Can I go to a 2 door?

[ajkitebrder40]

I've always debated moving to a 2 door, mainly because I've found them more fun to drive, I don't have kids, I never use the back seats, just the storage area. The main thing stopping me is my use case, so here goes, let me know if I'm missing something:

Daily:
Back and forth to the beach to surf/kiteboard/foil. So other than in the winter, everything fits inside the JLUR, when the hard top goes on, my foilboard (5'8" x 28" SUP) goes on top on racks because it gets a bit tight with the hard top on far as the width on it's side to the top of the hard top, but really no issues. In the summer, I roll with a bikini top for rain or no top, and so the boards go inside or in the case of a 2 door, out the back.

Trips:
Here's the issue, on trips it will be the wife and I typically, or me alone. I like the idea of being able to sleep inside the Jeep (I have a DeepSleep mattress for the 4 door). I put the boards on top, and I have Inno racks to lock them in. Obviously, that won't work even for just me when on trips, so.....obviously a tent will fix it, but......any other easy to deploy solutions to sleeping inside the Jeep with an air mattress that would work?

Again, my brain says just stick with the 4 door, that's what I've had and I'm used to it and it does everything I want, but a part of me has always wanted a 2 door (I've gone from XJ to a '93 Toyota Pickup to JKU to JLU, so.....other than the pickup everything has had 4 doors).

Quick edit based on comments - I would remove the backseat immediately (along with the carpet and replace with Armorlite, but that's a whole other subject).

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[Mtrctylarry]

Simple...Get one of each! Hard to beat the utility and space of the four door...Also hard to beat the look and short wheelbase fun to drive of the two door.

 

[Morrepe]

You have the classic problem: you need the 4-door, but your heart knows a 2 dr manual is the more fun option. Good luck with that dilemma. For the record, I've owned both. I've had a 2 dr TJ and a JKU Sahara that I lifted and re-geared to 4.56 with 35s. Loved both, but just ordered a 2 dr Willys w/3.6L and MT. Then again, I don't have your use case. I live in the city and don't even drive every day.

 

[entropy]

Gazelle tents deploy in under a minute.

The best sleeping solution is a teardrop camper with a real mattress. I am never going back to a tent or sleeping inside a car lol. The money you save from the 4dr - 2dr difference can go towards a small teardrop. It wont cover all but a bit lol and it is gonna be a world of a difference in terms of comfort.

 

[Reinen]

It's very easy to remove and reinstall the 2-door rear seat, no tools required. Removing it does give a decent amount of cargo room but it's not quite long enough to sleep in. You'd need to be rather short, sleep in a fetal position or amputate your legs.

You can put a RTT on a 2-door but you'll have to go permanent hard top or permanent no top. But that would impede putting your boards up there.

My solution is to bring along a good tent that's easy to set up solo. I consider that a small concession to have the enjoyment of not having a Station Wrangler.

 

[Philly_]

There is currently no plug-and-play solution for sleeping in the back of the two door that I am aware of.

I did see someone on this forum build a pretty neat platform for two people to be able to sleep in the back of a two door, but I can't remember who. Basically, the design left storage space underneath and required the front seats to slide and tilt forward. This left room to flip up an extension of the platform and get a little more space to sleep. Probably would not work if you are pretty tall.

As far as downsizing goes overall, I say it's worth it for the joy of a two door. I had a JKU for about 8 years and it was fantastic, but I used all of it's cargo space maybe a dozen times. All of those instances I had other solutions as well. This time around I went two door and I do not regret it one bit! So much fun and extremely nimble on the trail.

You will have to get creative with storage solutions and make sure you are not trying to bring your entire house with you on trips, but it's easy to get used to!

 

[ajkitebrder40]

You have the classic problem: you need the 4-door, but your heart knows a 2 dr manual is the more fun option. Good luck with that dilemma. For the record, I've owned both. I've had a 2 dr TJ and a JKU Sahara that I lifted and re-geared to 4.56 with 35s. Loved both, but just ordered a 2 dr Willys w/3.6L and MT. Then again, I don't have your use case. I live in the city and don't even drive every day.

Ha, I do have the 6MT in my JLUR, and I don't drive everyday, work from home....mostly just back and forth 6 miles to the beach.

 

[ajkitebrder40]

Simple...Get one of each! Hard to beat the utility and space of the four door...Also hard to beat the look and short wheelbase fun to drive of the two door.

I thought about buying a 2 door TJ, but I don't drive enough as it is to warrant 2.

 

[tshaw2009]

Well buddy, first of all that is a decision that you have to decide but I will tell you about my situation and maybe you could glean some wisdom or counsel from it. Likewise, I have had mostly 4-Door vehicles since I was 16 besides a 2003 Mustang and my 97 Chevy Lamborado 1500, lol. I had a Cherokee Sport, Cobalt, F-150, Soul, Bronco Sport Badlands, and my current baby...the Tacoma. But I remember growing up, my family always had 2-Door vehicles. Even the big vehicles normally just had two doors. It worked. It more than worked and was in fact....great. Some of my fondest memories growing up involve those vehicles. I have a wife of 10 years and three kids under 3 years old. I still ordered the 2-Door Willys Sport. Our second vehicle is a Honda Odyssey minivan. We don't need essentially two minivans. On days I might need to pick the kids up or drop them off, I drive the van and my wife will take the Jeep. I have a small trailer I can use to haul things and purchased furniture and such. I can't really justify "needing" my truck with how little I tow or haul. My point in all of this and maybe you agree....less is more often than not more. We've been conditioned to want more space, gadgets, and all these other things and in the end.....most of them are cheap gimmicks that you fall out of love with or forget altogether within the first couple months of owning the vehicle. You can buy racks for your boards for the 2-Door just the same. That is just the $.02 from a 31 year old, old man.

 

[Sidewalk]

I did lots of mountain biking trips in my Ford Fiesta (RIP) with just my bike(s), tent, and supplies. I removed that back seat of that too.

 

[Dgr401]

I love my 2 door and would not trade it for a 4 door. You said you don’t drive much so if I were you I would stick with what you’ve got. It is already set up for what you enjoy, going to a 2 door would dismantle all you have going with the JLUR. My .02, good luck in your decision.

 

[jaardappel]

I've always debated moving to a 2 door, mainly because I've found them more fun to drive, I don't have kids, I never use the back seats, just the storage area. The main thing stopping me is my use case, so here goes, let me know if I'm missing something:

Daily:
Back and forth to the beach to surf/kiteboard/foil. So other than in the winter, everything fits inside the JLUR, when the hard top goes on, my foilboard (5'8" x 28" SUP) goes on top on racks because it gets a bit tight with the hard top on far as the width on it's side to the top of the hard top, but really no issues. In the summer, I roll with a bikini top for rain or no top, and so the boards go inside or in the case of a 2 door, out the back.

Trips:
Here's the issue, on trips it will be the wife and I typically, or me alone. I like the idea of being able to sleep inside the Jeep (I have a DeepSleep mattress for the 4 door). I put the boards on top, and I have Inno racks to lock them in. Obviously, that won't work even for just me when on trips, so.....obviously a tent will fix it, but......any other easy to deploy solutions to sleeping inside the Jeep with an air mattress that would work?

Again, my brain says just stick with the 4 door, that's what I've had and I'm used to it and it does everything I want, but a part of me has always wanted a 2 door (I've gone from XJ to a '93 Toyota Pickup to JKU to JLU, so.....other than the pickup everything has had 4 doors).

Get the 2-door. Sleep in something else, either attached or towed or set-up quickly. You won't regret having a 2-door and taking out the rear seat. Does it drive like a cracked-out junior-high-school kid on his first set of rollerblades? Yes. Will it immediately drain your wallet as you put endless upgrades on it? Hell yeah. Will you have regerts about buying a 2-door? Nope. Enjoy.

 

[dchemphill1]

Sleeping in the 2 door requires that you are not tall...I was 5'8" at one time but gravity is working on me...wife is 5'2". We have slept in our 2dr. Not on a mattress but on foam pads. If you are much taller you could sleep one on the diagonal. We built a platform...gear on top and underneath as we travel and then depending on situations, gear in the tent so we sleep in jeep or sleep in tent and gear stays in Jeep. I had fun building it and easy to put in and take out. Have pics if you need ideas.

 

[multicam]

Can you? Yes.

Should you? Yes.

What’s holding you back? F- it, get a two door jeep. Aka the jeep that worked for 65 years until we had to get some soccer moms on board because of the recession.

 

[ajkitebrder40]

I love my 2 door and would not trade it for a 4 door. You said you don’t drive much so if I were you I would stick with what you’ve got. It is already set up for what you enjoy, going to a 2 door would dismantle all you have going with the JLUR. My .02, good luck in your decision.

Yeah, it's mainly the thought of something different, the other thing........I could sell it right now for more than I paid and upgrade to a '23 with basically the same build as my '21 just in 2 doors and turn a profit probably, split even worse case.

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