For those with a TJ...

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

Off topic from the KJ, I know, but I wanted to ask all you TJ owners...

What kinda MPG do you get or did you get with your TJ?

LuckeyDuckey · **Posted:** Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:14 pm

sticker says 15/19, we get around 17.5-18 with our mix of highway and city driving. i did get 21 once on an offroad trip that started with 4 hrs of highway driving at 3:30 am, so maybe the cold air helped? then about 18.5 for all the 4x4 part. we had a time where we were getting like 10-13 mpg and finally, at camp jeep CA they fixed it, they just had to reset the adaptive memory 3 times in a row.

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

That's about what I'm hearing from other people, is 16-17.

m0th · **Posted:** Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:32 pm

About 20-21. Mine's a bone stock '04 Sport, I average 120kms per day in it, around 70 of which are highway.

Yes, my TJ is my DD and my KJ is the weekender.

Edit: actually, just thought. It's not bone stock - the rear seats have been removed and replaced with a Tuffy box to carry my work kit.

kevh · **Posted:** Sun Sep 04, 2005 10:56 pm

with lockers, winch bumper, winch, full internal cage, 33" swampers, swingaway rear bumper/tire carrier and full armor i was getting around 12

LuckeyDuckey · **Posted:** Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:41 pm

guess i should mention with the winch and mount plate there's about 100 extra lbs on the front bumper and the tire size upgrade from the dealer (30"). also, full doors and soft top and in the summer we run with mesh screen windows in the back. and never with the bench seat. although we don't see a real difference with the mesh window compared to the plastic ones, we did notice worse gas mileage with the top up but windows out. i don't know how the mileage is with no top, but then, who cares? you're in a convertible jeep baby!!!

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

Very cool. I'm seriously thinking about trading in my KJ for a TJ. I love my KJ, but a TJ is what I was gonna buy originally. It's just gonna take me convincing my mother that it's not a deathtrap. :roll:

LuckeyDuckey · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2005 8:11 pm

Quote:

It's just gonna take me convincing my mother that it's not a deathtrap.

as they say, it's not what you drive but how you drive it. we've had our TJ for 7 years and i've never felt unsafe. also, don't let them talk you into those crappy goodyear wrangler tires, they may seem cool but they suck. we went to the big traveling car show in 1998 and sat in every car trying to figure out what to get for a second car. we sat in the TJ last and looked at each other and said "this is it, this is what we're getting". we did some research on pricing and then ordered one from the factory. plus, with a TJ you can keep it forever and after it isn't your DD anymore, you can mod the heck out of it

m0th · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2005 9:19 pm

They're noisy. They're bouncy on all but the smoothest road. They suck gas. The rear seat is too small for adults. There's no storage space. The soft-top is a pain (my windows are always in the garage when it rains, or on the Jeep when it turns nice). The hard top needs 3 people to install. They're almost impossible to secure, short of leaving a rottweiler inside. The interior is straight out of the 70s.

But I wouldn't trade mine for anything. Except maybe a Rubicon.

As for a deathtrap. Sure they have a higher COG than most cars. But as LuckeyDuckey says, drive it properly and it's as safe as most too. I don't feel unsafe in mine, but I wouldn't push it around bends or take chances that I would in a sporty sedan. The stock tires suck. It's easy to lose it on unexpected ice or whatever (short wheelbase and RWD). Drive to the conditions and the vehicle and you will be fine. Be aware of the other morons though. Those doors will not give you the protection a normal vehicle would (although you are higher than most others), and the roof won't do much in a rollover (although the rollcage should). Always always always wear a seatbelt in a TJ.

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

Yep, I totally agree with both of you. Actually, a TJ is what I was going to get last March. My uncle owns a TJ and even he told her "It's how you drive it." Jeeps aren't sports cars...don't drive it like one. I made a small trip with my cousin in that TJ and he drives it like a sports car (he had a Subaru WRX STi

). But even as crazy as he drove it, there wasn't a single time where he really "pushed it" in terms of tipping. Now, if I do somehow get her convinced that I'm not gonna die my first time out in it (really, what car are you 100% safe in with America's drivers?), I'm gonna get to take a nice little turnback on my KJ.

But I still love my KJ, don't get me wrong. Seeing the soccer mom in her Liberty and ignoring the wave gets my TJ desires fueling. :lol:

LuckeyDuckey · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2005 10:56 pm

Quote:

Those doors will not give you the protection a normal vehicle would

get the All J Boulder Bars for side protection. i may never balance on my rails, but seeing them save the life of a jeeper in a broadside accident and have no structural problems (the bars, not the TJ, which was totaled) convinced me to get them: http://www.boulderbars.com/customers_rigs/mike_moore.htm

oh yeah, and the stock gas tank skid isn't that great, but then again maybe i should stop trying to bounce it off of rocks!

yeah, they're loud, aerodynamic like a brick, and the stock shocks suck but they have been and always will be cool. and btw, with 2 people the soft top is easy i just get velcro burn taking on/off the side windows.

m0th · **Posted:** Mon Sep 05, 2005 11:28 pm

Yeh, I have no problem with the soft top itself. I can put mine up or down in about a minute on my own. It's the windows that have me cursing. I usually run without the windows unless a lot of rain is forecast.

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

Metal doors > soft windows. :lol:

I checked out another Wrangler earlier today. There's no armrests on the door and it's a much different fit than the Libby. Is that left arm shoved there just something that ya get used to after a while?

m0th · **Posted:** Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:19 am

You get used to it. I rest my arm up against the window on the little bit of door there.

Hardest thing to get used it is closing the glass then door on the hard top. It's the opposite to the KJ.

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

Hah, yeah, that's the thing about the TJ: no luxury.

But I'm glad that it's something ya get used to. That's really the only thing I found while driving it that I didn't like. I mean, I love the bumpy ride. I guess because I'm just a wee lad. :lol:

LuckeyDuckey · **Posted:** Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:54 am

i have a stick shift so i usually have my hands full, esp in city driving with shifting with my right and steering with my left, fiddling with the radio and such. i just rest my inside elbow on the hard plastic door edge.

i think my biggest gripe is that i can't put in a huge sound system without losing cargo space, esp if i go with stuff that is already on the market. i've thought of putting speaker boxes in the rear footwell since we never have passengers (took the seat out and use the excuse "we have to take your car, ours is a two seater!").

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

Well, yeah, you have certain limitations in it. Though, if the wife and kids aren't planning on jumping in, load the back up. :lol:

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

Well, just went and tested the waters at a dealer today. $16895 trade in for my Libby with $20585 owed.

LuckeyDuckey · **Posted:** Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:20 pm

yeah, those trade-in "deals" are hardly ever any good. so, instead you should just buy the TJ too, in addition to the KJ, and maybe that new grand cherokee hemi to boot

what about a slightly used TJ?

misterzero · **Joined:** Fri Jul 08, 2005 3:37 am **Posts:** 117

I was looking at a used '05 Sport. Only 7900 miles on it. Good price on it, but I'm probably gonna end up trying to sell the KJ myself. I wouldn't mind a turnback of a couple grand, but 4k is just way too much of a turnback. And if I could, I'd have a TJ, KJ, XJ, and a the Hemi GC for those long highway trips. :lol:

But I'm gonna play around. See what solution I can come up with.

For those with a TJ...

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