Is the Wrangler JL Reliable enough for a 10k road-trip?

[AndyMcConnell]

Our 2020 was towed 30,000 miles behind our RV and driven another 40,000 miles over a few years as our only means of transportation, while also being used on some of the most challenging trails in several locations around the country (see profile pic). We have had issues, but it never left us stranded and has been a great daily driver and recreational vehicle for us. We have also had pretty good experiences and interactions with Jeep dealerships all over the country when needing things looked at or repaired, without a single instance of them challenging warranty coverage or anything like that, even though we had a lift, bigger tires, and several other upgrades in play. We even had electrical issues that they looked at multiple times without complaining about having a Tazer installed for handling the tire size and gear ratio changes.

Have the electrical gremlins and steering issues driven me nuts at times? Sure! But there really aren't any other vehicles you can use like these thing and not have issues with dealer support and warranty coverage. And overall, it has been a great vehicle with great support in our experiences.

Sponsored

 

[redsyphon]

My wife and I did a three week 15k round trip from FL -> CO -> ID, WY & MT and back in our 2018 JLUR. No issues, but your mileage may vary.

 

[Maverick909]

Just the normal stuff. check fluids. i always like to change oil before a road trip even if it isnt due.. you see less mpg after 3500ish miles on oil. I know people are going to argue this but I ran a test on 3 of my four trucks ive drive each for 150K miles. all of them lost mpg midway through oil changes.. besides that when was the last tire rotation. might as well do that too. I wouldnt worry about the batteries. I have not seen my ESS work in 2 years. mostly because my wrangler is a week and after work driver. my 18 JLU hasn't needed to have them changed out yet. 4 years and counting.

 

[Firetrak]

100% yes, but you have put aftermarket parts in. Tuk is one of my bucket list runs as well. That and the Pan American. I'll be doing it after a regear. Bring spare parts for anything you think might fail. Once you get north of Edmonton, you will find service and parts harder to quickly obtain.

Thanks, All my suspension, tires and rims are aftermarket. Engine is mostly stock. Its been regeared, hence its great mileage, that many people cant accept lol.

Or more accurately in this case, you’ll be denied in both the US and Canada.

To be hones the factory warranty is my absolute least concern, I'm not a peasant, that said I have an aftermarket warranty as well that covers me in Canada.

I take no issue Joe with the above. I just might want to turn off ESS by pressing the button after cranking, or buying after market tech to automatically do so in conjunction with your advice.

Running ESS with one battery is neither the end of the world nor advised in a JL but doing so robs your one cranking battery of power while energizing appliances during the ESS event. Sure, other vehicles do ESS with one battery but are also apt to have far less (aftermarket) energy hungry mods. These vehicles may also have engineered more conservative early ESS termination voltages than Stellantis put into dual battery JLs, which spare the cranking battery during ESS events.

Clearly, the benefits of $0.02 in gasoline saved in ESS isn't worth the perfect storm of a cold day, a so so battery, and appliances running that prematurely terminate an ESS event after battery voltage has dropped too low to effect a post ESS crank.

My Tazer has got ESS memory on/off, so when I press the auto stop start it just stays off until I change it again, I've just left it off, I cant see how it going on and off all the time is great for the engine, never mind the batteries.

My wife and I did a three week 15k round trip from FL -> CO -> ID, WY & MT and back in our 2018 JLUR. No issues, but your mileage may vary.

Yeah people clearly aren't used to driving as they day 10k is too much in 21 days lol... I've done half that In 7 and still had time to explore.

Just the normal stuff. check fluids. i always like to change oil before a road trip even if it isnt due.. you see less mpg after 3500ish miles on oil. I know people are going to argue this but I ran a test on 3 of my four trucks ive drive each for 150K miles. all of them lost mpg midway through oil changes.. besides that when was the last tire rotation. might as well do that too. I wouldnt worry about the batteries. I have not seen my ESS work in 2 years. mostly because my wrangler is a week and after work driver. my 18 JLU hasn't needed to have them changed out yet. 4 years and counting.

Yeah I'll def do an oil change before i go, why wouldn't i do one of the most cheap and important things on a vehicle, who wants to say $70 and risk the engine, just silly. I'll prob do another inside Canada and another in tuk. I'll also change the diff fluid as well, the first 15k I'm told causes all sorts of detritus to build up, yet another cheap change to offset future issues.

 

[zrickety]

+1 for the Tazer mini. You get that ESS stays, and bonus features like trail turn assist.

 

[Firetrak]

+1 for the Tazer mini. You get that ESS stays, and bonus features like trail turn assist.

haven't used that assist yet, looks handy.

 

[unknownsolo]

Why need to change oil during the trip? Just change right before and after.

 

[bjm00se]

I think the main concern was the possible interpretation of the wording in the original post that you were leaving on the trip in a few weeks, which would be driving to Tuktoyaktuk in February, which would be a gnarly trip, going that far north still in the depths of winter.

In August; knock yourself out. Drive as many miles a day and spend as much on gas as makes *you* happy.

Other keyboard warriors can plan their own trips for their own comfort zones.

 

[Firetrak]

Why need to change oil during the trip? Just change right before and after.

You really should be changing the oil at a min of 5000, if I did it at beginning and end that would be 10k miles, which is too much and an oil change is so cheap considering the benefit to the car the detriment if you dont.

I think the main concern was the possible interpretation of the wording in the original post that you were leaving on the trip in a few weeks, which would be driving to Tuktoyaktuk in February, which would be a gnarly trip, going that far north still in the depths of winter.

In August; knock yourself out. Drive as many miles a day and spend as much on gas as makes *you* happy.

Other keyboard warriors can plan their own trips for their own comfort zones.

Thank i you appreciate those words. Honeslty if I could leave now and drive in the winter I would, I love the cold and snow, but I'm just not ready, yet.

 

[unknownsolo]

You really should be changing the oil at a min of 5000, if I did it at beginning and end that would be 10k miles, which is too much and an oil change is so cheap considering the benefit to the car the detriment if you dont.

Agree to disagree, unless it is Diesel? Or an older engine? Jeep recommends changing your oil every 10k.

 

[unknownsolo]

I would be more worried about rotating your tires than changing your oil.

 

[Sand Flea]

Planning on driving from Florida to Tuktoyaktuk Canada and back within 3 weeks.

Its 5k each way. I have a 2020 3.6 Rubicon 4door with 15k miles on it.

Anything I should consider doing this trip. Currently it’s got a 3.5” lift with 40s and regeared so I get about 20mpg on the highway.
Question is. Is the Jeep reliable enough for such a journey?

absolutely.

 

[RoasterBoy]

So you want to drive across the Dempster Highway? Wow, its a pretty rough road. I wish you well! If you go in the winter when its frozen, should not be too bad, but Spring will have lots of frost heaves and holes. Kiss your windshield goodbye on the Dempster, and carry extra fuel cans with you. After you hit Inuvik, it gets pretty soft gravel/sand. Your Jeep might never be the same after going over that road. Just saying - it will make it, but you might need an alignment! Any other Canadians on here that run that stretch? You can watch some ice road truckers episodes when they do the Yukon to see what its like. Bring lots of bug spray with you in the summer Lots of guys do it on adventure bikes. Post photos when you get to the Arctic Ocean.

 

[gevo1]

Must admit, I didn't want to read through the thread to see what was already listed. However, based on experience, I will say this:
- Every Jeep is a little different based on maintenance regime and driving habits.
- You're on 40s with a high re-gear which is already asking for trouble.

I'd say, if you're taking it easy, I don't see a problem if you're on top of your vehicle assessment. Personally, I like to drive fast and long trips. However, I understand this creates issues. I inspect and prep our Jeeps for each trip before and after each trip and address every issue/deficiency. Last trip was to Vegas from LA (off-road) then to Utah, back to Vegas and LA (all mostly off road and higher speeds). Issues: I blew out my Fox 3.0 shocks from overheating, along with a radiator leak which sealed itself and increased backlash in the steering gearbox from several hard landing side impacts. My friends' Gladiator blew out his hydraulic Fox bump stops (second time already, they don't seem to hold up very well, where as my Kings do). We limped back and sent all out for rebuilds and changed out parts again after assessment of parts and needs.

Point is, we made it back without issue. I don't think you'll have much problems driving it decently, on a highway. Jeeps, in my opinion, are grossly underrated for their level of reliability. I have over 90k miles on my 2019 for example. It all comes down to how you treat it and knowing the limits.

 

[Marijan Jeep2]

Plan to change the oil somewhere along the way.

Looks like you have a JK, so most likely a 3.6 Penstar I’m guessimg( you didn’t really provide specifics of type of ride) Having said that, my penstar overheated at 120,000 kms but was able to add water and drive home. If it was me, I would do the $100 oil change and not rely on a random shop in my road trip, why chance it’s. 2. Keep eye on the reserve tank as it doesn’t really show you if it’s full(design flaw) so I would bring extra fluid or distilled water. Your batteries are fine if it’s only 15k but would pull the cable on main battery to disable the ESS. This depletes the small battery and it’s the one that’s used to start your Jeep(if it’s a JL) my2cents

Sponsored