Once again, Jeep takes home top honors in 2020. First it was the Gladiator name Truck of the Year, , now the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon EcoDiesel has been recognized by the editors of Four Wheeler magazine as the 2020 SUV of the Year!
Category Archives: Jeep
In the year of its debut, the Jeep Gladiator has been awarded the prestigious Truck of the Year by a panel of automotive experts.
The North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year (“NACTOY”) Awards were created in 1994 by Christopher Jensen. Every year since then production vehicles are selected and judged by a panel of about 50 professional automotive journalists who work for various magazines, television, radio, newspapers and industry websites. The NATCOY awards are unique in that they’re the longest-running awards program that is not associated with any single, specific company, publication, website, radio or television station.
The Consumer Electronics Show bills itself as “the largest and most influential technology event on the planet.” Every year thousands of people descend on Las Vegas to see the latest tech, as the world brings its best to town.
Question: What is the best year/model of Jeep that a Jeep Wrangler fanatic would recommend? I am planning to get a Jeep Wrangler to fix and customize. I want to know which model/year to pick for good performance.
Answer: It depends on what you want from your Jeep.
CJ-5
The CJ-5 is a fantastic vehicle, and it’s ridiculously inexpensive. The best years for it, again, depend on what you want. The 72-75s have a Dana 44 rear and a V8 option. The 76 and newer have a more robust chassis, but a smaller engine bay. The 77-79s had a boxed frame and disc brakes. Finding 76 and newer parts is still fairly easy to do. Earlier ones … well, you’ll do a lot of searching. The good news is that during it’s production run, there were 603,303 CJ-5s manufactured between 1954 and 1983.
A: Depends on what you want from your Jeep.
The CJ5 is a fantastic vehicle, and it’s ridiculously inexpensive. The best years for that, again, depend on what you want. The 72-75s have a Dana 44 rear and a V8 option. The 76 and newer have a more robust chassis, but a smaller engine bay. The 77-79s had a boxed frame and disc brakes. Finding 76 and newer parts is still fairly easy to do. Earlier ones … well, you’ll do a lot of searching.
The CJ6 is a strange little Jeep. I wouldn’t get one unless you’re a collector. It’s, basically, a long wheelbase CJ5.
The CJ7 was a really robust replacement for the CJ5. I liked the longer doors on mine, and the hardtop & hard doors were useable. Getting a post 1982 one won’t get you the heavy-duty parts that came on the earlier rigs, but you’ll get wider axles, Dana 300 transfer case, and it’s not that difficult to find one that came with a Dana 44 rear end. I’d recommend the straight 6 over the V8; same torque, better MPG (although MPG isn’t the reason you buy a Jeep).