76 cj5 $2300 worth looking at?

[Cannonballkev]

All the above is why I asked!

[patman]

For wheeling/trail rig, it'll need some upgrades. For cruising around town, sounds like a decent start if the rust isn't bad and you can talk them down a couple hundred

[tjsahara00]

Kevin I would pass on it for a trail Jeep.
Like Doug said not stable enough for the
trails.

Big Dave how about telling us how you
really feel about XJ's.....     //;D//
He's right though about staying around that
price range but I feel like you can do more
with a Wrangler.

To start with you will have to cut the fenders
on an XJ just to fit 33's  and there's not much
room to cut them anyway. Look at your options
on a Wrangler for tube fenders which I think is
a must wheeling. Much easier for a roll gage too.

[Big Dave]

I feel like you can do more
with a Wrangler.

To start with you will have to cut the fenders
on an XJ just to fit 33's

I do hope you are joking.
I am a XJ fan boy for several reasons. My XJ is on the heavy side (for a Cherokee) @ 4200 lbs with me in it. I run a stock drivetrain with surprisingly good results. It will hold a lot more gear than any Wrangler (excluding the LJ & JKU, of course). I can sleep in the back- comfortably.
But the most important reason - I can aquire parts for the thing VERY cheaply.

I had a CJ-7. I had a TJ. The open top was nice. The short wheel base made it seem really nimble offroad.
But give me a XJ.

[tjsahara00]

No David I'm not joking
This is how I feel about it!
My opinion for trail riding...

[Big Dave]

Oh yeah, about 33s.

I had a red 4 door I picked up for $650. Drove it home. It had no lift but I had a set of 33s laying around. I cut the fenders until they cleared.  I learned that if you cut to the pinch seam & bumpstop it they will fit.

I also bought a blue 2 door for $300. Drove it home as well.  See my point. They are out there.

[Blue J]

So what are the best years for XJ's

just saw this on CL 
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/cto/5712107087.html

[Cannonballkev]

There are a bunch our there from &500 to &8500, just saw a 97 with one ton axles on it and 47's on it for $5700

[Big Dave]

So what are the best years for XJ's

just saw this on CL 
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/cto/5712107087.html

The '99 is regarded by most as THE best year model.But any '91up, if aquired cheap enough, will do.
Reason being, in '91 they came out with the HO. You can swap out the older CAD (central axle disconnect) axle or just replace BOTH shafts with '96+ XJ shafts, they have larger joints. The rears of older XJs are usually the craptastic Dana 35. You can easily swap it out for a 8.25 from a '97 - '01 XJ, they have the largest spline count (29).
As far as transmissions go,  any automatic is the bullet proof AW4. The older manual transmissions were the crappie BA10. Later in production they replaced them with the internal slave cylinder AX15. The later years got the external slave cylinder AX15- best manual  transmission offered in the XJ or TJ.

The 91 pictured has a HO 4.0, if NP231 CAD Dana 30 & Dana 35. Plan on working on the axles.
If it has a NP242 it will hack a NON CAD axle.  This is the best frobt axle offered in the XJ.