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

[Granola]

So I have had my JLUR since April, and I have approximately 12k miles on it. About 4k of that is from one road trip with the wife, daughter, and myself. Drove from GA to TN, to St Louis MO, to Colorado was in Colorado for several days (did Ophir, Imogene, Corkscrew, Hurricane, California pass, etc,) and then came south part of Colorado though parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. The Jeep did great and handled everything we threw at it, we had room for all our stuff etc. Got an oil change when we got back, changed the air filter and cabin filter myself as a precaution.

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[mikem20]

If the Mopar arms make a difference ill get them. There was one point when I was going downhill it felt like a strong wind (but no wind) had surged against my Jeep and took me into the other lane. Not exaggerating. It was light traffic, but I learned a valuable lesson.

I’ve got 22k miles on my stock JLUR 2.0. I added the mopar arms when it had maybe 3k miles.

I’m getting ready to install my lift and got my alignment checked yesterday.
I’m at 6.1 and 6.2 degrees caster. I like how my Jeep drives at this caster.
I added the caster issue to my survey with Jeep. Doubt they listen.

They’re relatively inexpensive and easy to install. Torquing the bolts was tough at the angles I was working. It was worth it for my Jeep.

 

[tk1700]

Wife's 2019 JLUS was less than a month old it went from NM to southern AL and back. No problems, except inaugural windshield chip, and comfortable. We ended up in a tropical storm in MS and AL. It handled the wind and rain fine.

It's also made numerous trips from NM to central CO without issue.

My 2021 JLUR has made several trips to CO. Again, no issues and fun. The JLUR has the 2.0 and out performed the 3.6 at altitude. Both have been over 12000 ft.

Got a trip to MN in Oct and looking forward to it. Probably will drive the 2021.

 

[Spank]

I've driven to Arizona, Nevada, Utah, California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and Canada and haven't had any issues. The occasional wind storm makes you work a little harder than the average vehicle to keep it straight, but I replaced a lot of my suspension and steering hardware early on.

 

[orangemachine]

i have noticed reading this thread that many are complaining about cross winds affecting the handeling of the jeep, after dealing with this thru local driving and long trips i found that if u lower the rear windowa about 3-4 inches jeep handeling improves and can keep it in a sraight line while trveling down the hi way and in lane,headwinds no remedy so far.

 

[MRH512]

I drove my JLUR on 6-hr trip to South Padre island with the family this summer. Two adults, two teenagers, a full cargo area, and a full-length roof rack with about 150lbs loaded on it.

The ride was just as comfortable as ever. The crosswinds once we got to the island definitely gave my forearms a workout. Noise was bearable (I have a One-Touch roof but had a buddy fabricate a front air dam for the roof rack, so that helped a ton). My only gripe was gas mileage. I was against a headwind for nearly the entire trip to the island. With the 2.0T engine, averaged 14.5 mpg. Same passengers and cargo on the way back with a tail wind and I got 18 mpg.

 

[Sparty]

i have noticed reading this thread that many are complaining about cross winds affecting the handeling of the jeep, after dealing with this thru local driving and long trips i found that if u lower the rear windowa about 3-4 inches jeep handeling improves and can keep it in a sraight line while trveling down the hi way and in lane,headwinds no remedy so far.

Come back and report in around the middle of February

 

[orangemachine]

i have driven in winter in ohio and i still lower windows in rear to keep jeep in straight line not as low as in summer, turn heat up a little bit and all is well operating jeep

 

[SoCal]

Flew to Idaho to pick mine up from Kent at Peterson and drove it home with a few stops in between...was it as comfortable as my Explorer? No, but it was far from bad.... it did quite well despite its thirst for gas, it was fine...one of the funnest road trips we every had with stay in Tahoe and stops in Mammoth along the way...

Couple months later we took it to Sedona after putting new wheels and 35" tires ... not too worried about getting any speeding tickets when the speed limit is like 75 the whole way, but it did great in some really high temps, was 117 driving through Phoenix area that day.

 

[RanchoShocks]

So we just did an EPIC road trip to the Rubicon, before it was shut down
2JLU's and my JKU.
I met them in WY and drove 2600 miles.
The 2 JLU's drove from MI and completed 4600 on the white JLU and closer to 5600 on the grey JLU, that one went on MORE adventures.
We would drove 12+ hours a day, averaging 75ISH MPH.
All Jeeps are geared down, the JLU's 5.13's, my JKU 5.38's.
Besides an occasional cross wind, and one was big enough to set off my traction control, and cause my CEL to come on. But after stopping in Lovelock NV and pulling the battery cable, good to go.
We really had no issues with the Jeeps.
10/10 would do it again... down the road. LOL
Edit
I can say the JLU transmission KICKS the JKU's butt. I would just slow down on passes and they kept urging me on via our radios. LOL

 

[Steph1]

If You know You're heading towards bad roads, you'll be fine, but for all highway on 3 plus hours trip, unless you are used to driving a crapbox, you'll be in the wrong vehicle.

Some of our friends live 6 hours away all highway and I wouldn't attempt in my Jeep ( and its not sporting a huge lift and tires) We use my wife's Audi Q5 and get to destination all fresh and ready to party. In the Jeep, I'd have to take a nap

 

[Crum44]

Thanks for posting this thread on long distance road trip. We are thinking about taking my 2022 Willys 2 door 3 pedal from NJ to OBX. We were just doing practice packing for one suitcase, 2 beach chairs, and a 50lb bulldog. Gonna be tight in back. Just gotta talk wife off the ledge about taking extra crap we do not need to bring.

Positives, driving on beach in own jeep, instead of renting as we did in past. Longest trip we have made was a 3hr trip to PA. The back legs were a little sore.

But a little soreness to drive on beach in OBX, and possibly down in Ocracoke might just be worth it.

 

[Seemego4WD]

A few weeks ago i went to Florida from Virginia in my 2024, 2600 miles in a week. Camped every night. Had a great time can’t wait for the next trip

 

[The Fixer]

Thanks for posting this thread on long distance road trip. We are thinking about taking my 2022 Willys 2 door 3 pedal from NJ to OBX. We were just doing practice packing for one suitcase, 2 beach chairs, and a 50lb bulldog. Gonna be tight in back. Just gotta talk wife off the ledge about taking extra crap we do not need to bring.

Positives, driving on beach in own jeep, instead of renting as we did in past. Longest trip we have made was a 3hr trip to PA. The back legs were a little sore.

But a little soreness to drive on beach in OBX, and possibly down in Ocracoke might just be worth it.

It's definitely worth it. My wife and I took my 2-door up to RI (about 3 hours each way) for a long weekend a few years ago - just luggage and beach chairs. I flipped up the back seat and had plenty of room. We also took the 2-door for a weekend trip with my teenage daughter up to Salem, MA, which was about 4.5 hours each way. She had plenty of room in the back seat for her luggage, and we put our bags behind the back seat. I guess if you're traveling with the dog you'd remove the back seat entirely.

We've done much longer family trips with my wife's 4-door JL - a few 5 hour trips up to Vermont, and the longest was up to Maine (7-8 hours straight). We bring a cooler, two teenagers, and luggage. Personally, I think the JLs ride great!

 

[Crum44]

Hey, thanks for input. I took the backseat after weeks of bringing jeep home. My wife has a Subaru Outback. The gas mileage she gets....is hard to pass up for road trips.

We would have to use one piece of luggage between us. Not sure wife can do that.

Thanks again for info...we are still deciding....leaving Friday morning.


Thanks!

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