2dr v 4dr rubicon v gladiator

[entropy]

Definitely buy the 2dr or lease it so that after you find out why less than 10% of wranglers that are sold are 2dr model you can transition back easily.

Cause we got fat and lazy.

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[entropy]

OP I personally dont mind the 2 door. And coming from 4 door SUVs my life didn't drastically change. I can drive the 2 door daily without issues and I don't think I would go to a 4 door in the future unless I had no choice.

But you can't deny the 4 door is more convenient and comfortable. No way around it. A 4 door on 37s is also bad ass on the trail.

 

[Old Dogger]

For me, the 2 door Wranglers are the way to go. I think that the Gladiators are ugly. They are just to long and out of proportion. If I was into towing, which I am not, I would purchase a truck, with a V8, that has at least 12,000 lb. towing capacity. Plus with them, one doesn't have to be concerned about their engine overheating, every time one tow's, on a mountain grade. But everybody to their own!

 

[entropy]

For me, the 2 door Wranglers are the way to go. I think that the Gladiators are ugly. They are just to long and out of proportion. If I was into towing, which I am not, I would purchase a truck, with a V8, that has at least 12,000 lb. towing capacity. Plus with them, one doesn't have to be concerned about their engine overheating, every time one tow's, on a mountain grade. But everybody to their own!

The thing about towing is that a V8 and 12,000lbs towing capacity are overkill for small trailers that are below 4,000lbs, or even 5,000lbs loaded. So the options to tow small trailers are SUVs like the grand Cherokee or small trucks like the Tacoma or 4runner. If you want to tow a small trailer to a basecamp and hit the trails your options are very limited in terms of tow vehicle. And if you want a jeep you are screwed because the 2 door can tow up to 2,000lbs and the 4door 3,500lbs. The gladiator kind of fills that void and gives you a Jeep that can tow over 3,500lbs. The bed is also large enough for you to fit a lot of gear. It is not a work truck, it is a recreational truck.

Not everyone who tows needs or wants a full size truck. What ends up happening though is that a lot of people who do get the gladiator for the reasons explained above end up realizing it is not as nimble as a Jeep and it is borderline truck. So in my opinion, it is better to narrow trailer options to light ones and go with a JLU.

 

[SadRobot]

If you want a smoother ride I'd say go for the 4dr. Another forum member once described riding in my 2dr as feeling like he was "on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland" which is.........accurate.

 

[wibornz]

What is an SBXJ? I got no idea. But I will spank like a rented mule...,

Been driving my 2 drs since 65 including 12 mo living in my Jeep on the battlefield of Vietnam, with a multi-million candle power searchlight in the back and my job was to find the bad guys and radio the Infantry to shoot there, 80% of the time I was by myself. There were only about 40 of us that had this distinction. Did not last long I think about 3 and stopped doing it, due to slight dangers.

Off-road was a passion of mine until I hung up my spurs in 2011, I had wheeled in Europe, Asia, Mexico, Latin America, Canada, US from Wash State to FL, Maine to Ca, Alaska, and Hawaii. Rocks and what they call "Overlanding" today. I shy away from Mud and Sand, they will eat your vehicle from brake rotors to the engine, and sand, and mud gets in EVERYTHING.

Like you I guess when I sold my company the wife asked me what I wanted to do? I told her I wanted t to fulfill my passion for off-roading and I did that from 2003 -2010 and I even moved to Scottsdale AZ to be more centrally located to SW (Tex-Ca, Utah - Mexico) and that was my new Job in life, she did not see a lot of me over those years, but it was fun...13 trips to Moab, I think, lost track to be honest.

Stay safe out there off road is very dangerous, I've seen death out multiple times over the years...have fun!

Just know that SBXJ owners will jump them 10 feet in the air , flip them upside down and burn them to the ground to not get out wheeled by a fancy Rubicon. My SBXJ AKA Shitbox XJ Cherokee with 33 on a 4 1/2 lift cost less than my tires and wheels on my JLUR. Parts are cheap, like full axles for $200, water pump $12 you can often find them for under a $1000 and lifted ones in decent shape for $3000. Trust me you are not willing to beat your JLR like a SBXJ owner is.

Xj jump

Trying to kill a SBXJ

Try finding a video of a wrangler owner trying to destroy a wrangler rubicon for fun…… The SBXJ Owner is a different breed of Jeep owner.

 

[Old Jeeper]

Just know that SBXJ owners will jump them 10 feet in the air , flip them upside down and burn them to the ground to not get out wheeled by a fancy Rubicon. My SBXJ AKA Shitbox XJ Cherokee with 33 on a 4 1/2 lift cost less than my tires and wheels on my JLUR. Parts are cheap, like full axles for $200, water pump $12 you can often find them for under a $1000 and lifted ones in decent shape for $3000. Trust me you are not willing to beat your JLR like a SBXJ owner is.

Xj jump

Trying to kill a SBXJ

Try finding a video of a wrangler owner trying to destroy a wrangler rubicon for fun…… The SBXJ Owner is a different breed of Jeep owner.

Tell me about it, I had and '85 and I put 136k miles on that puppy. The one I had was totally maxed out in options. The owner of the dealership ordered for his daughter as her HS grad present to take to college. She said NO WAY DADDY, so she got a Jeep YJ. I was going on an assignement that required a TON of US travel and I told them I will do if I don't have to fly. I don't like to fly*. THey agreed and I was looking around for a vehicle and I stopped at the Jeep dealer and there it sat, 2 door XJ maxed options. So I traded in my MB280 Coupe and headed on the 2nd of Jan 1985 and I rolled back in April 27 1987. Not an ounce of trouble and I sold right after that for what I paid for it, $12k.

I was looking for on a while back and find one well optioned out, low miles and clean carfax and they are brought about $10k. Great cars.

* NO, don't like to fly, feels like taking a trip on a Greyhound bus. That said I am over 1 MILLION miles on American Airlines and over 1 Million on combined other airlines, from Alaska Air, US Aiar NorthWest you name it and I racked that up in about 12 years, on a plane 42 weeks a year to somewhere. Then my 6 week East Coast tour from Key West to Canada, in my Jeep YJ, No top, no doors, SCUBA gear in the tub, and a Mountain bike hanging in front. Working vacation...

 

[wibornz]

Tell me about it, I had and '85 and I put 136k miles on that puppy. The one I had was totally maxed out in options. The owner of the dealership ordered for his daughter as her HS grad present to take to college. She said NO WAY DADDY, so she got a Jeep YJ. I was going on an assignement that required a TON of US travel and I told them I will do if I don't have to fly. I don't like to fly*. THey agreed and I was looking around for a vehicle and I stopped at the Jeep dealer and there it sat, 2 door XJ maxed options. So I traded in my MB280 Coupe and headed on the 2nd of Jan 1985 and I rolled back in April 27 1987. Not an ounce of trouble and I sold right after that for what I paid for it, $12k.

I was looking for on a while back and find one well optioned out, low miles and clean carfax and they are brought about $10k. Great cars.

* NO, don't like to fly, feels like taking a trip on a Greyhound bus. That said I am over 1 MILLION miles on American Airlines and over 1 Million on combined other airlines, from Alaska Air, US Aiar NorthWest you name it and I racked that up in about 12 years, on a plane 42 weeks a year to somewhere. Then my 6 week East Coast tour from Key West to Canada, in my Jeep YJ, No top, no doors, SCUBA gear in the tub, and a Mountain bike hanging in front. Working vacation...

Now that is some traveling.

I have tad two XJ that had over 230,000 miles on them and still running strong. The XJ can easily be argued that it is the best and toughest Jeep ever built.

Before all the hate starts, not one person will post a video of their wrangler doing stuff like the XJ videos I posted, and I only posted two videos. There are thousands of similar Xj videos on the web of Xj like the one I posted. Also note that XJ can be had in 2dr or 4 Dr variants.

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