Opinions on 2.5 automatic TJ?

Okay so I thought I'd play devil's advocate a little bit, most everyone will tell you it's a no go and not to buy it. I have been daily driving a 2.5 with 35s and the 30rh for 3 years now. First off, no it's not going to be fast, you will especially notice this on the freeway. I'm on stock gears right now and the top speed is around 55. That being said, Heres a few things to keep in mind if you decide to buy a tj with a 2.5l and automatic

1. Keep it LIGHT. I have thrown on basically every steel component I could find mostly because I liked how it looked and it was cheaper than the aluminum counterpart. After a little work I took about 200 pounds off of my rig and it was a night and day difference in accelerating. So when in doubt choose the lighter of the two options, especially for the 2.5s

2. Set your expectations accordingly. If you buy it thinking you can do some work to make it drive like a 4.0 wait longer and find a 4.0. If this jeep wasn't so special to me, it's the rig I learned how to offroad in and I've done a lot of work to it so I just can't bring myself to replace it for higher displacement.

3. Regear. Now I don't have any experience with this yet, I'm taking my jeep into the shop in a couple of weeks to get it regeared to 5.13s so I'll add more input to this part later.

4. Enjoy it. Again by no means it is going to be a race car and I get gapped by any unknowing minivan beside me, that doesn't take away from the fact that it is still a jeep and a blast to cruise around in and drive offroad. Build it right, and if you decide further down the road that you really do need more power then look into any of the motor swaps that this forum mentions. These guys know what they're talking about and even some of the guys who are running 4.0s want more power and have decided to swap it out for something else. The 2.5 still performs great offroad and if the price is right I'd say go for it.
 
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