The last AMC?

by Steve Tingle
(Clinton, SC)

Cold Pioneer

I bought a 1988 Cherokee Pioneer off a used car lot in California in 1993. No power anything, except brakes and steering I guess. It's a 4X4 with the 4.O I6 and the overdrive automatic.

I bought it to go camping in the desert and the mountains, and as a secondary daily driver. This is a great vehicle. I've taken it out in the Anza-Borrego, and up into the Sierra on trails, and never had any trouble. I'm not really into off-roading, just rough-roading I guess you might call it, and you can handle rough roads in this for sure.

I had some overheating problems one time, and took it to a Jeep dealership, and they told me somebody had put the wrong radiator into it. So with the correct replacement radiator, there have been no problems. It doesn't use oil, or leak radiator or transmission fluid, and it's now 21 years old. Old enough to buy itself a beer!

It came with the original AMC manual in the glove box. I put on a trailer hitch, and towed a U-Haul across the country with no problems.

Larry's Comment: I love these old XJ Cherokees Steve. Has your Jeep gone incognito under that blanket of snow?