ChattVol
Well-Known Member
Interesting topic that I've thought about extensively and talked with about with many on here. I'm in Chattanooga where we have several local offroad areas/parks and popular offroad clubs...I daily drove/wknd warror my JL 20k miles year 1. I took a new sales job driving 30k miles/yr and bought a 2014 honda accord(36mpg) and planned to keep the JL as a wknd toy. I took the JL to all the local spots including Windrock with the local offroad club and did a variety of terrain with a 2.5" lift and 35s being careful to not beat it up. The trails are in wooded forests for the most part and there are some unavoidable tight spots, rock rash, slick rock and branches rubbing the jeep.Hey guys,
I'm new to the offroading adventures but not to cars/ motor-sports in general. I have a 19 Rubicon 4 door that I have taken to 2 off road parks. This last weekend while on a level 3 (out of 5) I really felt I needed a lift and larger tires to maneuver over the rocks. Most guys had 4" lifts and 35-37 tires. There were several tight spots and close calls and I'm really shocked I didn't scratch up more stuff than I did.
I know I'm gona get the comments like "oh Jeeps are supposed to be scratched" and "That's what their used for".... But I'm seriously considering getting a 05-06 TJ rubicon or a 08-09 2 door Rubicon and save my 50k Jeep for cruising around and light fire roads.... I can pick one up for 10-15k with 35" tires and not have to cringe every time I get really close to sliding into a tree.
What I'm asking from the knowledgeable Jeep community out here is whats a better buy? I know the 3.8 is under powered but is it worth staying with a 10 year older TJ platform to get the 4.0?
Takeaways for me...if you're concerned with resale value and plan on legitimately offroading(where you actually need 4wd) in the East more than a few times a year, it makes alot of sense to sell the $40k 1 yr old JL and buy a less expensive used daily driver and $10-15k TJ 4.0 liter. My JL is now for sale largely for this reason and we have another kid on the way...so not alot of jeep time to justify a costly JL wknd toy.
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