cj and yj???

[American_girl_728]

what is the difference between a cj and a yj. My potential boss has a cj and I felt so dumb not knowing what he was talking about. Then I looked it up when I got home and can't really tell the difference.
???

 

[TerryMason]

It really comes down to the year the Jeep was made. The easiest way to tell the difference is that a YJ has square headlights.

there are a bunch of versions of the CJ (Cj-5 and CJ-7 are the ones you'll see the most). Until 1986 Jeep made the CJ, and in 1987 they released the YJ Wrangler (this was the first year they used the name Wrangler). In 1995 the came out with the TJ (also called a Wrangler) and it went back to the round headlights.

YJ Wrangler

CJ

 

[jfrabat]

As Terry Mason pointed out, the main difference is the headlight (the most obvious, not the main, really). Just as there are a lot of different versions of the CJ, there are different versions of the YJ (not necessarily by number as in the case of the CJ).

The main differences between YJ's are in the engine and roll bar. The first few years, the YJ had a rollbar similar to the CJ, but after the early 90's (dont remember the exact year), they extended the roll bar (or rather the "sport bar" as it is properly called because of the lawsuits!) to protect the rear passangers. The engines also went from Throttle Body Injection to Multi Port Fuel Injection (again, cant remember the year, but it was sometime in the early 90's if I remembr correctly).

Traditionally speaking, the CJ's have more appeal because they are the "original", but the YJ is a bit more capable in the stock form (leaf springs are a bit wider, engines are a bit more efficient because of EFI, etc.). A lot of people dont like the YJ's because they say square headlights are not "Jeep" (whatever that means; I personally love the square headlights!).

 

[American_girl_728]

ok so they are both wranglers that's what I thought when I google imaged it. Well thanks. I like square head lights too and rectangular driving lights (they look good on my cherokee).

 

[TerryMason]

Well, a CJ isn't a Wrangler. Jeep "invented" the name Wrangler in 1987. Most non-jeep people can't tell the difference though.

 

[LVRockCrawler]

and there are differences in the cj's -all the cj's have round rear wheel wells, the cj5 (and below...) has rounded doors and is a bit smaller (track and wheelbase...) while the cj7 has squared off doors (like the yj wrangler...) and shares some body components (like the doors and top are interchangeable)... just some differences - and as for the rollbar - i believe they were all refered to as "sportbars" as "rollbar" implies more protection than is actually provided - but it was '92 that introduced the extended rear loops to provide rear passengers with a shoulder belt as previous models only had lapbelts for the rear... just fyi...