XJ wheelbase big advantage over TJ?

I wheeled a CJ7 20 years ago, and thought the short wheelbase and lack of rear overhang a big advantage. Last year, I decided I needed something that could handle the 7 hour highway drive to our cabin, AND get us around on the 1100 miles of rarely maintained dirt roads that surround our cabin. I decided on an XJ. I figured that in it's stock form, it wouldn't perform as well as my old CJ so, now it has C4x4 bumpers, a Warn winch, a 3" lift with Old Man Emu ZJ coils, quick disconnects, and 31" BFG ATs. The drive train remains completely stock 4.0 auto, with a wornout trak-loc.

Wanting to get a little more recent wheelin time, I've been out playing with our local Jeep club. This "Little Jeep" has amazed alot of the rockcrawlers on 35's and even the guys in new Rubicons - I'm not saying it is as capable as they are but, I do better than the stock TJs! It certainly does better than I could have hoped for. I drive with a light foot, and rarely spin a tire. A few of the guys say its because of the longer wheelbase but, is that all there is to it?

3XJFamily said:

A few of the guys say its because of the longer wheelbase but, is that all there is to it?

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Yup.

Driver skill could also be a factor.

Wheelbase, extra weight over the rear tires, longer shocks and sway bar disconnects all would give you an advantage over a bone-stock TJ.

Having owned 3 XJs and 2 TJ I can say that short and long wheelbase both have advantages, but IMHO a 100 inch wheel base is perfect, and the XJ is pretty close to that. Just look at the rockcrawlers and most of the "serious" guys with TJs. Most of them are looking for ways to increase their wheelbase.

wheelbase is a tricky mother

mine is sitting at 115 and climbs like a champ. the breakover angle is very rarely an issue (7", 35s) but turning and manueverability is a more common problem. I would love to keep the 115 but have 37s and rear-steer. More realistically, one of these days I'll take it down to about 108 with 35s.

It is mostly driver skill I believe... but if you think about it, you've got 3" on those stock TJ's, even though you may be running the same tire size. I always get compliments on how I drive on trails since I also take my time, and rarely punch anything. Now that I have a locker, I can take things even easier. People used to never be to tell if I had a locker or not, until I told them I didn't. Since then, the loc-rite in front has been fun

A longer wheelbase being an advantage is a different way of thinking for me.
I go back to the days when a CJ7 was considered a "compromise" and I was always justifying the longer wheelbase to the hard-core guys who thought I should have got a CJ5. The CJ5 was going away because of the roll-over issues, and "4 people and a cooler fit inside mine. . ." And now, yeah, it's the hard-core guys who are looking at ways to stretch their YJ's and TJ's.

I wheeled my first Jeep every day for 4 years, and logged thousands of hours with the hubs locked in - just a kid learning the hard way - from experience, no spotter, no advice. Eventually figured out (and remembered) that with throttle, "less is more." Whatever skill I have came from the "School of Hard Rocks."

This weekend, after going straight up a wet rock face without any slippage (one that was giving a CJ7 a hard time), I was asked what kind of front locker I had. I no longer feel like I made a "compromise" by buying an XJ.

I'm now thinking about putting a 2"BB and ATs on my trasher XJ ($800 for a 91 with a full skid package) taking my teenager out with us, and passing on the tradition.

Thanks guys.

i'd say it's driving skill with what you say is 20 years of driving a cj i think you have most weekend wheelers beat.

i guess it's what every floats your boat, i'm locked front & rear but i know if i'm not on the gas and spinnin tires i'm not having fun. this dosnt' mean that's all i do but i like to have a vehicle matched to the terrain if i can walk thru everything it's just not as fun. there has to be some challange there somwhere!

bj-666 said:

... i like to have a vehicle matched to the terrain if i can walk thru everything it's just not as fun. there has to be some challange there somwhere!

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Yep, which is why I don't go larger than 33s on my Jeeps. I'd rather have a difficult time and need driver skill to make it, even if that means getting stuck and winching occasionally. Too much Jeep would be no fun.

Last weekend several of the extreme guys were saying how much more fun it was when they were on 31's and 33's, and insisted you didn't "need" more than what I was driving, now they are driving through everything trying to find a challenge. I'd like to add lockers, I figure the rear first but I've got a D35C, and refuse to put any $ in it.

With what I've got, and what I'm planning to build for the kid, I figure we are more likely to get stuck than break something, then we get to build recovery skills. Last weekend we were pulling a CJ out from an angle, the tire was binding on the dry rock, pulling him up on 2 wheels and threatening to break a bead or worse. Before the 2nd try, I dumped some water over the tire and in the direction of the pull, and he slipped out like it was greased. I got to see a trail repair where they straightened a tie-rod with a pair of winches, and sleeved it with a hi-lift jack handle. It would be great if there were a forum on "Recovery and Trail Repairs."

Chris S said:

Yep, which is why I don't go larger than 33s on my Jeeps. I'd rather have a difficult time and need driver skill to make it, even if that means getting stuck and winching occasionally. Too much Jeep would be no fun.

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just gotta find bigger trails:laugh3:

3XJFamily said:

It would be great if there were a forum on "Recovery and Trail Repairs."

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x2

We need that.

/back to XJ wheelbase discussions