Why the Jeep Wrangler is the new Defender.

[dugedug]

I have recently owned 3 Land Rover Discovery's. ALL needed new engines. I have had 10 plus Jeeps varying in ages from the 90's until present. I had trouble with some of the older Wranglers with oil gaskets etc. But I have had O issues with my more recent wranglers. My 02 touch pounding and ran until I rolled it down a mountain in CO. My current 09 is running like a charm.

All you have to do is read the Land Rover forums and they are ALL postings of tech issues. Not many on the Jeep side, just Jeep mods.

I believe that Dendy can attest but we were all just blinded by the oval. It is not a quality product.

Not sure if I agree. I've spent alot of time on the LR forums and now spend alot of times on the Jeep forums and I see about the same amount and types of tech issues ranging from bad motors to leaking roofs on both (First page of W-Forum under JK has a "what failed on your JK and when? " with 230 replies...) Also consider the fact the number of jeeps vs LRs and the aftermarket support and there probably will be alot more talk of mods but neither vehicles have ever considered the pinnacle of reliability.


And Dendy changes vehicles as often as I change underwear.... :coffeedrink:

 

[X-plorenow]

come on, leave Dendy's underwear out of it!

 

[SSF556]

Not sure if I agree. I've spent alot of time on the LR forums and now spend alot of times on the Jeep forums and I see about the same amount and types of tech issues ranging from bad motors to leaking roofs on both (First page of W-Forum under JK has a "what failed on your JK and when? " with 230 replies...) Also consider the fact the number of jeeps vs LRs and the aftermarket support and there probably will be alot more talk of mods but neither vehicles have ever considered the pinnacle of reliability.


And Dendy changes vehicles as often as I change underwear.... :coffeedrink:

230 replies out of how many JKUs in America?????and I bet there are multiple posts from the same guys....come on guys a modern car is very reliable even broken it will get you where you need to go....I put 30,000 miles a year on a company car and there are very few times I ever see a car stranded...let alone a Jeep or a Land Rover...

 

[BigSwede]

I'm currently waiting for my jeeps cylinder head to die cause I'm in the early build block that has had alot of failures...

Unbelievable. Or I should say, all too believable. Will American car companies never learn?

 

[Logans91XJ]

Rigs are built not bought. I see sooooo many JK's with 10,000K worth of **** packed on them and never see them go offroad or even to technical trails. Most of the JK's are street pounders and just go through a catalog and order stuff and bolt it on. Sorry but the JK and LR are sweet but over 90% of the owners probably don't see technical dirt trail more than 1 once a year. Jeep has always had a split in crowds though. I have seen 17 year old girls with brand new JK's, family people and then the 40 yr old man with every aftermarket part available and the 37's have tire shine on them.

The people who really wheel go out and wheel there vehicle of choice. Most of the typical overlanders and expo people just want to buy parts and slap them on there rig and then make up reasons for needing it. Same thing goes for Motorcycles and the hype of Adventure bikes.

 

[Rovertrader]

should have seen the 3 JKs we wheeled this w/e then ;-) Also, don't leave out us old farts- well beyond 40, who still build and wheel our own trucks... We did ask the RRC guys still broken from last w/e if they needed a hand though- he only broke all 6 motor mounts!!

 

[BIGdaddy]

Not that we can easily drive over there, but Jeep seems available in China too

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/04/23/jeep-wrangler-dragon-design-concept-slithers-into-china/

Not related to the JK, but Jeep China puts out the Jeep 2500, which looks startlingly like the cherokee...

lots of parts interchange, so one would at least have the chance of locally purchased spares, rather than having to rely on fedex, ups, etc...

Sven of XXXpedition fame ran an XJ cherokee, and now a JK on his travels around the world. I wonder if he'd like to chime in on a Jeeps suitability for travel primarily reserved for the Land Rover marque.

 

[Hilldweller]

I saw lots more Jeeps in Brasil than LRs...

 

[Metcalf]

Rigs are built not bought. I see sooooo many JK's with 10,000K worth of **** packed on them and never see them go offroad or even to technical trails. Most of the JK's are street pounders and just go through a catalog and order stuff and bolt it on. Sorry but the JK and LR are sweet but over 90% of the owners probably don't see technical dirt trail more than 1 once a year. Jeep has always had a split in crowds though. I have seen 17 year old girls with brand new JK's, family people and then the 40 yr old man with every aftermarket part available and the 37's have tire shine on them.

The people who really wheel go out and wheel there vehicle of choice. Most of the typical overlanders and expo people just want to buy parts and slap them on there rig and then make up reasons for needing it. Same thing goes for Motorcycles and the hype of Adventure bikes.

That same goes for basically ANY vehicle that is suppose to be off-road...jeep, landrover, toyota, whatever. The percentage of people that actually USE there vehicles to the percentage of vehicles produced and on the road is never that good.

I just got done with a week in moab where a good friend had a TRE go out on his TJ ( currie aftermarket part with about 10K on it ). He ended up bringing his mostly stock toyota tacoma down for the trip. He ended up doing just about everything everyone else did, while the wife was watching with a hawk eye since it was HER tacoma. He did the complete golden spike trail ( first half of poison spider, golden spike, and then out gold bar rim ) with it right along side a much more heavily modified TJ. He did drag the rear hitch a bit too much, and he needed to pick his line and receive direction from a spotter more often, but made it through without any damage or broken parts.

It is FAR too easy to go buy a Rubicon and a Quadratec catalog in the mail....then get yourself WAY in over your head.

Start small, take it out, get stuck, see if anything brakes, then improve if needed.

I agree that there is a LOT of bigger is better going around in the off-road world.

 

[cshontz]

I would travel the world in a JK, If it were...

An AEV Brute Double cab w/
3.0L Diesel w/ WA580 trans
3.5 lift
37 tires
The long ranger aux tank
also gen right aux tank

It would also have to be equiped with
Thaler Design drop in camper
and AT Trailer

I'm going to go ahead and echo this.

 

[Explorer 1]

Saw one and thought of the other

When I saw this AEV 4dr JK conversion, I remember this LR I saw in egypt........a lot of similar design features.

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[Hilldweller]

This thing makes my pants tight. I wish you guys would stop posting it until I hit the Lotto or someting.
I wish I could just snap my fingers and transform the PW into one.

Dang.

 

[Rovertrader]

Bill, in all reality it is a PW- Hemi and all!!

 

[teotwaki]

I'll come at it from a different angle. The Jeep is offering me a chance to buy American for a vehicle category that no one else offers. Not Ford, Chevy or the rest of the Yankee marques. My seven year old 4Runner is great with 150K miles, only two minor leaks on the front diff seals and a lot of life left in it. The Unlimited-Rubicon well farkled Jeeps infest the for sale category in my local Craigslist with low miles and decent prices. Maybe my next vehicle will be something that some old fart bought, over-equipped and excessively Armoralled its excessively large M/T tires every weekend. His boredom could be my gain.

Good thread.

 

[Funrover]

Fun article to read. I love my Rovers but I have been very impressed with the JK era Jeep. I say lets keep building like they used to. Luxury is nice and has it's place but I want a rig that cant take me into the backcoutry and return. I don't need all of the fancy features, just something that works.