Yeah, probably. You can call it anything you want. Right or wrong, good or bad, ignorance, hardheadedness, or just a personality flaw. Anything that I don't like about this Jeep I probably will blame on it not being a Ford. Be it the fact that every time I try to turn on the windshield wipers I hit the headlight switch instead or hitting the windshield wipers a couple of times because I'm used to having a column shifted Ford truck. Be it the weak knee v6 that's in this rig that takes waaayyyy too much time and revs to get it up to highway speeds or the spongy BFGs that dance with every cross wind that hits. And I hate that is has MOPAR printed on just about every part I can see. But at the same time I give credit to Jeep for such a capable vehicle (I've already tried out the lockers and disconnect and this thing is a damn mountain goat). I find security knowing that I have the newest generation Dana 44s in both ends instead of IFS. I love the fact that I can take the top and doors off and can't wait to get down to the Gulf coast next summer. I like how huge the aftermarket is and the fact that I can do just about anything that I want to make this thing even better. As sacrilege as it is, I like the 4 doors and how easy it is to get the kid in and out of the back. Is this the perfect vehicle? Absolutely not. If it was, it would have a Ford V8 in it and be called a Bronco. But it is very close and I knew what I was buying.

Well, did it lower my opinion of Ford when they swapped out the push rod motors for the MOD motors? Did the 6.0 oil burner problems turn me off? What about the time bomb of a engine that they put in the V8 SHOs? The Super Duties unit bearings? The gas tank problems of the Pintos? The poorly designed gear shifters that most every Ford has been blessed with? The power steering pumps that will start screaming at the first sign of low fluid and will continue from that day on no matter the level? The front drive Cougars? The Edsel? The post war Flathead? Ford has never been perfect and I'll be the first to say. Hell, a lot of people think the best thing Ford ever made was the first generation Mustangs but I know, from experience, that, from a designed perceptive, they were crappy cars. But I stick with my team no matter what. The same as a Yankee fan or a Cowboys fan. Just like my coworkers that stay in the uniform no matter how many deployments they throw at us. And just like those little Afghan boys that wave their flag at us when we roll through Kabul.

I'm deploying in a month. This will be my 8th tour and I'm little messed up about it considering that I was medivac back from my last one. My wife and 11 month old son will have to face a North Dakota winter without me. After looking all summer I couldn't find a Ford in my price range that worked. This Jeep did. And I'm pissed because the last four weeks I have with my family I have to send wondering if this thing will be reliable.

 

It was the North Dakota auto market. Yes, I found a couple new and newer Expos for sale and some 4 door F150s too but they were all either overpriced or worn out and overpriced. 4x4s up here, especially on the used market go for much more than other places in the country. I've sold three trucks in the past three years, a 98 Ranger, the 01 Expo and a 06 F150 and made money on all of them because I had bought them in southern states.

We had it narrowed down to this Jeep or a used 09 F150 with 39K on the clock (and they didn't look like easy miles). The lowest we could get the truck down to was $31,000. We got the Jeep with 155 miles on it for $32500. I would have bought a new truck but I'm disappointed in the 5.0, I will not own a turbo v6 in a full size truck, and all of the trucks with 6.2s in them start around $45K. And I would have paid that for a Raptor but I would have had to order it in and that would have taken two to three months to get here and the dealer would have wanted an extra 5K on top of the sticker.

 

Man you shoulda just flew down here to Texas - they're easy to find and cheap. Then you just drive it home.

 

Dude, I know. And I would have but with 14 hour days, a new kid and a wife with back problems from labor I just couldn't leave for that long.

 

Joker, its all just steel and plastic made by the lowest bidder, in the end. What I do care about is your coming deployment. God speed and thanks. Do what you do, do it good, and get your azz back home...

Justin

 

X2 Well said.
We just did a weekend event last week near Des Moines called Wheelers for Warriors. It involved a parade, vehicle show, camping or hotel, and two days of wheeling. We raised just over $6000 for Operation First Response which I didn't think was to bad for the event's first year. Come home safe.

 

What irks me really isnt so much it being a ford or mopar or whatever, its just that yes everything has its fallacies-but some vehicles/manufactures more than others. Ive worked on them all and I can tell you that the most reliable vehicles are either foreign (not honda btw they are VERY cheaply built but do last) or made by ford. Chevy, dodge/chrysler just cant compare in quality.

I always look at it like this: I want to buy a truck that can take abuse and not quit. Thus look at what every single fleet, tow service, contractor, town uses. In almost all cases its ford and sometimes GMC/chevy. But the scales is more tipped towards ford.

Take it for a grain of salt, but I stick to my guns. I will never own a chrysler made product-well just one maybne, that new challenger cause they are theonly company who can make the dang car look like the original.

 

We also haveva Ford and a Jeep in the driveway. My fiance has a 2009 Liberty. She has had it for about a year now and so far it has been problem free. It has 35,000 miles on it. Her previous vehicle was a 2003 Grand Cherokee. She had that for about 3 years and it had 160K miles on it when she traded it in for the Liberty. I only ever had to make 2 repairs on the GC. First was the power steering pump and the other was a rear axle shaft and rotor. The axle shaft and rotor was only because she spun out and hit a curb, which bent the axle shaft and broke the rotor.

I don't like driving the Liberty, but she loves it. I did really like driving the Grand Cherokee though, it was much nicer IMO.

The biggest downfall of the Liberty is towing. The tow rating on the Liberty is 3500 lbs. We have an 8x10 flatbed trailer that we haul our ATVs on, it weighs about 2500 lbs loaded. Towing this with the Liberty is not nice at all. The 3.7 does OK power wise, but obviously its no hot rod. However, every time you hit a bump you can feel the trailer wanting to pull the Liberty around all over the road. The Transmission is constantly hunting for gears, even in tow/haul mode. Probably the worst thing is the brakes just plain suck. It simply does not want to stop with the trailer behind it. If we were to continue towing this trailer with the Liberty, I would have to put brakes on it and install a brake controller.

On the other hand, the Grand Cherokee handled this trailer wonderfully. You hardly knew you were pulling a trailer. The GC had the 4.7 V8 and was rated for 6500 lbs towing.

 

LOL my 93 toyota camry is rated for 3500 Lbs with a 2.2 whats up with that? I have pulled about 2K with it. Same thing trailer and quads, my old bike. Cherokees I always thought were nice. I don't like the body shape of the liberty. But, that is in the eye of the beholder.

 

Thanks guys. I do what I can. My family has served in this nation's military ever since our nation wore red coats. This is my lot in life, I've been doing it for almost 15 years and I'm glad there are some folks out there that still appreciate it.

 

I hear, and completly understand. I am from a Ford family as well, that started about 75 years ago. I own and drive Fords for work and personal use, my kids all drive Fords, my parents drove Fords, as did theirs. I rarely if ever look into anything else, but would consider a Jeep or Mopar if I found the right deal. I can't say the same in regards to any GM product, Ever...

 

We have two jeeps here at home. Only me and my dad own the fords. We have a 1998 grand cherokee 4.0l inline 6 (slowo but reliable, ran with spark plugs wayyy out of gap) , and a 2001 ish with the 4.7v8 moms boyfriend used to tow his boat with it after his bronco with a 351, now he just drives it. Good vehicles the 4.7 does burn oil i believe but really no problems other then the 98 having the suspension worn out but at 170,000 what do you expect? But, we got that fixed.


My aunt and uncle and cousins all drive gm. We just got rid of one of there old crap they passed on to us. 94 chevy corsica. Good car but no one felt like repairing it nothing memorable or like-able on that but it worked well.

 

This is what I tell my friends who think Chevies and Dodges are just fine. I say go to any of these little takeout trailers where the guys who make a living with their trucks go to get their lunches and see what is in the parking lot. It's ~80% Ford.