It seems to be time once again for me to throw my 2 cents worth of TJ opinion into the fray. There seems to be a growing body of opinion that TJ SE's are crap and a waste of a good TJ. Many disparaging remarks are throw about by people who don't drive an SE, don't get what an SE is all about and casually drop comments about the utility and / or lack thereof of the four angry squirrel powdered TJ. I find this disappointing in two ways.
One, generally, this is not how this Forum operates. Well, OK, historically that hasn't been how this forum operates. If the culture is changing, so be it. Shit happens. Disappointing, but understandable and typical.
Two. If you casually call my selection of TJ a POS, then fully expect me to either ignore you or challenge your sacred cows. Up until now I've been good, with a few minor but notable exceptions, about just ignoring the BS. I can be particularly good at cow sacrifice. ...and I'm feeling the urge to go heathen on somebodies ignorant ass right now. Not productive. Since I know for a fact that an SE is a viable if not preferable choice for a lot of uses and situations, disparaging SE's only kills the discussion of when and where and how. As a form of group think, it's poisonous. Engage in it if you wish, but expect push back.
Here's my experiences with my 1999 TJ SE, 2.5, AX-5 manual. In my area, which is the Pacific Northwest. Look at a map, it's a pretty big and diverse area with lots of different terrain.
In all the time I've owned my SE I've run into problems only a hand full of times. Twice I've wished for lower gears crawling particularly tight and steep trails. Both time pulling it into 4lo solved the problem. It was agravating to have to go into 4lo because I didn't need 4 wheel drive otherwise. One time was in the Siuslaw and one time was in the Tillamook. There is also one particular grade on Highway 6 over Mount Hood where I need to get into 3rd gear and jump over into the slow lane so as not to impede traffic. But that's only with a full load out. The rest of the time I have no issues keeping up with traffic. It's just not an issue. Highway, Freeway, trails. No particular issues at all with the proper gear selection and driving technique. I haven't done the Rubicon, and probably never will. I have done Kieger Rd. and the Steens. Tillamook State Forest and the Siuslaw. The Cascades. And about a hundred other places in Oregon and Washington with no real names and no name recognition. There's a couple of minor things I need to do before I do them again, and I will. None of those things has anything to do with my SE being an SE.
I try not to be a "collector of modifications", preferring to let my SE tell me what it needs and then providing those modifications with the highest quality parts that I can afford or makes sense. I've actually had to modify very little to get done what needs doing. The time and money not spent on mods has gone into gas, maintenance and butt time in the seat. It's actually had a higher pay back than slapping random or even planned mods on the rig. Highway, city, trail, rocks (such as they are), sand, snow, mud. Spending time in the drivers seat has offered perfectly suitable solutions to any issue I've encountered so far. All the issues have been software issues (thinking) not hardware issues (mods) with a few exceptions.
Examined in the cold harsh light of rational thought I don't regret not buying that 2004 Rubicon I looked at, and am glad that I bought my 1999 SE. The more experience that I get behind the wheel, the more it's proven to be the correct decision. The only time I have regrets is when I get on the forum and read about all the cool mods that people are doing to their non-SE's. That bums me out and gets me all fired up until the weekend comes and the little blue Jeep and I head out into the pucker brush.
The funny thing is my SE has not stranded me out back of beyond, not once. And I'm getting into places that haven't seen anything more than the occasional dirt bike in long enough that the trails are way overgrown. Not bad for a Jeep that everyone (exaggeration alert) loves to hate on.
If you own an SE I want to encourage you to speak up. Share your successes and your failures. Share your mods. Lets get the conversation going. Don't be ashamed of herding four angry squirrels around. Our SE's are just different enough that many of the mods talked about here are either not applicable or implemented differently than the 4.0's. Let's hear about them!
One, generally, this is not how this Forum operates. Well, OK, historically that hasn't been how this forum operates. If the culture is changing, so be it. Shit happens. Disappointing, but understandable and typical.
Two. If you casually call my selection of TJ a POS, then fully expect me to either ignore you or challenge your sacred cows. Up until now I've been good, with a few minor but notable exceptions, about just ignoring the BS. I can be particularly good at cow sacrifice. ...and I'm feeling the urge to go heathen on somebodies ignorant ass right now. Not productive. Since I know for a fact that an SE is a viable if not preferable choice for a lot of uses and situations, disparaging SE's only kills the discussion of when and where and how. As a form of group think, it's poisonous. Engage in it if you wish, but expect push back.
Here's my experiences with my 1999 TJ SE, 2.5, AX-5 manual. In my area, which is the Pacific Northwest. Look at a map, it's a pretty big and diverse area with lots of different terrain.
In all the time I've owned my SE I've run into problems only a hand full of times. Twice I've wished for lower gears crawling particularly tight and steep trails. Both time pulling it into 4lo solved the problem. It was agravating to have to go into 4lo because I didn't need 4 wheel drive otherwise. One time was in the Siuslaw and one time was in the Tillamook. There is also one particular grade on Highway 6 over Mount Hood where I need to get into 3rd gear and jump over into the slow lane so as not to impede traffic. But that's only with a full load out. The rest of the time I have no issues keeping up with traffic. It's just not an issue. Highway, Freeway, trails. No particular issues at all with the proper gear selection and driving technique. I haven't done the Rubicon, and probably never will. I have done Kieger Rd. and the Steens. Tillamook State Forest and the Siuslaw. The Cascades. And about a hundred other places in Oregon and Washington with no real names and no name recognition. There's a couple of minor things I need to do before I do them again, and I will. None of those things has anything to do with my SE being an SE.
I try not to be a "collector of modifications", preferring to let my SE tell me what it needs and then providing those modifications with the highest quality parts that I can afford or makes sense. I've actually had to modify very little to get done what needs doing. The time and money not spent on mods has gone into gas, maintenance and butt time in the seat. It's actually had a higher pay back than slapping random or even planned mods on the rig. Highway, city, trail, rocks (such as they are), sand, snow, mud. Spending time in the drivers seat has offered perfectly suitable solutions to any issue I've encountered so far. All the issues have been software issues (thinking) not hardware issues (mods) with a few exceptions.
Examined in the cold harsh light of rational thought I don't regret not buying that 2004 Rubicon I looked at, and am glad that I bought my 1999 SE. The more experience that I get behind the wheel, the more it's proven to be the correct decision. The only time I have regrets is when I get on the forum and read about all the cool mods that people are doing to their non-SE's. That bums me out and gets me all fired up until the weekend comes and the little blue Jeep and I head out into the pucker brush.
The funny thing is my SE has not stranded me out back of beyond, not once. And I'm getting into places that haven't seen anything more than the occasional dirt bike in long enough that the trails are way overgrown. Not bad for a Jeep that everyone (exaggeration alert) loves to hate on.
If you own an SE I want to encourage you to speak up. Share your successes and your failures. Share your mods. Lets get the conversation going. Don't be ashamed of herding four angry squirrels around. Our SE's are just different enough that many of the mods talked about here are either not applicable or implemented differently than the 4.0's. Let's hear about them!
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