Daddy-O5 said:

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normaleagle05 said:

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Or buy a brand new Jeep Wrangler and keep $13k in your pocket.

Just silly.

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I'm pretty amazed why more people don't look at used wranglers for 7.5-15k and even if you need to tinker and dump a little money into them, you save tens of thousands of dollars vs. the cost of a new (or even used) side by side.

I know there are pros/cons/differences between side by sides and jeeps depending on wants/needs, so not implying a used jeep would suit OP's needs or anyone else's directly. Just a general observation considering the cost of SxS's these days.

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This times eleventy billion.

There are dozens of TJs and 2-door JKs for sale in Central Texas for $10-15k. Pick your mileage. Oh, and grab a Quadratec catalog and replace whatever needs replacing in the driveway.

I don't know what a SxS can do that my JK can't.

To each his own. But my best friend just sold his 2-door 2008 JK for like $11k. It might need $2-3k of miscellaneous nuisance repairs. But that's still 1/3rd the price of many SxSs.

I prefer CanAm Defender Max.
Owned Mule Pro FXT and was good but the CanAm is smoother, quieter and bigger.
Kawasaki probably makes best engines but they just are meh on everything else imo.
Looking at the new Kaw ridge hvac and it's nice but pricey

dodger02 said:

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Daddy-O5 said:

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normaleagle05 said:

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Or buy a brand new Jeep Wrangler and keep $13k in your pocket.

Just silly.

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I'm pretty amazed why more people don't look at used wranglers for 7.5-15k and even if you need to tinker and dump a little money into them, you save tens of thousands of dollars vs. the cost of a new (or even used) side by side.

I know there are pros/cons/differences between side by sides and jeeps depending on wants/needs, so not implying a used jeep would suit OP's needs or anyone else's directly. Just a general observation considering the cost of SxS's these days.

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This times eleventy billion.

There are dozens of TJs and 2-door JKs for sale in Central Texas for $10-15k. Pick your mileage. Oh, and grab a Quadratec catalog and replace whatever needs replacing in the driveway.

I don't know what a SxS can do that my JK can't.

To each his own. But my best friend just sold his 2-door 2008 JK for like $11k. It might need $2-3k of miscellaneous nuisance repairs. But that's still 1/3rd the price of many SxSs.

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A lot.

I used to be in the same boat of "get a Jeep, they do more for less". But they really don't. I suppose a lot of it depends on where you are geographically and what your uses are. In the hill country or trans-Pecos region, yeah, a Jeep is probably a better overall vehicle at least when you look at options for initial costs and capabilities.

But I guarantee you with 100% accuracy that down on the coast in the Brazos bottoms where I'm at, our basic SxS's will go places and do things that a Jeep couldn't come close to doing, and in the places a Jeep could go, the side by side has significantly less ground impact than the Jeep would. Same in east Texas or South Texas as well where the ground isn't hard limestone or caliche.

schmellba99 said:

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dodger02 said:

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Daddy-O5 said:

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normaleagle05 said:

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Or buy a brand new Jeep Wrangler and keep $13k in your pocket.

Just silly.

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I'm pretty amazed why more people don't look at used wranglers for 7.5-15k and even if you need to tinker and dump a little money into them, you save tens of thousands of dollars vs. the cost of a new (or even used) side by side.

I know there are pros/cons/differences between side by sides and jeeps depending on wants/needs, so not implying a used jeep would suit OP's needs or anyone else's directly. Just a general observation considering the cost of SxS's these days.

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This times eleventy billion.

There are dozens of TJs and 2-door JKs for sale in Central Texas for $10-15k. Pick your mileage. Oh, and grab a Quadratec catalog and replace whatever needs replacing in the driveway.

I don't know what a SxS can do that my JK can't.

To each his own. But my best friend just sold his 2-door 2008 JK for like $11k. It might need $2-3k of miscellaneous nuisance repairs. But that's still 1/3rd the price of many SxSs.

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A lot.

I used to be in the same boat of "get a Jeep, they do more for less". But they really don't. I suppose a lot of it depends on where you are geographically and what your uses are. In the hill country or trans-Pecos region, yeah, a Jeep is probably a better overall vehicle at least when you look at options for initial costs and capabilities.

But I guarantee you with 100% accuracy that down on the coast in the Brazos bottoms where I'm at, our basic SxS's will go places and do things that a Jeep couldn't come close to doing, and in the places a Jeep could go, the side by side has significantly less ground impact than the Jeep would. Same in east Texas or South Texas as well where the ground isn't hard limestone or caliche.

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Fully agreed. If a person is honest when they think it through (or better yet has someone with a Jeep they're thinking of getting) and confirms a Jeep can do every thing they'll ever want to do, then sure go Jeep. But when you need a UTV, it's the only thing that will work. Have some bottom land in Brazos County, and so many days in the winter where the only thing that won't tear up roads or fields when I have to cross them is a UTV. When I have to get in the flooded timber to fill feeders and get closer to a couple duck holes, literally nothing will do that other than a UTV or tractor depending on the location and weather at the time.

normaleagle05 said:

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JeremiahJohnson said:

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I own an RZR and have owned a Jeep. You can do 1000x more in a SXS than a Jeep. They are more comfortable, you can ride them hard. You can even roll them with minimal damage.(done this a few times).
Only advantage to a Jeep is being able to drive on the road. My RZR is also a lot more reliable than my CJ was.

With that being said when my RZR dies, I want a small suv like a FJ60, FJ40, CJ7 or maybe even a Roxor.

My only reasoning is driving around town in the vehicle and I don't have room for both right now.

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I suspect there is a lot of bias in many of the comparisons out there because people are comparing an off-road setup SxS to an on-road setup Jeep.

37" mud terrains, bead locks, and 5lbs of air in the tires will completely change the Jeep's ride and performance. And probably bring the weight difference close to parity.

Admittedly, I have less experience with a SxS.

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So now you are spending way more than $10k on a jeep, because throwing 37's on also means you are talking about lifts, more substantial axles and differentials, lockers, etc. and it takes all of that to match what a bone stock Mule PRO or Can Am can do, and it still will cause more ground damage and is significantly larger.

Back to what I said earlier though - huge difference in hill country caliche roads that can easily be traversed by a stock or close to stock jeep and Beaumont Clay formation mud in the Brazos river bottoms where you have 12" of standing water and 12" of soupy mud that you have to go 2 miles through, as well as having areas that are narrow in width because you are in thick wooded area. Or trying to navigate through east texas red clay and sand and pine trees, etc.

If I'm hunting in central Texas or out west in the trans Pecos area, I'm taking a jeep and probably not thinking twice about it. But a jeep isn't making it to my deer blind right now. A buggy is, and does it without much effort. Just depends on needs.

normaleagle05 said:

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schmellba99 said:

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normaleagle05 said:

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JeremiahJohnson said:

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I own an RZR and have owned a Jeep. You can do 1000x more in a SXS than a Jeep. They are more comfortable, you can ride them hard. You can even roll them with minimal damage.(done this a few times).
Only advantage to a Jeep is being able to drive on the road. My RZR is also a lot more reliable than my CJ was.

With that being said when my RZR dies, I want a small suv like a FJ60, FJ40, CJ7 or maybe even a Roxor.

My only reasoning is driving around town in the vehicle and I don't have room for both right now.

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I suspect there is a lot of bias in many of the comparisons out there because people are comparing an off-road setup SxS to an on-road setup Jeep.

37" mud terrains, bead locks, and 5lbs of air in the tires will completely change the Jeep's ride and performance. And probably bring the weight difference close to parity.

Admittedly, I have less experience with a SxS.

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So now you are spending way more than $10k on a jeep, because throwing 37's on also means you are talking about lifts, more substantial axles and differentials, lockers, etc. and it takes all of that to match what a bone stock Mule PRO or Can Am can do, and it still will cause more ground damage and is significantly larger.

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I've never seen anyone offer evidence or a physics explanation on this being true if the Jeep was on bigger tires with low air pressure. Again, it's just not a fair comparison if the Jeep is set up for highway traffic.

And you don't need new axles to turn 37s. A cheap spacer lift wouldn't hurt. But for the price difference people are spending you could go all out and put on ProRock Dana 80s and 42" tires.

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Drive a jeep through swamp mud and on mud roads.
Drive a buggy through swamp mud and on mud roads.

100% guarantee you that the jeep will have significantly more ground disturbance, even with big tires aired down. Bigger, heavier machines that require more power and more torque to move are just that way. An old school Honda 250 4 wheeler has less ground disturbance than a Mule does too. Doesn't take a physics PhD to figure that out.

But you are also moving goalposts with the heavily modified jeep versus SxS that was originally discussed. Wny not talk about putting tracks on things since you are moving the convo to something it wasn't originally?

Look, jeeps are awesome. Fun as hell. But when it comes to some situations, they aren't all that great compared to other vehicles. This isn't a hard concept to grasp.

A CJ7 weighs 2700+lbs. My Polaris RZR weighs 1150lbs. It's not rocket science on why they are less damaging and move through mud easier.

They both have their place. But a SXS is 100x better than a Jeep on mud and rougher terrain.

Well I got it about five years ago. As I posted I wanted a simple side by side that was quiet as possible. I test rode one and liked it so bought it.
I needed something to run around the ranch in, that my bride could also use to run around the ranch in…. and not put all that use and hours on the Lonestar.
How do I like it? It goes anywhere a gas will go. Same drivetrain as the gas Ranger….. same selective four wheel drive, selective differential lock, same turf saver drive feature… and you have three speed ranges to chose from…. So like in low with 4 wheel drive and differential lock engaged it will almost climb a tree and it rides really well. I have not had one "mechanical" issue and we truly use it everyday.
The range is great. I can run around our place and put two or three miles on it a day and charge it overnight once a week.
I have never had it stuck or had it someplace it would not pull out of.
Now the bad……. It came with 6 12 volt large wet cell batteries. Checking the water in them was a PIA so I installed a watering system that cost $400.00. It worked well. The batteries lasted great for four years… then went kaput.
So I replaced all with AGM batteries….. cost about $2700.00. All good till about a month ago. Now I have some type of power issue and I am going nuts trying to figure out if I have a bad battery, controller or motor.
Little help from Polaris. Their customer service is atrocious…. and that's a true understatement.
So…. after all my talking here…. to answer your question…I really, really like it……before my problem.
Hoping to figure out what's up.
In hindsight I wish I would have converted it to lithium.