Are 3rd gens more capable than Jeep Cherokees??

[p nut]

anybody want to point out this question is null, if your buying a vehicle for off road capability out of the box you buy a rubicon not a cherokee or t4r.

stock rubi has:

Fresh out of the box,
Rubicon has:

* Best-in-class approach and departure angles[2]
* Best-in-class ground clearance[2]
* Solid front and rear axles
* Locking differentials
* Huge meaty tires
* Full-length rock rails
* Steel plate underbody armor

we buy suv's for a reason we prefer the utility portion of the title , so now to address the question, list from 4wheel off road of favorite stock rigs for off roading,
linky:http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/featuredvehicles/131_0908_best_stock_off_road_vehicle/index.html
The Staff's Top Four-Wheel-Drive Stockers
Chevy Blazer
Dodge Ramcharger
Ford Bronco (early or late models)
Ford Ranger
Hummer H1, H2, H3
International Scout
Jeep (any early model!)
Jeep Cherokee XJ
Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ
Jeep Wrangler TJ
Jeep Wrangler TJ Rubicon
Jeep Wrangler JK Rubicon (2- and 4-door)
Military Surplus Trucks
Nissan Frontier
Suzuki Equator
Suzuki Samurai
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Pickup (early solid axle)
Toyota Tacoma
Toyota FJ Cruiser
Toyota FJ 40


and another point to bring to this discussion is the sfa you say it's no biggie but if you were to drive a jeep cherokee and a 4runner straight from the showroom to the trail (both models are have every available factory off road option) and drove them till something broke it'd still have to go to the jeep,
jeeps reliability is great till you hit 120K then it's a free for all of broken parts,
the yota's ifs would give out on the trails way before you get to that mileage,
i know it's an unpopular pov here but i still think jeep out of the box to the trail.


as for the jeep being more powerful that's correct as a t4r is quit a bit heavier than a cherokee. the hp difference is a big deal when it comes to moving weight around, if you catch what i'm saying. i do think in reality and as a utility vehicle the 4runner wins every time,
reality=longevity of vehicle,operations costs,maintenance costs,drivability when souped up on the road (you guys ever hear of the famous jeep jiggle or death wobbles? i have experienced them not fun!) and well what a suv means, how sport utility is it? 4runner is by far more versatile than a cherokee. just becuase of size alone.

How is it looking from left field? :wow:

Defender any day over a rubicon, ANY DAY.

IMO, for pure wheeling, give me the Rubicon any day of the week. Geared better, lighter weight and locked! Game over! Oh, yeah, maintenance $$, too.

But now we're seriously getting off subject.

 

[JohnsD90]

IMO

thats what it boils down to.

 

[p nut]

thats what it boils down to.

Um, no, not really in this case. It's pretty plain and simple. Geared better, weighs less, and most importantly, F&R locked axles in the Rubicon. Open diffs in the D90. No match. Sorry.

EDIT: Oops, I guess the weight penalty goes to the Rubi. My bad on that. But other two's still big advantages, especially the lockers. No open diff will beat a locked (both front and rear in this case) vehicle.

And no offense to the Queen, but I have lost faith in British engineering in all shapes and forms. Yes, I'd take a Chrysler product over it.

 

[Rich]

I purchased a 2004 rubi in 2006. It had 29,000 miles on it. Everthing underneath the jeep was starting to rust, I mean every nut and bolt. I tried to clean it up a bit, but it kept getting worse. Finally realized i was not going to be able to keep the vehicle for a long time. I sold the jeep and bout a 2001 sr5 with 100,000 miles on it. This 4 runner was extremely clean underneath, even my mechanic was very impressed, not a nut or bolt was rusted. This tr4 drives like new no rattles and very comfortable. As far as quality goes there is no comparison. I'll be keeping this one for many years to come. By the way i kept the jeep garaged at all times when i had it, it still kept on rusting. I liked the jeep alot just couldn't deal with the rust.

 

[p nut]

I purchased a 2004 rubi in 2006. It had 29,000 miles on it. Everthing underneath the jeep was starting to rust, I mean every nut and bolt. I tried to clean it up a bit, but it kept getting worse. Finally realized i was not going to be able to keep the vehicle for a long time. I sold the jeep and bout a 2001 sr5 with 100,000 miles on it. This 4 runner was extremely clean underneath, even my mechanic was very impressed, not a nut or bolt was rusted. This tr4 drives like new no rattles and very comfortable. As far as quality goes there is no comparison. I'll be keeping this one for many years to come. By the way i kept the jeep garaged at all times when i had it, it still kept on rusting. I liked the jeep alot just couldn't deal with the rust.

Well, I, for one, have had Jeeps and probably will never buy one again (unless I build up a Willy's). But Toyota's have problems with rusting, too. Just look at the Tacoma fiasco with the frames rusting through. Now, I guess earlier Tundra's are being added. I'm not trying to stick up for Jeeps, but just pointing that out. But I'm glad you made the switch. Just the quality of the interior when I switched was night and day.

 

[Thai]

thats what it boils down to.

John, when are you gonna open your eyes? You don't know enough about off-roading to see what p nut is talking about! He's right. The Rubicon will run circles around a Defender of any year. In fact, it may even be MORE RELIABLE than the Defender! And with the 2007-up Rubicon, the axle articulation easily matches (and probably beats) the Defender's...and then you add in Dana-44 locked axles...and it is not even close! Oh wait, there's more...4:1 transfer case.

We're not even talking about aftermarket support and how cheap it is to modify a Jeep over a Land Rover product.

And yes, i do think that the Rubicon is the best off-roading vehicle from the showroom floor...by far.

 

[JohnsD90]

John, when are you gonna open your eyes? You don't know enough about off-roading to see what p nut is talking about! He's right. The Rubicon will run circles around a Defender of any year. In fact, it may even be MORE RELIABLE than the Defender! And with the 2007-up Rubicon, the axle articulation easily matches (and probably beats) the Defender's...and then you add in Dana-44 locked axles...and it is not even close! Oh wait, there's more...4:1 transfer case.

We're not even talking about aftermarket support and how cheap it is to modify a Jeep over a Land Rover product.

And yes, i do think that the Rubicon is the best off-roading vehicle from the showroom floor...by far.

figured that was coming.

 

[JohnsD90]

Um, no, not really in this case. It's pretty plain and simple. Geared better, weighs less, and most importantly, F&R locked axles in the Rubicon. Open diffs in the D90. No match. Sorry.

EDIT: Oops, I guess the weight penalty goes to the Rubi. My bad on that. But other two's still big advantages, especially the lockers. No open diff will beat a locked (both front and rear in this case) vehicle.

And no offense to the Queen, but I have lost faith in British engineering in all shapes and forms. Yes, I'd take a Chrysler product over it.

the design is 26 years old

 

[Thai]

I was having coffee at starbucks with a friend and a guy in a cherokee showed up with a buddy, jumped out of his car while saying that cherokees are better offroad stock for stock than 4wd 4Runners. Is that true? I had a 91 Cherokee limited and it was pretty crappy in deep snow. My 4runner is a champ in deep snow especially with the locker. What do you guys think?

I agree with above...i would take the 4runner over the Cherokee on-road and off-road.......if it came with either ATRAC or rear locker.

 

[Thai]

And no offense to the Queen, but I have lost faith in British engineering in all shapes and forms. Yes, I'd take a Chrysler product over it.

Queen? Not anymore...it is now officially an Indian product. Sadly, India is probably an upgrade as LR's boss!

 

[p nut]

Queen? Not anymore...it is now officially an Indian product. Sadly, India is probably an upgrade as LR's boss!

:flamethrwoer2: Be easy on the old lady.

the design is 26 years old

???? WTF???? So what are you saying? That the Defender should have handicap points for the age of the design?????? :nerd:

 

[theizzardking]

the question was CHEROKEE NOT Rubis :ybrick:

line one from my post:
"anybody want to point out this question is null, if your buying a vehicle for off road capability out of the box you buy a rubicon not a cherokee or t4r."

but then i digress and go on to address the 2 vehicles in question.......

 

[theizzardking]

John, when are you gonna open your eyes? You don't know enough about off-roading to see what p nut is talking about! He's right. The Rubicon will run circles around a Defender of any year. In fact, it may even be MORE RELIABLE than the Defender! And with the 2007-up Rubicon, the axle articulation easily matches (and probably beats) the Defender's...and then you add in Dana-44 locked axles...and it is not even close! Oh wait, there's more...4:1 transfer case.

We're not even talking about aftermarket support and how cheap it is to modify a Jeep over a Land Rover product.

And yes, i do think that the Rubicon is the best off-roading vehicle from the showroom floor...by far.

that was my original point, if your buying a vehicle to go straight from showroom to the trail rubi all the way you wouldn't get either cherokee or 4runner, and when talking about the cherokee and 4runner , when it comes to having to live with the vehicle i'd choose the yota every time like guy with the rubicon said it was great at first but then time got a hold of it and it fell apart, such is a jeep story, they all end like that. and can be applied to cherokee's as well.

but do you guys think new cherokee on the trail verses the 4runner on the trail who would have the most broken parts and get stuck the most?


4runner,
advantages -locker, bigger tires,less prone to breakage over time.
disadvantages-cv's and well just more components

cherokee
advantages -lighter,better hp/weight ratio,better t-case,np231hd in some models,sfa and better/more skids from factory
-disadvantages it's a jeep...........:flipoff: you know what i mean


we should just settle this once and for all, let's start a fund buy one of each and go and blow them up! lol now that sounds like fun!

 

[JohnsD90]

:flamethrwoer2: Be easy on the old lady.



???? WTF???? So what are you saying? That the Defender should have handicap points for the age of the design?????? :nerd:

no you said that lately you dont trust british engineering, 26 years didnt seem to be in the close past.

 

[theizzardking]

no you said that lately you dont trust british engineering, 26 years didnt seem to be in the close past.

no that was just the last time the brits designed anything, and then i think it was the fax machine and we all know how well that worked out for us........

(i am a British citizen as well)

 

[LINY4Runner]

from cherokees and 4runners to fax machines


talk about going off on a tangent :bravo:

 

[theizzardking]

from cherokees and 4runners to fax machines


talk about going off on a tangent :bravo:

yeah......there's nothing THAT normal about me and i tend to do that,very non-linear mind haha you'd love to hear some of the drunken rants i go on, nothing mel gibson style but just funny ass randomness. as you guys can tell i'm not afraid to sound like and idiot lol! :uzi::banana:

 

[LINY4Runner]

hahahahaha

i actually laughed out loud...all by myself...haha

 

[p nut]

no you said that lately you dont trust british engineering, 26 years didnt seem to be in the close past.

It seems you always seem to dodge the main question/argument directed to you.

 

[Thai]

It seems you always seem to dodge the main question/argument directed to you.

He is just another fanboy of LR. I think that his Defender was his parents or something. He admitted that he never took it off-road. :toilet: