Pros and Cons of each?


I've been sick and holed up in my house for three days and am bored ****less, so I've been cruising CL again looking at cars and Jeeps. Is it worth the extra money to get a '12+ JK for the Pentastar engine?

The v6 before the pentastar is gutless. The pentastar is decent. I don't know about reliability. I think they are both terrible at that

The 4.0 in the TJ is better, but it'll have so much oil blowby at 150k that it'll basically need a rebuild or look like a hooptie smoking in traffic. TJ is the same width as every jeep ever made. JK is a bulbous jeep knock off.

I own one of each.

• I drive a 2008 JKU X. 3.6L (or 3.8 I forget) V6, 4-speed Auto, 3.73 diffs. 2" spacer lift. 35" mud tires on 17' wheels, no front sway bar.
• my 18 YO son drives a 2003 TJ Rubicon. 4.0L I6, 3-speed auto, 3.73 diffs. 31" mud tires on 16" wheels.

The TJ has a much better engine than the early JK. Someone else called it gutless, that's a good description. To be clear it is fine on the hills and trails where we offroad but it's weak around town. The automatic trans in the JK, at least the early one, has a problem with the torque converter than Jeep hasn't been inclined to fix. Mine didn't show itself until 135K miles or so but I've read stories about folks having problems damn near from day one way back in 2008. I have a friend who owns a trans shop and he simply says the TC in this transmission (slang for transmission is also slang for a person getting a sex change and that's filtered!) is a POS.

I've told my wife on a few occasions that I could see me selling my JKU and buying a TJ. My son's Jeep rides rough but it has significantly more power than mine does. Both leak oil, it's a Jeep after all. We've only owned the TJ for about 20K of it's 173K miles but the JK has been reliable at now 150K as we're the only owners.

If you have specific questions let me know. The JKU was my first Jeep and I love it. The power is annoying but given the configuration and the fact that I rarely run with doors it's really an around town vehicle and a weekend toy at this point. I work from home so when it rains I generally just drive my wife to work and use her car. Obviously not everyone can do that.

But a cheap JKU with high mileage, LS powertrain swap.

MJ/XJ

You guys would freak at the 170HP and 200ft/lb torque my Nissan has, yet it does pretty well off-road, though it is slow on road. Nissan put 4.6 or 4.9 differential gears on them, though. It's a different animal than the jeep.

We have a 2006 Jeep TJ with less than 30K on the odometer. It has the 4.0 V6 and let me tell you that motor is unbelievable. By that I mean that it's unbelievable that an engine that sucks down a gallon of gas for every 14 miles of travel while feeling like a dog at only 190hp is pretty remarkable. It rides like hell and we have no lift and only 31" tires. The interior was cheap and dated even when ours was new in '06.

So it goes without saying.........I love it and will probably have it forever. Jeep brah!!

FIDO*98* said:

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We have a 2006 Jeep TJ with less than 30K on the odometer. It has the 4.0 V6 and let me tell you that motor is unbelievable. By that I mean that it's unbelievable that an engine that sucks down a gallon of gas for every 14 miles of travel while feeling like a dog at only 190hp is pretty remarkable. It rides like hell and we have no lift and only 31" tires. The interior was cheap and dated even when ours was new in '06.

So it goes without saying.........I love it and will probably have it forever. Jeep brah!!

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Where can you find this mystical V6?

Dammit.....fail

LOYAL AG said:

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I own one of each.

• I drive a 2008 JKU X. 3.6L (or 3.8 I forget) V6, 4-speed Auto, 3.73 diffs. 2" spacer lift. 35" mud tires on 17' wheels, no front sway bar.
• my 18 YO son drives a 2003 TJ Rubicon. 4.0L I6, 3-speed auto, 3.73 diffs. 31" mud tires on 16" wheels.

The TJ has a much better engine than the early JK. Someone else called it gutless, that's a good description. To be clear it is fine on the hills and trails where we offroad but it's weak around town. The automatic trans in the JK, at least the early one, has a problem with the torque converter than Jeep hasn't been inclined to fix. Mine didn't show itself until 135K miles or so but I've read stories about folks having problems damn near from day one way back in 2008. I have a friend who owns a trans shop and he simply says the TC in this transmission (slang for transmission is also slang for a person getting a sex change and that's filtered!) is a POS.

I've told my wife on a few occasions that I could see me selling my JKU and buying a TJ. My son's Jeep rides rough but it has significantly more power than mine does. Both leak oil, it's a Jeep after all. We've only owned the TJ for about 20K of it's 173K miles but the JK has been reliable at now 150K as we're the only owners.

If you have specific questions let me know. The JKU was my first Jeep and I love it. The power is annoying but given the configuration and the fact that I rarely run with doors it's really an around town vehicle and a weekend toy at this point. I work from home so when it rains I generally just drive my wife to work and use her car. Obviously not everyone can do that.

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I don't think comparing the power or feel of 35" tires and 31" tires is a valid comparison.

For the OP, I have a 2015 JKU, all stock, factory 3.73 limited slip differential. It's my daily driver and I love it.

Interestingly enough one popped up on our classifieds. An 02 with 4.0 and manual with 99k. Bone stock with soft top for 5750. Hoping to take a look tomorrow and might end up with a new toy.

bmks270 said:

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LOYAL AG said:

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I own one of each.

• I drive a 2008 JKU X. 3.6L (or 3.8 I forget) V6, 4-speed Auto, 3.73 diffs. 2" spacer lift. 35" mud tires on 17' wheels, no front sway bar.
• my 18 YO son drives a 2003 TJ Rubicon. 4.0L I6, 3-speed auto, 3.73 diffs. 31" mud tires on 16" wheels.

The TJ has a much better engine than the early JK. Someone else called it gutless, that's a good description. To be clear it is fine on the hills and trails where we offroad but it's weak around town. The automatic trans in the JK, at least the early one, has a problem with the torque converter than Jeep hasn't been inclined to fix. Mine didn't show itself until 135K miles or so but I've read stories about folks having problems damn near from day one way back in 2008. I have a friend who owns a trans shop and he simply says the TC in this transmission (slang for transmission is also slang for a person getting a sex change and that's filtered!) is a POS.

I've told my wife on a few occasions that I could see me selling my JKU and buying a TJ. My son's Jeep rides rough but it has significantly more power than mine does. Both leak oil, it's a Jeep after all. We've only owned the TJ for about 20K of it's 173K miles but the JK has been reliable at now 150K as we're the only owners.

If you have specific questions let me know. The JKU was my first Jeep and I love it. The power is annoying but given the configuration and the fact that I rarely run with doors it's really an around town vehicle and a weekend toy at this point. I work from home so when it rains I generally just drive my wife to work and use her car. Obviously not everyone can do that.

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I don't think comparing the power or feel of 35" tires and 31" tires is a valid comparison.

For the OP, I have a 2015 JKU, all stock, factory 3.73 limited slip differential. It's my daily driver and I love it.

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Fair point but I've owned my JKU since it was new with 31" tires. It was considerably less peppy than my son's TJ even brand new. The first V6 in the JK just isn't powerful enough for the bigger 4-door. I haven't driven a newer one or a 2-door JK so I can't comment on those.

We've owned 2x TJs and now drive a JK.

1. If you're a Jeep purist and love that the vehicle beats you up as you drive it you'll initially hate the JK ... until you get used to it.

2. I don't know who thinks the old 4.0L is better than the new (2013+) V6, but I would discount anything else they have to say.

3. The JK is more capable on road and off road with a better engine and providing more comfort. Also, the Sunrider top is super easy to fold back.

4. The auto ******s all sucked up until the new one (I think it was released in '13 with the new V6?).

Why not an LJ?

EskimoJoe said:

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Why not an LJ?

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I've look at/for these and they are still between $15-$20k for 11+ year old vehicles with 150k+ mileage.

I would love to have a LJ, that's my dream jeep, but I feel the same way. I could never justify spending that kind of money for one.

I am about to fly to cali to [likely] buy an '05 LJ with 70k miles. I have been going back and forth between TJ and JK for a while now but ulitimately I really want an LJ so that decided that. It's just been a matter of finding the right one. This one specifically has a Rubicon Express short arm kit (would have preferred long arm), 33"s, and is otherwise stock.

Well I did it. One week in on my new to me 02 TJ. Rattle canned the wheels, plasti duped the hood center, new head unit and speakers. Kids love it, wife is happy. Let's see what the tax return gives and go from there

Waterski02 said:

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Well I did it. One week in on my new to me 02 TJ. Rattle canned the wheels, plasti duped the hood center, new head unit and speakers. Kids love it, wife is happy. Let's see what the tax return gives and go from there

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Congratulations!

Pics or didn't happen.

Go with the 12+

Install Sprintex supercharger

Outrun V8 swaps

robertf03 said:

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The v6 before the pentastar is gutless. The pentastar is decent. I don't know about reliability. I think they are both terrible at that

The 4.0 in the TJ is better, but it'll have so much oil blowby at 150k that it'll basically need a rebuild or look like a hooptie smoking in traffic. TJ is the same width as every jeep ever made. JK is a bulbous jeep knock off.

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Have an LJ with the 4.0 and 225K on it. Change the oil every 3-5K, No blow by or burning of oil. Hell, I had a '93 Cherokee w/ a 4.0 and it went till 200K + as well with no issues...

Transplanted a 4.0 in my Scrambler. Would not trade for the 4.0. Great engines.