Considering Selling my 3rd Gen for a Wrangler JLU Rubicon

Yessir, not sure the FJ will ever go. Glad to finally have a Jeep as 2nd vehicle, the only thing I worry about now is which one gets the next mod.
Admittedly, the Jeep has been getting more attention as I figure the FJ is just going to be around long enough to take my time on it.

 

Haha that’s a great problem to have!

I love the colors you got. I’d love a red TJ some day. But it’s like you said, as a 2nd vehicle. My dad and brothers are all Jeep guys and I’ve got the only Tacoma. They’ve got issue after issue but that’s the price you pay for a fun convertible.

 

A guy at my work has a Wrangler and it spends more time i the shop than on the trails...just saying

 

Off Road/Pro Taco = Reliable, light off roading
Jeep = Not as reliable, much better off roading capability.

 

Oh yeah, thank you, this one stays on jack stands 1/2 the time, haha. And I cannot wait to say one day that I've almost replaced every Am Std & torx head bolt on the darn thing, that'll be the best mod ever!!

 

Drove an 11' JKUR out of the Los Angeles area for 6 years, amazing off road, just drove over most anything with no drama whatsoever, but not the best on the streets. The steering made the vehicle a challenge to drive quickly on the many hilly, curving roads in California. Added a stabilizer and better shocks, still not too good. Now in the bay area, on a trip last year to the L.A. area, rented a JL to see how the JL's are. The motor and gearing definitely was much peppier than my 17' T. DCSB OR, but on the highway; wow, the steering was still very, very bad, not easy to drive quickly. Maybe it was a bad rental, and from reading the JL forum it sounds like there are some very high quality aftermarket parts to greatly improve the JL steering and stability, but I was really shocked that Jeep still hadn't fixed the Wrangler steering issue after all these years. My 17' T. w/ the Bilstein 6112/ 5160's, non-OR sway bar, better tires and the Pro wheels is decent off road, and much, much more stable and much easier to drive quickly on the highway or unstable roads. YMMV.

 

Yeah, I don't think solid front axles are too great for the street. This is why I'm headed in a direction of very capable reliable street mannered IFS Toyota that can snatch & tow my solid axled beast out of precarious places and get it home.
I ran some trails in my stock FJ & it hung with all the lifted modded rigs. I think I'll keep it stockish for a while and beat on the 20 year old solid axle.
This thread helped me realize that in the modding world most everyone wants to get to that SAS point but really by the time you get there, your vehicle is not good as a DD anymore. You almost need one of each..

 

I spent 16 years behind the wheel of a Wrangler. 8 years with a ‘98 TJ and another 8 years with a ‘13 JK. I was never a hardcore off-roader. They just aren’t practical at all on the streets and highways. I never had any major reliability concerns from them, but problems did arise that you would never get from a Tacoma. I had to fix the “death wobble” on my JK 2-3 times in the 97k I put on her. The engine and transmission were never a concern. It was always the suspension/steering that would haunt me with problems. Ball joints, drag link, tie rod, etc... Constantly needing replacement. I think they make fun 2nd vehicles. A primary and only vehicle? Never again. I had a blast as a teenager riding one all throughout town. My friends and the girls loved them. Well into my 30’s now, that “feeling” just isn’t there anymore.

 

Luckily my girlfriend wants a Jeep and as soon as she is ready we are getting a 2020 4 door Rubicon and I'm going to stick with my Tacoma so we can have the best of both worlds! Do whatever makes you happy and makes you feel comfortable at the end of the day man!

 

Just get a warranty, I had a rubicon and it dominated the Tacoma for off road use.

The reliability is questionable but with a bumper to bumper warranty You shouldn’t have any issues.

plus the JLU interior looks amazing, I’m back to a taco because I love having the bed, I do a lot of random projects around my house so it helps.

I bought the shitty house in the nice area so I’m constantly fixing or upgrading crap.

 

FWIW, I sold my Tacoma last November and got a Jeep JLU Sahara. Found a new, unsold, well-equipped 2018 sitting near Sault Lake City. I really like it.

I kept my Tacoma for only six months. I did enjoy Tacoma’s looks, smooth ride and tight assembly quality. But I never got used to the low seating position, the erratic automatic transmission, the awful engine sound, the long turning radius, and all those irritating warning chimes.

Thankfully, I got for it as much as I paid for it new, minus tax and license. There aren’t many other vehicles out there that can do that. And I would buy again from my local Toyota dealer. They did inspire trust. That’s more than I can say of most Jeep dealers.

After six months my Jeep only has 3,700 miles. It’s in the garage most of the time these days due to Social Distancing. It is mostly stock. Got a set of 33” KO2s; that’s it —see below. Don’t plan any major mods for the time being. The 8-speed automatic is an absolute gem: smooth, responsive, fast and, apparently, durable. The 8-speed automatic makes the 3.6 V6 feel much more powerful and refined than it is. My Sahara came with Selec-Trac, which is Jeep’s full-time 4WD system, and has a rear LSD. It drives like a charm, especially in winter.

I have a lot of respect for Toyota as an automaker. But life is a string of trade-offs and choices, and the trade-offs Jeep offers work better for my individual needs than Tacoma’s.

Keep safe everyone.

 

The handling on the road is what made me switch from a '15 JK Wrangler to the Tacoma. Off road, the Wrangler really shines, but obviously most time was spent on the road, so the choice was easy for me. I don't regret it.

I drove recently a '20 JLU Rubicon and I was surprised how much better it handles the road, compared to my '15 JK. Before the damn virus, I was seriously considering a Rubicon as a second car. Not the main daily driver!

My Tacoma with 4.88s and OV tune drives pretty much perfectly; I have absolutely zero complaints; transmission and engine are smooth. However, a few things annoy me about the cabin as a taller guy, and I don't necessarily need a bed...

Ideally, my stable would be a 4Runner, as daily driver and main adventure vehicle, and a JLU Rubicon for a little fun here and there.

 

We have both, and I won’t drive the Jeep on the road, ever. It’s great for playing off road but that’s it. I have a high schooler and I drive a lot of kids around to various sporting events. The no air bags in the back seat is a deal breaker, as is the overall safety of the Wrangler. Safety is too important to me to put my kids or someone else’s kids in there.

 

Before getting my 18” Tacoma Sport I looked at the Wrangler and I knew about the Gladiator coming soon as well. I test drove the heck out of both and the Tacoma took the win. The Tacoma had many good aspects that the Jeep was lacking. The Tacoma drove a lot better than the Jeep but that could have been due to the tires(?) I test drove the sport, overland and rubicon. I went into many Jeep forums and all the talk was about crawling, fixing electrical, motor, tranny etc, etc and nothing about practicality. 3 month ago I went to my local Jeep dealership to test drive the gladiator overland and rubicon and was not impressed at all, just like the wrangler but with a bed behind and for the price you can buy a MUCH better vehicle. My conclusion, I’m VERY happy with my decision, this truck is been fantastic and the endless mods are unreal. Nonetheless, this forum community and help is like no other forums I’ve been apart of. To me, the Jeep is a very expensive UTV toy for those who are more incline to crawling and have big fat wallet to waist money in parts and repairs. Funny enough, some people have dump thousands of $$$ and wanting to sell it and get much of what they have invested. Who in their right mind buys a Jeep for 90K???... I’m like, congrats dude, you just bought a Jeep...

 

I will never go back to Mopar..I rented a new Jeep while my truck was being built. What a crappy ride!!! I’ll stick to my Toyota.

 

Back when a Jeep was a Jeep. 88' Comanche 4.0l straight six that made more noise than power but it still runs.

 

I'm Toyota tried & true. But being I'm on my 4th Jeep, albeit I have a Toyota to keep me on the road, apparently there's something to appreciate about a Jeep too. I'm not taking the damn doors off my FJ, haha.

 

I use to take the doors of my FJ. I’ve owned 7 Jeeps in the past and if I was going to purchase another it will be either a cj2a or cj3b.

 

I'm a jeep guy at heart.. iv had a couple of TJs and was pretty big into jeeps clubs n jamborees in the early 2000s.. my 98 TJ had 32" tires and a rear locker. I now have a stock 19 dcsb OR. I have taken the tacoma anywhere I've had my jeeps previously.. they are tremendous offroad for 90% of people out there.. unless you are doing major rock crawling the tacoma will get it done offroad.
I bought the tacoma instead of a gladiator for a few reasons. On my jeeps.. I always had electrical gremlins.. dash lights that wouldn't work.. wipers that malfunctioned.. etc. Didnt want to deal with that stuff again.. also the jeeps had more road noise from no insulation in the roof top..and the gladiator was too long for my garage. I also looked at the unlimited.. but it lacked the cargo room that I needed.. winner=tacoma.. it's my 3rd tacoma.. never had one problem with any of my Toyota trucks.. couldnt be more happier with the Tacoma.. and I take it more places offroad than more jeep owners can fathom!