'07-'08 Wrangler?

My wife and I bought an '07 Wrangler Sahara Unlimited. We've had it four months. My wife loves it. It's gets good fuel mileage so far, it's up to 23avg highway, with just 7000 miles on it. She drives it to work everyday, and it's perfect for her.

In my opinion the engine feels a little underpowered compared to the older

4.0, but it is deceiving, because it pulls my boat just fine. Although not my primary tow vehicle. I have a 19ft center console bay style boat, it weighs around 3100lbs including trailer. The Jeep is rated to pull 3500lbs. It pulls it fine on the highway, but struggles to maintain 65mph. Launching or loading the boat in and out of the water on a steep ramp is no trouble. Tons of low end torque. Controlling and stopping the boat is no problem. We get lots of stares because people are not used to seeing Jeeps pulling anything around here.

When not towing, highway speeds are easy to maintain, and downshifting out of 6th almost completely unnecessary. It has great room in it, the extra two doors are a real plus, and there is comfortable room for me, a FULL size guy in the back seat, but, as usual, nowhere to rest your right arm if you're driving. I don't know why Jeep can't make a comfortable arm rest in the Wranglers. The center console, while better than before, is still way down at your waist, not high enough to prop your arm. Backing up with or without a trailer is tough, because it's hard to see out of the rear of the Jeep. Blind spots at the rear corner pillars, the large rear head rests, and a large area of the rear window taken up by the rear window wiper motor, and the huge padded roll bar all contribute.

The clutch is a little strange, it feels like it lets out twice as the pedal comes up. Not sure why.

5th and 6th gear are "gated" (like reverse) and can be difficult to get through, and you really don't get the feel of it. Personally, I don't like the brake pedal feel. Reminds me of a front disc / rear drum Jeep that needs the rears adjusted, but it's four wheel disc and not adjustable. Repair Problems: Drivers door rattle, adjusted at the dealership, now is harder to close, and the steering angle sensor went bad in 3000 miles, requiring replacement, which included tearing apart the steering column, and when we got it back, the steering wheel had been damaged by the mechanic, the key wouldn't come out of the ignition because the steering column shroud was not put back on properly, and because of that there was a continuous "ding ding" sound because of the key, and the turn signal combination switch now binds and sometimes won't cancel. We are still waiting on a replacement steering wheel, 10 weeks later.

It has a very good stereo, but Bluetooth is disabled on the Wrangler models I was told, even though the buttons and controls are there. It is the most quiet Jeep Wrangler I've ever been in on the highway. I've owned 14 of them over the years. Cruise control works very well, but the stalk to operate it is a hard to operate without taking your eyes off the road to look at it. Seats are very comfortable for short trips, but longer trips not so good.

Spdloader

Thanx for the reply. (That does seem like a lot of boat to be pulling with a Wrangler.) I'm on my 8th CJ or Wrangler. I bought a 2-dr X that's pretty well loaded. (I don't like the painted fender flares and center section of the front bumper on the Sahara.) The first thing I did was to pull off the rear seat head restraints, so I could see out the back. You're right about the new one being quiet. That's the first thing I noticed. The radio is much improved over the '03 I had, which had the "big" radio with the sub-woofer in the console - totally useless, it sounded really rotten! The new one is much better, especially since they put the sub where it belongs. I haven't made up my mind about the V-6 yet since mine only has 400 miles on it. I'm thinking it might be a little "hotter" after it gets some more miles on it. Mileage so far has averaged 19.9, according to the computer, which is much better than my I-6. Mine has the 3.73 axles which should help the acceleration somewhat. All things considered, I like it a lot better than any CJ or Wrangler I've had. And it should be terrific off road.

Thanx for the reply. (That does seem like a lot of boat to be pulling with a Wrangler.) "

My boat is a Triumph, it's made of Roplene instead of fiberglass. It "looks" like a big heavy boat, but it isn't.

The Jeep does a great job with the boat. I was really surprised.

Spdloader

We bought an '07 2 door X also, it has just over 4000 miles on it. First thing we noticed was the quietness compared to our '01 TJ. It's also a bit higher off the ground. The best thing they did was put the little locking under floor storage space in the back. Now I can leave electonic gizmos in the Jeep and they are much more secure than the TJ. I have the stock radio and I personally think it sucks. I've already replaced the roll bar speakers with Pioneer's. I like the input on the radio for an MP3 player, we plug an iPod in and have a huge choice of music to pick from. I'm anxious to see how the traction control works in the snow. My brother-in-law has a Crossfire with it and he says it is a vast improvement in snow. I've added the Sahara style running boards and the splash guards to keep some of the road slop from beating up the sides too much. I haven't noticed any problems with getting into 5th or 6th gears, mine goes in nice, you just have to push against the spring load that centers the shift lever. I expected better performance out of the new headlights. I'm not impressed with their pattern or output. I really can't comment on the engine performance as our TJ had the 4 banger in it, so the V6 is like a huge increase in power for us. All in all, we are quite happy with the new one. I'd like it better if I could get it away from my wife more ofter. She seems to thinks it's hers. I tried to find one with the Sunrider top but couldn't come up with one that wasn't loaded with other stuff. I really would have liked to be able to fold the top back without taking the side and back windows out all the time, although they do come out and go back in better than the TJ's did. All in all, I think they did a pretty good job on the redesign. Les

"Jack Carter" wrote in message news:2IydnXIV-Nm_lZzanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

Hi Les: My window sticker says mine has the "tubular side steps" but there sure isn't anything tubular about them. What's the difference between the Sahara running boards and the tubular side steps? (My dealer doesn't have any Wranglers in stock with either one.)