Stopped by O'hara tonight and checked out the '07 Unlimited with Firecat. I crawled right under it on the show room and started checking it out.
I really like the looks and size. It will be great for family wheeling. The 4 doors is a HUGE improvement for getting kids in the back seat over the 2 door unlimited. There is a lot of cargo room too for carrying your junk.
There is a crap-load of room in the engine compartment. I'd say it wouldn't take much to drop a V8 in there. There is probably 6-8" or more between the engine and the radiator.
New tow-hooks are kinda funny looking but as long as they work....
The gas tank is on the side and doesn't hang down far from the frame. A definite improvement over the TJ as it will increase departure angle and reduce hangup.
There is a plastic canister/module on the belly right behind the t-case. I'd bet one rock would do that in as there's no skid.
The suspension may ride OK, but is gonna suck for wheeling. The front axle control arms have huge brackets hanging off the axle. The springs are very small and there is little room for compression. It looks like a friggin car suspension.
I heard that the D44 rear and D30 front are revamped with larger shafts and increased spline count.
Both joints on the rear driveshaft and the t-case joint on the front driveshaft are some funky ball and socket joint instead of u-joints. Not sure how they will function off-road.
There is a single center hinge for the windshield, but we couldn't figure out how the windshield unbolts from the cage.
Oh, and there is plastic EVERYWHERE. You thought the TJ bumper ends were bad, this thing has huge plastic bumpers. The plastic fenders are only held on with like 5 bolts each though so they would be the first to go.
Fuel consumption is slightly better than the TJ at 17/19 mpg.
Sticker price is BETTER than the TJ/LJ. This unlimited was pretty loaded (except no hard top) and the base price was $21,000
End note.......If they would have given me enough trade-in for my explorer It'd probably be sitting in my garage right now. :rock:
I really like the looks and size. It will be great for family wheeling. The 4 doors is a HUGE improvement for getting kids in the back seat over the 2 door unlimited. There is a lot of cargo room too for carrying your junk.
There is a crap-load of room in the engine compartment. I'd say it wouldn't take much to drop a V8 in there. There is probably 6-8" or more between the engine and the radiator.
New tow-hooks are kinda funny looking but as long as they work....
The gas tank is on the side and doesn't hang down far from the frame. A definite improvement over the TJ as it will increase departure angle and reduce hangup.
There is a plastic canister/module on the belly right behind the t-case. I'd bet one rock would do that in as there's no skid.
The suspension may ride OK, but is gonna suck for wheeling. The front axle control arms have huge brackets hanging off the axle. The springs are very small and there is little room for compression. It looks like a friggin car suspension.
I heard that the D44 rear and D30 front are revamped with larger shafts and increased spline count.
Both joints on the rear driveshaft and the t-case joint on the front driveshaft are some funky ball and socket joint instead of u-joints. Not sure how they will function off-road.
There is a single center hinge for the windshield, but we couldn't figure out how the windshield unbolts from the cage.
Oh, and there is plastic EVERYWHERE. You thought the TJ bumper ends were bad, this thing has huge plastic bumpers. The plastic fenders are only held on with like 5 bolts each though so they would be the first to go.
Fuel consumption is slightly better than the TJ at 17/19 mpg.
Sticker price is BETTER than the TJ/LJ. This unlimited was pretty loaded (except no hard top) and the base price was $21,000
End note.......If they would have given me enough trade-in for my explorer It'd probably be sitting in my garage right now. :rock: