the hiking viking

I've owned my JK now for just over a month and this morning coming to work, the odometer rolled over 1,000 miles. Here are some observations I made over the last 30 days. Keep in mind that I drove CJs for 20 years, that's my benchmark for these remarks.


1. Love my JK. Nothing has pi$$ed me off about it.
2. I'm thrilled that it rides just like my CJ. Just tighter and quieter.
3. Mud flaps. Wow, my doors get completely covered in frozen road slush from my front tires. Flaps are on my upgrade list. It's a PITA knocking off the junk
4. Engine temp. Seems to get hot quick in the winter. Once hot, my needle stays dead center on the gauge.
5. Wiper blades freeze up quick in heavy snow. 'Natch. They have for 60+ years right? Just figured that they would have figured out how to fix this by now. The rear wiper on my hardtop has a defroster wire keeping it somewhat clear. They couldn't do that for the front?
6. ESP Works. Very hard to have fun in the snow with this on. Glad I can turn if off.
7. Center cosole arm rest. Way to low. I'm 6 foot and it's too much of a lean for me to use it.
8. Seat vs. the rear view mirror. This one I'm still trying to figure out. Practically everytime I get in the Jeep, I have to adjust my mirror. ?? Don't know if my seat is sagging from the setting where I have it or what. I'm sure the mirror isn't sagging. I sit myself in the same position every time. Never had this issue in my CJs. Always fiddling with it.
9. Power. Bit of a dog under 30 mph, seems restrained. I'm running an auto with 3.73 gears in the pumpkins. I feel like I have to punch that gas pedal to go, can't seem to find a gradual power increase with it. Lot of travel on that pedal before the RPM's kick up and move me.
10. Dropping the windshield. Looking over the owners manual, and then later pics found here on jk forums. Dang, not happy that it is so complicated. Plus, it looks terrible.
11. Getting my 8 year old son in the back seat is a PITA. My CJ seat goes forward more. He's not complaining yet about squirming his 90 pounds back there, yet. I've ridden in the back seat and I got to say there is a huge difference over my CJ. Much more room.
12. Visibility. Very good through all windows and mirrors. Took the headrests out of the rear seat, didn't need them back there.
13. Radio. I'm not a big stereo guy but these speakers seem too weak in my quiet hardtop. Upgrade.
14. Horn. Wow, does that sound like a piece of sh*t. Don't like that at all. Upgrade!
15. Tranny, shifts good no complaints. Shift handle is bleh. Want to do something with that.
16. Transfer case, East to shift. Used it several times on my snowy street and in snowy parking lots. No problems.
17. Grill / Jeep emblem. Didn't like the look of the grill so got some advice from here and took the J e e p letters off with some fishing line. Much better!
18. Gas Filler cap. That needs upgraded, no security now and it's fugly. Locking billet door on its way.
19. Fuel MPG. Been getting about 17.5 MPG. Right between the posted City/Highway averages. Where it should be since I split my driving between the two. Will look to improve that with some upgrades.
20. Hood lift. I've noticed it on the highway a few times the hood lifting ever so slightly. I see there's a thread on jk-forums about it, will read up on it more.
21. jk-forum. Excellent! This is a great web site with gobs of good stuff on it. Glad I stumbled across it. W00T!

Happy, what can I say. I've waited about 5 years buying a new Jeep. Been holding out for a Jeep truck, just go sick of waiting for one that will probably never come. But hey, since I bought this one, the Jeep truck will come out next year right?

Jeep On!

jeepgreensahara

Shoulda gotten the unlimited.. sorry had to say it

pwd72s

Thanks for the review...good info, and I enjoyed it.

CIJeep

Engine heats up faster for smog reasons. Your engine should start speeding up around now, the DBW programming is what makes it seem slower up front.

Yamaha90

i'm loving mine too probably see you around up here remember to wave! lol

the hiking viking

Left work yesterday after posting this and what do you know... I got a flat tire! Valve stem leaked out ALL the air from the rear drivers side tire. Dealer fixed it.

Couldn't find a deal on the Unlimiteds, so saved me 4 grand and got the two door. He won't be back there often so no biggie.



Forgot about this one

22. Power steering. There's a bit of a whine occassionly while turning 90 degrees left or right. I can feel it slightly in the steering wheel. Anybody else experience this?

FlightTester

I'm 6'1" and here's what I do: take a bath towel, fold it up neatly and put it on the console. Works wonders -- well cushioned for elbow resting and you've got a towel when you need it. If you're feeling Martha Stewart, you can get pick a towel whose color matches you interior....or your mood. For every convertible I've ever owned, I've always kept a towel around for the inevitable water intrusion. Here in FL, I use the towel to wipe off the dew from all my plastic windows before I start driving in the morning. Believe it or not, my softtop does not leak.

kntr

90 lb 8 yo..... wow thats a big kid. My 6 yo is 40lbs.

MojaveDesertJK

I'm 6' myself and one of the first things I did was lower the seat with the seat height adjustment lever down on the lower left. Cranked her all the way down and my elbow now rest comfortably on the console :-)

vs_jk

You could also try one of these arm rests:
http://www.quadratec.com/products/product_search.php?kw=jk+arm+rest&submit=Go%21

I've got 980 miles on my 2008 unlimited X and have been really liking it. It's my first Jeep and have been fairly happy so far with the vehicle and the dealership where i got it. If I was to nit-pick, the only thing that I don't like about it is that it only gets 14mpg in the city instead of the 15mpg that the sticker said. I did upgrade the bone stock base level x tires to 31.5" BFG All terrain tires but those are still the same or slightly smaller than the Rubicons which also state they are supposed to get 15mpg in the city. By the way, I'm very easy on the accelerator and so I would expect to get the ideal mpg. Oh well. So far so good. I'm not sure if I got lucky or what but mine has absolutely no roof leakage issues or other issues that people have been mentioning... so far.