WahooSteeler

MAN, those things are DA BOMB!

ok, thought that's what it might be.

forgot to mention all the interior trim, carpet, headliner, console etc. are in the bed. they were covered up with a bunch of door trim material (guy is remodeling his house), but from what i saw it was all in very good shape.

So what years and what drivetrain combo's did the puke-goats come in again? I thought for sure the AX5 didn't come along until later. That is a relief! Yeah, I'm stoked because I just never seem to come across deals like this. :D :banana: :jump:

Well, today marks the day I have crossed the line to addiction or insanity. Why? Because as of @330pm, I now own my second Manche in less than 4 months. How, because of rockhardz Craiglist thread that I clicked through starting JUST LAST NIGHT! I have an 88 Laredo w/burgundy buckets and I've been searching high and low for a replacement bottom seat cover for my driver side bucket, in the mass produced (NOT!) color of burgundy/maroon. Now, I've messaged or called probably 50 salvage yards off of car-parts.com, posted several WTB's here and on Jeepforum, all to no avail, whether for the whole seat or just the covers. (Sorry Masscrawler, you told me over a month ago you had some from the PreRunner but I couldn't wait any longer for your pics.........but I'd still like to see them! ha!) I have also desparately looked for a factory chrome rear and some trim pieces. So last night I see on our Craiglist link an 87 Laredo with the exact buckets I need........less than 20 mins from where I live..........$750 asking price for the whole truck. I email and voicemail with anticipation last night, get the call today, go see it at 2pm. Well, what I find is a two-tone maroon and gray (uh, like mine) 87 Laredo, 2WD, 230k 4cyl, 5spd Blewzho, D35, full electric pkg, full gauge pkg, a/c, bucketed full consoled 99.7% RUST FREE trizzuck, and oh yeah, 5 spoke alloys. Now the pics here are with my cell phone, it was an overcast day spitting snow, and I did not make any adjustments to the camera. But hopefully you can see this truck truly almost NO rust. The magnet test passed everywhere except the last 1 1/2"s of the driver side floor board right under the pedal area, and somebody had already hit the inside with that heavy black sealer. There was a little bubbling along the bottom edge of the left rear rocker behind the rear wheel. That's it! Now the engine's got issues, either burnt valves or something bad because it runs really rough, stalls a lot, and blows black smoke, but I didn't buy it for the engine. So check it out, tell me what you think. After I collect some parts for myself I am not sure whether to part this truck, because there are a ton of good ones, like the bed!, get a donor motor and sell it, or just sell it as is. It will still be very intact, and at this point I'd hate to part it because it's just in too good of shape to chop up. As for price, well I'll say that I got a very good deal IMO, definitely under the asking price. Sorry the pics are so bad. I just previewed them and obviously my settings were way off from the last time I took pics w/my phone. Go to to check out a lot more pics. Image Not Found

Looks great! But I tell what also rocks, Vincents! Great food, and do you know what is crazy??!! I lived about 3 mins from where those pics were taken at that plow and trailer place. Turn left down on McMurray by the greek church, turn right into the plan just past the new townhomes in the Heartland Home plan. Top of the hill first house on right on Skyline Dr. Crazy! Go Steelers!

SW@, I was gonna say I was surprised the brackets were not there. Every car mfr I've ever seen always has all the brackets, bolt holes, etc etc on every body they stamp out, it's just whether or not the car is built with the options to utilize all of them. I'm like you in that I'd like to spend as little as possible but have a decent sounding system in there, nothing super loud or obnoxious, those younger days are gone, ha! FYI though, there are a lot of pkg deals out there now from Wal-Mart to Crutchfield that have a single CD head unit with a pair of 5 1/4s or 6 1/2s with it for @$100. I've seen them in my search for a budget set up lately. Most of the decks are even "high powered" also, usually around 15-22 watts/channel. Now that's not enough to drive most subs if you go that direction for the back, but you can usually find a powered bazooka on ebay for under $100 also. Better yet, since you are not looking for a lot of kick, a 6 1/2" bazooka tube, NON-powered, will run fairly well on as little as 10 watts. So, you could probably run one of those off the rear channels from a high powered deck and get what you want out of it. I've seen the non-powered 6" and 8" zookas go for as little as $50 on ebay. So, you could probably get by with as little as $150 in to it. In addition, you still have a lot of flexibility for the future if you want, i.e. still add rear speakers in the stock mounts, add a bigger amp for the sub, go to "truck boxes", etc etc. I will probably do something on mine in the next couple of weeks. I am probably gonna try the above set-up and see how it goes, I'll let you know how I think it sounds with whatever I do. Of course, stereo sound is probably one of the most individual preferences there is. Let me know whatever you do also!

IMO, the rear speakers in an MJ, and just about any regular cab pickup for that matter, are near useless. The stock location will hold either a 4x6 or 4" round speaker. hi frequencies (treble) are directional, so being behind the seat and at floor level (i.e. behind and below your ears), 90% of the sound waves are literally just bouncing around back there. if you really wanted rear speakers, you could get components and put a 4" midrange down there and custom mount some tweeters in upper corners, either on the side, say above the seatbelt, or on the ceiling. i think you are better off putting a pair of 6x9s in boxes or some truck boxes w/8-10" woofers and a tweeter mounted on top and lay them on the floor. This way, at least the high frequencies are directed up. Don't forget to leave 6-8ft of extra speaker wire on this setup so you can pull them out and jam when you're tailgating! Another option, and what I'm about to do in mine, is to just go with the door speakers and put a deditcated sub in the back. Bass frequencies are non-directional so it's ideal to do a sub back there. There are lots of ways you can do this, bazooka tube, truck boxes, etc. Door speakers are 5 1/4", but i am pretty sure you could put 6 1/2s w/out much trouble if you don't mind cutting your door panels and losing the stock look. If you put in a sub, depending on how adjustable it is, you probably want to put some low frequency "bass blockers" on your door speakers. This will eliminate a lot of the distortion from the small speakers trying to pump out bass when you crank it up. I don't know if I just told you a bunch of stuff you knew or helped you out a little bit. Either way, here's my $1 worth!

cool. how about some details, mileage, drivetrain specs, etc. and some interior pics? i NEVER come across deals like this............

zactly. that's why i said "JEEP" 4.0. currently i believe you can still get a V6 one, like you said, in an explode (i hate that engine, just feels/sounds like crap....and weak), or a nissan pathfinder (love that engine, lotta @$$ and decent on gas!)

wow, $950 seems like a great deal if they run ok and not a rust bucket. we'll be waiting..............

i think what CW is saying, there ain't no such thing as a Jeep V6 4.0, and to my knowledge, i believe that is correct.

I saw that too Pete, but it still looks like a clean body. It will be interesting to hear the rust report. How much did your friend pay for it, if you don't mind all of us wanting to know?

interesting. that is where i submitted to and my build sheet was about 75% accurate, although i did find out i have a 3.7L V6 HYBRID w/5spd auto! on the thread where i did that most of the other guys got the same mixed with newer vins. i know chrysler re-uses old vins, maybe pre-89 will not pull a correct sheet or maybe your vin just never got re-used. i might re-submit and see if i get something different, and also try the other decoder links posted on this thread.

Wade, so which of the build sheet/vin decoder sites did you submit for this build sheet? It looks more accurate than the one several of us have gotten from jeep/chrysler.

As I said, mostly curious. Although she runs great w/211k, I'm always on the lookout if I fall across a super deal on a future replacement, even if I bought it now and stored it until the current motor dies or becomes a money pit. My current drivetrain: 88 4.0, a/t, p/t xfer case For some reason I thought this one had the tranny with it, but I know there was another late model 4'oh on jeepforum that DID have tranny AND xfer case, $950 for all or would sell separately, i think @100k

So, just curious, how hard would it be to put an 05 4.0 out of a Rubicon in to an MJ? what other parts and expenses would be needed? http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=494407

SW2, if you haven't read this yet, some really good info in here. http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135806 Pete, is there a similar sticky on this sight?

So Pete, factory tow prep pkg and D44 are possible w/out metric ton? If so then it appears that's what I have. When I was under there a couple of weeks ago and realized I had a 44, I was stoked to say the least!

oops, i was wrong. found the thread on jeepforum i followed where Pete said it is 5 leafs. i am almost certain i have a D44, and i have factory towing pkg, but it is not metric tonne. i can't say 100% my tow pkg is factory, but this truck has frickin' everything else factory.

i'm searching my previous threads here and on jeepforum as we speak to confirm.

I'm pretty sure you got it. I am almost positive the MT pkg was 4 leafs instead of 3 because when I followed a thread about that before. I checked mine because I'm also pretty sure I have the D44 but I DON'T have the metric ton pkg.

very cool. well, i think it's obvious you're already hooked, they are just fun little trucks and when you're driving it, it feels cool because you know there just are not that many out there, especially as clean as yours. on a different note, i have never been able to comprehend how anybody can drive less than 10-12k per year, even just running to the store and back, but jeez, you'll have both of your jeeps for YEARS. fortunately, my MJ was bought for working around the house and just general "pickup truck" needs, (and to fulfill that normal manly desire to just have a truck!) but will also keep some miles down on my car and all but park it in the winter here. a lot of people are excited for you, so keep us posted as you work on it or go wheelin! Greg

a little lifter noise at 204k is certainly no big deal and is common. i've got the same on my 211k 4.0L with the overall condition that the truck seems to be in, IMO i think you got a pretty damn nice truck for $2k. i mean, if you didn't want to put a dime in to right now it doesn't seem like you'd really have anything you were having to compromise. i'd say statistically more often than not a $1500 truck has got $500 of work that will need to be done to it to make it safe and driveable within a short time after purchase. I paid $1500 for my 88 Laredo and I had to put @$750 in it to pass inspection and make it safe. But, @$200-250 of that was labor since I either did not have the skill, tools, or time to do what was needed since I got it. Hey, all that matters is you are comfortable with what you paid and you are happy with it.

SW2, I guess the other burning question is how does it run w/204k on it?