TravisRogers
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Dan
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2018
- Threads
- 20
- Messages
- 223
- Reaction score
- 391
- Location
- Annapolis, MD
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL Sahara
Couple of things:I have had my JLU Rubicon for about 4 months now with just about 3,000 miles on it. It is still pretty stock except for the addition of ROAM sidesteps. I knew when I bought the Rubi, it would be a mall crawler about 90% of the time. I plan to do some trips out to Colorado during spring/summer for some off-roading, but my choices are limited locally. I honestly bought the Rubi because that has been the dream for years, and a Sahara would have cost me nearly the same to get the look and feel I was going for. I test drove Sports, Saharas and Rubicons on numerous occasions and really did not notice much of a difference in ride quality.
I was extremely excited to finally join the Jeep family, but some of joy has deminshed due to my ride quality. The Rubicon I ordered seems to have a couple of issues, but I am not sure if they will be fixed by taking it to the dealer.
First of all, I feel some decent shaking whenever I am parked. It’s almost like a constant massage, but no the good kind. I have video of a fast food bag shaking like crazy on my passenger seat, if interested. I have seen a few other have this issues@, but the answer seems to be...”learn to live with it.”
The second issue is awkward jerky shifting at low speeds with my automatic transmission. When I pull out of my parking spot at work, I often get jerked back a couple of times while going less than 10 mph in the parking lot. Not horrible, but adds to my frustration.
The biggest issue I have is with the suspension/shocks. When I bought the Rubi, the idea is that all trips would be made in this vehicle, but the ride is so rough, I am not sure I can do it. There is a highway by my home that literally causes everyone in the car to become bobble heads. I can see the front end of my Jeep shaking and bouncing up and down while a truck next to me barely does any hit get. My other car and van travel the highway with barely a blip. I have played with tire pressure, but that barely changes anything. Is this normal? Will getting a different suspension help? I am not really interested in a lift as my very short wife has trouble getting in the Jeep now. I am open to any other suggestions. I do love the Jeep, but I want to be able to use like I intended to. Thanks.
1) The Wrangler ride is an acquired taste. You either love it or you hate it. I came from the G Wagon which is designed to make you feel assaulted after every ride. Personally, I absolutely love the unrefined feel of the Wrangler. It's bouncy, jittery, rough–wonderfully unrefined. My wife, on the other hand, hates it. She likes the smoothness of a proper, more civilized, SUV.
2) The other things you mentioned are things I've already brought up several times to my dealership. Unlike your prior Asian vehicle, they "perform as designed" which means they're basically things you have to forgive as flaws and poorly implemented components. I've learned that the Jeep community is a very forgiving bunch. Rough idling, engine knocking, awkward shift points, etc are what are called "Jeep Things." In fact, I was surprised to learn that the owner's manual even advises that valve knocking (which is considered not normal by pretty much every other manufacturer) is acceptable in your Jeep. When a non-Jeep person gets in your Wrangler and starts pointing out oddities, simply say what we all say: "It's a Jeep thing."
The good news is that your standards will soon realign and you'll learn to overlook the shortcomings of your Wrangler. The first time you ride along the beach with the doors and top off you'll forget about most shortcomings.
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