Anyone jump from a TRD Pro to a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited with 3.6L V6
- Thread starter tls3601
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thennen
New member
They're two different vehicles, so a meaningful comparison is difficult to make. I'm not familiar with the Jeep, but folks on here who are familiar say that the 4Runner will get you to around 90% of the places the Wrangler will go. If you go off road into that last 10% a lot, where 4Runners can't go, then the Jeep is apparently your answer. If you need it for a daily driver and occasional off-roader, it sounds like the Wrangler might end up being a regret. As someone suggested, take a Rubicon Unlimited for a long pavement run and see what you think.
What are your plans for the Jeep? Do you plan to rock crawl? Biggest setback to the 4runner is the amount of suspension travel. 10-12 inches of shock travel is easy for a Jeep. On road, comfort, and reliability goto the 4runner. If your a modder, Jeep has a vast aftermarket and you would eliminate most of the issues they can have. That comes at an additional cost however. You already have the Pro, run it until find out it does not meet your needs.
Gamma Ray
Banned
Ya rly. The only jumping I'd be doing with regards to a Jeep is jumping out of the way of buying one :bravo: One day I may get an old TJ because I used to have one for a few years and I miss it and I'd drive it topless on the weekend, but not anytime soon.
umidkusername
New member
Chrysler. Fiat.
umidkusername
New member
If Toyota released this with a 74K price tag I would trust it. I'm not trusting Chrysler Fiat with a 74K price tag. The damn thing would require parts half way into the loan.
Well being in Arizona any moderate to difficult trail requires some type of rock terrain/crawling, so run into it all the time whether I want to or not. I am not a rock crawler per se but do want to be able to get thru techy sections without tons of carnage that I know the 4Runner will incur.
No no no. EcoDiesel is the embodiment of anti-reliability. It’s just not worth it.
SilverFox2020
New member
I came from Jeep’s to the 4 Runner, and yes the Toyota is way more comfortable and reliable them my Jeep’s were, although that being said I never had any major issues with the Jeep.
Unfortunately I may have to return to the Jeep’s as my wife and I need something to flat tow behind the motor home and I didn’t do my research with the 4Runners not being able to flat tow. Bummer.
Unfortunately I may have to return to the Jeep’s as my wife and I need something to flat tow behind the motor home and I didn’t do my research with the 4Runners not being able to flat tow. Bummer.
Brick Sprickly
New member
What Toyota needs to do is reintroduce the FJ Cruiser. I think they were crazy to stop producing it or at least to not have brought it back by now. The resale market of 10+ year old FJ's is still pretty impressive.
TexasTJ
New member
Our current setup is a 2017 TRD Pro 4R and 2020 Gladiator Rubicon. So not a Wrangler, but they are fairly similar, especially inside and power train.
I’ve put 90k miles on the 4R in 4 years, several multi-thousand road trips. Averages about 18mpg. Stock suspension and tire size. I’ve taken it on Black Bear, Imogene, Mineral Pass, and a few Moab trails. As long as you are reasonable with your trails and pick your lines, the 4R can handle its own. While I agree that the 4R is underpowered, I don’t expect it to be a sports car and it doesn’t really bother me. I find the Jeep seats to be more comfortable so far. I feel like the interior plastics are a little chintzy. I honestly feel like the biggest changes from my first gen Tacoma are a backup camera and Bluetooth. I plan on putting 200k+ miles on it.
The Gladiator is running 4.10 gears, 37s and a 2” lift. Averages about 16.5mpg. It honestly surprises me how lively it feels when I merge onto the highway. Again, it’s not my sport car and I don’t drive fast, but it feels faster than the 4R. Interior quality seems to be much better than previous years, and it rides smoother (still a Jeep). A bit more cabin noise than the 4R at higher speeds. The 3.6 has been in the Wrangler since 2012 and has done fairly well thus far. HVAC and heated seats in the Jeep blows the 4R out of the water. Same with the factory LEDs (compared to halogen on 4R), Infotainment and backup camera. Hoping to get the Gladiator to Ouray/Moab this year. I’ll keep it for the foreseeable future, due to the stigma of reliability I am less optimistic.
Introduce yourself and post in the JLforums and you’ll have people give the opposite story of this thread.
I’ve put 90k miles on the 4R in 4 years, several multi-thousand road trips. Averages about 18mpg. Stock suspension and tire size. I’ve taken it on Black Bear, Imogene, Mineral Pass, and a few Moab trails. As long as you are reasonable with your trails and pick your lines, the 4R can handle its own. While I agree that the 4R is underpowered, I don’t expect it to be a sports car and it doesn’t really bother me. I find the Jeep seats to be more comfortable so far. I feel like the interior plastics are a little chintzy. I honestly feel like the biggest changes from my first gen Tacoma are a backup camera and Bluetooth. I plan on putting 200k+ miles on it.
The Gladiator is running 4.10 gears, 37s and a 2” lift. Averages about 16.5mpg. It honestly surprises me how lively it feels when I merge onto the highway. Again, it’s not my sport car and I don’t drive fast, but it feels faster than the 4R. Interior quality seems to be much better than previous years, and it rides smoother (still a Jeep). A bit more cabin noise than the 4R at higher speeds. The 3.6 has been in the Wrangler since 2012 and has done fairly well thus far. HVAC and heated seats in the Jeep blows the 4R out of the water. Same with the factory LEDs (compared to halogen on 4R), Infotainment and backup camera. Hoping to get the Gladiator to Ouray/Moab this year. I’ll keep it for the foreseeable future, due to the stigma of reliability I am less optimistic.
Introduce yourself and post in the JLforums and you’ll have people give the opposite story of this thread.
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BlackWorksInc
New member
I'll just point out that in my area we get a LOT of Jeep trade-ins, that get resold only to be either back in the shop for more repairs because stuff is always leaking, breaking, and/or just not working; or they just trade them back in and grab a 4Runner, Tundra, or Tacoma and rinse and repeat.
Jeep's SFA set-up is nice and some of their features are nice... but it's still a Fiat at the end of the day.
Let me put it this way, Chrysler was such a phenomenal company they went bankrupt, were bought out by the US government, went bankrupt again, and bought by Fiat. So, you get what you pay for when you buy a domestic Fiat.
I will also point out that a few years ago we had a parts guy that transferred to our dealer, he told us they stocked full, ready to bolt-on cylinderheads for the V6 on the shelves because they got sold/used that often.
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If I had a choice, I'd take a Wrangler Unlimited; rip out all the electronics, the engine, transmission, and rebuild both the front and rear axles so the damn things won't leak all over the place. I feel like the frame body, axles, and maybe the glass is decent enough quality to keep.
Jeep's SFA set-up is nice and some of their features are nice... but it's still a Fiat at the end of the day.
Let me put it this way, Chrysler was such a phenomenal company they went bankrupt, were bought out by the US government, went bankrupt again, and bought by Fiat. So, you get what you pay for when you buy a domestic Fiat.
I will also point out that a few years ago we had a parts guy that transferred to our dealer, he told us they stocked full, ready to bolt-on cylinderheads for the V6 on the shelves because they got sold/used that often.
~
If I had a choice, I'd take a Wrangler Unlimited; rip out all the electronics, the engine, transmission, and rebuild both the front and rear axles so the damn things won't leak all over the place. I feel like the frame body, axles, and maybe the glass is decent enough quality to keep.
shrub1
Member
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You forgot a few others that owned Jeep. Back in the '80s, they were owned by Renault. My '89 Cherokee had many French parts that had terribly reliability problems. Then after the US Government ownership, they were owned by Mercedes (Daimler) for a short while. Mercedes dumped them to Fiat.
My biggest complaint with the Wrangler Unlimited (four door), and the Gladiator is the longer wheel base. If you do trails with sharp switch backs as I do, you simply cannot get around them with a single pass; you always have to back up to make the curve. Same problem with pickup trucks. The Tacoma has essentially the same running gear as the 4Runner, but with the bed (and crew cab), a longer wheel base is needed, thus a lot of zig-zag to get around a sharp curve.
What do you mean? Not everyone loved the BA-10 trans and Renix cooling? :wow2: 87-91 were a few rough years there for Jeep...
DallasTRDPro
Member
I've had multiple Jeeps and had problems with all of them. I don't miss them at all. The 4R might not be as capable but it is 100% better built and rides way better.
Please excuse my ignorance but what are RG’s? And whose lift did you use? Thanks.
