1997–2006 · TJ & Unlimited LJ
The Wrangler that
swapped leaves for coils.
The TJ is the Wrangler that swapped leaf springs for coils. That one change is why it rides better than the YJ it replaced, and why so much of the aftermarket exists — a coil-sprung axle can be lifted, but lifting it moves geometry that leaf springs never had.
This site explains the decisions, not the spec sheets. Every article is about a choice you actually have to make, and what it costs you elsewhere on the Jeep.
What makes a TJ a TJ
Coil springs at all four corners, located by control arms and a track bar — the layout Jeep carried forward into the JK and JL. A solid axle front and rear. A folding windshield through 2006. And, from 2003, the Unlimited LJ: ten inches of extra wheelbase that quietly made it the best-riding and most capable version of the generation.
Two engines mattered: the 2.5 L four and the 4.0 L inline six. The 4.0 is the one people seek out, and the reason a well-kept TJ still holds value two decades on.