To TJ or JK that is the question

TJ.
IMO the reality is both casual and hardcore - you can do as much/more of what makes a jeep a jeep in a TJ for less.

Casual - daily driver, light mods, trails etc...more for your money going tj.

Hardcore people will start talking about the differences between TJ Dana 44s and JK 44s...but the truth is if you're that hardcore you're trussing and cutting. The two vehicles will end up neck and neck again after all is said and done with less invested in the TJ.

The issue isnt that certain parts of the JK arent better - it's that the price gap is such that TJ wins value/capability unless you literally never do your own work and just take it to shops for parts to be installed.

I like my LJ Rubicon and never feel like I'm lacking compared to the JKU. When she needs a rebuild, I'll do it.
 
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Johnnyverbatim said:
Hardcore people will start talking about the differences between TJ Dana 44s and JK 44s...but the truth is if you're that hardcore you're trussing and cutting. The two vehicles will end up neck and neck again after all is said and done with less invested in the TJ.
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Exactly. Well said!

If you're "hardcore", neither a TJ or JK in stock form is going to do. So once you cut them, truss them, and build them to your liking, they'll end up dead even. The only difference is that on one hand you will have destroyed a $40,000+ vehicle, while on the other hand you will have destroyed a $10,000 vehicle.
 
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I built my 99 Jeep Wrangler for 8500.. and paid 8000... it has bested some of the newer Jk jeeps on trails..

E6893B0E-4475-4A95-92AB-702A5C2BC12D.jpeg
 
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Chris said:
Exactly. Well said!

If you're "hardcore", neither a TJ or JK in stock form is going to do. So once you cut them, truss them, and build them to your liking, they'll end up dead even. The only difference is that on one hand you will have destroyed a $40,000+ vehicle, while on the other hand you will have destroyed a $10,000 vehicle.
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I hope you meant "destroyed" as-in what happens to the rig after you went and beat-up a mountain, and not that your improvements "destroyed" said vehicle! LOL That's how I read it the first time, and I thought "Damn...he's got some brass ones!" ;)
 
Squatch said:
I hope you meant "destroyed" as-in what happens to the rig after you went and beat-up a mountain, and not that your improvements "destroyed" said vehicle! LOL That's how I read it the first time, and I thought "Damn...he's got some brass ones!" ;)
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Well, I meant destroyed as in there goes the resale value of your vehicle. I’d rather cut and weld on a 10k vehicle than a 40k one! I’m not rich by any means.
 
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Chris said:
Well, I meant destroyed as in there goes the resale value of your vehicle. I’d rather cut and weld on a 10k vehicle than a 40k one! I’m not rich by any means.
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Are you saying that after I dump far more money into a rig than it's worth, I will have "dumped far more money into a rig than it's worth!"? :D
 
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Squatch said:
Are you saying that after I dump far more money into a rig than it's worth, I will have "dumped far more money into a rig than it's worth!"? :D
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...and that, right there, seems to be the key to many TJ owners happiness. Conspicuous over-building. $30k into a $16k rig that does and goes the same places all the $7k rigs do. Just less comfortably and less reliably.
 
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Laredo-Alex said:
Hey Jeep-Friends, with two kids (4,5/1,5) my LJ was fine for me. But now kid no. 3 is on its way and i must sell the unicorn. A LJ Rubicon is so rare in germany that i only saw 1 in over 10 years... and that was mine. with 3 kids the LJ has got not enough room on the back seat. i could buy a granny..... but thats not the jeep-thing i wanna have. So, don't kill me, i will buy a JKU. With a little bit of luck the prices will fall when the JL is on the market here in germany available.

Many greetings from overseas and a friendly jeep-wave :)
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What if you have a fourth child? Then a JKU wont work. And actually, the back seat of a JKU isn’t much to boast about. Legroom is not as good as the TJ. Not much wider, really. I’ve had 4 in the TJ backseat (shhhh...don’t tell)! And yeah, there’s the extra doors on the JKU. But just consider before selling the unicorn, that you may not have much better, and may end up worse off.

We have 5 kids and use a GMC Yukon SLT to haul the family around. The TJ is my DD and get away toy. I regularly haul 3 kids (1 up front and 2 in back). The TJ rear seat sits higher too, and they can see out, which they love. An LJ is even better with the extra storage capacity!
 
JMT said:
What if you have a fourth child? Then a JKU wont work. And actually, the back seat of a JKU isn’t much to boast about. Legroom is not as good as the TJ. Not much wider, really. I’ve had 4 in the TJ backseat (shhhh...don’t tell)! And yeah, there’s the extra doors on the JKU. But just consider before selling the unicorn, that you may not have much better, and may end up worse off.

We have 5 kids and use a GMC Yukon SLT to haul the family around. The TJ is my DD and get away toy. I regularly haul 3 kids (1 up front and 2 in back). The TJ rear seat sits higher too, and they can see out, which they love. An LJ is even better with the extra storage capacity!
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I too use my z71 tahoe when I need to haul around more than 5 ppl, but I gotta disagree with your statement about the tj having more leg room than a jku. My jku has way more legroom, and over all space, than my lj does, and I'm pretty sure the lj has more legroom than a tj
 
Jeepaholic said:
I too use my z71 tahoe when I need to haul around more than 5 ppl, but I gotta disagree with your statement about the tj having more leg room than a jku. My jku has way more legroom, and over all space, than my lj does, and I'm pretty sure the lj has more legroom than a tj
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I'm 5'6", so maybe the position of my front seat allows for more room than your LJ. Although, my nephew had his 2017 JKU down here the other day and the three kids barely fit in the back and their feet were just about hitting the front seats. Just looking at it I thought it was less. No technical specs! Although I also read someone on this forum who has a JKU say that it doesn't. That's their opinion. We need some specs...

I believe the spacing on a TJ and LJ between front and rear seat mounts is identical. The additional space in the LJ is all behind the rear seat.
 
Jeepaholic said:
I too use my z71 tahoe when I need to haul around more than 5 ppl, but I gotta disagree with your statement about the tj having more leg room than a jku. My jku has way more legroom, and over all space, than my lj does, and I'm pretty sure the lj has more legroom than a tj
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Ok, here's the specs,

TJ = 35"
LJ = 36.7"
JKU = 37.2"
 
JMT said:
I'm 5'6", so maybe the position of my front seat allows for more room than your LJ. Although, my nephew had his 2017 JKU down here the other day and the three kids barely fit in the back and their feet were just about hitting the front seats. Just looking at it I thought it was less. No technical specs! Although I also read someone on this forum who has a JKU say that it doesn't. That's their opinion. We need some specs...

I believe the spacing on a TJ and LJ between front and rear seat mounts is identical. The additional space in the LJ is all behind the rear seat.
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The lj is 15" longer than a tj. 2 inches between seat rows and 13 behind.
Lj-seats all the way back-7" from seat back to rear seat
Lj seats all the way forward-15"
Rear seat width 40"

Jku seats all the way back-11"
Jku seats all the way forward-19"
Rear seat width 50"
 
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I have them both, i like them both. Tj has 4 inch Rock Krawler lift on 35s with bilstien shocks. Jk has 3 inch teraflex lift on 35s with fox shocks. Both very capable. I drive the jk more. I wheel the tj more. We do level 7 and 8 trails, and my wifes JKU with 2 inch budget boost, QDs and 33s goes every where I go.

Go drive them. If your mostly on road and want to do minimal to go offroad and need the space a JKU would do you fine. A small utility trailer ($500) and you got the versatility of your truck.

2014 and up had the engine issues resolved and the 290hp is good on the road.

BTW my '14 is a 1/2 door soft top and hers is a '17 with hardtop and we have had no leaks from tops or radiators. YMMV.

The '04 doesn't leak either, FWIW.
 
I don't help my JK trail buddies much anymore. They are more like arrogants in general. Maybe because it's Chicago. TJ owners are more down to earth. More comradery.
 
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Wilton 9075 said:
I sold my silverado recently and bought a TJ, I don't regret it for a minute.
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And your first post was to necro a thread that spent most of it's life in 2017, welcome aboard!

Just to keep it on topic, I have a 2012 JKU & a 97 TJ. My TJ is my first love (my wife knows this) but with 5 kids the TJ isn't remotely practical for hauling even partial litters around. Part of it is the 4" lift, and part of it is the seats being hard to tumble forward (probably need some oil), but it's a real whip to get them in & out of the back seat. And since I often need the back seat, I'm left with ZERO storage. But literally anything that goes wrong with it is something I can fix with a youtube video and a trip to harbor freight. I wheel it pretty hard as well as "daily drive" as much as possible. If you like turning wrenches, the TJ is for you.

The JKU lets me keep all the stuff I need for multiple baseball practices, can take 4 of the 5 kids if need be, is much more comfortable to drive around. Reliability is a wild card, I have a code that the internet doesn't appear to have a reliable fix for, other electrical crap randomly decides to not work and then start working again. There is tons of serviceable stuff on it, but there is also the extremely high reliance on the computer which can really make troubleshooting/fixing challenging if its in that area. My interior has held up really well, I'm pretty rough on it and with a little Armor All it would look new.

Having said that, if they weren't both paid for I would probably swap out the JKU for a pickup (so I could tow the TJ).
 
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