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Been a long while since I've posted on here. I've had the pleasure of wheelin with a bunch of members here with my FJ Cruiser in the past few years, but that ship has sailed. I just recently sold the FJ so now looking for a new wheeler. When I sold it had a long travel front end, marlin crawler T-case and a host of other goodies. But it was starting to turn into a raisin, was running through axle shafts every 2-3 trips (rears)...so got out while I could still scrape up a good price on it. I've got my thoughts down to two different directions to take my new project. 1) Looking at 1st gen Tacoma double cabs, 3.4l and doing a SFA etc etc. 2) and I surprised myself with this one...a Jeep...specifically a JKU for the extra space/seating I need for longer trips and bringing family along. I know which option will get more responses here so I'll cut to the chase...
Took a test drive in a 2014 this past weekend and it was pretty nice - fully loaded Rubi - not what I would buy but still very nice.. The salesman pitch was that the new motor in 2012 was a real "game changer"... he was also giving me the pitch on why the Rubicon was the much better choice for offroading due to all the added features...typical pitch
My projected build on a JKU would have 37's at least (from what I've seen 35's just don't get the belly up high enough). Not looking to follow art in his moonbuggy but still want to be more capable than what I had before, take on trails in JV without major issues. I still love going on faster runs (Mojave, Baja etc) so I want to skip the bull and go for a quality coilover system, and most important is I'd rather wait to save some dough up and skip "build phase 1-3" and just get the right parts the first time.
So my questions are this when looking at a JKU - again, apologize for Q's you all probably hear too much, but school a potential convert please..
Should I only look into the JKU's from 12 up with the 3.6 Pentastar engine? The price difference between a used 12 and new 14 is very small considering depreciation. Or is there more marketing hoopla to the story and I'd be fine with a 2007+? Other changes should be concerned with as well?
Are there common issues I should look for in a used JKU? With the FJ's it was things like fender cracks, cracked headers... the JK must be a street queen if used, not looking for a wheeled one so when I see undercarriage trail rash I'll walk away anyways.
With the added weight of the JKU and needing (aka wanting) 37's, are the rubi D44's worth it? Added cost of package w/doing the C gussets, sleeve...do they really hold up that well? Have also heard of the factory e-lockers failing being fairly common as well. Is the Rubi investment worth it if the 44's can be mildly built or would it be better money spent on the basic sport and swap axles with different lockers out right away? Same question goes with the T-case, if it's better to just go basic then to Atlas or others, I'm good with that.
Much appreciated in advanced. Trying to be "smarter" this time and have a full gameplan before signing any papers.
-Bobby
Took a test drive in a 2014 this past weekend and it was pretty nice - fully loaded Rubi - not what I would buy but still very nice.. The salesman pitch was that the new motor in 2012 was a real "game changer"... he was also giving me the pitch on why the Rubicon was the much better choice for offroading due to all the added features...typical pitch
My projected build on a JKU would have 37's at least (from what I've seen 35's just don't get the belly up high enough). Not looking to follow art in his moonbuggy but still want to be more capable than what I had before, take on trails in JV without major issues. I still love going on faster runs (Mojave, Baja etc) so I want to skip the bull and go for a quality coilover system, and most important is I'd rather wait to save some dough up and skip "build phase 1-3" and just get the right parts the first time.
So my questions are this when looking at a JKU - again, apologize for Q's you all probably hear too much, but school a potential convert please..
Should I only look into the JKU's from 12 up with the 3.6 Pentastar engine? The price difference between a used 12 and new 14 is very small considering depreciation. Or is there more marketing hoopla to the story and I'd be fine with a 2007+? Other changes should be concerned with as well?
Are there common issues I should look for in a used JKU? With the FJ's it was things like fender cracks, cracked headers... the JK must be a street queen if used, not looking for a wheeled one so when I see undercarriage trail rash I'll walk away anyways.
With the added weight of the JKU and needing (aka wanting) 37's, are the rubi D44's worth it? Added cost of package w/doing the C gussets, sleeve...do they really hold up that well? Have also heard of the factory e-lockers failing being fairly common as well. Is the Rubi investment worth it if the 44's can be mildly built or would it be better money spent on the basic sport and swap axles with different lockers out right away? Same question goes with the T-case, if it's better to just go basic then to Atlas or others, I'm good with that.
Much appreciated in advanced. Trying to be "smarter" this time and have a full gameplan before signing any papers.
-Bobby
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