My new (used) 2010 TE vs 2012 Wrangler

Koddo · 2014-12-04T18:26:31+00:00

I thought I would give a quick recap and first impressions between my first offroad experience with my 2010 TE I bought about a month ago vs the 2012 2 door Wrangler I had previously. Obviously 2 very differenct vehicles with their own advantages and disadvantages. I mainly use my vehicles offroad to access my gold claims/haul small mining equipment in the Bradshaw mountains near Prescott AZ. The road are generally old mine roads, some very rough and steep in parts. My 2 door Wrangler had a 2.5 AEV inch lift w/ bilsteins and approx 34" x 11.5" tires, otherwise stock (had about 11.5 inches of ground clearance). It handled anything I threw at it with a fair amount of ease. So, foward to my first experience taking my 2010 TE on some of the same roads I took the Wrangler. Overall, very happy with the ride and control crawling over obstacles, up and down steep inclines. Interestingly the 4 Runner outperformed the Wranger on one particular obstacle...a very steep incline with basketball size boulders petruding half way up. The Wrangler sometimes bucked at these rocks (manual transmission may be the culprit), but the 4 runner crawled right up without a second of hesitance. As to be expected, the 4 Runner did require additional care in going over some obstacles due to the reduced ground clearance. Also, the TE's approach and decent angles resulted in the trailer hitch plowing the earth and a few very small scrapes up front. The longer wheel base and lower body height resulted in one minor scrape in the middle of the frame going over an obstacle. Given that the TE is still stock, none of this was a surprise. I was very happy however with the performance at this point and can't wait to start modding - add a small lift/ new shocks, and new tires to start. On road, driving experience is night and day compared to the Wrangler. 4 Runner wins in every category, except maybe the seats...Wrangler's were by no means luxurious, but seemed a bit more comfortable for the 1 1/2 hour drive from Phoenix up near Prescott. Unrelated to on road...And I'm really excited to camp inside the 4 Runner...read some threads about unbolting the rear seat bottoms. The extra cargo space in the 4 Runner is a big win as well. Anyways, thats my first month, mainly offroad impression/experience with the 2010 TE.

Thread starter Koddo
Start date Dec 4, 2014

Vwright14

New member

Dec 19, 2014

I had a 2dr xj on 33x10.50 swampers that i used as a DD beater for over a year. ....if had several issues but i still dug it. I actually still want another one with a proper lift on the same size tires but with a budget LS swap