Modding a Wrangler to Match Land Cruiser Reliability?

[KlausVanWinkle]

Not trying to start a flame war. My older Land Cruisers had infinitely more issues than my new Wrangler. But I haven't seen this idea discussed yet.

After watching several of Ronny Dahl's youtube videos, I've noticed a few things about the 70-series Land Cruisers vs. the Jeep. It might be because the canopies on the 70s are so heavy, but the Jeep seems to run circles around the Land cruisers and Patrols despite it's smaller tires, smaller lift and lack of lockers.

But inevitably, the Jeep breaks down and has to turn around, or the Land Cruisers have to tow it. This might have to do with the age of the Jeep. It's an '07 and Jeeps seem to not be made with Land Cruisers 25-year service-life in mind. And granted, in the states we're more likely to encounter extreme rock crawling than mile long water crossings. But has anyone tried to build a Wrangler to match the Land Cruiser's reliability? I have no plans of doing this. But it seems interesting to see if you could mod a Jeep to Land Cruiser reliability. Modifying a Land Cruiser wagon to match a Wranglers technical terrain abilities is very difficult and requires cutting a lot of sheet metal and custom suspension designs.

Known Wrangler failure points:

• Electric fan gets clogged with mud or shorts in water, causing overheating.
• The starter died in this video.
• Axle failures.
• Broken transfer case linkage.

Most of this seems easy to fix but expensive. But maybe not any more expensive than the lengths Land Cruiser owners go to in order to get big wagons without the best angles through technical trails:

• Dynatrac ProRock axles to strengthen the drivetrain.
• ARB lockers instead of electric OEM because they're stronger.
• Advanced Adapters transfer case linkage to prevent breaking the plastic linkage bushing.
• An OEM engine driven radiator fan to prevent water/mud from shorting the fan.

What else would need to be addressed in a Wrangler Rubicon?

 

[jeffe]

I would imagine the 3.6 pentastar engine would be much more reliable than the 3.8 with the 2011. Other than that I think this setup you suggested would make the wrangler even more unstoppable! I'm interested to see where this thread goes. Sub'd


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cruiserdude80]

I think you pretty well hit it, with axle upgrades being at the top of my to do list. Wrangler JKs are known to develop ball joint problems when they are lifted due to poor quality OEM ball joints. When they need replaced, upgrading to quality aftermarket ball joints solves that problem. Of course you could upgrade the ball joints at the same time you were upgrading the front axle.

I think what you have listed gets you a ways down the reliability path.

 

[harv3589]

interesting post...something I'm aiming for myself...a bullet proof wrangler

 

[MTSN]

Other than the mechanical reinforcements you mentioned, I think the 12+ JK is extremely reliable. The piece it's missing is less reliability and more fit and finish. The NVH of the JK while massively improved over prior Jeeps can't hold a candle to any LC unfortunately. Even a bullet proof JK will not be as comfortable and easy on the body to drive as an LC. Seeing if the trade offs in the Jeep's strengths are worth it compared to the LC's overall excellent quality is the real question (which I'm grappling with).

 

[98WhiteT4R]

Intersting idea...While I don't have too much experience with Wranglers (owned a WJ) I would say that I see WAY more stockish TJ's and YJ's still on the road then heavily modded ones. IMO some people overbuild them with 37's on stock (non Rubi) axles and with all the aftermarket support its easy to get carried away and spend $20k on a build. In the Ronny Dahl videos (which I love) the Wrangler is always the underdog compared to the other vehicles but its a champ! But Ronny's 70 gets me hot and bothered:sombrero:

I have a friend with a '12 JKU and he caught the mod bug hard and dumped about $15k in a few months on parts. I remember it overheating on the trail but I think his engine/exhaust mods had something to do with it.

Kind of got off subject there but in my experience with MOPAR and Toyota there really is no comparison reliability wise.

 

[Kmrtnsn]

The transfer case shift linkage has two sacrificial plastic bushings. From what I understand, they're meant to fail in order to prevent forcing a "bad selection" and damaging the transfer case. They're about $2.00 bucks a piece and easy enough to change. I keep a couple in my trail bag.

As for the fan failing when submerged in mud and water, really? It's not a propellor. Let's have some realistic expectations of performance.

Axle failure? Pick one. Breaking a front axle shaft on the trail, or shattering your diff? I'd swap axle shafts on the trail all day long over swapping a fractured differential.

 

[kojackJKU]

I have a 2011 Unlimited sport. it has the lowly 3.8, stock axles etc. I did swap out the balljoints as the stock ones have friggin plastic in them. That's insane. Now that I have my spicer/Dana joints in there, since 25,000k I have not had an issue since. Bushings wear out but I only wore one out since ownership. I know have 180,000k on my jeep. The motor is fine, the transmission is fine, and has been fully reliable. I use my JK off road ALOT. And living in the salt belt, I can guarantee that my jeep has zero rust while 2 year old Toyota are crusty piles at the dealership. I will take my Jeep anyday. Plus, I can buy 3 wranglers for the price of a crusier here.

 

[(none)]

every vehicle has it's weaknesses, even Land Cruisers.

For me, my '12 JK rubicon has been extremely reliable. It's all about preventive maintenance and paying attention to your ride. Yep, my ball joints were worn out at 40k miles and i've had the slave cylinder leak at 50k. My Land cruiser went through alternators like candy, wasn't known for having the best head gaskets (i kept an eye on my temps and fluids, so i never had an issue) and ate brakes (which never worked well).

For the 3.8s, i'd go with a mechanical fan with the electric fan supplement. this isn't an option for the 3.6 due to the pulley locations. Pity, but will have to deal. Oh, and the mechanical fan failed on my land cruiser. At first it wouldn't engage, then it wouldn't disengage after rebuilding. Nothing is guaranteed fix.
Axles are something that totally depend on the abuse of teh user. Many wheeel on stock axles. I have stock 44s on 35s. I also don't jump the thing. The stock lockers are plenty strong if treated right. I wouldn't bother upgrading until you actually have an issue.

 

[PhulesAU]

As stated above, It's more of a Operator Error issue that a collection of bad parts.

 

[mtbxj87]

Electric fan died cause it got packed with mud?! Unheard of, brand specific failure lol.. I'm sure that's what killed your starter.
Sound like more common sense is needed

 

[muddyluxury]

Electrical fans should be turned off before a water crossing. Most add a simple switch to the mix to solve the problem. Also - back in the day of the mechanical fan a deep water crossing was a problem because the fan spinning at speed could do damage when it hit the water.

 

[EMrider]

Based on my non-scientific sample, Jeeps are more heavily modified and beaten harder on the trail than LCs. That explains a good portion of why more stuff breaks.

My Jeep longevity strategy is to keep the mods light and to stay off the black diamond trails.

If I do decide to drive more difficult trails, I'll mod accordingly.

R

 

[Alphonse]

I have over 70k hard miles on my 2011 JKUR and the only reliability issues I have encountered are cracking exhaust manifolds from hot metal meeting cold water crossings, and the ever present leaks of the factory soft top.

My FJ Cruiser I traded for the JKUR had 50k miles and went through 3 TOB, 2 clutches, 2 front axle shafts, a cracked intake manifold, new drivers seat, new power door locks.

Both rigs were similarly built and wheeled, daily driven. I bought the FJ because it was supposed to be a made in Japan Toyota, which I thought would make it more durable and reliable. It wasn't, lol

 

[Comanche Scott]

Electric fan died cause it got packed with mud?! Unheard of, brand specific failure lol.. I'm sure that's what killed your starter.
Sound like more common sense is needed

I think you miss read KVW's post.
If you go back and read it again, you'll probably want to edit your post. :beer: