Buying JTR - Spend the $ on a diesel or to regear a 3.6 for 37's?

[Dainbramaged]

We're selling our Overland and starting over on a JTR. Are we better off spending our available budget on a diesel or a 3.6 8speed that we regear to 4.88's to handle 37’s on both moderately challenging rock crawling and for towing a small camper (not at the same time if things go right)? It will be a daily driver, but low miles.

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[Jonny A]

I personally never cared for diesel engines in a daily driver. But it may be for you. I hear good things about the diesel JT's. That said, I would do the regeared with 37"s.

 

[syreeves]

I'd do the diesel. Problem solved from the factory so no warranty issues. Mileage is better and low range torque is better for crawling and towing.

 

[Rocksalt]

We're selling our Overland and starting over on a JTR. Are we better off spending our available budget on a diesel or a 3.6 8speed that we regear to 4.88's to handle 37’s on both moderately challenging rock crawling and for towing a small camper (not at the same time if things go right)? It will be a daily driver, but low miles.

diesels are smelly..and if you live in cold climates gelling an issue.. I for sure dont wanna be behind a diesel anywhere.. least of all on a trail

 

[Tufelhundin]

Wonder if those were deleted diesels?

Couldnt even smell my Canyon diesel...ever. As for the fuel, well I guess we are all different, I was raised on a farm and diesel smell I dont mind...gasoline...I cant stand to smell it.


On the subject of the OP...thats entirely up to you. I had a canyon diesel before the JT and I loved it. Put over 109K miles on it in 3yrs. Only problem I ever had was a sensor threw a code and they turned it off and it never came back.

Granted my little Duramax was nothing like the one in the JTR, but it was a diesel...so there that.

I would have got a JT diesel if it was out at the time. Knock on wood, so far not many things have come up concerning the new generation and hopefully it won't. I enjoy the miles per tank, low rpm pull, and just the basic feel of diesel. Granted your towing will be cut due to weight of engine and weight of JTR, but what ever you do pull it should do it with ease and fuel economy should be much better.

May want to keep a spare jug of Def if you go on long trips, sometimes you may need it and are out in the middle of now where...other than that..there is the expense of service and I know I had to change my fuel filters so I kept spares and its a quick job as long as you have a container to put the excess diesel in.

One thing I noticed about the JTD is that it doesn't have a tow mode / engine break that my little diesel had and I enjoyed it a lot even though I never pulled anything to extreme....also, I dont understand why Jeep didn't have the turn signals blink 5x when I trailer is hooked up.

Good luck on your decision...either one will be great Im sure.

EDIT: oh...if you have a chance...drive them back to back...you may be surprised. Either way....


Just my .02 and after tax its not even that much.......

 

[SteveA]

I have a 2020 Ram Cummins and a new JTR Ecodiesel both parked in a 8 car garage. I can idle either for minutes and not have a diesel stink problem. In fact no worse a smell than the cars. I've never been a fan of diesel vehicles because of the smell and cabin noise but these new diesel's are really figured out. The JTR on stock 33's was purchased solely for the purpose of towing a small camping trailer and then unhooking and going wheeling. No comparison to my 2012 JKR with 33's, none. Get the diesel.

 

[SteveA]

Oh, and I live in N Idaho and have yet to have an issue with gelling.

 

[smlobx]

Interesting dilemma...

Having had over a dozen diesels over the years including 2 now I am a little biased but I’m also very practical. My first question is how long is your daily commute. Modern diesels don’t tolerate short repeated trips very well. They need to fully heat up to keep the exhaust system running properly. Occasionally it’s fine but not day after day. BTW we have the first gen Ecodiesel in our WK2 Grand Cherokee and it is a great vehicle for longer trips. Great mileage, powerful engine, NOT smelly and very quiet.

So how long is your commute?

 

[Dainbramaged]

Interesting dilemma...

Having had over a dozen diesels over the years including 2 now I am a little biased but I’m also very practical. My first question is how long is your daily commute. Modern diesels don’t tolerate short repeated trips very well. They need to fully heat up to keep the exhaust system running properly. Occasionally it’s fine but not day after day. BTW we have the first gen Ecodiesel in our WK2 Grand Cherokee and it is a great vehicle for longer trips. Great mileage, powerful engine, NOT smelly and very quiet.

So how long is your commute?

That's helpful information Eddie, I wasn't aware of that factor. I work from home most of the time so the truck will see 10 to 15 minute drives into the city for errands or weekend trips to PA or VA to go rock crawl.

I'm not at all worried about there being a smell with modern diesels, and the noise level is acceptable, my primary question is whether there is enough torque that I can avoid a regear with a diesel and still have good performance with 37's, but I'll explore the avg drive time concern as well.

 

[Dainbramaged]

Wonder if those were deleted diesels?

Couldnt even smell my Canyon diesel...ever. As for the fuel, well I guess we are all different, I was raised on a farm and diesel smell I dont mind...gasoline...I cant stand to smell it.


On the subject of the OP...thats entirely up to you. I had a canyon diesel before the JT and I loved it. Put over 109K miles on it in 3yrs. Only problem I ever had was a sensor threw a code and they turned it off and it never came back.

Granted my little Duramax was nothing like the one in the JTR, but it was a diesel...so there that.

I would have got a JT diesel if it was out at the time. Knock on wood, so far not many things have come up concerning the new generation and hopefully it won't. I enjoy the miles per tank, low rpm pull, and just the basic feel of diesel. Granted your towing will be cut due to weight of engine and weight of JTR, but what ever you do pull it should do it with ease and fuel economy should be much better.

May want to keep a spare jug of Def if you go on long trips, sometimes you may need it and are out in the middle of now where...other than that..there is the expense of service and I know I had to change my fuel filters so I kept spares and its a quick job as long as you have a container to put the excess diesel in.

One thing I noticed about the JTD is that it doesn't have a tow mode / engine break that my little diesel had and I enjoyed it a lot even though I never pulled anything to extreme....also, I dont understand why Jeep didn't have the turn signals blink 5x when I trailer is hooked up.

Good luck on your decision...either one will be great Im sure.

EDIT: oh...if you have a chance...drive them back to back...you may be surprised. Either way....


Just my .02 and after tax its not even that much.......

I would put the extra money into the diesel instead of a regear for sure if I knew that it would perform well with the stock 4.10s on 37's, I'm just afraid that I'll get it and then find that I still need the regear going up that big on tires. I'll take your advice and see if I can find someone in our local Mid-Atlantic Gladiator club that has a diesel on 37's that I could drive.

We're only looking at 23-24ft trailers, so nothing too extreme to tow.

 

[Oil_Burner]

diesels are smelly..and if you live in cold climates gelling an issue.. I for sure dont wanna be behind a diesel anywhere.. least of all on a trail

I can't believe you are speaking from experience regarding a JL or JT diesel. I have yet to even detect a hint of a diesel smell on my JT. The joke is what comes out of a new diesel with a DPF in LA is cleaner than what the engine is taking in.

I've yet to experience gelling in the 19 years I've been filling my diesel vehicles, but I understand that if I buy diesel in the summer, it might have a gelling issue if I let that fuel sit until winter.

If gelling was really a problem, how is it that all the trucks that transport products all over the US and Canada seem to run just fine all winter? FYI, the fuel is seasonally adjusted to account for the colder temperatures. As long as you are regularly purchasing diesel fuel, you won't have a gelling problem.

 

[KurtP]

Both have their merits...but diesel will be up over $4/gal by the end if this year or next and is squarely in the sights of regulators....just something to keep in mind as you weigh pros/cons. Europe has already started, and US is discussing, not allowing diesel vehicles into cities.

Regearing a gasser wont void your warranty; but tuning the diesel to stop it from killing itself over time will. I prefer a diesel engine all things being equal, and loved my cummins that i traded for the gladiator. But i have questions/concerns about the future of diesel vehicles for light duty consumer use.

 

[KurtP]

diesels are smelly..and if you live in cold climates gelling an issue.. I for sure dont wanna be behind a diesel anywhere.. least of all on a trail

Diesel’s have changed a bit since 1948.

 

[Rocksalt]

Diesel’s have changed a bit since 1948.

they still stink

 

[Rocksalt]

I can't believe you are speaking from experience regarding a JL or JT diesel. I have yet to even detect a hint of a diesel smell on my JT. The joke is what comes out of a new diesel with a DPF in LA is cleaner than what the engine is taking in.

I've yet to experience gelling in the 19 years I've been filling my diesel vehicles, but I understand that if I buy diesel in the summer, it might have a gelling issue if I let that fuel sit until winter.

If gelling was really a problem, how is it that all the trucks that transport products all over the US and Canada seem to run just fine all winter? FYI, the fuel is seasonally adjusted to account for the colder temperatures. As long as you are regularly purchasing diesel fuel, you won't have a gelling problem.

diesel fumes not only stink but are carcinogenic .. just drive behind one, chief

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