any one know anything about old military vehicles?

My wife drives a 1997 Grand Cherokee. It's had it's problems here and there but nothing that drained the wallet. Engine, transmission and transfercase are all original and not rebuilt. I had to rebuild the rear axle around 200,000 miles, but that was no biggie. It currently has 260,000+ miles on it and I just the other day replaced the factory stock alternator. It goes like a mule. 15 city / 22 Highway with a tailwind.

I've had my 98 TJ (Jeep Wrangler) since 99. There isn't much left of it. The engine and trans are stock and they have seen some VERY HARD Miles.

Airborneguy said:

I just got rid of my JK a few months ago. My commute changed and now includes two bridges. It was okay dealing with one bridge it could barely make it over, but two became just too much. I should have never got rid of my TJ five years ago.

JeepDiver, you must have stock tires if you're really getting gas mileage like that. I had 33's on both Jeeps, which aren't really even too big, and my mileage was nowhere near 20, no matter how I drove.

Click to expand...

Yep, it's stock with the Automatic transmission. Sahara so it has the 18inch tires so ~31s. If I get in the mountains it goes down, but in town or on the hwy it does good. It was great on the East Coast (DC area), but some of the big hills/mountains out here do make me want to shoot it at times. Right after I got it, did a ~500 mile road trip where I had the cruise set 90%, and it hit 25mpg, but haven't seen that in a while.

One thing I have noticed is if the air filter even thinks it's dirty, the MPGs go way down.

Jeeps are sweet but any old truck with a carburator, manual trans and two solid axles will be pretty tough. Avoid efi or tbi because of the electronics crap.

I'd say look for a Chevy k series, a landcruiser fj60 or older, so like 87 and older. Dodge ram power wagons and if you must a ford f series or gen 2 bronco.

I'd emphasize a Chevy or a Jeep because parts are cheap and plentiful. They was a military Chevy pickup. I believe some of them were diesels with really low gear ratios.

JeepDiver said:

Yep, it's stock with the Automatic transmission. Sahara so it has the 18inch tires so ~31s. If I get in the mountains it goes down, but in town or on the hwy it does good. It was great on the East Coast (DC area), but some of the big hills/mountains out here do make me want to shoot it at times. Right after I got it, did a ~500 mile road trip where I had the cruise set 90%, and it hit 25mpg, but haven't seen that in a while.

One thing I have noticed is if the air filter even thinks it's dirty, the MPGs go way down.

Click to expand...

I figured the stock tires without a doubt. Automatics on Wranglers actually help too (well all cars nowadays really). Both times I was crushed getting rid of my Jeeps, but at the times they were killing me. I was getting divorced when I ditched the TJ for something more economical, and this time with the JK it was just brutal for my commute. I swear I could have taken the bridges faster on a bicycle! And on windy days? Forget it!