3 Interesting Facts About Jeep Cherokee XJ

The First Unibody SUV When the 1984 Jeep Cherokee (or XJ as it was known internally) first hit the market, it didn’t just set itself apart from the larger, more primitive Jeep models that came before it — it also managed to distance itself from every one of its sport-utility vehicle peers. The biggest difference was the Cherokee’s unibody construction, which swapped the heavy and cumbersome body-on-frame platform used by every other truck in favor of the design increasingly employed by passenger cars. This imbued the small Jeep with far more nimble handling coupled with better fuel mileage than its peers thanks to its light (3,000 lbs or so) curb weight while preserving the rugged strength required to tackle off-road terrain The Last AMC Engine, Ever One of the most memorable aspects of the XJ Cherokee’s personality was its 4.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine. This was to be the final motor ever developed by AMC, the company that developed the compact Jeep before its assets were sold to Chrysler, and it would last from its inception for the 1987 model year all the way to the final 2001 edition of the Cherokee. Originally it offered 177 ponies, but a series of revisions would bring that figure up to just over 190 horsepower and a healthy 231 lb-ft of torque. Commonly matched with a four-speed automatic gearbox (although a five-speed manual was also available), later versions of the motor developed a well-earned reputation for being unkillable. Of course, things weren’t...