name on a smaller vehicle and it would bomb. Best bet is to hope the Traverse gets moniker reassignment surgery and the Equinox moves down in size closer to its Tracker roots.

This would be correct...once your addicted...your addicted. I know this: another Cherokee is pretty much in my immediate future. The first one was enough of a learning experience of what to look out for (mainly, condition of heads and head gaskets) and how to buy one cheap. I wish Jeep would build a true successor to the Cherokee, though: an innovative, highly capable, well handling, tough and rugged, lightweight, cheap and efficient compact mid-sized SUV (of course, with the customer's choice of two or four doors, two four-wheel drive systems, and two different transmissions and engines). The only time the Liberty came remotely close was with the Renegade package, but even then its hefty curb weight still left it lacking. The 2008 and up models are an insult to what legacy the Cherokee left. Sure, you could argue the four-door Wrangler Unlimited is better poised to carry the Cherokee's torch, but it comes at a hefty cost whereas the Cherokee always remained affordable throughout its entire run. The Patriot makes for a fun runabout, but it lacks the real off-road prowess of the SUV it tries so hard to emulate. The Grand Cherokee is in a league of its own, far removed from the original Cherokee. It doesn't fit into this picture, despite being originally designed to replace it. Alas, it seems corporate ignorance has buried one of the best modern SUVs any company has ever built ... and the company that truly takes credit for that impressive piece of design would be AMC (with a dump truck's load of credit to Richard Teague), the McGyver of automotive design and engineering. Ironically the Cherokee has left most, if not all, of Jeep's line-up under the weight of its shadow since it left the room. Look at how ChryCo redesigned the Liberty and designed the Patriot; look at how they designed the Commander and consider why they decided to build the Wrangler Unlimited with four full doors. You don't just build any successful vehicle relatively unchanged for almost two decades and expect people to just forget why they bought one in the first place. Also consider the fact it was the Cherokee just about everyone scrambled to compete with during the late '80s and early '90s. Because of the Cherokee, GM had to add an extra set of doors to the Blazer and Jimmy. Because of the Cherokee, Ford had to take the Bronco II down to the bare foundation and redesign it to be bigger and, yep, with a set of four doors (read: Explorer). It was the Cherokee's original formula that everyone copied and that would eventually lead to the SUV boom. I have to wonder how many people who shown up to trade their old Cherokees in around the debut of the original Liberty were completely turned off and away by what they were presented with at their Jeep dealer. I can't forget the truck the Cherokee spawned, either. With Ford giving up on compact trucks and Dodge moving on to follow Honda's failed model by slapping beds on minivans, Jeep could really take hold of the compact truck market in a big way if they built another truck like the Comanche. The Comanche was exceptionally light-weight, good looking, and fuel efficient for a small truck while still remaining rugged and capable and a new Jeep designed in the exact same vein would bring a lot of sales. I guarantee that, especially if they also add different cab configurations into the mix (that's the only thing the original Comanche should've stayed ahead on). Anyway, my rant is over.

I've always found GMC's grille design for the '80s fairly interesting somehow (e.g. the '85 4x4 you linked to and the '80s S15). I've always wondered what a more modern take on it would look like on a new GMC truck, although in some strange way it appears the Sierra All-Terrain concept seems to have it's own unique take on the three-in-one grille idea.

I wish my Jeep would've worked out. I really miss it. My Cherokee probably had the best driving position of any SUV I've been in, bar none. And considering how well taken care of it was before I bought it, it handled like a champ. Jeeps are like an incurable virus. Once one gets underneath your skin, there's no getting away from one.

ChryCo and ... uh ... well, not much else. GM's hanging on to me by a thread these days. I want to like Ford and I like how far they've come product wise over the years, but there isn't a car they build that honestly grabs me by the balls and makes me all wide-eyed.

Groovin' to Mastodon's new cut. This particular track from The Hunter is great; love the brick $h!house guitar tones and the general atmosphere of the song.

Thanks everyone. A word of advice: Heineken makes for a terrible birthday beer.

Quote bookmarked for the next inevitable 80's G Body/S-10/Jeep/Firebird/Camaro thread. That's where I'm back again car-wise, but I'll also add it won't be necessarily permanent. Since it appears you find my transportation exploits so entertaining, all I'll say is that you'd better get ready for the show.

I'm confused... how do long hours at work translate into stacking the deck against you financially? If you are hourly, you get more hours... hence more pay. If you are salary, you knew your salary when you signed for the car note. In either care, hours spent at work normally are hours you aren't at the mall spending money. BTW, whatever happened to your idea that you got such a good deal on the Challenger that you could sell it and break even (or make a profit) if it proved too much of a strain? Well, I'll try to explain it, although I should warn you you'll probably wind up more confused than what you already are. Strap yourself in. A second disclaimer: since I don't know what consequences divulging the following information would entail since I know that any thing posted to the internet containing the company name is forwarded to the f@#king CEO himself I won't use it (that's no shit, the store manager confirmed it a thousand times in various morning meetings the last few months), but let's just say that the place I work for sells things you strum. If you remember who I work for by reading a previous post, I only ask that you have just a little respect and keep that information to yourself until the 18th of this month at least. At my job, I earn an hourly wage (minimum wage I should add) plus commission. One paycheck, which comes within the first two to two and a half weeks of the month is strictly an hourly check for the last two weeks of the previous month, so with plenty of hours, this paycheck can average about $500 bucks after taxes. The paycheck after that which comes around the last part of the month, is a commission check. Here's where it can be very confusing, that check, and to be completely honest, I don't fully comprehend the pay system 100 percent myself. No one who isn't a store manager or sales manager really does if I'm honest. Anyway, with that said, to make commission, you have to, quote, "fade" against your hours, meaning that you have to reach a certain point in how much shit you've sold makes the hours you've worked pretty much void. Sounds great, sure, but if you've worked more hours versus what you've sold, then you won't have much of a commission check at all, if anything and the hours that wind up on that paycheck are generally less than the one before it, which I don't understand (that may correlate somehow to my next issue). I've had those particular paychecks in the few months after I bought that car wind up being less than $400 bucks and losing that extra $100 bucks can really fuck things up. I'll elaborate on that in a moment. Speaking of hours and all of that good stuff, Kentucky state law states that a maximum work week, working full time, is 40 hours, so for two weeks, that should be 80 hours. For the majority of my time working my current job, I've been "coded" as part-time, meaning I should be working 30 hours or less. I had a paycheck for two weeks come my way where I had ninety-four f@#king hours and only had received pay for three of them. I shouldn't have to spell it out, but I should have gotten paid for fourteen hours of overtime, at the bare minimum if not more since I was considered "part-time" at the particular moment in time. Someone screwed me there, big time. I'm contemplating reporting my job to the state labor board for that one. How they managed to squeak that one by I don't know, but sure enough, I'd have to bet there's probably some sort of Jedi mind shit they've got cooked up to justify it. Okay, now about losing that $100 bucks and it screwing things up, I sat down about a month and half ago when things started to get really bad with a pencil and a pad of paper and totaled up my costs. I average about $900 a month after taxes. I live about 40 miles away from work, one way. That's 80 miles for a round trip. Figuring up fuel costs, since the Challenger uses 89 octane to get the best fuel economy, I'm out roughly about $450 on gas a month. Well, there goes half of my paycheck. My car payment is roughly $300 month, so that $900 has now dwindled down to about $150. That $150 has to buy me $h!ty fast food to eat and a few packs of smokes for the rest of the month because, hey, I gotta eat (it's an absolute wonder I'm not a goddamn diabetic because of all of the artificial shit I've eaten over the past year since I've worked there) and I gotta smoke to deal with the stress of what's turned out to be a high-pressure sales job (it's a wonder I haven't went into cardiac arrest). After buying that shit, I'm broke. If I have any sort of situation come up, I don't have any money to save to deal with it because I don't have any momey to save to begin with and trust me, I've tried a few things to save money, none of which worked (I had a panic attack one day at work because I didn't have any damn nicotine and that was a very pathetic day for me). I'm tapped out every month and, like I said, losing $100 a month because I've worked too many hours only aggravates my financial problems. I'm still confident I can sell the Challenger and not be screwed, but in order to save my ass from getting screwed I have to keep the miles down low on it, something that you can't do when you have a eighty mile round trip five days a week (sometimes six when you get dragged in for a performance meeting on your day off ... which I didn't get paid for at various times in the past I might add). Confused? Yeah, I'll admit I am myself. I don't know how things went sour so quick, I just know the situation I'm in. I f@#ked up somewhere and I just can't pinpoint where. I can only blame the current economic state for so much (in sales, you really do get to see how the economy deteriorates or restores itself), but I can only say that so much before it becomes little more than a minimally justified excuse. I do know this, though: I'm vowing to never go so heavily in debt again. After the Challenger is gone, my slate is wiped clean and I'll be starting from square one again, something that I honestly welcome. Despite the hardship I'm dealing with currently, I've learned something from it and intend on spending the next 21 years of my life, and far beyond that, right. I'm re-enrolling in college for Spring and I'm going to get a degree in a career where I can make decent money. I'm going to get another job in the short-term that can pay my rent somewhere and a few small bills, nothing more. And if I get any extra money during that time or years and years after, I'm going to grab every last penny by the balls and really make every dollar work as hard for me as I worked to earn it, regardless if it's savings or a few bucks I'm going to waste on a hobby or a thrill.

Sounds like your room needs a Clapper for when the room is occupied by a fapper.

Masturbation Bitch, please. I'd expect that out of a 26 year-old or even a 66 year-old as much as I would a 16 year-old.

I was 16 years old when I created this thread. What else would you expect out of 16 year-old?

Got to get a better car.... Ha, just don't get wrapped up in a brand new car that six months later you can no longer afford due to a job that wraps you up in long shifts that, intentionally or unintentionally, stacks the deck against you. Sure, you may not have to pay for much maintenance with that brand new car, but you'll also be committed to the loan you took out to buy it for one hell of a long fortnight (something you'll conveniently forget when you buy that new car). Don't forget what consequences are being held over your head if you neglect your little commitment in any way because if you do, you'll be picking yourself up by your boot straps and trying to make it out of financial hell by the skin of your teeth.

I'm still digging myself out of a $20-something grand hole over here (scrambling to sell the Challenger) and I'll be unemployed on the 18th. Fun, fun, fun.

Build it as an extended cab and I will come not only to sign the deal for one in black but in buckets as well. By the time they hopefully trot it out, I'll hopefully be out of college, and hopefully I'll figure out a way to pay for one mostly in cash. f@#k auto loans.

Two words for China: SCREW OFF. Third optional word: HARD.

Sold it to someone who had the money to give it the TLC it deserved. That's fine. I'm really having a terrible time financially right now as I'm not making jack $h! for pay at work anyway (cut-throat co-workers screwing me out of deals, confusing management, $h!ty economy, too many hours to work against to make commission and payroll recently screwed me out of 14 hours of f@#king overtime to add insult to injury). I'll probably be out of work for awhile again soon. The Challenger will be the next to be sold. After paying for it each month plus my student loans and my expenses to work, I'm lucky to have $15 bucks to my name at the end of the month. I have never been so damn sick of selling my belongings in my life.

Well, I've already tried to pursue the avenues mentioned. Here's what I've found: I can't find a used head for this Jeep to save my life. I've called every junkyard I've frequented ever in a 50 mile radius of my home only to come up empty handed. So buy a new one right? A new head from Chrysler LLC sets you back about $575 bucks after a $150 dollar core charge. Gaskets are a must as well, so there's $80 bucks on top of that. Labor is $460 to install everything back. Looks like I've defeated the M.O. of this Jeep already. If I did put a new head on the existing block after flushing it out, there still may be other problems that can spur from the fact this Jeep was driven hard and hot for a period of time after the head cracked. Bent rods, bad bearings ... the list goes on. The block doesn't inspire confidence, that being said. I should try and get a photo of what's lurking in the bottom of that engine, by the way. It's horrifying. I don't honestly think you could flush every bit of that $h!ty gunk out if you parked down hill and dumped every last gallon of Lake Erie through that block. Diving further into the issue I first mentioned, you only want to buy a used head that was manufactured from 1997 to early 1999. Heads for the 4.0L after that pretty much all had casting issues that would -- YEP! -- cause them to crack. I did find a head on a 2001 Cherokee, but this issue (and not to mention a few small interchangeability issues) prevents it from really working ... so never mind. So don't buy a head then, right? Go for a new engine? Well, it's not that simple if you want to find a good engine for one of these Jeeps in this state. Trust me, and if you don't believe me, go to car-part.com. That's what every damn yard I've been to uses to locate their own parts as well as others. Engines from those specific time frames, from a Cherokee anyway, have turned out to be impossible to find. It also doesn't help that almost every junkyard I contacted thought I had a f@#king Grand Cherokee or would try to tell me, "Well, the 4.0L from a Grand Cherokee sort of works ..." Uh, yeah. "Sort of" doesn't cut it for me. I know the blocks are the same (well, not really because the oil filter requires an adapter to make that swap work), but everything else isn't when you boil it down. Needless to say, swapping in a 4.0L from a Wrangler has it's own issues as well. Back to square one then since Chrysler had to f@#k up everything AMC had gotten pretty much right the first time.

Diagnosis: head is cracked, engine is full of rusty metallic sludge. Selling for scrap.

Funny, some things that can be said of VWs can also be said of Jeeps, the electrical issues especially (a buddy of mine has a '98 Classic with a quirk where, if he turns on his left turn signal and hits the brakes, the hazard signals come on; my power windows are a little more reliable than his ... although his windows work do consistently in temperatures below freezing).

I was thinking this would happen sooner. GM needs Lutz as long as he's around, able, and willing to kick someone in the head. As with 85 percent of your posts here, I think you just chime in to say something contradictory to the consensus view and nothing more.

The cost of fixing what is wrong with the Jeep cosmetically is so relatively small now I figure I might as well finish what I've started after I have the engine sorted out. Additionally, it only serves to make the Jeep worth that much more than what I have invested in it. In fact, that's true of every repair.

I have a guy in mind as far as straightening that dent out of the fender goes. I'm not expecting it to be that bad of a price, maybe less than a few hundred bucks at the worst. I was mostly curious as to what extent the damage might currently be, but it doesn't seem so bad. The paint is another thing that is concerning me. The Jeep was so damn filthy, a layer of dirt was basically caked on the entire vehicle and washing it has speckled the paint. Hopefully, some intensive paint care will fix it (scratch remover, Meguier's Black Box for black paint, rubbing compound, good wax, and a buffing wheel) but color me skeptical. The engine is certainly next, though. The header panel and fender were now or never purchases (especially the header panel) because of how difficult they were to locate and because they were at the right price as well. I'm just going to whore the labor out for the head gasket work. I've done too well so far to screw this one up. The oil pan gasket and new plug, I'll do that myself.

Some pics of the Heep. I'm almost there. Before: Currently: The new fender isn't exactly perfect, but it's in much better shape than the old one. Considering what I've got in it, though, I can't expect perfection but I figure it's a better starting point than what the Jeep came with. Blu, about how bad would it be to fix this dent? I also managed to get one of the flare appliques in a reuseable condition, thankfully. I'm still shopping around for someone to whore the head gasket work out to. So far, the best price I've been quoted is $460 bucks. There's also an oil leak around the drain plug bolt I'll have to investigate afterward, but it's nothing I'm worried about right now.

I don't mean to be insensitive to the situation, but the irony in this photo is awesome if you catch it (read the street sign). Good to hear that everyone here is safe ... hope Camino checks in, though.