I'm in highschool and I want to drive my yj to school, it was bought cheap for me and my dad to fix up and have a hunting and trail rig, it runs fine, but my mom says it's not reliable or safe, so I'm asking you guys out there that drive your yj everyday, what are some problems that you ever had driving it everyday and how safe do you believe it to be? Thanks
Well would you rather have it break down on your way to school when you can call and get another ride and have AAA come bail you out or 2 miles into the bush hunting...
You should fix it to be reliable then drive it and maintain it and you should be good to go.
I have been DD mine (except when down for upgrades/bod work) since June and it has not yet failed me.
I drove mine everyday while I was in high school up through college and I never had any issues. Routine maintenance is the name of the game. As far as safety goes, just don't drive it like a race car and act dumb. If someone else hits you there's not much you can do about that.
It's noisy and drives like poo with the 4-cylinder, but I wouldn't have it any other way . Only problem I've had was the fuel pump went out on my way to the river.
i drove mine all through high school. like lou said, dont be stupid. the lower classmen thought it was cool to race side by side on a one lane road. dumb. just drive smooth and slow, like a jeep should be. one kid (sophomore) last year got a 2010 camaro. wtf.
drove my 91 hardtopped With crappy carbed 4.2 AMC JUNK MotorYJ 60 miles round trip for 2 years. sure it wasnt the most confortable thing in the world but proper maintence is the key. plus when it got nice out you could take the top off and doors and you wouldnt want to drive anything else.
As for things breaking it was the regular stuff. lights, belts, u-joints ECT... all you can do is stay up on it and you want get cought with your pants down.
I just bought another wrangler that is my daily driver 93 with good 4.0 EFI and soft top. I love the thing. But you sacrafice luxury to be on the jeep team. highway soft top yjs are crazy loud inside, heat works well for you but not for anyone else (at least thats the way both mine where, girlfriend always complaining) on the really windy days my YJ almost feels dangerous on highways. but it could be alignment problems I have not adressed yet.
As for saftey I have always been told that wranglers are unsafe vehicles. You can tell that to a buddy of mine that was hit head on by 2 tractor trailers on a major highway and lived to tell the tale(was in a tj though, almost same tin box to me). He wont buy anything else now. plus tell your mom not many vehicles come with a factory roll bar either
Our jeeps gets driven daily with no issues other then the occasional flat tire and other than when down because i got stupid off road and had to upgrade after words it has been running daily for 7 and almost 100,000 miles with just regular maintenance. It has been rear ended twice with almost no damage.
treat your jeep right and it will treat you right, i've been driving mine daily for 5 years putting on about 300 miles a week just on my a to b driving. my jeep have 276 thousand miles on it and i've rebuilt the trans, both axles, and replaced the motor but the thing to remember is routine maintenance is key.
i daily drove mine for a while. that included three hour trips to san antonio and to brownsville. i would not be scared to jump in mine and drive across country. (as a matter of fact, i am quite envious of htat guy who drove his to alaska, that would be so cool if one had the time and money)
I DD mine and it's been pretty reliable, but it is slowly becoming newer one part at a time. As far as things breaking down on you and general reliability it comes down to the fact that what you have is a 20 year old used vehicle. Maintenance is the key to reliability in most cases but parts will eventally fail as a vehicle ages - that can be said for any vehicle not just Jeeps.
Safety? I remember the days when it was legal to jump in the back of a pickup truck and cruise down the freeway. Too many drivers are too complacent these days and end up with lax and sloppy driving habits because their vehicle has a high safety rating and feature. Smarter vehicles are increasing the number of idiots on the roads. :2c:
YJ is a pretty simple machine. Stuff might break but most fixes are DIY.
if you have a lift and big tires, handling can be sketchy. you do need to drive cautiously. make sure seatbelts are in good shape and always wear them.
Drive mine everyday..do my daily errands, no problems....200 miles every weekend....although after those 200 miles, I'm wearing my testes as earrings....but wouldn't give it up for anything....Change your oil EVERY 3000, religiously, grease where needed, use it, don't abuse it, too much anyway, and always remember....your liscence doesn't replace your brain.....BE SAFE.....
I daily drive mine and have only had a problem with the brakes, I know sounds bad but I think I put one of the drums on wrong because it locks up the first few stops and then does not lock up any more, today the ebrake strut came dislodged and was bent in half betwen my drum and brake shoe but the Jeep still drove fine. (it is now sitting in my gaurage on jack stands)
Jeeps are not any less reliable than anyother 20 year old car. If you drive it safely (obay the law and slow down for turns) you will not have any problems. Your mom is probably just paranoid, when it snows my mom wants me to take our 2005 Durango instead of the Jeep I just tell her I will be fine and take the Jeep. All you have to know is that it does not have ABS so if you go to stop and start to slide let off of the brakes and then reapply them.
In 20 yrs mine has needed 3 water pumps, 2 slave cylinders and 3rd gear sycro brass which was warrantied. If the prior owner(s) took good care of your Jeep then it would be fine for a daily driver. They say the engines will go 250k without a sweat, mine has 160k and still passes smog tests without a problem. Get AAA and don't give it a second thought.
ive had my yj for a little over a year, its my DD and its never failed to get me where i need to, this last big snow storm, busted an axle shaft but it got me home in 2wd through some 3 foot snow drifts. when i got it i liked cars but knew almost nothing about them, now theres probably nothing on my yj that i cant fix, currently plannin my v8 swap though
When my daughter is old enough to drive her first car it will not be a YJ. It will be something with crumple zones and air bags. Being a diligent driver will not save you when you are blind sided from the rear or by someone running a red light.
Also, my 4.0L jeep never got better than 17 mpg and now gets 14 on a good day. In Socal gas is already over $3.50 a gallon. When I was in highschool I never had much money and I drove a lot either to get to school and back or hanging out with my friends. The last thing I would want to do is spend all my money on gas.
Drive mine as a DD with the extreme heat over here in the summer and the crazy highway speeds here. I keep the maint up and have no problems.
One key to driving it every day though, a good stereo system to drown out the wind noise
most cars cars wont even take minor roll, let alone hit and a roll like this jeep did.
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