Mistake buying a YJ?

i just bought my yj and im really starting to think it was a mistake. its in great condition for its year and even has working a/c in it. however i cant find parts for it anywhere, every thing on the forums are from like 2010 and below, and the ride is extremely rough, like the tires have literally bounced off the ground few times just driving over a poorly paved road. ive owned a tj in the past and loved it, just hated the interior because of no leg room. im really thinking of selling this jeep and hoping i get near what i paid for it. i literally just got it registered this past friday and have driven 30 miles in it over the course of a week. i even tried taking the drag links off to see if that does anything and nope, it doesnt.

 

I don't think you made a mistake. I believe you just have to iron the wrinkles. Post some pictures. We love to see others jeeps. Tell us what your jeep has in it. Motor, tranny, stock axles, lift (brand if possible) spring over or under, what size tires, how much air pressure? Sounds like you have a really stiff ride with too much air in your tires. The TJ went to coil springs for a softer ride, but with a few changes the YJ can get there too.

 

Welcome! Owned an '89 YJ for 5 years and the ride with leaf springs made the DD quite invigorating in the morning rushing to work compared to a JK. Sounds like you bought the YJ in good shape which means it shouldn't be tough to unload for another Jeep. Not sure what parts you're looking for but Quadratec has an extensive parts selection to check out. When the other YJ owners chime in perhaps the ride might be toned down a bit.

 

Well here is my two cents worth. First it sounds like you got a good deal on the jeep. All jeep have good and bad points. IMO it comes down to what you really what your jeep to do. Are you going to hardcore off road, weekend warrior, mall crawler or somewhere in between. Its true the newer the models the more stuff is available for your jeep. I think this is due to supply and demand bottom line money. I have seen all years of jeeps built from mild to wild. It will also depend on you if you are good at fabricating or would rather pay to have the work done. I can speak for me and like doing the work myself. You can find other jeepers or clubs to see their jeeps have and at least get a ride and ideas. But, if you dead set on selling it I agree with aggrex. There are lots of sites and trader papers to look for parts and stuff. Flea markets and jeep trader and forums will have parts for sale. It will take a little more effort as the jeeps get older. Good luck.

 

I dont want it as a daily driver, i have an 07 tacoma v6 for that. I bought another jeep to wrench and build on, but where I currently live i will have to travel about 4 hours do do my kind of wheeling as i dont like swampy muddy flat land. i dont see the joy in that. i would love to be able to have this jeep flex out as much as possible on a 4 inch lift and 33's. ive never driven small cars, only trucks. id love to build it to be able to drive down the road semi-comfortably to the beach 2 hours away. as for taking it to a few rocky trails id just tow it behind the tacoma. im pretty decent at fabricating anything that doesnt need a welder(dont have one), always been good with a wrench though. if i did needed anything welded or fabricated that i couldnt do, i know a few people that wouldnt charge me my entire bank account to do it. ill do what offgrid said and ill make a thread and post all the specs and a few pictures.

 

I saw your other post. Great looking jeep! If you don't mind spending the extra money for a complete kit my friend has the Rubicon express 4.5 in. kit and it rides great and wheels great too. Consider new drive shafts and for them I like Tom Woods Drive shafts, but there are many companies out there.
If your going to install a SYE kit do that before getting new drive shafts.

Another option would be to get Rubicon express 2.5in. springs all the way around, and 5 inch shackles at all for corners, for a total of 3.5in of lift. I would run either Pro-comp 1000s or 3000s for their soft ride. I believe Pro-comp's shocks are made by Monroe. This will allow you to run 33x12.50x 15s on 15x8 inch wheels. Look in the YJ build you'll see what that looks like on a YJ i'm currently building. If you want to run 36x12.50s then all you need are Highline fenders like genrights or metalcloaks.

If not already done remove the rear track bar. It is an old jeep so I would recommend replacing Ball joints and tierod ends to tighten up the front suspension.

http://www.rubiconexpress.com/

 

I had an 89 Wrangler and found it to be a very capable platform. The YJ was a bit of a transition vehicle between the old Jeeps and the newer Jeeps with the suspensions, motor technology, and their Interiors. As such there closer to owning a CJ than a TJ and with that in mind they will have many of the limitations and characteristics that the leaf spring vehicles of that era portray. If the vehicle is a good solid platform to start with it will not take much to bring it up to par and make it a very good vehicle for your use but do keep in mind that parts are a bit harder to find then more recent Jeeps. You didn't mention the year so I do not know if it has a 4.2 carbureted motor or a 4.0 injected. The 4.2 can be a bit underpowered with the stock carburetor but it runs good once you understand how to adjust everything. The 4.0 is a solid platform and more trouble free one set up correctly as well. Either way you need to accept that your vehicle will take some modifications if you want to do serious off-roading and if that is not palatable to you perhaps you should look for a newer platform.

 

ive decided to sell it once i figure out the radio problem and the speedometer problem. replaced the radio with a 100 dollar single din bluetooth unit and the speakers with 120 dollar dual bass/tweeter speakers with power inverters and they sound like crud, or atleast they did for the 5 minutes they worked, now the radio and dome lights wont turn on even though all the fuses are good. the speaker wiring colors dont even match up with what the jeep manuals say theyre supposed to be. i get power to the back of the speedometer but no power to the speed sensor. im going to get my dad to look at it next weekend since he deals with wiring on a daily basis. ill just keep looking into a tj or maybe even put the money into my 2wd trd offroad. the wheel base isnt much longer, itll just be a little harder to wheel over the larger stuff but with a bumper and winch id be able to do everything i want to anyway. so, anyone want a 95 wrangler with about 160k miles, vertually no rust, carpet, hard top, a/c-heat, new led head lights, 4.0 5speed, 2.5 lift, 255's on 17 inch wheels? rear main seal, tranny to tansfer case seal, oil pan seal, and valve cover seal have all been replaced. new pads, rotors, and brake cylinders have been replaced but looks like one still leaks and i have the part to fix it.

 

Sorry to see you had sooo much bad luck with this YJ. Only advice I can give. Don't give up on Jeeps. As with any vehicle. You come across your Monday morning... Friday afternoon builds. Jeep as a brand. Is very solid. Keep us posted dude.
Again....welcome to the forum. Hope ya hang around.

 

Mike...sounds like your mind is made. Jeeps can retain a good value so best of luck on the next one. Mechanically the YJ sounds fine, solid body based off the pics with the exception for the ride...all criteria that are important for any used vehicle purchase. Post it here at the YJ Marketplace. Hope your next vehicle has less issues and heres hoping its another Jeep

 

My first jeep was a CJ 3B, talk about a rough ride...Over time I have had 8 different JEEPS including a JK, probably my favorite was a C101 Commando, next was a CJ 7. Right now I have a YJ, they all had there issues. As it has been said the YJ is a great platform to build something special. I hope you find whatever makes you happy. Happy Trails!

 

Try spraying leaf springs with a Teflon spray and run tires at 25 psi. Helped me. good luck