Anyone also own a Jeep Wrangler?

I was going to sell my 1st gen Tacoma and buy a new 3rd gen a few years ago. Test drove 3 or 4 lol and just didn't fall in love. Went to lunch with a co-worker in his 2021 JL Rubicon Eco Diesel 4DR, he let me drive and I fell in love. I thought it drove great, was more comfortable than any gen Tacoma all while getting over 20 MPGs on 35s. New diesels scare the shit outta me, test drove a few gas JLs and thought they were great too. Long story short I'm not good at spending money otherwise I would have one sitting in my driveway. I ended up fixing up all the old shit I had been neglecting on my 1st gen for years. Bought some fancy new seats too. I still find myself cruising the JL forum checking them out every once in a while.

 

The Skyjacker lift lasted a week on it. It was replaced with much better parts that improved nothing.

The rest of the issues I had with the thing are problems that quite a few JKs had; stock or otherwise.

I'm not saying it's a bad vehicle. I get the appeal of them. I'm saying the build quality isn't there for the price paid.

 

Why would I need two money pits?

 

I have a 2019 4 dr JL Sahara with 40k miles and a 2021 TRDOR Long Bed. The biggest issue I have was with the Tacoma's seat. I added Seat Jackers, but I still prefer the Seat in my Jeep. I've driven long distance in both and the one thing I hated about the Jeep was no dead pedal. I added that and solved my problem. The Jeep is my daily driver and response vehicle. My Tacoma is used as needed. Have just over 9000 miles on it now. I wish the Tacoma had the switch package like you can get with the Jeep. It made installing radios and lighting a breeze.

 

Why would I want a jeep?

 

^Is that a reliability ranking chart? If so they're out of their minds putting Mini at the same level as Toyota

 

The 4-door longer wheelbase helps with ride and stability yes.

The turd gen Taco's suspension is very well tuned as far as factory truck suspension goes. Step into a 2nd gen Taco or 5th gen 4Runner and you'll get similar wobbly boat handling.

 

I have a 2022 Tacoma TRD Off RD and a 2017 Jeep Wrangler JKU Sport. I honestly hated the Jeep when I bought it with 25k miles on it in 2019. Only bought it because I could flat tow behind my motorhome, resale is great in case I wanted to dump it and my wife always wanted one. I didn't do any "Jeep stuff" until last summer. I use it now to off road on ocean beaches here on LI. The wrangler has grown on me. It is by no means a quality nice driving vehicle but it's easy for diy persons to work on and is a phenomenal off road and bad weather vehicle. I love everything about my Tacoma and don't want the salt spray or sand all over it. My analogy is the Tacoma is my wife and the Wrangler is my $3 hooker that'll do what I could never ask my wife to do.

 

98 manual TJ. 75k miles. Very reliable and easy to find parts. 35 years of owning many different cars...super fast ones, luxury ones, trucks, etc, and after all of them the Wrangler remains the most fun car I've ever driven. No top/windows/doors is the way to go

 

Well at least Ford and some others are where they belong. Had three Fords (two Ford trucks) before finally getting smart and going to Toyota in 86. If I had the money I might have an older Jeep to beat the crap out of but then again actually wish I'd never sold my 86 4x4. Very tough and easy to work on and I knew what I was looking at when I opened the hood too.

 

If I sold the Tacoma I'd probably buy a 392. V8 Hemi? Yes please.

 

I bought my first jeep new while in high school, it was a 1970 CJ-5 with a 6 cylinder buick engine. I taught me to weld and
how to work on points and carbs. I also learned to fabricate all sorts of stuff. It would go anywhere without big lifts and
assorted crap that everyone buys now. The bought a real bronco until till the 1st toyota 4-drive truck. They were mini trucks
then. Bought a couple of those and then a 1984 4runner. Bought the 3 liter 4runner. Kept waiting for a tundra with a real
engine that never came. Bought a 2nd gen tacoma and kicking myself that I traded it for a 3rd gen. I hate that in canada or
mexico I can get a diesel but not here. Spoke to a wheel at toyota USA and learned that because california buys most of
them that the trucks are aimed at that market. Why the springs are junk etc. Quality at jeep went down hill with dodge getting
them. BUT toyota's quality has also gone down hill in recent years so no picking on jeep.
FOR the record I now own a 3rd gen tacoma and a jeep JKU wrangler. I will admit dodge electronics suck big time.

 

The JL has upped the drive experience to acceptable for daily driving.
The death wobble is my only concern with these. Yes, the JL is still having the issue. I drove a 2021 14,000 mile unlimited that went to full death mode at 70mph on the interstate, smooth road too. All I did was change lanes and when the weight unloaded off the LF wheel it started.
Not for me but if you go off-road you can’t beat a Rubicon.

 

that wasn't a stock suspension + wheels was it?

 

those jeeps suck to drive on the road. they are pretty good offroad though. only way i'd ever consider a Jeep is if i'm going to build a heavily modified trail rig.

 

A completely stock mall crawler.

 

Have you driven the JL version? They’re not bad at all except for wind noise with the soft top option.

 

Death wobble is always a maintenance thing with solid front axle vehicles. It just doesn’t happen. Coming from a guy who’s owns Jeeps since 98.

People can google the reasons, but all those reasons involve not checking or being on top of things, be it tire balancing, ball joints or whatever.

 

Get some popcorn.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/crashnburn80s-supercharged-gladiator-mojave-build.700918/

 

I've always wondered why actual Jeep drivers never look anywhere near as happy as the smiling laughing people in those Jeep commercials?

As others have said, they can be made into great off road vehicles. But pretty much everyone I have ever known that owned one said they were repair / maintenance PIA's and horrible daily drivers. As with everything, YMMV.

Carry on!