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JL as an Overland Vehicle?

Batr96

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Hello all, and a big Jeep wave to you. So, I’ve been away with the military for almost a year now and haven’t even been in a JL yet... Just counting down the days!

I just have one major question about it. I have read and watched JL electronics malfunction and completely incapacitate the Jeep. Do all the new bells and whistles make it a risk for overlanding?

If my Jeep’s electronics malfunction in the middle of the desert, I’m SOL.

I am grateful for any thoughts/insights you guys have. Thank you all!
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@OUTDOORTREE

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I guess that’s true with any vehicle. I am not mechanical and take mine out into the middle of nowhere all the time. So far no problems. If if bust then I will get out and start looking for help. Keep 10 essentials with you and it will be an adventure.

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Jeepsk8

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I don't think it's any worse than any other vehicle looked at for overlanding, and probably more dependable than most. I honestly think you hear about all the bad things more than you do about people who are not having issues. That said, wouldn't you want to shake a vehicle down for a few thousand miles before embarking on a trek into the middle of nowhere?
 

old8tora

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Hello all, and a big Jeep wave to you. So, I’ve been away with the military for almost a year now and haven’t even been in a JL yet... Just counting down the days!

I just have one major question about it. I have read and watched JL electronics malfunction and completely incapacitate the Jeep. Do all the new bells and whistles make it a risk for overlanding?

If my Jeep’s electronics malfunction in the middle of the desert, I’m SOL.

I am grateful for any thoughts/insights you guys have. Thank you all!
Thank you for your military service . Trade your new JL for a used military Humvee and take it overlanding instead of the JL .
 

xpsruler

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While Humvees are cool I would still say to go with the JL. Better ride and better maneuverability. You'll have to gas up the Humvee quite a bit as well.
 

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Rockmaninoff

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Hello all, and a big Jeep wave to you. So, I’ve been away with the military for almost a year now and haven’t even been in a JL yet... Just counting down the days!

I just have one major question about it. I have read and watched JL electronics malfunction and completely incapacitate the Jeep. Do all the new bells and whistles make it a risk for overlanding?

If my Jeep’s electronics malfunction in the middle of the desert, I’m SOL.

I am grateful for any thoughts/insights you guys have. Thank you all!
Sometimes it's not about which vehicle is the best or most reliable for a job because nothing is perfect and nothing has 100% reliability. So the best criteria to look is how easy it is to repair.

If you go to the middle east, the Australian outback or to rough and tough countries where roads are as good as no roads and there's no one to come and pick you up if your vehicle breaks down... people religiously buy Toyotas if they can afford them and if they're properly cashed up, they get the Toyota Land Cruiser Sahara diesel V8s. It's the post apocalyptic Rolls Royce. The 2nd place is tie for the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (smaller) and the Nissan Patrol Y62 (even bigger than the LC Sahara).

They're not as fun as Wranglers though but that's what people use.
 

old8tora

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Sometimes it's not about which vehicle is the best or most reliable for a job because nothing is perfect and nothing has 100% reliability. So the best criteria to look is how easy it is to repair.

If you go to the middle east, the Australian outback or to rough and tough countries where roads are as good as no roads and there's no one to come and pick you up if your vehicle breaks down... people religiously buy Toyotas if they can afford them and if they're properly cashed up, they get the Toyota Land Cruiser Sahara diesel V8s. It's the post apocalyptic Rolls Royce. The 2nd place is tie for the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (smaller) and the Nissan Patrol Y62 (even bigger than the LC Sahara).

They're not as fun as Wranglers though but that's what people use.
Yep , and Toyota sold a lot of FJ Cruisers down under as well .
 

CRC

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Toyota's Hilux and Landcruiser (along with a couple of RR Defenders) are what toted me around Afghanistan. They all did really well, but Afghanistan will break even a Hilux.

Also keep in mind the availability of Japanese vehicles vs. American ones when talking about numbers in Australia. Toyota owns the Asia-Pacific market. Just like how way more people drive Beemers and Benzes in Germany.
 

old8tora

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Toyota's Hilux and Landcruiser (along with a couple of RR Defenders) are what toted me around Afghanistan. They all did really well, but Afghanistan will break even a Hilux.
You have a note that you are from West Virginia . I'd just like to say that the Best mechanics I knew in the Army were very clever guys from West Virginia and eastern Kentucky . Always had a lot of respect for them .
 

Sgt Beavis

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FYI - there is a new update for the UConnect 7 and 5 inch units. The bulk of the updates include fixes.
 

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JeepOn

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Sometimes it's not about which vehicle is the best or most reliable for a job because nothing is perfect and nothing has 100% reliability. So the best criteria to look is how easy it is to repair.

If you go to the middle east, the Australian outback or to rough and tough countries where roads are as good as no roads and there's no one to come and pick you up if your vehicle breaks down... people religiously buy Toyotas if they can afford them and if they're properly cashed up, they get the Toyota Land Cruiser Sahara diesel V8s. It's the post apocalyptic Rolls Royce. The 2nd place is tie for the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (smaller) and the Nissan Patrol Y62 (even bigger than the LC Sahara).

They're not as fun as Wranglers though but that's what people use.
All in who you ask. I happen to know an Australian who took a TJ from Prudhoe Bay Alaska all the way down to Tierra del Fuego Argentina. Sold the Jeep and returned to Canada where he now has taken a JKU that he out fitted as an overland vehicle and all the lessens learned in the TJ trip. Shipped it to Europe, drove it down to the tip of Spain, put it on ferry to Morocco. In the past eighteen months or so he and his fiancé he has taken the JKU down the entire west coast of Africa before turning east, heading to the coast and going north again on the east coast of South Africa. They are currently in Swaziland the last time I looked. No machinable issues thus far from the Jeep after nearly 32,000 miles across 21 counties in some of the harshest places this planet has to offer. I'm sure in some cases, no roads at all.
 

DanW

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Check out theroadchoseme.com and see the ultimate overlanding trip...in a Jeep Wrangler, using the much maligned 3.8 V6, which has never let me down, btw.

If you are worried about the electronics crapping out and stopping you, get the manual transmission.
 

schneidvegas

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I guess that’s true with any vehicle. I am not mechanical and take mine out into the middle of nowhere all the time. So far no problems. If if bust then I will get out and start looking for help. Keep 10 essentials with you and it will be an adventure.

8268FFB5-D29E-4B78-A8E7-6FC0B47721A6.jpeg
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raqball

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I have a Garmin Satellite Phone and recommend that anyone going away from civilization and cell phone service carry one with them. They are fairly cheap and you can activate and deactivate the service as needed for trips.

https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/

I use the safety service freedom plan and it's only $15 per month. You can activate it for a trip then cancel it afterwards. A few months later reactivate the plan for another trip..

Screenshot 2018-06-16 at 11.54.05.png
 

JeepOn

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I have a Garmin Satellite Phone and recommend that anyone going away from civilization and cell phone service carry one with them. They are fairly cheap and you can activate and deactivate the service as needed for trips.

https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/

I use the safety service freedom plan and it's only $15 per month. You can activate it for a trip then cancel it afterwards. A few months later reactivate the plan for another trip..

Screenshot 2018-06-16 at 11.54.05.png
Sound advice. My wife works for Iridium and thus we get the luxury of getting to play with real voice to voice satellite phones and even their wireless hotspot (even though its dialup slow). However, we've been in places where the Iridium aren't allowed. Politics... The Garmin inReach devices are excellent to and are built to be beat on. Far better then the SPOT Gen3 if you are willing to pay a little more.
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