Introduction to the FNG

[HDSlowride]

Hello folks, glad to be here. (But hey, it's early, right?) Anyway, I suppose I'll just get right to the point and then explain the reasons why (or not). I'm a Navy vet (ammo ship, Tonkin Gulf). Also retired after 32 years with General Dynamics (aerospace and defense). Longtime old school jeep owner back to the 70's and my first one, a '44 GPW. Currently a '93 YJ to play with in the woods, so yes, I am familiar with constantly fixing and maintaining broken down Jeeps. What I can't handle anymore is the pounding of leaf springs. Too many back surgeries. On a recent two-week trip to the Silverton area, I had to watch JK's and JL's cruise on by on the back country trails, while I had to crawl along getting beat to death. My wife doesn't care for the harsh jolting about either.
So now I am here, trying to do my due diligence and sort the most common and aggravating issues that JL owners are having to put up with. Probably going to get rid of some toys we now have and look for a late model ('20-'22) Rubicon. I prefer red but my wife also likes the yellow, which I must admit is growing on me. We've had enough black, white, silver, gray vehicles so not even going to look at those. White would be my third choice though. I prefer steel bumpers as I don't back country alone without a winch. Probably a hard top instead of soft and color matched fenders. V-6 gas. (I have a Powerstroke, no more diesel for me) I looked at a low mileage '21 that checked all my boxes, but it had the Sky one-touch roof. 90% of the reviews I have read are positive, but I'm still not convinced of its long-term durability. Then there is heat/air, road noise, security, etc. I'm sure I'll be corrected if none of those issues are a concern.
Anyway, I don't like to go into any purchase without being a little familiar with some of the more common issues, so I intend to do a lot of reading and possibly the occasional uninformed question. Feel free to pile on, after 20 years on Harley forums and Ford forums, my skin is fairly thick.

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[Tncdrew]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Roky]

Hello folks, glad to be here. (But hey, it's early, right?) Anyway, I suppose I'll just get right to the point and then explain the reasons why (or not). I'm a Navy vet (ammo ship, Tonkin Gulf). Also retired after 32 years with General Dynamics (aerospace and defense). Longtime old school jeep owner back to the 70's and my first one, a '44 GPW. Currently a '93 YJ to play with in the woods, so yes, I am familiar with constantly fixing and maintaining broken down Jeeps. What I can't handle anymore is the pounding of leaf springs. Too many back surgeries. On a recent two-week trip to the Silverton area, I had to watch JK's and JL's cruise on by on the back country trails, while I had to crawl along getting beat to death. My wife doesn't care for the harsh jolting about either.
So now I am here, trying to do my due diligence and sort the most common and aggravating issues that JL owners are having to put up with. Probably going to get rid of some toys we now have and look for a late model ('20-'22) Rubicon. I prefer red but my wife also likes the yellow, which I must admit is growing on me. We've had enough black, white, silver, gray vehicles so not even going to look at those. White would be my third choice though. I prefer steel bumpers as I don't back country alone without a winch. Probably a hard top instead of soft and color matched fenders. V-6 gas. (I have a Powerstroke, no more diesel for me) I looked at a low mileage '21 that checked all my boxes, but it had the Sky one-touch roof. 90% of the reviews I have read are positive, but I'm still not convinced of its long-term durability. Then there is heat/air, road noise, security, etc. I'm sure I'll be corrected if none of those issues are a concern.
Anyway, I don't like to go into any purchase without being a little familiar with some of the more common issues, so I intend to do a lot of reading and possibly the occasional uninformed question. Feel free to pile on, after 20 years on Harley forums and Ford forums, my skin is fairly thick.

Welcome to the board……. I haven’t had anything happen to mine that would make me talk shit about it, but there’s plenty of it on here, lol…… good luck with your research……

 

[Murphydog]

Hmmm....I have '21 4-door Rubicon. V6 eTorque with the automatic. It is my daily driver. I upgraded to the steel front bumper and added a winch. In my youth I used to hit the forest service roads with my buddy and his CJ5.

We did a week long trip to Moab and did some pretty difficult trails. We drove from Seattle to Moab and back with the soft top on.

I have not had any problems in a year and a half and 17K miles.

My impressions -

• Both tops are very good. Spring and Fall I pop the freedom panels out when ever I can and ran the soft top all summer. Soft top has a flip back option that is great, and full top down is great. Soft top was decent on the open highway too
• Coil springs, sway bar disconnect and dropping the air pressure really makes the off road ride comfortable - so much better than my memories of riding in the CJ5. Totally had a blast in Moab on Fins and Things, and did Elephant Hill Road in Canyonlands National Park
• I haven't had to do a lot of upkeep, but oil changes are super easy. Yes I get 3 free, but given the time and effort to schedule and wait at a dealer I just do em my self.
• I opted for cloth seats, but wish I would have done leather as it cleans up so much easier. Given that I am in the PNW and it is usually not above 90 I think leather would be fine here.
• Seats in general work well for me and my family, however I know others struggle after long periods at the wheel

I hope that helps, I don't think you can go wrong with a JL Rubicon

 

[Reinen]

Welcome!

First of all, if you actually do wheel in the wilderness the color matched fenders are stress generators. Fenders will get beat up and color matched really shows it. That abuse is much more subtle on unpainted fenders and they're much easier to replace if necessary.

I see very few SOT tops out on the trails. All hard, soft or no tops. There's probably a reason for that. I have hard top for snow, desert dust and roof rack so IDK.

As for the ride, I went from a '90 YJ to a '21 JL. The JL is a night & day better ride. The YJ is more fun to abuse and send it, but the JL is far better to just ride. Especially on the highway, totally different vehicle. You will feel spoiled.

AL is low altitude so the V-6 is a good choice there. It does weaken significantly in high altitude air so you'll see more 2.0l turbos in the mountain west.

 

[HDSlowride]

Welcome!

First of all, if you actually do wheel in the wilderness the color matched fenders are stress generators. Fenders will get beat up and color matched really shows it. That abuse is much more subtle on unpainted fenders and they're much easier to replace if necessary.

I see very few SOT tops out on the trails. All hard, soft or no tops. There's probably a reason for that. I have hard top for snow, desert dust and roof rack so IDK.

As for the ride, I went from a '90 YJ to a '21 JL. The JL is a night & day better ride. The YJ is more fun to abuse and send it, but the JL is far better to just ride. Especially on the highway, totally different vehicle. You will feel spoiled.

AL is low altitude so the V-6 is a good choice there. It does weaken significantly in high altitude air so you'll see more 2.0l turbos in the mountain west.

Very valid points! Thanks! We have been trailering the YJ to distant points of interest but that brings its own issues. I figure with a JL that we could much more easily drive it to our destination, hit the trails without too much prep, and overall be much less trouble. Wife doesn't care too much for long rides in the dually either and a JL will be a much more practical daily driver than the F350.

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