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Thread: 84/87 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

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Old 10-11-2007, 01:04 AM   #1
Quarry Creeper
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
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Default 84/87 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

Are these things any good off road? My dad just bought 2 87's, and an 84 for $1000. All have the 360, 4x4, curent tags and ok tires... I think 2 were on 30's. 1 87 has an exhaust gasket leak, a small fuel leak, and a dead cat on the floor. It ran OK though, needs a tune up, and the small fuel leak fixed with a new length of hose. The other runs great though, no problems. We couldn't start the 84 as we used all the gas starting the other 2. Hood and front bumper damage on the 84, front right 1/4 panel damage on one the cat 87, but they could be switched around for 2 with great bodies, and a beater... that smells like a rotten corpse. Will spray on bedliner seal up that stink? My dad wants to keep 1 stock for him, and is giving me one or both of the others. Should I keep the spare drivetrain for parts, or try selling both drivetrains and getting something better? I was looking at a 6 inch lift... springs not freaking blocks, and some larger tires. I am not trying to make a comp crawler with it, just something I can take camping, and hit the logging roads with. It's not the Toyota I had been looking at, but how can anyone say no to a free 4x4 or 2? At very worst I can part them both out and buy something else.

Well, post up your ideas gang, and we'll see what happens.
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Old 10-11-2007, 01:23 AM   #2
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I'd take any one of tehm, getting them going good and maybe put a mild suspension lift on one if I was going off road enough to require it.
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Old 10-11-2007, 09:18 AM   #3
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Well, my wife found this project and got real excited: http://www.bjsoffroad.com/cartgenie/pg_projwag.asp . I like the idea of a 4 seter more than a 2 seater, and a roll cage is a given. I just don't know if I want an internal, or an exo cage. Most likely internal... but I haven't found an 8 point cage I like yet, so I may have to just bend one up without getting cought up in Geometry. It's a cage, not a child's climber. . I only have about 80 feet left of the 4in wide x 3 in deep 3/8 in wall channel iron left from the fence project, so I may make front and rear bumpers out of that. We are going to trailer them home, with a quick stop at the car wash, then inspect the newly driveline, then worry about smog checks.
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Old 10-11-2007, 09:38 AM   #4
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My GF's neighbor has had one of those sitting in their driveway for years. It has not moved sense I have known her.

I don't understand why they wont get rid of it. It would be win,win,win from my perspective.
They would get some cash for it.
They would gain a parking spot. (Parking is pretty bad in that neighborhood.)
They would loose an eyesore.
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Old 10-11-2007, 11:33 AM   #5
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First of all, let me welcome you to the world of the Full-size Jeep, the ORIGINAL SUV (spawning countless imitators, none of which could improve on the bomb-proof design of the original Wag) That Wagoneer traces it's roots all the way back to the Military M-715, and really changed little to the last year of AMC production (1987).

You got a screamin' deal on those. Currently, just a good RUNNING AMC v-8 is worth nearly what you paid for all three of those Jeeps. And a good used Quadra-trac case is worth about $800, and the plastic front grilles of those years are worth a mint, as well. (A buddy of mine just sold a slightly used and worn one with two small cracks for $350)

Keep a lookout for rust issues in the rear quarters, the inner and outer rocker panels, and the floor in front of the rear seat. These are the parts that rust out first. If they're solid in those areas, you're good to go!

Wagoneers are the BOMB! I owned a '78 Wag for quite a while, mine was 401 powered.

Beware the Quadtra-trac transfer case. If any of them have selectable hubs on the front and a selectable transfer case (The indestructable NP 203 gear-drive) Run those for off-road use. The '87's should both have this set-up for sure, the easy way to tell is that the QT-equipped Wag's have no selectable hubs on the front axle, the selectable-case Jeeps did. Also, on a QT-case Jeep, the rear differential is off-set to one side like the front axle. And no, you can't just swap transfer cases and front axles. You have to swap the tranny(QT-equipped Jeeps used a GM TH400 trans, selectable-case jeeps used a Chrysler 727 tranny.) And of course, the QT jeeps are full-time 4WD only.

I went through six QT's on mine in 4 years on the road, parts are made of unobtanium, so the only solution is to find a good, working used case and baby it. (I was quite hard on mine, however, and the massive torque of the 401 didn't help, either.) Finally parted mine out due to rust issues, and the case was going bad AGAIN!


Wags are nearly indestructable, (except for the darn QT cases, and the earth WILL eventually re-claim them). They're so over-built it's not even funny. I used to call mine "The Road Rhino".


Mine had a mostly stock suspension, except I beefed up the ride height a bit by adding some leaves from some 1-ton dodge 4x4 spring packs Going from the VERY saggy stock springs to that setup netted me almost a 3" lift, but in all reality it was more like 1.5" since the original springs had sagged so much. This was enough to fit 31x10.50's with some minor trimming at the rear wheel opening.

The only time I ever got it stuck was one VERY cold winter night in a 6' deep snow drift (I was on top of it and didn't know it until all of sudden she just sank up to the rockers)

I've seen lots of these things turned into serious off-roaders. an EXO-cage is cool, but it's just one more thing (IMHO) to get hung up on trail obstacles.

For more info on FSJ's, (more than you'd ever dreamed you'd want to know) go to http://www.wagoneers.com and join the FSJ mailing list.

Also, if you ever need any parts or anything, I have the hookup for you. A friend of mine owns and drives NOTHING but AMC's and Jeeps. Right now he has Five FSJ's at his house that are parts vehicles, three more that are runners, and enough stuff to probably build ten more. He has well over FIFTY AMC engines and a LIFETIME of stashed AMC parts. He is THE expert on AMC's and Jeeps as far as I'm concerned. So if there's something you need and can't find, he should have it, or know someone who does. And if he doesn't have it, and my other friend Little Dave doesn't have it, well, it's gonna be really, REALLY hard to find.

If you need anything for it at all, or just have questions about them, drop me a line, chances are I might have it, or I can hook you up with my friend's e-mail and you can talk to them directly.

have fun, and congratulations on your new purchase!
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Old 10-11-2007, 01:17 PM   #6
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i used to have a old cherikee(sp) and grand wagooneir. there some good trucks. check out http://www.ifsja.org/ for some info on them.
my buddy had a 6cly cherikee(sp). he puled out a 150 that was towing a boat on a muddy road.
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Old 10-11-2007, 02:13 PM   #7
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http://canyon-climbers.tripod.com/ad...ial/remote.jpg

hehe
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Old 10-11-2007, 08:46 PM   #8
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ill tel ya one thing if your gettin rid of one send it my way! and yea there great in the woods there way a episode or two about those being the easyest offroad build ups on truckson spike tv im gunna llok for i link maybe they have something on there web site ill get back to ya
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Old 10-11-2007, 10:12 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mudplower View Post
Well, that link didn't work for me, but I did check out the others. Thanks guys.

hadden, all 3 are in the huge town of Linden, Ca.... about 3 hours from us. My dad hadn't put a hitch on the new van yet, so that's his plan for tomarrow. We will go back for the Jeeps, one at a time, unless the 84 starts when we add gas. If it fires and idles as well as the 87 then I will try to drive it back while towing the cat 87. My uncle only lives 24 miles away from where they are parked, so we will do the fluid change at his house, but they have only been parked for 1 year according to the guy, and the Non-Op, according to the DMV, will be 1 year old on the 84 the 16th of this month. We both realy hope he can find the Pink for the 87 that runs great.

My father is planing on a 4 inch lift, I was looking at a 6 inch, and my wife is talking about 6 inch suspension, 2 inch body, triming the wells to fit 38's... all kinds of crap. Thank god she hasn't found any crazy 4 link setups yet, she was looking at some of the stuff I printed out for the RC crawlers and looked at the Hendrix X suspension info for a while.

I am going to repaint it, the wood design is pooched on all 3, and that purple is shot on both 87's. The tan on the 84 is not to bad, but I keep coming back to this color http://www.paintforcars.com/aep_electricblue.html . I haven't painted a car yet this century, but I have done a few houses and RC bodies, so I may not screw it up too much.

I agree that an exo cage should catch more stuff on the trail, but it should also tie the bumpers, spare tire rack and sliders together, as well as provide a nice mounting point for a large roof rack. An internal cage, however, makes nice mounting points for belts, seats, and grab bars incase she goes over. I have only been crawling once, and that was years ago, though I did take my 86 S-10 up logging roads I had no bussiness driving a 2wd truck on with no problems. This beast will mostly be used on the road, with the mud I miss so much being tossed in now and then, and a few light to moderate trails during the summer. I have seen a few exo cages I kind of like, but haven't found an internal one that looks realy good yet, but I'm still looking. Are the stock wheels any good, or are they just too small for a nice set of 33-35's? I don't remember what size the rims were.
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Old 10-11-2007, 10:22 PM   #10
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Depending on the wheel's width, you can run up to a 12.5" or 13.5" tire if the wheels are 8" wide, but you will more than likely need more offset to clear the inside of the fender.

All I'm gonna say is that Wagonners are tanks! IF you really plan on running 38" tires though, look into upgrading those Dana44 axles to wither chromoly or Dana 60's. Have fun man and keep us posted.
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Old 10-11-2007, 10:49 PM   #11
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Oh, my wife has already mentioned taking the Dana 60 with disc breaks out from under my Trans Am, but she only mentioned it, then shut up real fast and walked away while I tried to find a nice way to tell her what I thought of THAT idea. By the time I got to the hammer rack, she was gone. About an hour later I walked in from the garage and said, "It's a 3.55 Posi, not a locker, and no, you can't have it."
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