GC Overland VS JLU Rubicon

[swozey]

BTW, my diesel is at 75K miles and I have not had a single issue, aside from the Uconnect 8.4 needing to be reflashed with the latest software. It has been as reliable as a wood burning stove, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it at all. You will always read the bad online, no one posts that they have no problems and everything is fine.

Damn you! I was dead set. I haven't driven one before but all of the Wranglers I've ridden in (mostly JKs) have been.. not the vehicle I wanted (a comfortable ride, I go on 8 hour drive camping trips because I'm in the middle of TX and it takes that long to escape). I'm really hoping the JL is as much of a better ride as all of the reviews are saying. The GC is way more in line with what I was initially looking for though, basically a modern 4runner. Comfortable as hell but capable when I need it.

Most of the issues I've read have been transmission related. The GC uses an 850RE and I believe the JL uses a ZF. I wonder if there's a drastic difference between the two.

I guess another big thing is the GC is now pretty long in tooth. The WK was introduced in 2011. And a quick look up says 2019 will be the new GC so I guess not the best time to grab one if I want something that's going to be the latest and greatest for the next 5+ years.

Gorgeous wrangler you've got there.

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[NFRs2000NYC]

NFRs2000NYC

Great Trucks, Great Pictures, and great post... I would like to convoy with you when i get my truck.

Just small question what power train would you want in your JL ?

The only one that belongs on a wrangler, the diesel. *flamesuit on* (which is why Im waiting for it....patiently.)

 

[KaDeTime]

^ right on brother

 

[NFRs2000NYC]

Damn you! I was dead set. I haven't driven one before but all of the Wranglers I've ridden in (mostly JKs) have been.. not the vehicle I wanted (a comfortable ride, I go on 8 hour drive camping trips because I'm in the middle of TX and it takes that long to escape). I'm really hoping the JL is as much of a better ride as all of the reviews are saying. The GC is way more in line with what I was initially looking for though, basically a modern 4runner. Comfortable as hell but capable when I need it.

Most of the issues I've read have been transmission related. The GC uses an 850RE and I believe the JL uses a ZF. I wonder if there's a drastic difference between the two.

I guess another big thing is the GC is now pretty long in tooth. The WK was introduced in 2011. And a quick look up says 2019 will be the new GC so I guess not the best time to grab one if I want something that's going to be the latest and greatest for the next 5+ years.

Gorgeous wrangler you've got there.

Thanks. Most people do a terrible job of building their wrangler. They lift it with garbage parts, with garbage geometry, and generally everything they do is wrong and bad, which results in a cool looking but worthless mallcrawler. It takes skill, knowledge, and most importantly restraint to have a wrangler that is both comfortable but also useful. Unfortunately, most people want to have the coolest looking vehicle without any care of what it actually does to both performance offroad, reliability, and comfort.

 

[offcamber]

We used the wife's GC ecodiesel for over landing in Colorado last year. 35mpg means no need for Jerry cans.Our GC is lifted 3" with 33" tires. I have a 2012 JKU Rubicon for the really fun stuff. My JK actually rides close to as well as the GC. I'm running tuned Fox shocks that really soak up the harshness and the JK rides much better over the really rough stuff like fist sized rocks on some of the Colorado Jeep trails....

 

[KaDeTime]

We used the wife's GC ecodiesel for over landing in Colorado last year. 35mpg means no need for Jerry cans.Our GC is lifted 3" with 33" tires. I have a 2012 JKU Rubicon for the really fun stuff. My JK actually rides close to as well as the GC. I'm running tuned Fox shocks that really soak up the harshness and the JK rides much better over the really rough stuff like fist sized rocks on some of the Colorado Jeep trails....

How do you life the GC is this not the air ride?

 

[swozey]

That's a Limited. Only the TH has quadralift air.

 

[offcamber]

That's a Limited. Only the TH has quadralift air.

Not true. When we were looking for a GC, there were two things I wanted - an ecodiesel and spring suspension. It took me forever to find a limited without Quadralift. I had to find one without the offroad package and all of the limited 4x4's I found had it. So we found a Limited ecodiesel after months of looking without Quadralift and bought it. I then had to buy all of the skid plates and stuff from the offroad package. then find someone to fabricate a skid plate for the DEF injector due to it being so vulnerable. I didnt want Quadralift because I've seen so many cases of it failing. I know 4 other GC owners personally that have had it fail in one way or another. No thanks, springs ALWAYS work.

 

[offcamber]

How do you life the GC is this not the air ride?

No, it has springs. The air suspension is highly prone to failure and I needed to lift for larger tires, which you cannot do with the air suspension.

 

[swozey]

Not true. When we were looking for a GC, there were two things I wanted - an ecodiesel and spring suspension. It took me forever to find a limited without Quadralift. I had to find one without the offroad package and all of the limited 4x4's I found had it. So we found a Limited ecodiesel after months of looking without Quadralift and bought it. I then had to buy all of the skid plates and stuff from the offroad package. then find someone to fabricate a skid plate for the DEF injector due to it being so vulnerable. I didnt want Quadralift because I've seen so many cases of it failing. I know 4 other GC owners personally that have had it fail in one way or another. No thanks, springs ALWAYS work.

Oh, interesting. I was looking at 2018s. You can't get the diesel now at all either (I'm sure because of the EPA kerfluffle).

Found a 2018 brand new Trailhawk for $41k fully loaded sans safety.. damn. Tempting.

 

[DirtyDina]

Since there isn't a lot to compare and contrast with regard to the Wrangler the question the OP poses has crossed many of our paths. I've had a handful of GC's and a couple of Wrangler JK and TJ's. I need 4x4 for mostly sandy beach environments which requires more capability than most AWD vehicles offer combined with some distance driving and on road manners. And I love the Jeep brand which keeps me gravitating back toward the Wrangler and GC, which in my opinion are the only two worth consideration. I believe we can all see the mystified irony of these two models that couldn't be more different but many on this forum come down to these two choices. I love the new JL and I'm sure when I can finally see it in person I'm going to like it even more and it's going to be difficult not to admire it in my garage. But after the new wears off it'll still be a Wrangler with all the inherent awesomeness and inconvenient things that come with owning a Wrangler...for my needs the GC gets the nod. If I had the garage space I'd have both...and the top from the Wrangler would be permanently MIA.

 

[swozey]

I found this thread about the WK2 which was really interesting http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/176508-Why-don’t-more-people-take-the-WK2-overlanding/

 

[KaDeTime]

I found this thread about the WK2 which was really interesting http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/176508-Why-don’t-more-people-take-the-WK2-overlanding/

Thanks swozey nice find I’ll read it over

 

[KaDeTime]

It’s interesting that people contributing the lurch price of the GC for the reason why they don’t use it for Overland now with the purchase price of JKUR being more then GC Overland this could change

 

[FranklinFlyer]

I think, you should get a GC Trailhawk.
It's more rugged and offroad capable than the Overland, and more comfortable than a Wrangler.
I had a Trailhawk for 2 days when my GC Overland was in the shop. I was very tempted and only the perspective of a new Wrangler was holding me back.
(I'm driving a Renegade now in between which is nice cause I live in the middle of Berlin at the moment

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