Recently I took my wife, my cousin and her bf on a 5 day road trip in my 2011 JKU with Manual transmission. On some of the long highway hills(3-5 miles long), even with proper shifting, all the weight in JKU was bogged down. This is a dual purpose vehicle that's 70% highway/30% off-road, I have modified it with steel Spyder front and rear bumpers, tow wench, steel side steps, 35" tires(4.88 gears), 2.5" basic lift, aFe cold air intake with aFe power exhaust. I love the setup that I have and is functional for this 2nd driving vehicle in the family, but after the last road trip I definitely want more Umph/Juice in the motor. I knew going into this build that I probably should have bought one with the 3.6 liter engine, but I did not. I know our Jeeps are not designed for speed or gas mileage, but confidence with more power is now more important to me.


 

I think you need to look at it like this. It seems that in it's current build it meets your needs 99% of the time....both on and off road. How many trips are you taking with 4 adults in the rig and loaded down with gear? THAT is essentially what you'd be putting more funds into in order to improve. Will that money ever be worth it?

In my opinion, and not like you even had it as an option but still, forced induction is no answer. When you get into a V8 swap you're getting "off the map", if you will, into a more custom situation that will have a few hiccups here or there. Custom situations are always just a bit trickier to get support for in general. If you're a handy DIY'er that can work on things then this isn't the end of the world. If you're the type of person that has to roll to a shop or dealer for any diagnostics and repairs, this is a much bigger deal. If you were going to trade up to something newer I think without a doubt you'd have to skip over the JK and get into a JL. Those hybrids didn't seem to take off well IMO, and I think even the diesel had it's drawbacks, but I think I'd probably opt for a diesel if you went that route.

For me, if my 3.6L ever dies I think I'd be most apt to do some V8 swap, but I'm so deep into mine that I have no desire to start over with a build. I'd love the V8 power and I love my jeep as it is now. I'd rather put my money into engine than a newer body. It's a tough call. I kinda think if you're not loaded down like that but maybe once or twice a year, you just accept that is how things are and you remain happy the other 98-99% of the time as it is now.

 

Thank you for the common sense conversation, Jedi-JK. This is the conversation I go back-and-forth with. I also have put a lot into what was once a bone stock sport unlimited. I know that I’m not always driving around with the amount of weight that I described in my thread. I was almost considering, and probably still am considering going with a JLU, possibly Rubi or Sahara, and seeing how many of the items I can swap from my jeep to that vehicle. I am a DIY’er and performed most of the work myself except changing out the gearing and adding a full time limited slip. That is pretty much where I am right now is looking at measurements and seeing if that would work. Or just be happy with what I have and call it a day.
Ode to the Jeep Life, what webs we weave.

 

If you weren't already rolling on 4.88 I would have suggested going to 5.13 gearing for that little extra mechanical help, but it makes zero sense to regear 1 set, and not sure if going to 5.38 might be just a tad much with the manual. We certainly can't have it all, all the time with these things. The older I get the more deconstructing to swap things from jeep to jeep is an absurd thought. It's so much effort. There is enough that changed on the JLs that I don't think it would be worthwhile. Little things like the ends of the shock mounts changing or whatnot. When you think about the fact that a new quality lift with shocks is not THAT much money, kinda puts it in perspective. Tires and wheels would move easily. The rest probably easier to just start over.