Find a trail through the archive.

Unibody ownership means rust prevention is structural maintenance

The packaging landmark: a unibody Jeep that didn't ask permission

Unibody means rust is structural, not cosmetic

The engine that outlived its maker. AMC developed the 4.0 from the 258 six in just 26 months and launched it in the 1987 Cherokee XJ — right as Chrysler was absorbing AMC. It became legendary for durability (200,000-plus miles routine) and kept the AMC engine bloodline alive inside Jeep for two decades after AMC itself vanished. The "boring" inline-six outlived AMC's glamorous V8s by decades.

Grand Cherokee began as AMC's XJC work, arrived under Chrysler, and announced itself when Bob Lutz drove a ZJ through plate glass at the 1992 Detroit show.

Forward Control, Comanche, Liberty, Commander, Compass, Patriot, and Renegade show how much Jeep history exists outside the CJ/Wrangler spine.

The name moved from a full-size SJ two-door to the packaging landmark XJ, then diverged by market during the Liberty era.

The MJ combined an XJ-derived unibody cab with a separate rear frame section to create Jeep's compact pickup.

A Renault Sport veteran widely credited as the father of XJ Cherokee, Castaing carried AMC's product-development culture and Grand Cherokee program into Chrysler.

Liberty replaced the XJ Cherokee in the US, while the boxy Commander briefly gave Jeep a dedicated three-row model.

No check-engine light, no stored codes

EGR insufficient flow on the 4.0L I6

EVAP large leak — check the gas cap before anything else

Reading flash codes without a scan tool

Chapin closed AMC's 1970 Kaiser Jeep acquisition, creating the corporate setting for CJ-7, XJ Cherokee, and the long Grand Wagoneer run.

Go Devil, Hurricane, Dauntless, AMC inline-sixes, Hemi and Hellcat V8s, and the modern Hurricane inline-six map alliances, acquisitions, and changing vehicle missions.

The full-size SJ Cherokee brought sportier positioning and wide-track hardware; the compact XJ used unibody packaging to retain space while shrinking mass and dimensions.