Good, Bad, and What's It For
Many of the modifications Mike has made you won't find in some build manual or text book, and the things that we'd want to change are on his short list of regrets with this build. Frankly, we are amazed that he's been able to wheel this thing for so long without it coming apart. There are stress cracks in the body here and there, but it's still straight. For any of these unit-body Jeeps, a cage is high up on our list once we start wheeling it with any regularity. Also, even with the Cherokees, once lift height gets up over five inches, we try to reach for a long-arm kit. By not doing so, Mike has kept costs down, and kept wheeling this thing, but he tells us that's one of the things he wished he'd done differently.
Why I Featured It
A lot of the XJs you see look like they've raided the Lund, Con-Ferr, or Steel Horse catalogs ,and never see any real wheeling, just dirt roads and fire trails. Mike's Wagoneer is the exact opposite of that. It doesn't scream, "Look at me!" but it goes anywhere Mike points it. And thanks to the money he's saved building it, he has gotten to wheel it like no one's business. We envy him that.
-Pete Trasborg
Hard Facts
Vehicle: '88 Jeep Wagoneer
Engine: '88 4.0L inline-six
Transmission: '88 AW4
Transfer Case: Custom NP242HD
Suspension: Short-arm five-link (front), leaf sprung (rear)
Axles: Dana 30 (front), Currie 9-inch (rear)
Wheels: 16x8 OMF-modified Jeep Moabs
Tires: 35x12.50-16 Maxxis Creepy Crawlers
Built For: To spend as much time as possible away from the daily grind.