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aldo98229

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I am tired of social media uploads that pretend that it is our God given right to stretch ourselves financially to drive this or that.

I stopped watching Trail Recon for that very reason: nothing is ever enough.

It is refreshing to watch Tommy advocating affordability and simplicity. He’s got my full attention when he shows us what his $31,800 Willys Sport can —and cannot— do on the trails.
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Hey Tommy here! Sorry to be late to the party, and thanks for the lively discussion. I am honored that it went on so long.

Very interesting to see the two different dynamics and attitudes between the two forums (Wrangler and Bronco)... I find it a much less hostile environment on this end of the internet.

Thanks all for the kind words, really enjoying the Willy's! I do think over the past two weeks it has fulfilled my needs perfectly and I am really happy with the trim.

As many have mentioned I am excited to push my Jeep beyond what I can typically do with a press unit, although I will say it feels harder to bash those skid plates with your name on the title!

Even if I did want to spend the additionally money on the 2.0T with the auto, I really am not sure I would. I know a lot of folks like that engine and certainly at altitude it is a much more potent choice. I do however feel it to be a little high strung at slow speeds and just a little odd in the power delivery standpoint for an off-roader. Love to see some feedback on that engine though from other members.

Thanks for watching, hope to see you on the trail!
We are enjoying the series of comparisons between the Bronco, Jeep and Defender. However, we would also love to see more offroad videos with your stock Willys.

On this forum we have many debates re: the capabilities of the non-Rubicon Jeeps. It would be of great interest to see what your Jeep can do.
 

sentience

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Hey Tommy here! Sorry to be late to the party, and thanks for the lively discussion. I am honored that it went on so long.

Very interesting to see the two different dynamics and attitudes between the two forums (Wrangler and Bronco)... I find it a much less hostile environment on this end of the internet.

Thanks all for the kind words, really enjoying the Willy's! I do think over the past two weeks it has fulfilled my needs perfectly and I am really happy with the trim.

As many have mentioned I am excited to push my Jeep beyond what I can typically do with a press unit, although I will say it feels harder to bash those skid plates with your name on the title!

Even if I did want to spend the additionally money on the 2.0T with the auto, I really am not sure I would. I know a lot of folks like that engine and certainly at altitude it is a much more potent choice. I do however feel it to be a little high strung at slow speeds and just a little odd in the power delivery standpoint for an off-roader. Love to see some feedback on that engine though from other members.

Thanks for watching, hope to see you on the trail!
Keep up the good work.

You gave an honest and thorough assessment of both vehicles, and presented them well. Your sound mixing, video editing, and drone work is better than most.

If I had to nitpick, I’d try to stay away from the clickbaity title screens.

Specifically between the Bronco and Wrangler - I’m glad the Bronco exists. I hope it forces Jeep to offer locking diffs as its own option.
 
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viper88

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Well, I've been reading though this thread and am late to the discussion. I've really enjoyed TFL video over the years. A lot of good information and I learned a lot from them. This video by Tommy was no exception.

If I had known more about the Willy's that would have been the model I would have sought out. My 2 door Jl sport is basically optioned like a Willy's minus the Rubicon suspension and rock rails.
The Willys is great value. It has the Rubicon's larger brakes also. I like everything about it with maybe the exception of the tires? I wish there was a option for K02s for the Willys.
 

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ThirtyOne

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We are enjoying the series of comparisons between the Bronco, Jeep and Defender. However, we would also love to see more offroad videos with your stock Willys.

On this forum we have many debates re: the capabilities of the non-Rubicon Jeeps. It would be of great interest to see what your Jeep can do.
I tell you i was feeling it when he was negotiating that obstacle with his manual Willys with stock gears and transfer case. I wheeled with that package (4 door Sport S) for a few years and it was definitely more challenging than then Rubicon set up. I stalled on a lot of similar obstacles as well.
 

viper88

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Good choice in the V6 and willys trim!. And I agree with others, the TLF content is high quality entertainment. Unlike the circus that lite brite and other channels are.

I was excited about the Bronco like 2 years ago. Now I am pretty disappointed, the rollout has been a disaster.

P.S. Thank God the discussion about parking a Wrangler is over and it has been replaced by hawaiian pizza. Which is gross btw, but I like rice with ketchup so....
I agree TFL is good stuff. Since you enjoy TLF content.....Fast forward to the 15:00 mark. A benefit of the 2-door. A 2 door JL has more parking options.
 :LOL:




Jeep Wrangler JL Why Tommy from TFL bought a Wrangler instead of a Bronco (or 4Runner) Screen Shot 2021-08-03 at 10.56.29 AM
Jeep Wrangler JL Why Tommy from TFL bought a Wrangler instead of a Bronco (or 4Runner) Screen Shot 2021-08-03 at 11.01.16 AM

I saw there are already aftermarket options for some of the Bronco's Playskool interior trim. Saw a few better looking grab handles already. I like trying different things, except pineapple on pizza! Personally I am going to give Ford a year or so to iron out the QC issues and revisit the 2-door Bronco again. In the meantime I am buying another 2-door Wrangler whenever the 2022 order banks open. Fingers crossed for some fun colors and new configurations.

Ketchup on anything is good. Even on a Chicago style hot dog! Flame-ON!
 
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The Last Cowboy

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I am tired of social media uploads that pretend that it is our God given right to stretch ourselves financially to drive this or that.

I stopped watching Trail Recon for that very reason: nothing is ever enough.

It is refreshing to watch Tommy advocating affordability and simplicity. He’s got my full attention when he shows us what his $31,800 Willys Sport can —and cannot— do on the trails.
This.

I was a little luckier than Tommy when I bought mine, better discounts. I paid the same he paid for his willys, a bit less actually. For a sport S with 39k MSRP. Discounts were raging on 2019 models at the time. Then I put about $3,000 on upgrades over 2 years.

I coulve bought a Rubicon no issues. I could sell my Jeep right now and buy an Xtreme. But why would I? I am taking this jeep everywhere I want, and I get better the more I practice. I dont have car payments and I am enjoying it so much. I actually like the fact that is a sport, that I have to baby my rear LSD diff, that it feels good when I picked that perfect line, that I used the right amount of throttle. I love the challenge, and I love showing people what a sport on 33s can do. It is simple, I own it, I modified it, it is a jeep.
 

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aldo98229

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I coulve bought a Rubicon no issues. I could sell my Jeep right now and buy an Xtreme. But why would I? I am taking this jeep everywhere I want, and I get better the more I practice. I dont have car payments and I am enjoying it so much. I actually like the fact that is a sport, that I have to baby my rear LSD diff, that it feels good when I picked that perfect line, that I used the right amount of throttle. I love the challenge, and I love showing people what a sport on 33s can do. It is simple, I own it, I modified it, it is a jeep.
Totally. There is an inherent satisfaction in driving a Sahara, a Sport or a Willys through really tough terrain. It is awesome to find out what a more "basic" Jeep can do.

When you get to the other side you know that your driving skill contributed to a greater extant than had you had a front locker, an automatic swaybar disconnect, or monster tires.

I especially like it when unsuspecting watchers see my Jeep with big SAHARA hood decal pulling stunts they thought in their minds a Sahara wasn't supposed to be doing.

Having said that, I do miss the convenience of the electronic swaybar disconnect. I got manual quick releases on my Sahara; I am going to start trying disconnecting my swaybar manually to see how much better it does on the trails.
 

entropy

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Having said that, I do miss the convenience of the electronic swaybar disconnect. I got manual quick releases on my Sahara; I am going to start trying disconnecting my swaybar manually to see how much better it does on the trails.
Oh it'll be waaay better with the swaybar disconnected. It isn't so bad. I have the JKS quick discos, disconnecting takes me less than a minute, and connecting is about a minute as well. Best thing about manual disco, it always works.

I have a stubby bumper so I don't even have to go under the Jeep.
 

aldo98229

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Oh it'll be waaay better with the swaybar disconnected. It isn't so bad. I have the JKS quick discos, disconnecting takes me less than a minute, and connecting is about a minute as well. Best thing about manual disco, it always works.
I have the JKS as well.

Do you have to level the Jeep before reconnecting?
 

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I have the JKS as well.

Do you have to level the Jeep before reconnecting?
Yeah you do have to be on flat terrain. I've never found this to be an issue. I drive disconnected the entire time I am on the trail, so there is always a flat spot to reconnect. You can also use a rock or a jack to level out the front in case you don't want to be hunting for an almost perfectly flat spot.
 

aldo98229

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Yeah you do have to be on flat terrain. I've never found this to be an issue. I drive disconnected the entire time I am on the trail, so there is always a flat spot to reconnect. You can also use a rock or a jack to level out the front in case you don't want to be hunting for an almost perfectly flat spot.
I am trying to find a video on How to USE them. There are a thousand videos on how to INSTALL them, but not one on they are used...!

Do you release the bottom or the top of the swaybar link? What is that pin sticking out next to the fender liner for? Do you need to release both sides?
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