Jeep New Jeeps???

[Caleb]

So, I've been out of the Jeep market for a long time. My wife is considering moving from her 2016 4Runner to a new Jeep Wrangler. What's new and what should I be looking for? I'd like a Rubicon, but it's cheaper to get the Moab since it already has all the upgrades we'd want to do but no 4:1 on the Moab. This won't be crawled, just fire roads around our cabin most likely so is that a huge deal? She loves lifted vehicles, infact she's still not happy I got rid of my Tundra in favor of my Raptor a year ago. She's thinking about going and looking at this one tomorrow. I'd like a 2dr, but she's pretty set on a 4dr. I'm 99% sure we'll be looking at 2018 or 2019s only.

So, what's the things I should consider with these new Jeeps? What changed (if anything) between 2018 and 2019? Thoughts?

 

[Greg]

The JL is very similar to the JK if you look at them on paper, but it's MUCH more refined. Jeep did a great job of listening to it's customers and tweaked the JL to take the Wrangler to the next level, IMO. Go test drive a JL, there are some things that may not be apparent.... then go drive a JK. I think the difference will be very noticeable.

In addition to all the safety & electronic gadgetry, the JL has better visibility out the windows, better aerodynamics, but IMO the biggest thing is the 8 speed automatic. It's a huge change in performance and driveability. The 2.0T e-Torque engine is very interesting, lots of people are loving how it works and coupled with the 8 speed, it's pretty damn peppy while pulling down impressive mileage, for a Wrangler.

I've test driven both the V6 and 4 Cyl JL's and I want one bad, but will be waiting for the JL Ecodiesel to come out.

 

[Caleb]

Oh yeah, I saw that 4 cyl on the Jeep site. I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks. Honestly, looking at the 2018 and 2019 Jeeps, I thought there wasn't really any difference, I'll check out both for sure now.

 

[Spork]

The 4 vs 2 door thing is kind of a preference thing, I've wheeled with 4 doors and they do great, walk up stuff the old yj and TJ struggle with. I know you said you weren't going to wheel it hard so that pushes me even more to recommend the 4 door, so much easier to get kids in and out of. My sister had hers up to 37 inch tires and I prefer the 35" just because it seemed to work better.

 

[Greg]

Oh yeah, I saw that 4 cyl on the Jeep site. I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks. Honestly, looking at the 2018 and 2019 Jeeps, I thought there wasn't really any difference, I'll check out both for sure now.

Just a huge model change.

I think they made both the JL and JK as 2018's, but only JL's as 2019's. The differences aren't hard to spot, but the JL is a much more advanced Jeep and IMO it seems to drive better on the road and freeway.

 

[Herzog]

We had a JL with us on the trail last April. @Brisauce 's jl on 37's did so well, it was also super quite. Neat rig for sure.

 

[mesha]

Driving the JL is night and day from the JK. I really love the smooth power the 8 speed offers. We are definitely headed toward a JL. Also nice that TeraFlex is constantly expanding products offered for the JL. A 3-4” lift, 37s, and a set of falcons and that rig would be pretty hard to beat for bombing down fire roads.

I drove a few awhile back and really liked the way the interior was laid out. Luckily they didn’t have the one I wanted in stock or I would have probably drove one home. Now I have some time to save while I wait and drive my boring old JK. They beefed up the steering, the front axle housing is thicker, the trans is better, aluminum body parts make it light. The LED lighting package is cool too. I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

 

[Caleb]

So, JL is a must. I think what confused me on '18 vs. '19 is I was looking at '18 JLs (like the one I linked above in the first post) so they were the same basic thing, right?

I was planning the 8 speed, cold weather package, the electronics package, the towing package, three piece color matched hard top, remote start, LED lights, Body matched fenders, and the proximity unlocking. Most of that is standard on the Moab so I'm leaning that way, but I'm sure we'll end up with minimum 35" tires and maybe even 37" tires, so will I regret not having 4.10 gears and the 4:1 t-case the Rubicon offers? The Moab has 3.45 gears.

 

[Greg]

Yep, '18 & '19 JL's will be the same long as they're optioned out the same. I think 37's and a small lift look great, but you'll want deep gears to help turn them and IMO 4.10's will work, but not be ideal. IIRC, the 8 speed auto has a .67 OD ratio and with 37's and freeway driving you may see it dropping in & out of 8th. So perhaps a Moab edition with 37's and plan on regearing it with 4.56 or 4.88 gears? That will save you the money you'd spend on the Rubicon that you can put towards gears and if you don't think you'll need lockers and the 4 to 1 t-case, it seems like a easy decision.

 

[gijohn40]

I just bought a 2018 JK with the cold weather, electronic package and remote start, led lights.. it was used, had 8900 miles on it. Paid $37k out the door from a dealership in Boise. which every way you decide to go make sure you look at the dealerships in boise seeing they seem to have about a 5-8k difference in price then down here.

My jk has the 5 speed trans and has 3.73 gears and its the rubicon edition. Its pretty peppy and moved pretty quickly! I do plan on regearing to 4.56

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

Get a Rubicon. The Moab is a hyped up Sahara. You will want the 4.10 axle gears and higher fenders that the Rubicon has for sure. You can find them loaded out pretty easy. We have one here in Grand Junction with every option jeep has to offer.

 

[Caleb]

Does the Rubicon really have different fender lines (I should just go look at these things in person )? Yeah, finding Rubicons is really easy, most (not all) Moabs I have found all say "in route" to the dealership. Greg brings up a good point, if I'm going to need to regear if I go 35s or likely 37s, then the 4.10 may not be really that beneficial. I also thought it would be nice to have the lockers since getting to my cabin when there's snow can be tricky, but when I regear I can just add some ARBs or whatever the new hotness is.

 

[Greg]

The fender flares on the Rubicon JL sit higher than a non-Rubi. I've heard you can fit 35's with no lift on a Rubicon, if that helps.

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

Does the Rubicon really have different fender lines (I should just go look at these things in person )? Yeah, finding Rubicons is really easy, most (not all) Moabs I have found all say "in route" to the dealership. Greg brings up a good point, if I'm going to need to regear if I go 35s or likely 37s, then the 4.10 may not be really that beneficial. I also thought it would be nice to have the lockers since getting to my cabin when there's snow can be tricky, but when I regear I can just add some ARBs or whatever the new hotness is.

You will NOT need to regear to run 35's on a Rubicon. Guys are running 37s with 4.10 gears and the 8speed auto without any problems. The Rubicon fenders are 2" higher than the other models and you CAN fit 35s right off the showroom floor. A simple 2" lift and 37s fit really well. The Teraflex 2.5ST with Falcon 3.3s would be amazing.

 

[gijohn40]

one other thing I read about the 8 speed trans is that it doesn't always just go 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 depending on the driving it will shift differently like 1-3-5-7-8. the computer selects the best gears for the condition.

 

[Caleb]

one other thing I read about the 8 speed trans is that it doesn't always just go 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 depending on the driving it will shift differently like 1-3-5-7-8. the computer selects the best gears for the condition.

Yeah, that’s the same thing my 10 speed in my Raptor does.

 

[DAA]

Love that 8 speed in my Ram 1500.

- DAA

 

[rholbrook]

You should be looking at my JKU.

 

[Caleb]

Send me what it has. One thing that may kill it right off the bat is she hates grey. My Tacoma was a similar color and she hated it. The other option she's considering mandatory is a heated steering wheel. She drove my tuck which has it and loves it (I hate it, drives me nuts having it on). That's a good looking jeep though. Maybe I can convince her to take my Raptor and I'll buy your Jeep for me

 

[rholbrook]

Send me what it has. One thing that may kill it right off the bat is she hates grey. My Tacoma was a similar color and she hated it. The other option she's considering mandatory is a heated steering wheel. She drove my tuck which has it and loves it (I hate it, drives me nuts having it on). That's a good looking jeep though. Maybe I can convince her to take my Raptor and I'll buy your Jeep for me

It has pretty much everything but leather and a heated steering wheel and heated seats. I get more comments on how much people love the color and the wheel choice. If I was your wife, I would want a new JL. They really are much nicer to drive and have some more of those comforts that your wife is looking for. I don't know that I would get the 4cyl turbo though. I would stick with the v6