conifers4
Suburban nomad
Easy now..lol
Don't flame... BUT is the Wrangler the new Defender for the U.S. ???
- Thread starter swrider
- Start date
Easy now..lol
fishEH
Explorer
Is this Matt Scott posting under a phoney name? 
Jeeps are very capable, and they frickin should be for their price tag. The JKU(or whatever weird letter combination they're on now) just doesn't do it for me. I look at it and say "meh". Lifted Jeeps are a dime a dozen. Every middle age guy, soccer mom, and teenage girl has one and has all kinds of JC Whitney bolted on "kit". Some of the stuff is downright laughable how poorly thought out and designed it is. To me the Jeep has no "soul".
All of this talk is pointless though because I here the next incarnation of the Wrangler will be an IFS truck anyway.
Jeeps are very capable, and they frickin should be for their price tag. The JKU(or whatever weird letter combination they're on now) just doesn't do it for me. I look at it and say "meh". Lifted Jeeps are a dime a dozen. Every middle age guy, soccer mom, and teenage girl has one and has all kinds of JC Whitney bolted on "kit". Some of the stuff is downright laughable how poorly thought out and designed it is. To me the Jeep has no "soul".
All of this talk is pointless though because I here the next incarnation of the Wrangler will be an IFS truck anyway.
I own neither. But like both (and Land Cruisers too). Regarding the Defender, why the commitment of owning one for a year? Is the Defender a harsh riding / rustic 4x4 or does it require a lot of maintenance?
Last edited:
Chazz Layne
Administrator
jh.
ambitiose sed ineptum
Yes.
jh.
ambitiose sed ineptum
I owned a TJ prior to a DII and now RRS. The only thing that I miss - and truthfully the only reason why a nice black JKU rubi with a trektop will be a future consideration as used prices drop - is going topless. The DII was more capable with a smaller lift and a little more comfortable. The RRS is not quite as capable yet since I've done nothing to it, but is approximately 10,000,000x as comfortable.
I couldn't tow anything with the TJ, but the JKU is marginally better....still not quite the cargo capacity as the RRS.
That all said, I would buy a D110 tomorrow (hell I would "settle" for a D90) if they weren't absurdly priced stateside. A buddy just swapped his '94 D90 with 125k (not a '97 with 10k....a '94!!) straight up for a '13 JKU rubi with 13k. Completely absurd. Helluva investment I guess.
I couldn't tow anything with the TJ, but the JKU is marginally better....still not quite the cargo capacity as the RRS.
That all said, I would buy a D110 tomorrow (hell I would "settle" for a D90) if they weren't absurdly priced stateside. A buddy just swapped his '94 D90 with 125k (not a '97 with 10k....a '94!!) straight up for a '13 JKU rubi with 13k. Completely absurd. Helluva investment I guess.
For most of the trails around me that are small, twisty, turny, narrow, etc. an LR3 can do anything a JKU can and it's way more comfortable driving there and back AND on the trail. Rock crawling in moab is a different story, but I think the JKU is over rated for a lot of common trail applications. I dont' hate them, just don't think they're that special. Especially for 50k for a Rubicon JKU with leather.
Which brings me to my continuing plea for LR to bring us the next gen Defender. Make it something that can go head to head with a Rubicon on technical terrain and is at least it's equal or a bit better on the highway and has greater payload/towing. Keep it priced within $5-7K of a Rubi and market the heck out of the 'original overland vehicle' and watch 'em fly out the door.
The only one I'd drive -
I thought you hate Jeeps?
libarata
Expedition Leader
Better start writing our masters to lessen the restriction on imported vehicles.
overlander
Expedition Leader
there will be quite a few Defenders at Expo East next month you can check out, including mine. Judge for yourself. One if my friends with a JK should be parked with me.
I do, but there's a fine line between disliking a brand, and respecting a design. Read the first line of the description.
http://www.aev-conversions.com/vehicles/brute-double-cab
It's worth noting that there's very little 'Jeep' about anything AEV makes. Their stuff proved superior to the point that Chrysler themselves uses them to supply components of the factory Wrangler and sends them prototypes long before hitting the market. Anything off road oriented from FCA is likely influenced if not outright designed and engineered by AEV, from the Power Wagon to the JK platform.