4,400 miles in a JKU

StG58

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Just got back from a 4,400 mile road trip to South Dakota with the wife's JKU. Interesting trip, and I have a new respect for the rig. The wife even got in a little off road time in the Badlands.

A couple of observations right off the bat. Wranglers still suck at 80 mph with 40 mph cross winds. They still need lockers, traction control notwithstanding. They get surprisingly good mileage at 70 mph.

More later, with pictures. Oh, and my 80 year old mother in law off roaded and hill climbed for the first time in her life. She actually did some trails in an OHV area.
 
Yes, all Wranglers suck at high speeds with cross winds. You can add all the electronics and fancy gizmos you want, but you can't escape the piss poor aerodynamics of a Wrangler! It really is the same as a barn driving down the highway.
 
If you're looking for a nice, stock, unmolested TJ, check out South Dakota. We saw a metric butt ton of them driving around still on stock wheels and tires. Even saw a Golden Eagle edition, a couple of Columbia editions and a bunch TJ and LJ Rubicons. All stock. And nobody waves.
 
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Just got back from a 4,400 mile road trip to South Dakota with the wife's JKU. Interesting trip, and I have a new respect for the rig. The wife even got in a little off road time in the Badlands.

Aside from the aerodynamics of a brick on wheels, the JKU actually is a good vehicle as far as I'm concerned for a long trip. We drive ours 11 hours to/from TN every few months and it does great.
 
Aside from the aerodynamics of a brick on wheels, the JKU actually is a good vehicle as far as I'm concerned for a long trip. We drive ours 11 hours to/from TN every few months and it does great.
The red JKU is going to be a very good companion to the little TJ, I think. It's pretty good on the road, and still has enough off road bona fides to get on a trail at the end of the pavement. The 285/75R16's didn't seem to phase it either, though it could use a recalibration and probably gears. I might put Trutracs in it while I'm in there. It could use them.
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Here's the wife on top of her first hill. Zoom in to see the big, shit eating grin on her face. She went nuts after that, zooming around the Badlands climbing hills and negotiating washouts and dry creek beds. Next thing you know, she'll want to be chasing Jerry and Blaine in JV. She already wants to check out Moab next summer. I've created a monster, it seems.
 
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The red JKU is going to be a very good companion to the little TJ, I think. It's pretty good on the road, and still has enough off road bona fides to get on a trail at the end of the pavement. The 285/75R16's didn't seem to phase it either, though it could use a recalibration and probably gears. I might put Trutracs in it while I'm in there. It could use them.
View attachment 18402
Here's the wife on top of her first hill. Zoom in to see the big, shit eating grin on her face. She went nuts after that, zooming around the Badlands climbing hills and negotiating washouts and dry creek beds. Next thing you know, she'll want to be chasing Jerry and Blaine in JV. She already wants to check out Moab next summer. I've created a monster, it seems.

Couples that jeep together stay together :) better to have her on your side. Although I've heard modifying a Jk can get pretty expensive. Maybe you'll have to pick up a second job to pay for her upgrades.
 
Couples that jeep together stay together :) better to have her on your side. Although I've heard modifying a Jk can get pretty expensive. Maybe you'll have to pick up a second job to pay for her upgrades.
Well, at least so far she's on my side! Putting money into her JKU is cutting into my build schedule though, and that kind of sucks. Luckily, she's still in the "don't scratch the paint" mode. Doing a JK is more expensive, by about 20% it seems so far. We'll see as things progress. Hopefully, I can get the SE done with the expensive parts before her JK starts needing major upgrades. If not, she's going to have to figure out how that's gonna work.