The percentage of projects that get finished by the person that start them is pretty low..
Yeah I figure about the same number who'll admit that paying through the nose for a stripped down work truck version of a JK is 'better' than grabbing the dolled up cushy version. I've had Jeeps, early Broncos, big Broncos, and trucks of every shape, size, and configuration.
Comfortable seats, sound deadening, tilt steering/cruise control, air conditioning, sound deaning, soft suspension, lower door sills, nice audio system, sound deadening, hard top/windows, good power:weight ratio, sound deadening, leak-free cabin, low road noise vs Swamper tire whine, delay wipers, quiet exhaust with heat shielding, and finally good quality sound deadening have always been my biggest gripes when I lost them swapping into a more 'hardcore' built rig. A friend of mine wanted to take his truck to a swap meet one year (to show it off no doubt). A 3/4 ton 2nd gen Dodge with a 360, straight pipes, and 38" Swampers on a 7 hr ride was beyond miserable! She may have looked like a magazine cover rig, but NOBODY wanted to ride with him after their first stent. Kinda like riding motorcycles. Its fun to hook up with some folks and go on rides and then 'That Guy' shows up one day. New Harley-eque chopper with so many geegaws its blinding in the sunlight and cool drag pipes-NOT! Suddenly everyone asks "Who's going riding?" instead of just showing up because no one wants to ride behind 'Fonzie'. Inevitably he realizes that the low rigid frame makes his kidneys hurt, the race seat is killing his prostate, his wife refuses to ride on that scrap of leather glued to the rear fender that they told him was for passengers, his left pants legs are all chewed up from the open primary, and his ears ring for days after a ride, and he shows up with a nice stockish RoadKing, or BMW or Valkyrie etc.
I had a bumper sticker 25 yrs or so back (college) that read "No matter how good she looks, someone somewhere is already tired of her ********!" Kinda how I feel about cool looking but horribly impractical/uncomfortable/inappropriate vehicles.
If its a Sunday afternoon cruise the burger joint toy, who cares, but if it is a daily driver/trip vehicle and the owner will NEVER use the absurdly increased payload/towing capacity why bother? These spec'd out rigs are designed to operate most of the time with much heavier loads (passenger, gear, ammo, bodywork, armor, etc) than a typical Jeep will see even once in its lifetime. People complain about the ride of CJs and YJs and swear the new coil sprung units are sent straight from heaven. Wonder how one of the military spec rigs would compare to a stock CJ/YJ with similar seats in each?! (yeah I know they are putting leafs in some).
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people spending money on what they want, needs be damned. I just don't believe a lot of folks have ever lived with a HD work oriented rig that pulled double duty as their daily driver (modern diesel pickups, unless a vinyl seat, manual everything, stripper model don't count). This is a pile of money for a niche vehicle IMO, and they lose the only draw I have to a JK-- the 4 door option.
My point was how folks have gotten so excited about a vehicle that has ignited a buying frenzy since its introduction roughly 10 yrs ago are now all revved up about a seemingly worse version. Fewer doors, hard suspension, less articulation, and less enclosed room are the exact opposite of what made the JKs a hit! As someone stated above: every permutation has already been performed on a JK and its available in a proven kit via the aftermarket or through Jeep. Dropping $10K on some trick aftermarket axles and a bit more for a better suspension would result in a much more capable rig yet allow you to retain all the JK goodness (unless you just gotta have a Scrambler, um I mean Brute, J8 type body)! In which case I fully understand:bowdown:
