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Who has taken their JL on a long road trip and what was your experience like?!

Packnbeer

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I rented a car to get to the dealership where I bought my JL, about 12 hours away. Drove my new JL home and I was impressed at how well it drove. it had the Mopar 2" lift done and 33" aggressive tires, 12" wide and it handled beautifully. I will absolutely road trip in it. The JLU's drive even better than the 4-door and my 2 door drives great. They made huge strides in '21
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MEHillwalker80

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I'm leaving Maine on Monday (6/14) to travel down along the Appalachians and over to OK, NM, CO, UT, ID, and WY on the TAT. If Canada opens up while I am out west, I intend to head up tp AK. Total mileage is around 15,000. Time-two or three months. I'll let you all know how it went when I get back home. Or maybe during the adventure.
Jeep Wrangler JL Who has taken their JL on a long road trip and what was your experience like?! IMG_20210611_144222310_HDR
Jeep Wrangler JL Who has taken their JL on a long road trip and what was your experience like?! IMG_20210611_144256838_HDR
 
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wibornz

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I'm leaving Maine on Monday (6/14) to travel down along the Appalachians and over to OK, NM, CO, UT, ID, and WY on the TAT. If Canada opens up while I am out west, I intend to head up tp AK. Total mileage is around 15,000. Time-two or three months. I'll let you all know how it went when I get back home. Or maybe during the adventure.
Start a thread and post pics in it so we can follow along while you go. I am doing a similar trip starting in January of 22. I am wheeling all the western and mountain states from Arizona to Alaska.
 

Pete_the_JEEP

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drove our 21 JL straight thru from Michigan to Florida (16-17hrs) this past springs. zero issues, most of the time speeds were 80+ . I drove the majority of the trip. Only stopped when we needed gas. 4-5hr stints. No issues with it wandering or major road noise. I did install Hotheads headliner prior to trip. Being in our 50's , comfort was pretty good for a live axle 4x4 with MT tires. Looking forward to route 66 next year!
 

OMTBiker

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Back in 2018 with my three week old 2018 JLUR with 1200 miles on it we left on a trip out west; 8 states in 8 days and 4200 miles, 78+ hours of drive time. Slept in the Jeep 4 out of the 8 days.

We had no real complaints, it does get a little interesting in high cross-winds. Gas mileage overall I thought was very acceptable at 21 MPG, lowest was 13 MPG going west through South Dakota with the winds and 80 mph speed limit.

We did another trip to Acadia National Park the following year which was 15+ hour drive each way pulling an IntechRV Flyer Pursue and it did great, 14 MPG average.

Last year we took the Gladiator out west for 2 weeks and 5000 miles pulling a larger trailer.

In April we went to Dayton for Jeep Beach in my 2021 JLUR, 18 hours straight on the way back.

For us, they do great on road trips.

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JackA

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Between April 5th and May 6th of this year we made an 6,400 mile loop on secondary roads and two lane highways from Washington through Montana to Lebanon, Kansas (center of the lower 48 states) then did trails in Colorado. spent 10 days in Moab on trails then camped our way though the sight seeing of Grand Canyon, Red Canyon, Mesa Verde, Zion, ect. before working our way through Nevada and into Idaho then home to Washington. We pulled a 5X8 Hiker Trailer with our 2021 Wrangler Rubicon. The Wrangler is comfortable, handles well and was simply fun to drive.
 

txj2go

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I've had my 2018 JLU Sport almost a year and I've made 4 round trips Dallas to Denver and 1 round trip Moab and beyond. Denver trips are 12.5 hours each way, done straight through each way. Driving to Moab I drove straight through to Cortez, CO. Coming back I drove Moab straight through to Dallas, 17.5 hours. My JLU has 3.6L/8 speed, hardtop, Rubicon takeoff wheels and tires.

I think the JLU is comfortable for this type of trip. I'm tall and have plenty of room in the driver's seat. There is more wind noise than in other cars I've owned. Talking to other people in the car is no problem but listening to the radio is affected. My steering doesn't wander but it isn't perfect either. It's easy to keep it driving straight but you still need to pay attention.

I just realized that my use may be very unusual. Since I've owned the Jeep I've been working from home so some weeks I may only drive 5 miles. Then every couple of months I take 1500-2500 mile trips. Approx. 95% of my miles are highway. In a couple of weeks I will have to resume my 50 mile round trip commute to work at least some days of the week.
 

swozey

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I've done a lot of road trips, the frustrating thing to me is without being regeared I get about 11-13mpg so I wind up having to get gas every 2 hours of driving. My last long trip was Dallas to Denver and I think I added about 2.5-3hrs to the drive just having to stop and pull off for gas every 2 hours. I get about 230/tank but if I drive faster it plummets.

Wish the diesel was out in 2018.. or we even knew it'd ever exist. Nobody ever expected a diesel, 4xe, or 4cyl turbo wrangler. If the tank was at least 25-30gallons I wouldn't mind as much, but 21 sucks.

I guess I'll regear soon.

edit: Other complaints; The seat kills my leg on long drives, I've never had a car that did this so on long trips I set on a gel mat. And on road trips I have a 30% chance of my Android Auto/Uconnect breaking. My Uconnect (sans reverse camera) never screws up until I'm on a road trip. It's super frustrating.

I love trips in it though and won't stop.
 

Punknhed

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Leaving sunday for a road trip from Va to Wisconsin, and Michigan. Should be a blast. Curious to see how i like it after the steering recal has been done. I still think it needs to be bled again.
Couple summers ago, my son and i did a trip from Va to Florida. Had a blast, drove all the way down w the top down. My only real bitch is being a stick going up and down hills having to downshift, i do wish it had some more power..
 

phantomhill

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Did NH to LA a couple weeks ago, 2021 JL. Easily one of the most comfortable drives I've been on, with no back/shoulder/leg issues despite some of the drive days being long. That said, I'm also somewhat short. No issues with wandering in the lane, but the homestretch was a little hairy--there were high winds the last hundred some-odd miles. Overall: fantastic drive and super comfortable, but when windy, drives like a barn door.
 

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Ronbo Ranger

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Driving on the freeway in My 2021 JLU from Sierra Vista to San Diego the first time was a chore.
The vehicle wondered and had to really be "driven" due to the steering. So I had a track bar steering bracket/brace by Synergy installed. The second time I had to make the same trip... It was a pleasure to drive and I was much more at ease not having to "Micro steer" the wheel just to stay in one lane. Frankly I think this is a safety issue Jeep should look at. I'm delighted and over the moon that a $250.00 bracket brace did the trick. Synergy Bracket
 

Cazadores

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2018 JLR. Standard transmission premiumsoft top.. NYC to Sacramento. Best road trip, pretty much ever.

Maybe my expectations are managed by long commutes and such in the JK, but it was comfortable and easy to drive.
 

alksion

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Recently started from SoCal and worked our way up north almost to Washington and back down again. My ass did hurt on the 8 hour plus drives. I’ll be getting a gel pad for that. Other than that issue, the trip was a blast and the Jeep made the memories. Now I’m looking for an affordable off-road trailer to mount a rooftop tent. It’s currently on top of the jeep and I would rather not have it there during day-to-day driving. It would be so much easier to back into my garage, connect the trailer and leave. Just as easy when I get back to disconnect the trailer and not lug around the camping gear up top 24 seven.
 

DUNE RAP

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I have a 2021 2dr Rubicon 3.6L E-torque and it’s amazing to drive. No steering issues, unbelievable power and just so fun to own. Buying a Jeep JL was the best decision I’ve ever made.
 

wandrur

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I'm planning to take a trip from Virginia to Denver next month, so I'll plan to have a report. My 2021 JLUR requires more 'active' steering than my past JKs. As such, I'm wondering how exhausting this is going to be. Like @Ronbo Ranger said above, I think these steering issues should be addressed by Jeep--they are terrible, and the 'fixes' only seem to fix the worst of the bad issues while leaving the remaining ones.

For reference, I drove my 2014 JK Willys from Denver to Virginia, then I drove my 2018 JKU Willys from Virginia to Denver and back. Each time on the way to Virginia on these trips I was a puling a trailer, and the actual drive was very comfortable and smooth. Even slept in the Jeep a couple of times. Though both of those were hard tops, and my JLUR is a soft top, so I'm expecting more road noise but hopefully the same relative comfort.
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