Hey im new to the forum, not new to jeeps in general though.

although, i dont know much about JKs. that is why i am here!

Someone stole my TJ, and im here to research my options for a new JEEP!

 

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your TJ been stolen. Bastards! Anyway, lots of great info in this forum. Get a cup of coffee, beer, or whatever is your beverage of choice, and read away.

 

jks and tjs are pretty similar to work on imo. Suspensions didnt really change much.
But welcome to the forum, you will find tons of great info here.

 

Any recommendations as to which threads i should crawl?
looking for JK basics. 3.6L vs 3.8L, 4-door vs 2-door, rubi vs non-rubi. TJ vs JK.
right now im leaning towards a 4-door JK 3.6L.
Im searching for 3.6L threads as we speak

 

3.6 is the way to go. Im personally a 2 door guy for crawling, but if I had family i would get 4 door. The rubi vs non rubi comes down to how hard your plan to offroad and weather or not your going to replace half of the rubi stuff (gears,axles,transfer case,sway bar,lockers)

 

Honestly there's a lot of complaining about the 3.8, but I think that's more due to the 4-speed automatic than the 3.8 itself. There's also the "minivan" mystique that some can't get over. Since it was used to power a minivan it must be awful, right?

Guess the Pentastar's awful too since it's also being used to power minivans, and crossovers, and base-model muscle cars, and pretty much everything..

If you're going with an automatic, get something with the 3.6L. The 5-speed automatic is reportedly worlds better than the 4-speed slushbox, and reportedly makes up for the majority of the performance difference between the 3.8 JKs and the 3.6 JKs.

With the 6-speed manual, until 4,000 RPM they're pretty similar. Above 4,000 RPM the 3.6 has a definite advantage in torque and top-end horsepower. But until 4,000 RPM they're similar. In my opinion the 3.8 makes a much nicer noise too. It sounds more aggressive. When the VVT on the 3.6 kicks in it sounds like a Civic..

Another limiting factor of the 3.8 was the engine's programming and the electronic throttle. A lot of people didn't like the latency between petal input and RPMs. I actually found that turning off HSA (Hill-start assist) virtually eliminated the deadzone and the throttle is much, much more crisp and responsive.

Either way, JKs are great and you'll end up with something you'll love!