Which engine for Colorado passes?

[JeepinJason33]

Louis,

I have not regeared yet. It's been doing awesome so far. We have a 3k mile trip coming up so I'll see how it does on that but so far no plans to. We are eventually going to get an adventure trailer and I may regear at that point. With stock wheels and tires I drove back from Vegas and got over 30mpg at times but finished the trip over 25mpg. I got just barely over 400 Miles on that tank before I filled up. This is all via the dash readout I haven't hand calculated it so I'm sure it's probably a touch lower. Anyhow I'm still more than thrilled.

Great MPG! We made the 400 mile trip over the passes from Denver to Moab and averaged 18.3 mpg on the 5.13 gears with 3.6l and I was surprised it was that good. My TJ averaged about 12 running super unleaded on that same route last year...

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[txj2go]

Now riding on 70 on the way there is a different story.

I've driven I-70 many times in my 3.6L 8speed JLU Sport and have no complaints with its drivetrain. It's not a race car but it has always seemed plenty eager to go.

 

[FinnCustomKnives]

I've driven I-70 many times in my 3.6L 8speed JLU Sport and have no complaints with its drivetrain. It's not a race car but it has always seemed plenty eager to go.

Fwiw my only experience with the pentastar is in the Jk's, and its pretty abysmal with that 5 speed. The 8 speed no doubt helps a bunch but loaded down, at elevation, climbing hills, hell possibly trailering, the pentastar is FAR from ideal. That is unless you like your jeep downshifting to 5,000 rpm to just maintain speed.

 

[FinnCustomKnives]

The eco diesel is nice. I originally went with the 3.6L with the intentions of supercharging it like I did with my 4.0. However, after the lift and 37's, I re-geared to 5.13 and it has plenty of get up and go. I doubt I will mess with the supercharger at this point. The 5.13's really allowed for some nice slow crawling during my trip to Moab last week. Keep in mind, the price of the regear is as much as the difference between the 3.6/2.0 and the diesel engine. If you are not doing serious wheeling and don't need the gearing, the diesel would be the better choice for sure!

FWIW you dont need much gearing advantage when you have 442 lb/ft at your disposal, and actually you dont really want it with a 44. The diesel torque with 3.73's and the 4:1 tcase is enough to pop those stock axle shafts/u joints quite easily.

 

[JeepinJason33]

FWIW you dont need much gearing advantage when you have 442 lb/ft at your disposal, and actually you dont really want it with a 44. The diesel torque with 3.73's and the 4:1 tcase is enough to pop those stock axle shafts/u joints quite easily.

I agree and that was one of the reasons I stayed away from the Diesel and the 392. I am worried enough about the 44's with just my 3.6l and don't want to dump another 20k into Dana 60's for at least a couple of years. I am already above 20k into it with the lift, beadlocks, tires, armor, etc.

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