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View Full Version : Observations from the new Petersen's 4 Wheel & Off-road mag


mingoglia
02-07-2006, 09:04 AM
1) After page 26 there's a advertisement for the new Land Cruiser on the Rubicon Trail. It looks like the rear skid is dragging and the back right tire is spinning. Interesting they're using the "Hey, our junk wheels the Rubicon as well" plug.

2) On this same ad on the back side it shows pre-drilled "weld nuts for rock rails". That's pretty cool.

3) On page 27, they mention that Currie no longer is rebuilding 9" rear ends, "citing a scarcity of good, salvageable units".

4) Page 32 thru 36 show their "Ultra Whoops" shots with mostly over turned rigs.... Sadly Jeff and Eric's rigs aren't included in these photos.

5) On page 92 thru 95 they have the new JK. The new JK is approximately 300lbs heavier. 44.3 degree approach angle, 25.4 degree breakover angle, and a 40.4 degree departure angle on the new Ruby.

6) "The Dana 35 is now a non-C-clip captive bearing style, with stronger shafts, strenghened tubes, and a bigger pinion bearings and pinion. (Can you say 100 ways to polish a turd?)

7) "The front 30 has bigger pinion and pinion bearings and bigger axle joings and stub shafts, and also features a captive unit bearing so the stub axle can be removed if needed."

8) The Ruby's 44 front is now a reverse-pinion.. Stronger tubes, bigger pinion shaft and bearings. Bigger 1350 u-joints...better axles, and captive unit bearing.

9) The Ruby's 44 has a 10mm larger ring gear and 32-spline 1.4 inch axleshafts.

10) The locker is now magnetically engaged instead of vacuum.

11) Transfer cases are now operated by cable rather than a linkage.

12) The hard top actually looks pretty cool. I like how you can have it as a plactic bikini top.

That's a quick summary. I'm at work glancing over it so I haven't read the whole thing.... I just skimmed through it quoting some stuff and paraphrasing others. At least to me, some of this info is new from what I've read before.

Notice I didn't mention the new V6 (actually, I guess I just did). I'm still in denial about this one and refuse to talk about it. :)

Mike

jeepsonly
02-07-2006, 09:23 AM
Yeah lots of interesting stuff in this issue. Say, what are those things on the JK that replace the ujoint? Is that the "captive unit bearing" you mentioned? I've never seen those. I hear the JK only has one driveline ujoint. Jp magazine said it would be one of the first things they'd replace but it looks like a decent approach to driveline angles. I wonder how strong they are.

TRobertsRN
02-07-2006, 11:02 AM
Does Advanced Adaptors have a 4.0 liter to new Wrangler adaptors yet? depening on the transmission maybe they already do. Is the new engine shorter or longer than the 4.0?

mingoglia
02-07-2006, 12:12 PM
I would assume it's considerably shorter since it's a V configuration. I'm sure you can pull up the dimesions by looking up the mini-van...

TRobertsRN
02-07-2006, 01:07 PM
That's what I was thinking too, shorter. So if there is a new wrangler transmission to venerable 4.0 then the swap would be no more difficult than any other engine swap. That is as long as you don't live where you have to pass emmisions.

mingoglia
02-07-2006, 05:03 PM
One more quote I missed...back to the Land Cruiser advertisement:
"Whether you're hammering through foot-deep potholes on a dirt road to Palenque, Mexico, or crawling over three-foot boulders on Upper Terminator in Arizona..."

Steve
02-07-2006, 06:26 PM
"or crawling over three-foot boulders on Upper Terminator in Arizona..."

Now that would be great to see. Could you just imagine it now. :D :rolleyes: :eek: Steve

SavageSun4x4
02-08-2006, 10:02 AM
Notice I didn't mention the new V6 (actually, I guess I just did). I'm still in denial about this one and refuse to talk about it. :)

Mike
The V6 has got more hp/torque, however it appears to be at a higher rpm? I am trying to find a dyno chart showing the curves. This could translate into much deeper gears to get the same crawl power. Could be a boon for the aftermarket That said:

My inside contact is still telling me that a diesel is in the works, but they will have to go outside the current offering that is in the overseas engine since it lacks the guts Jeep owners expect. DC Jeep is very tuned in the way Jeepers think as a result of the interface they have had at Moab.

Several years ago, I had an opportunity to meet with a senior manager of DC/Jeep, 1 on 1. I stated my feelings on Jeeps and future Jeeps. Foremost I felt the Jeep should remain true to its roots and that meant 'fold down' windshield and 'removeable' doors. Also keep the 'doo-dah' [bling] down on the inside and outside, in other words keep it simple.

It was a short meeting, maybe 15 min or so and I am not sure how or why I was selected. My guess is that it was the result of my ordering my Rubicon and filling out some survey about my age and how long I had been driving Jeeps?? But hopefully my thoughts counted...

mingoglia
02-08-2006, 10:44 AM
Yep Don, it has more power. However not very much. I don't have the power curve but here's the specs.

Existing I6:
190 hp at 4,600rpm
235 ft/lbs at 3200

New V6
205hp at 5,200
240 ft/lbs at 4,000

By those numbers it isn't very impressive. It has 15 more hp at a much higher RPM but more importantly (to crawling) it has only 5 more ft/lbs but at 800RPM higher.

The inline 6 has a remarkable (for a gas engine) ability to be lugged. It's not really remarkable I suppose as this is just a trait of a inline engine. In my opinion owners of a manually tranny and the V6 are going to be disappointed at this new Jeeps sensitivity to stalling while crawling...especially for owners that previously had the same setup with the old engine. Deeper gears can compensate for this but at the cost of higher RPM's around town (unless you go deeper on the xfer case of course).

If I decide to buy a new one I'll be waiting for the diesel. They will eventually release one as not only are fuel prices going up but diesel is becoming trendy. It's just a matter of time. I really don't care how fast it is, I just want as low torque as possible. Also, due to the weight of the existing inline 6 I'd imagine a inherently heavy diesel engine of newer design should still be lighter than the existing 6...or about the same (hopefully).

With regards to the removable doors and foldable windshield they're definitely on the new model which is nice. Another thing I thought interesting is according to the article the half doors are also available. I had heard a long time ago that the half doors were going to be deleted due to side impact standards...I'm hoping the magazine is right. I have full hard doors now and used to have half doors in my YJ years ago. I absolutely hate the full doors compared to the half doors. I feel too darn cramped and the window sill is too high. If I had half doors they would be on the Jeep right now rather than mounted to my wall in the garage like my full doors have been sitting since I got the Jeep.

Mike

SavageSun4x4
02-08-2006, 10:53 AM
The inline 6 has a remarkable (for a gas engine) ability to be lugged.

Mike
The 4.0 has 80% of its torque available just off idle, now thats some lugging power:)