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

[Wheelin Matt]

Bought my JLUR Ecodiesel almost a month ago in Boulder, Colorado! Drove my 100 mile round trip commute for a week until we headed to Utah for some camping on our way to Southern California. Towed our off-road trailer camper from Colorado to California without issues. That’s about 1100 mile trip.
last week we made a 700 mile trip to the Big Sur coastline for a few days and are back in the Southern California desert heat right now. I now have 3400 miles, averaging around 27mpg and loving my new Jeep!

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[DanW]

Moab 2x, Michigan UP, Tennessee twice, NC, VA, and probably more. I love it. I'd take it on the highway over anything else I've got. Love the seats, love the ride, love the Alpine. Best I've seen is probably 21mpg to and from Oshkosh, mostly 65mph. Go to 70 and that gas mileage drops quite a bit. I'm on 35s, btw.

 

[zxd9]

I have driven several 400-800 mile trips in the JLU. Before getting the steering box replaced it was a bit annoying to have to keep sawing at the steering wheel. Now, it's fine. I really don't mind taking it on long drives. It's not a luxury vehicle and you have to keep that in mind. It doesn't beat you up and even in wind I'm surprised how well it drives. I don't mind feeling a bump here and there. I think it actually rides better than my Mustang. Doesn't handle better though.

 

[Mikefly562]

I just got back from a 3300 mile road trip from the Seattle Area to SoCal and back with my 2021 JLUR, and I found the Jeep to be very comfortable and I had no issues at all. My Rubicon is stock with no lift and the KO2 tires. I never felt any fatigue or soreness, but I always make it a point to stop every 80-100ish miles to get out, stretch and walk around for a few minutes, and I do this, no matter the vehicle I'm driving.

 

[JLBoucher]

It is not a cruiser by any mean. But most JL owners will tell you it's fine. Not great, but fine. If long trips are main use for you, i'd suggest road oriented tires instead of A/Ts. More comfortable, better handling. Apart from that, especially when in comes to JLUs, they're...how to say...SUVs you drive for long distances.

 

[rallydefault]

I've taken my Sport S with rubi suspension on quite a few 400ish-mile road trips, and it's fine. Not exactly the most comfortable long-haul vehicle for sure. We usually stop every couple hours, so it's not too bad. Also got a few instances of death wobble when I would hit a big seam in the road with the JLU fully weighed down (max passengers, tons of cargo... probably over payload to be honest).

I've never had steering issues with my '18, so can't comment on that.

 

[JamesPrattOK]

We have a 2-door Rubicon JL with 6-speed manual. Drives vey nice, much better than out old TJ or JKU. Very comfortable at 80 mph. Gotta pay attention because of short wheelbase but ride is plush and comfy.

 

[Avar928]

A year and a half ago I drove my JLUS from MD up to Acadia, ME taking detours along the way and that was about 1,800mi. Slept in my Jeep most of the time. Two weeks after that I drove coast to coast using a northern route during the Fall for about 11,525mi over the course of 2mos in which I lived 1/2 of that time in my Jeep, sometime in the back but mostly in the driver's seat. A year later I lent my Jeep to my friend and she drove to STL and back, no issues and that was about 1700mi round trip. I've got 56,000 on the dash currently.

Long highway driving for hours on end? Absolutely fine. No issues on extreme wandering you just have to pay more attention to make minor corrections every now and then. She settles nicely at highway speeds, you don't even realize you are going that fast even when you need to speed up to pass big rigs. Slow down in the rain, she will lose traction especially around corners. Wind will knock you around and up in the mid-west on those two lane roads with massive rigs everywhere you can get rattled. Prep to have your windshield cracked from rocks. I was fine until I hit Montana.

Cabin noise? You get used to it, listened to XM radio most of the time or windows down when nice.

Comfortability? More than you think. The JLU has so much space I could have packed more. You can sleep okay with a sleeping pad, sleeping bag and a pillow which is what my set up was for the back seats folded down. I only wish the driver seat went down to full horizontal. I would guess it stops at 165 degrees. In the cold weather there is no insulation so you get cold very fast.

I averaged around 25-26mpg if I recall, some parts of the west coast I was getting 30. I off-roaded wherever I liked and basically had no problems in snow, rock or mud. Keep the essentials and you'll be fine. Carry a Rotopax for extra gas and water just in case...or plastic bags work apparently.

Below was in an off road pass in CA near Bishop towards an ancient forest park. Bunch of fun switch backs on rocky and sandy terrain, I was near the top here through all the hard parts. I hauled my bike with me on the trip. Obscured the camera and you need to make modifications to extend the spare but all fine.

 

[thegame81]

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.

Ever think of adding an aux fuel tank? I think that will be one of my first mods after a few years of owning it.

 

[CarolinaGirl26]

So looking to get back into a Jeep but I keep reading how bad they are on the highway as far as moving all over the lane and just overall not being a very comfortable road trip vehicle.

I do take a fair amount of road trips and I thought a jl with the top down would be an awesome place to be. Jeep has all the amenities. Nice seats/heated seats/wheel and so on.

Wanted some real word feedback from owners not magazines. Thanks guys

I drive from Indiana to North Caroline quite frequently in mine. Last year it was even more often with what was going on in the world. It’s about 10 hours one way and I have had no issues at all!

 

[guarnibl]

So looking to get back into a Jeep but I keep reading how bad they are on the highway as far as moving all over the lane and just overall not being a very comfortable road trip vehicle.

I do take a fair amount of road trips and I thought a jl with the top down would be an awesome place to be. Jeep has all the amenities. Nice seats/heated seats/wheel and so on.

Wanted some real word feedback from owners not magazines. Thanks guys

The seats are an issue with the default leather IMO for long trips. And the wandering while not a huge deal, does fatigue you more over time.

My Range Rover was far less fatiguing on trips. But I rather drive the Jeep!

 

[32beer1]

So looking to get back into a Jeep but I keep reading how bad they are on the highway as far as moving all over the lane and just overall not being a very comfortable road trip vehicle.

I do take a fair amount of road trips and I thought a jl with the top down would be an awesome place to be. Jeep has all the amenities. Nice seats/heated seats/wheel and so on.

Wanted some real word feedback from owners not magazines. Thanks guys

Well, I don't like the miserable nose, and very light steering.
I don't think It's built for high way road trip.
I d rather use it for daily city drive.

 

[32beer1]

I have driven several 400-800 mile trips in the JLU. Before getting the steering box replaced it was a bit annoying to have to keep sawing at the steering wheel. Now, it's fine. I really don't mind taking it on long drives. It's not a luxury vehicle and you have to keep that in mind. It doesn't beat you up and even in wind I'm surprised how well it drives. I don't mind feeling a bump here and there. I think it actually rides better than my Mustang. Doesn't handle better though.

Hi, I have same issue about my steering wheel on high way. could you share more information about replacing the steering box?

 

[flyer92]

The extent of my road trips thus far have been a mix of winding mountain passes, trails, freeways, and secondary roads, but no more than 3-4 hours at a time. Thus far, I'd have to say it is the most comfortable ride I've had in a Jeep...but of course, my prior experience has been with my old '99 TJ and '80 CJ-5, so anything is better!

I have a 2-door Sport with sail cloth soft top, and usually drive in safari mode, as I love the open air but need to keep my balding melon from getting fried in the SoCal sun. It is also apparent that high crosswinds have a lesser effect in this configuration (and with top down or removed), as there is less surface area for them to push against. When I install the side/rear windows, not only do I feel the wind pushing me into the next lane, but the sound is a bit unnerving. Not that anything is unsafe, but it sounds like my windows might blow out at any moment, and apparently this has happened to some JL drivers.

After suffering some hearing loss after decades of open-air Jeep driving and other deafening sounds in my occupation, I recently started to wear earplugs on a regular basis, even when driving on secondary roads. Through some online research and recommendations from motorcycle friends, I decided on these, and they have worked very well, especially on long road trips:

Amazon.com: Vibes High Fidelity Earplugs - Invisible Ear Plugs for Concerts, Musicians, Motorcycles, Airplanes, Raves, Work Noise Reduction, Hearing Protection - Fits Small Medium Large - As Seen On Shark Tank: Health & Personal Care

Once your hearing degrades, there's no going back, so this is just an easy/effective way to save what you've got and still be able to hear your stereo and passengers at the same time. Enjoy!

 

[cosine]

i've taken a couple of trips from ny to tn, ky. plus upstate trips with a 2 door jl. ride was comfortable. gas mileage wa great. average 25 to 27 mpg. one tank got me 29.6 mpg. 3.6l and 8 spd auto is a great combo. road noise with the hard top is not all that bad.

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