Cheaper and better than a JK

BABOOZLE

BABOOZLE

Caught the Bug
So one thing I love about my JK is that I can build it for 37s and still take trips on the freeway at 70+ MPH and remain be comfortable. Most of my vehicles have never had A/C, electric windows or a stereo. So it's really nice to have something more on the extreme side and still have a dependable daily driver. A cousin of mine is a Toyota/build not bought guy. He has a late 80s 4 runner on 39s. He likes to critique my jeep because I have so much money invested into it. I agree that I do but I feel that my jeep is still the better all around vehicle. I'm sure he doesn't go over 55 mph with his. So the question is, can you build a vehicle that performs as well as a JK in all aspects for cheaper? Let's say the vehicle to compare it to is a JKUR on 37s. What is better? Let's try and keep it to average Joe skills.

The downfall of the JK is that the initial investment is expensive. But it has a ton of aftermarket support and a decent drivetrain. I could only come up with a couple of candidates that may be built to come close to a JK. My first choice is a late 80s early 90s K5 Blazer with a solid front axle. Slightly shorter wheelbase than a JKU, TBI 350, and it wouldn't take much to put 37s underneath it. I owned one once and I enjoyed driving it. Other choices would be a Toyota 4 runner or truck with a V6 and solid front axle swap. But who knows how much more you would need to do to the axles to support 37s.

Areas to consider: Cost, aftermarket, drivability, comfort, labor to build, off road performance, and vehicle size.
 
NevadaZielmeister

NevadaZielmeister

Caught the Bug
When people critique something due to cost, deep down they are jealous. If they had the money, they would do the same thing. There is no way I am going to jump into a 30 year old vehicle and say "wow, this is just as good and I really spent way too much on my rig". It is the dream of all cheap assholes out there.

I don't worry about other people's opinions unless they are more experienced than me, and that is most of the people on this forum. Just get what you want and forget the garage monkey and his Hilux.

To answer your question, nothing compares to a Jeep, period.
 
V

vdog0531

New member
NevadaZielmeister said:
When people critique something due to cost, deep down they are jealous. If they had the money, they would do the same thing. There is no way I am going to jump into a 30 year old vehicle and say "wow, this is just as good and I really spent way too much on my rig". It is the dream of all cheap assholes out there.

I don't worry about other people's opinions unless they are more experienced than me, and that is most of the people on this forum. Just get what you want and forget the garage monkey and his Hilux.

To answer your question, nothing compares to a Jeep, period.
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This sums it up quite nicely
 
BABOOZLE

BABOOZLE

Caught the Bug
NevadaZielmeister said:
When people critique something due to cost, deep down they are jealous. If they had the money, they would do the same thing. There is no way I am going to jump into a 30 year old vehicle and say "wow, this is just as good and I really spent way too much on my rig". It is the dream of all cheap assholes out there.

I don't worry about other people's opinions unless they are more experienced than me, and that is most of the people on this forum. Just get what you want and forget the garage monkey and his Hilux.

To answer your question, nothing compares to a Jeep, period.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with you. I just wanted to see if someone could come up with a creative alternative.
 
MR.Ty

MR.Ty

Token East Coast Guy
Anything can be done with enough time, effort and money. Your friend probably cannot go faster than 55 because he cut corners in an effort to keep the cost down. I'm not attempting to belittle his skills, I'm sure he could make it do 100mph comfortably if he wanted too.

IMO the other side of this argument is that the time he spent building. Time is money and I'm willing to bet that if you break it down, hour by hour, he has as much invested into his rig as you do.

For the record, I really like the 4 door Tacoma/Hilux personally. If I still lived in Barbados, I'd probably own a Hilux since they sell them and not the JK there.
 
SheaVertwot

SheaVertwot

New member
NevadaZielmeister said:
When people critique something due to cost, deep down they are jealous. If they had the money, they would do the same thing. There is no way I am going to jump into a 30 year old vehicle and say "wow, this is just as good and I really spent way too much on my rig". It is the dream of all cheap assholes out there.

I don't worry about other people's opinions unless they are more experienced than me, and that is most of the people on this forum. Just get what you want and forget the garage monkey and his Hilux.

To answer your question, nothing compares to a Jeep, period.
Click to expand...

This! Guy sounds jealous... Tell him to loosen his dress
 
Ddays

Ddays

Hooked
You've hit on one of the issues with the vehicles they are selling these days. There simply isn't any competition to the JK out there. Maybe the Defender when it was still available new, or being generous, the FJ, but hell, I'm drawing a blank trying to think of a legit competitor in this age of the uni-body crossover. Vehicles simply aren't that customizer-friendly as they used to be. Sure the Taco's & pickups are but are they really a competitor to a JK? I'd argue not. Sure, you can customize anything, but stock a JK is in a class all its own. That's why we all are drawn to it.
 
BABOOZLE

BABOOZLE

Caught the Bug
I'm sure he's jealous or bitter which explains his comments. I have no problem with what he says. The conversation intrigued me and I was trying to build a vehicle in my head that could compare. I have no doubt that there's not much else out there that compares to a JK. Maybe a ZJ or WJ would be close but nothing really jumped out so I asked the group to see what others thought could be a substitute.
 
Brute

Brute

Hooked
I love Jeeps...but I still have a soft spot for a late 60's Bronco with a Windsor V8 like my dad owned...it is what got me into 4wheeling. I still remember as a 12 yo hunting deer with my dad in Vermont...it had an old Warn Belleview winch (predecessor to the venerable M8274) on the front bumper and a chain saw in the back...three on the tree...we spent as much time pulling pick up trucks out of snow banks as we did hunting...
 
Slavens

Slavens

Caught the Bug
I tried this - got an 87 4 Runner and did a SAS on it and just daily drive the bimmer. Guess what now I have a 13 JKUR and the MINI sit outside .. you know? The 87 wouldn't fit the family, no power from the 22RE, wasn't safe enough for my little ones and the list goes on. Old cars old problems. People with cheap wheelers always say " I do the same trails as you in mine and it only cost $5k" mean while it's back on the trailer to go home or can only wheel local. Jeep all day. Jk even better :)
 
Ddays

Ddays

Hooked
Brute said:
I love Jeeps...but I still have a soft spot for a late 60's Bronco with a Windsor V8 like my dad owned...it is what got me into 4wheeling. I still remember as a 12 yo hunting deer with my dad in Vermont...it had an old Warn Belleview winch (predecessor to the venerable M8274) on the front bumper and a chain saw in the back...three on the tree...we spent as much time pulling pick up trucks out of snow banks as we did hunting...
Click to expand...

Cool. Love those early Broncos. We had a 74 Plymouth Trailduster that was our hunting vehicle we'd take to our camp. Hows this for a flashback: White Jackman "wagon wheels", Formula Desert Dog tires & dual glass packs. Man we had a blast in that beast. Those earlier Ramchargers/Traildusters had the removable steel tops that had integral window channels so when you took the top off, it only had the windshield & nothing else. Ah, the good old days....
 
AllAmericanInfidel

AllAmericanInfidel

Caught the Bug
BABOOZLE said:
So one thing I love about my JK is that I can build it for 37s and still take trips on the freeway at 70+ MPH and remain be comfortable. Most of my vehicles have never had A/C, electric windows or a stereo. So it's really nice to have something more on the extreme side and still have a dependable daily driver. A cousin of mine is a Toyota/build not bought guy. He has a late 80s 4 runner on 39s. He likes to critique my jeep because I have so much money invested into it. I agree that I do but I feel that my jeep is still the better all around vehicle. I'm sure he doesn't go over 55 mph with his. So the question is, can you build a vehicle that performs as well as a JK in all aspects for cheaper? Let's say the vehicle to compare it to is a JKUR on 37s. What is better? Let's try and keep it to average Joe skills.

The downfall of the JK is that the initial investment is expensive. But it has a ton of aftermarket support and a decent drivetrain. I could only come up with a couple of candidates that may be built to come close to a JK. My first choice is a late 80s early 90s K5 Blazer with a solid front axle. Slightly shorter wheelbase than a JKU, TBI 350, and it wouldn't take much to put 37s underneath it. I owned one once and I enjoyed driving it. Other choices would be a Toyota 4 runner or truck with a V6 and solid front axle swap. But who knows how much more you would need to do to the axles to support 37s.

Areas to consider: Cost, aftermarket, drivability, comfort, labor to build, off road performance, and vehicle size.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, that would be tough to do. For me, it all depends on the type of wheeling you like doing. I love that the JK platform is by far the best all around off roader I have owned. If I were still into the desert racing scene, I would likely not own a Jeep, as there are better platforms to start with for that, which are also reliable daily drivers. In fact, I contemplated trading my last rig in on a Raptor on several occasions, as they are great for the fast stuff, and surprisingly good on all kinds of trails shy of big rocks.
As far as something that is a reliable, comfortable daily driver that has true capability to go anywhere, I just can't see anything that beats a JK. Maybe a G Wagon or LR for overall exploring and off roading, but again, they will get left in the dust when it comes to rocks. For older vehicles, I have owned and built 2 IH Scouts, a Wagoneer, a full sized Cherokee, etc. They were all fun, but none beat the JK for overall off road worthiness and daily driving capabilities. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that there really isn't anything in its class, or any other, that can truly hang with a Wrangler in BOTH of those areas.
 
BABOOZLE

BABOOZLE

Caught the Bug
AllAmericanInfidel said:
In my opinion, that would be tough to do. For me, it all depends on the type of wheeling you like doing. I love that the JK platform is by far the best all around off roader I have owned. If I were still into the desert racing scene, I would likely not own a Jeep, as there are better platforms to start with for that, which are also reliable daily drivers. In fact, I contemplated trading my last rig in on a Raptor on several occasions, as they are great for the fast stuff, and surprisingly good on all kinds of trails shy of big rocks.
As far as something that is a reliable, comfortable daily driver that has true capability to go anywhere, I just can't see anything that beats a JK. Maybe a G Wagon or LR for overall exploring and off roading, but again, they will get left in the dust when it comes to rocks. For older vehicles, I have owned and built 2 IH Scouts, a Wagoneer, a full sized Cherokee, etc. They were all fun, but none beat the JK for overall off road worthiness and daily driving capabilities. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that there really isn't anything in its class, or any other, that can truly hang with a Wrangler in BOTH of those areas.
Click to expand...

I've come to the same conclusion that there's nothing really out there that compares.
 
longarmwj

longarmwj

New member
My WJ will do most everything most JKs can. Between the purchase price and the mods, I probably have the equivalent of a stock new JK as far as money wise, and it will keep up with most anything on the trail.

Obviously there are Jeeps out there that would go way more places then mine, Moby and Rubicat for example (I would still give it a shot though :bleh: ) but for what I've spent I have a very capable, comfortable, useable Jeep that can comfortably take on trails and road trips.

No doubt JKs are amazing machines though, and in today's market nothing really has the same out of the box capabilities as one.
 
hinrichs

hinrichs

Caught the Bug
This really has me thinking, and I dont think I can come up with anything that would really compare overall. Hell if you factor in doors that come off, and a removable top...well there isnt anything lol, aside from an older wrangler.
 
GregMort13

GregMort13

Caught the Bug
hinrichs said:
This really has me thinking, and I dont think I can come up with anything that would really compare overall. Hell if you factor in doors that come off, and a removable top...well there isnt anything lol, aside from an older wrangler.
Click to expand...

Samesies....
 
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