I was looking at some new Jeeps on a local dealers lot the other day.
He had a TON of them with the steering wheel on the opposite side.
Im assuming they sale these for people who deliver mail and rural news paper routes correct?
If yes..... is it legal to buy and use such a vehicle even if you are not currently delivering mail or papers?
And...... could a person maybe get a better deal on such a vehicle if buying new or used?
John
Yes, I am in a rural area and two mail ladies are delivering mail in TJ hardtops with steering on the right. Has a light bar with a revolving red light in the middle.
On your other questions I think you could drive it legally, why not, but a better deal.. I would not know.
Andy
OK
Well I have actually "thought" abt taking a part time job delivering papers or mail..... hence the questions.
But.... I was also curious as to whether getting such a vehicle might yield a better deal.... as Id assume that most people would want the steering wheel on the traditional side.
John
Where they do delivery around here, I often see some fool driving from the right or center position in a 'left driven" car. At low speed between boxes I don't see a real problem, but when i see them doing 60 on the road, it worries me. Right hand drive is legal and safe, I have driven plenty of British cars around.
John, here is how one dealer options the jeep out and the price.
Andy
OK
Question.... the Dana 44 is a heavier duty transaxle right? Hence the higher cost?
John
OK
So would you consider getting a right hand drive even if you didn't know for sure if you will deliver mail or papers with it?
John
Do the right hand drive units only come in automatic..... and hard top only?
John
Both of these are more fun to drive with my Black Lab, or a small kid in the left front seat. I hand a newspaper to adults.
Nope.... not yet
John
You could call the dealer and ask. My SWAG, though, is that the price new will be _higher_, as in "special equipment installed."
As for legal or not, you could ask your state's motor vehicle registry. Here in Connecticut I occasionally see right-hand drive imports, and the recycling collection trucks locally are right hand drive so the driver can exit the vehicle on the curb side.
My local dealer in Owego NY made a mistake and accidentally ordered a RHD Wrangler, and had to peddle it through the dealer network to a postal contract person at a significant discount.
The RHD model defaults to a "working" Jeep...with the D-44 axle, limited slip differential, hardtop, automatic trans, full size spare, et al. I looked at my dealer's in significant detail...for example, the auto trans shift still has the "button" on the left, for the thumb of the right hand as in left hand drive. Otherwise, the shift over seems to be very well done...the dash fits without any obvious "make do". The center of the dash is unaltered. It is not a "low priced" stripper model.
It is clearly what I'd get if I was on a postal contract. Two of our post office contractors use Cherokees with factory RHD from the
1990's.As an aside, there is a company in California that make a adaptation for the Jeep Cherokee...it removes the steering wheel, replaces it with a pulley, mounts a steering wheel on the right, and uses a v-belt to drive from the steering wheel (right) to the steering column (left). Pedal adapters are also made for gas and brake. There are two of these working out of Endicott NY.
Walt Johnson
Hmm..... interesting!
I will keep that in mind.
Im just a bit concerned that if one were to buy a RHD Jeep...and then try and re-sale it..... it might not resale nearly as well as a LHD vehicle.
What do you think?
John
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