A Jeep Tech, Mechanic, & JT owner answers reliability questions

[JAY]

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[Geronimo]

Really good stuff.

 

[EU_Wrangler]

The answer about what to do to prevent the Aux battery to fail just shocked me

 

[Retrograde]

The answer about what to do to prevent the Aux battery to fail just shocked me

It's interesting that he said he's never done the Aux battery bypass... I don't believe him, but for some reason he wants to stay away from it.

 

[Organic Gasoline]

Great post, its neat to hear the professional side of things in this manner. Surprised he confirmed the ability to run 40" tires on the Rubicon axels.

385,000 miles in one year on a JL, that doesn't sound possible. That would be about 1000 miles per day depending on when the Jeep was purchased. Sounds like a rough year!

 

[aldo98229]

I never owned a TJ but I’d agree with his assessment that TJ is the best Wrangler ever.

TJ is where Wrangler’s past, present and future converge: it was simple, small and nimble, yet at the same time it adopted the QuadraCoil suspension, which made it comfortable on-road and gave it great articulation off-road.

Everything about TJ looks just right IMHO.

 

[hoch]

385,000 miles in one year on a JL, that doesn't sound possible. That would be about 1000 miles per day depending on when the Jeep was purchased. Sounds like a rough year!

That’s the part that got me looking sideways and raising my eyebrow. That’s not possible. Even if given the benefit of doubt and say 2 year time frame (2018 model year acquired in 2017), that’s 527 miles per day, average. Not even professional truckers do that kind of mileage.

Which confirms, just like any other mechanic, take what this guy says with a grain of salt. It’s not gospel. In my mind, 3.8 sucks and 4.0 had its share of problems. I’d put the 3.6 up there with both of them.

 

[LuvHydro]

Thanks @JAY, possibly my favorite post on here so far.

Would love to have that guy as a good friend, or to even sit down to a nice long dinner with him and talk JLs.

When buying any vehicle, it's always best to talk to the techs before the salesperson.

 

[aldo98229]

That truly was a good video!

 

[aldo98229]

It's interesting that he said he's never done the Aux battery bypass... I don't believe him, but for some reason he wants to stay away from it.

I took it to mean that he hasn’t done the bypass to his Jeep.

 

[aldo98229]

Great post, its neat to hear the professional side of things in this manner. Surprised he confirmed the ability to run 40" tires on the Rubicon axels.

385,000 miles in one year on a JL, that doesn't sound possible. That would be about 1000 miles per day depending on when the Jeep was purchased. Sounds like a rough year!

I guess it could have been done over 18 months if the Jeep was purchased early in the model year. Still, that’s a ton of miles!

 

[KevinC11]

I never owned a TJ but I’d agree with his assessment that TJ is the best Wrangler ever.

TJ is where Wrangler’s past, present and future converge: it was simple, small and nimble, yet at the same time it adopted the QuadraCoil suspension, which made it comfortable on-road and have it great articulation off-road.

Everything about TJ looks just right IMHO.

Not to get off track of this post but I agree with you. I've owned four TJ's and bought a 1997 when they were first released.
They marketed it right.
The release was done correctly
Very little problems out the gate
4.0L/3 Speed auto/D44 w/ 3.55 gears (option) could handle 32" tires easy. Keep in mind, 33" tires were almost unheard of on a Jeep in 1997.

KevinC

 

[hoch]

I guess it could have been done over 18 months if the Jeep was purchased early in the model year. Still, that’s a ton of miles!

How? At 18 months, that’s an average of 700 miles a day. Every single day for 18 months. At least 10 hours of going 70mph.

 

[Coltron_Actual]

He likes 03-06 TJ's as the most reliable. I can say that's really only true now that WranglerFix is in business and making replacement PCM's from an alternate Chrysler computer to fix the factory one that will definitely die on you.

Everything mechanically is indeed the "peak" of TJ, and the 4.0L. But Chrysler did Chrysler things with the PCM.

 

[aldo98229]

He speaks like a true mechanic: he prefers old and simple things over new and unproven ones.

The true test is this, though: would he own a TJ instead of his JT? Doubt it.

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