Serious Question about getting a JKU

[hikingff77]

I have a 2008 Silverado that I love, but I have always longed to get back in a Jeep. I had one back after HS and absolutely loved the thing. I am an outdoors, top and doors off kind of person. However now with three kids, I bailed on getting a Wrangler due to not having enough 'space' for everything. The truck has come in super handy for this stage in my life, all the trips I've ever taken have been socked full of kids stuff, loaded to the gills, something I wouldn't have been able to do with a Wrangler, unless I got a trailer of some sort.

The problem is the other day my friend who has an '11 wrangler let me drive it with the top and doors off. It made my soul feel good. The temps and weather is perfect right now for Jeepin and it made me long for my jeep days.

My wife won't let me have a cheap, junk jeep... and the truck, so it's either the truck or the Jeep.

Is anyone in the same boat? How about it being a family vehicle? I'm very impressed with the storage it has, but can two adults and three kids actually fit? One being in a car seat and the other in a booster?

 

[Septu]

What sort of trips are you talking about? I'm single, and don't pack lightly, simply because I don't have to... but one would have to think that it would be cramped in there without a roof rack or a small trailer to haul crap... I mean stuff.

 

[KILL BOX]

I use my 09 JKU rubi as a family vehicle. But 3 kids I would say no. My sons fit good but 3 would be crazy cramped especially with the car seat.

 

[GDSQDCR]

I have a 2004 sierra crew (165k miles) and I am in the same boat as you. 3 kids (2 boosters and 1 car seat).
I went so far as going to the dealer with the three car seats and trying to fit them in. It was a no go. If I go that route, I will wait till I only have one in a booster.

Anthony

 

[hikingff77]

This will mostly be a DD with the desire to get it dirty at any and every chance. That's one of my favorite things about jeeps, especially Wranglers, I always feel like the person driving them is up for adventure, just by having one.

So trips to the hiking trail heads, beach and mountains are what it would normally see.

I love my Silverado, it's got plenty of room and from what the ads say, the Jeep doesn't get much better gas mileage than my truck.

I got to talk her into letting me have a spare.

Anthony, did you do any mods to your Sierra?

 

[GDSQDCR]

The Sierra runs on Bilsteins, and 265/70/18 BFG KO. It has a WAAG brush guard and factory skid plates/running boards (z71 package). All skid plates, and running boards are scraped and gouged ... It has seen limited off roading. Let of its time has been spent on fire roads and snow. I just have the itch to do more.

I have done track time, driven large vehicles, EVOC, high speed pursuit and assorted other technical driving. I have the itch to learn how to go wheelin'.

Anthony

Should add, the truck is also our family vehicle. My toy is my 2003 Dark Pearl Blue Mercury Marauder. That ain't going no where!

 

[just eric]

You both have to love it

2012 JKU Rubi with a wife and 1yr old. The jeep is great, for a Jeep. I enjoy it and can deal with the Jeepisms but my wife hates it. It's the little things that drive her crazy like the possibility of a leaky hard top, the fact that the doors don't stay open and are difficult to close, and the incline of the back seat. We are currently considering trading her in for a 4runner... Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[life_w_vagabonds]

The center of the rear seat has very little support. A car seat would be fine but it is not for a normal sized person. Its me the wife a 12 year old and a dog and we fit just fine. Anything more would be tight, I personally prefer not have anything on the roof.

 

[Token]

2012 JKU Rubi with a wife and 1yr old. The jeep is great, for a Jeep. I enjoy it and can deal with the Jeepisms but my wife hates it. It's the little things that drive her crazy like the possibility of a leaky hard top, the fact that the doors don't stay open and are difficult to close, and the incline of the back seat.

The tops on the newer Jeeps are pretty dang good at keeping the wet stuff out.. I hear occasionally about a leak, but it's no worse than the GM Sunroof leaking issues that have been around for years.. There's a kit you can get to hold the doors open for you..I can't recall who makes it right now, but I've seen a couple installed and they work great. If the doors are hard to close they need to be aligned better.. The alignment jacks up just a bit when the things are wheeled with the doors off.. You can kinda fix the rear seat issue by putting about 4 fender washers under the 7 feet holding the back seat in place and it will lift under the legs a bit and recline the seat back about an inch.. Not much but it's a help.. I've been talking with a friend of mine that has some manufacturing contacts and I've about got him convinced that some HARD plastic spacers (think bushing material) that were the size of the feet, the right thickness and predrilled could be packaged with a set of longer bolts for not much cost and sell the things for $30 a set and they'd go like hotcakes..

 

[Token]

Two adults and three kids will fit, but the one kid that's stuck with a car seat/booster seat on each side is gonna be pissed.. There is a 3rd row option for seating, but it's a very small seat as well.. Still it'd have to be better than being stuck between the other two.. The third row would really screw up your cargo hauling abilities, but that's nothing that a small trailer wouldn't fix..

 

[Septu]

Also, metalcloak (I think) has a metal plate that you put in the middle rear seat to make it better to use.

 

[mbryson]

We use my '12 JKU frequently as a family rig. We have three kids (16, 13 and 8) and I've not heard a lot of complaints about 2 hour car trips that we take somewhat frequently. The 8 year old (daughter) is usually in the middle but it works great for us. Enough room in the back to store some gear also.


I went from a crew cab pickup to the JKU and did buy an older truck to just use for "truck" things. Works well for us.

 

[Longtallsally]

Our '12 JKUR is our family vehicle. We have 3 kids- in a matter of speaking: a toddler and 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks.

We also recently met a guy who has 3 kids and a JKUR. He is able to do it, but you can tell it is cramped in there.

Here are my thoughts: With 2 kids, I think you can get away with it easily. 3 kids in baby seats, and I don't think so. This is due to 1) I don't think there are enough "latch" points (you know, what the seat clips in to), and 2) it will be TIGHT.

When our little guy was still rear facing, we had to put him behind mom (I'm 6'7" and there isn't enough room behind the driver's seat for a rear facing seat). Now that he is forward facing, we put his seat in the middle. This makes it to where you can't fold the seat down unless you unhook the seat.

My point is that with 3 kids I think you can do it, but passengers will be tight. There might be enough room in the back, but you'll most likely need a trailer or rack to handle all the gear.

Driving wise, they are really nice cars. The hard top makes it as quiet as I'd want, the Rubicon or similarly equipped model has all the convenience toys you could want, and the Unlimited actually tows a decent amount.

All this said, sadly, it might not be enough based on your family size unless the younguns are OK with a lack of comfort and you can get a trailer or rack or the like to handle the remainder of the gear.

 

[orangeTJ]

Curious how old your kids are. I think three kids would be a tight squeeze, and as they get older, they want more space.

I'm voting stick with the Silverado (for the space it offers)

I have a JKU-R and at 5'9" the back seat isn't a place I'd want to spend a significant amount of time.

 

[nmzj]

We are expecting our third in a few months. My plan is to buy 2 narrow boosters and the narrowest baby carrier that I can find. I figure that is cheaper than buying 2 new cars.