What to do?

[Rhino73]

I may as wll throw in my 3 cents. A good way to represent that the JK didnt quite live up to your expectations would be the perspective that you bought a Jeep built for American conditions, and you had to modify/ improve a lot of stuff on the car to ensure its capable of taking on the Australian outback. You did this with a lot of help and advise from Australian manufacturers of Australian offroad equipment, as well as a helping hand from people all over Australia wo kept you on the road when things went wrong.
I think it keeps the focus on the positive, while leaving Jeep out of the praise.

Hope your travels continue to be amazing.

[Brett_B]

Do the article and keep it honest, keeping it honest would mean from all sides, you have given the little 2 door Jeep a good hard run. I read with a smile once your story about running down the Gibb River road jumping giant ruts for 2+ hours at 80kph

You would expect something the bend/break or come loose after that.

That Jeep has done a good job, is it around half the cost of a new 70 series cruiser ?

[Crackles]

I wouldn't do it. With all the issues your car has had it's unlikely the mag will write the story in the vain you'd like to see it. They'll either bag it out cos it doesn't stand up to touring like a Cruiser or they'll convieniently leave out it's failings as it looks cute towing the color coded camper.
It only takes 30 seconds under a JK on the hoist to tell it wasn't made for central Australia & that you're asking a vehicle to do a job it clearly wasn't designed for.

[wranglertj]

Does it really matter what we think? Do what you feel is right but just remember not every Jeep owner has had a bad experience but unfortunately you have, so do what you feel is right

[oldmacdonald]

Originally Posted by Crackles

It only takes 30 seconds under a JK on the hoist to tell it wasn't made for central Australia & that you're asking a vehicle to do a job it clearly wasn't designed for.

What do you suggest it was designed for then?

Serious question.

Also, when people say a vehicle is not designed for Australian conditions, what do they mean? To me it suggests that the Americans or whoever don't drive their trucks as hard as we do, i.e not made for Australian conditions means not built strong enough.

And I say do the story but be honest and tactful. They can't sue you for telling the truth.

[Yom]

compared to a cruiser or especially a Patrol (easily the heavier duty vehicle these days) a JK looks like a child's toy.

But phsyical size isn't really an accurate way to measure strength/durability. The quality of the materials comes into play as well.

[Crackles]

Also, when people say a vehicle is not designed for Australian conditions, what do they mean?........ What do you suggest it was designed for then?

I see there being 2 key reasons why a JK is not suitable for Aussie conditions.
1: They don't have the range, load or towing capacity to easily carry the gear required on an extended outback trip.
2: Jeeps are inherently built light & when loaded for touring wont stand up to the extended pounding of thousands of KM's of potholes & corrugated outback roads.
It's not that a JK cant be used for touring as it's my intention to do a fair bit with ours just there are far more suitable vehicles for the job. The first time we had ours on the hoist I couldn't believe how lightly constructed they were particually the suspension.
Personally I reckon they were designed for yuppies looking for an iconic good looking convertable as well as the hard core group after a go anywhere machine. My missus wanted one for the looks while I wanted it for it's offroad ability. Unfortunately it could never replace the Toyota for touring hence why I now have two 4by's