Faults:

Rust issues.

Gas tank straps rusted and gas tank fell out on the road.

Oil pan rusted through.

Rear shock mount sheared off from rust.

Rear lower control arm bracket rusted out.

Holes in frame around rear wheels.

Rear axle housing rusted too thin to weld on new brackets.

Front axle housing rusted too thin to weld on new support bracket.

Fuel pump failed.

General Comments:

I am not a "Jeep Guy", but I have spent much time out of doors and recognize that nothing tops a Jeep Wrangler for outdoor adventure as the go anywhere vehicle. So when my aunt said she needed me to follow her to the junkyard because she was dropping off the Jeep, I said whoa, let's discuss this. This Jeep Wrangler Sahara has an immaculate interior and near-perfect exterior. But it had a little rust problem being from a salt state. She had driven it 5 miles to town and 5 miles back for years with no undercarriage wash. The differentials were truly ready to fall out in the road despite everything above the rockers looking great. If it had been rusted out with 150,000 miles, that would have been different, but I did not feel that going to the junkyard at only 38,000 miles was giving it its fair use.

She was ready to be shot of it and gave it to me. Gift or liability, one can judge for themselves. The rear differential axle housing was rusted too thin to weld new brackets onto, so I had to get a salvage yard donor installed. The donor had 3.73 gears, which are better than the original Sahara 3.07s, but then I had to find a good front differential with the same gear ratio, which I finally did. Wheel cylinders on the rear, brake calipers and rotors on the front, and brake lines and shocks all around had to be replaced. Plus upper and lower control arms front and back, as well as coil springs. And a new oil pan because the old one was wet with oil leaking through the rust-thinned pan wall. And finally, steel plates welded in the frame holes. So basically, everything between the alloy wheels and the frame had to be replaced because of rust. Total cost $7,500, so before anybody says "You lucky so-and-so, you got a free Jeep!" Not exactly free, but I do now have what I think is a really nice 1999 Jeep Wrangler Sahara that goes down the road safely and so far seems dependable. For a test drive, I drove a hundred miles out into the National Forest and the same hundred miles back, some on US highways and some on dirt roads. It ran and drove just fine, so that's a good confidence builder.

With the 3.73 gears, the speedometer is off. When it reads 70, I seem to be doing slightly over 55 with the I-6 turning at about 2,500 RPMs. I would consider that on the high side in my other vehicles, but the I-6 doesn't seem to mind.

Everybody knows about how these things drive. It seems to like doing 45, but it feels solid and straight on blacktop. Before the repairs it would wander because the rear end was not really tightly held in place. Oddly enough, it feels smooth and solid on a dirt road and in a way, maybe it's smoother on the gravel road like it was made for that. Everything works on it, the AC, fog lights, and it has a hard shell top. For some reason, they designed the spare tire bracket so that the rear wiper binds up against the spare tire so you just learn to not use it.

Current mileage is 39,964 so I'm still getting the feel of this vehicle and testing the boundaries of how much I can trust it. I have a purpose in mind for this vehicle--camping, gold panning, going places to pursue those interests that other vehicles don't go.

Top speed is likely to be 55-60 mph and I have yet to decide how many continuous hours it will like to do that. But so far I'm pleased. I believe the $7,500 I spent resurrecting this particular Wrangler has gotten me a better TJ than I would have found for the same price because it sounds like they all have rust issues. At least I started at $0 instead of starting with a $5,000 sunk cost. And then too, when you consider what a new vehicle costs, snatching a Jeep from the junkyard and spending what I did to have something drivable compares pretty favorably with buying a new car. So I consider these repairs an investment in the future that will help me avoid buying something much more expensive later on. Say I'm a Luddite, but I don't want an infotainment system and 250 computer modules that disable the whole car when the backup camera quits working.

Though I don't have many miles on this car yet, I'm happy with it so far and I wanted to get a review started so I can update it every year in an honest and methodical way. Are people still out there looking for Jeep TJ's? I have to think yes they are. If I had any helpful advice at this stage, I would say beware of rust, assume the frame has holes, and be prepared to spend major money to fix that rust. To people building these from the frame up as off-roaders, you already have the money and the open eyes to know what you're getting into.

Faults:

From 114K to 140K miles the following happened -

Manual transmission shift fork wore out and the transmission would slip out of 1st gear. The transmission was rebuilt.

Radiator leaked and was replaced.

Engine misfired erratically, so the ignition spark coil replaced.

Fuel sending unit check valve went bad and the sending unit was replaced (had to crank the engine for 10 seconds while the fuel pump filled the line to the engine).

Blower motor resistor replaced.

Exhaust system rusted out and was replaced.

Brake drums replaced.

General Comments:

This is supposedly an "off road" vehicle, but it does not even have a limited slip rear differential. In 2WD you can get stuck in the winter, with one wheel on dry pavement and one wheel in the snow.

14 city/18 highway MPG.

Extremely bumpy ride.

With a soft top, there is so much noise that you need to yell to talk to someone sitting right next to you, when going down the expressway at 70mph.