Quote:
Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy
Any comments on reliability? I've often thought a TJ would be a fun daily driver. I'd be interested in a straight-6 with a manual combo.
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The basic engine (JK - editing this is I didn't see TJ there - my bad) is pretty reliable, but it damn well better be because it's being serviced by the boobs at the Chrysler dealership. We took the four door JK back to the dealership 3 times for door rattles. They kept saying "we can't hear anything and we drove it EVERYWHERE." LIARS! I took the service manager in the passenger seat, drove over a speed bump in the parking lot and sayd "THERE THAT NOISE" to which he replied "oh, well it wasn't doing that before." Uhhh... yes it was that's why we keep bringing it back...
We had two JK's, one auto and one stick. I REALLY preferred the stick. If you get the stick, buy the trailer tow package because it comes with the lower gears, otherwise you need to step into some higher equipment packages to get the ratio. The stick is REAL long legged. With the standard axle, I could not even put it into 6th until I was going around 75. Otherwise, you are shifting under the idle speed...
The 3.7 benefts significantly from an airbox replacement and headers/better muffler. My fairly reliable butt-dyno says that was worth 25 or 30 hp even with the automatic. The auto gets the shorter final drive across the line.
Steve and I have had Jeeps on/off for close to 30 years. In stock form, the JK does every thing a jeep is supposed to do, and does it better than the predecessors. It's like when someone asks, what 911 should I buy? The answer is the newest one you can afford if you're talking about "stock." The JK is much more comfortable then previous Jeeps, actually handles decently on the highway, is quite manueverable and every hop-up part in the history of the known universe is now available. You are stuck with that damn mini-van rough running nasty V6 (unless you buy one converted to the Hemi powertrain - but that's $$$$). Really wish that hadn't ditched the straight six. That engine could pull stumps, drive vertically up a cliff without any oil pressure (seen it done) and not die.
angela