Topic: 4 Banger Wrangler as Oilfield Sales Vehicle, advise please

[Canuck Bob]

I am preparing to buy a Wrangler for an oilfield sales vehicle in western Canada.  I have been looking only at 6 cylinders but got wondering about the 4 as to suitability.  Lots of hiway time at 65-75mph 110-120kph.  Oilfield roads are basically good to real bad country roads.  4 banger in lo will be fine for what I need.  Its the hiway I'm most worried about.  Also do they get much better milage than a 6?  Willing to go with standard issue TJ with no mods unless absolutely required.  My searchs seem to indicate that the 4 is marginal with the large wheel upgrades but not much on the onroad performance of the 4.  Also which 4 is best 2.5 or 2.4?

Bob
Calgary, Canada

[jcsanders79]

I'd build a 6 if I had it to do over again.

[Jeffy]

I am preparing to buy a Wrangler for an oilfield sales vehicle in western Canada.  I have been looking only at 6 cylinders but got wondering about the 4 as to suitability.  Lots of hiway time at 65-75mph 110-120kph.  Oilfield roads are basically good to real bad country roads.  4 banger in lo will be fine for what I need.  Its the hiway I'm most worried about.  Also do they get much better milage than a 6?  Willing to go with standard issue TJ with no mods unless absolutely required.  My searchs seem to indicate that the 4 is marginal with the large wheel upgrades but not much on the onroad performance of the 4.  Also which 4 is best 2.5 or 2.4?

Bob
Calgary, Canada

I'd say, if you keep it small and maybe upgrade the tires to 31's, it will be fine.  Stick with the 2.5L, it has more low end torque then the 2.4L.

[neale_rs]

My 2.5 with 30 inch tires was pretty good on the highway.  The offroad milage was (and is even with 33 inch tires) much better than the 6 cylinder milage.  Sometimes my YJ would use 1/4 of a tank and the 6 cyl Cherokees and TJs would use 1/2 a tank or even a bit more.

[Canuck Bob]

I was hoping to hear of much better hiway mileage, I also searched the idea of improved mileage with manual hubs, apparently no luck there either.  Because it is a go anytime anyplace vehicle a hardtop is in order so I'm going heavier than I would hope for a 4 banger.  Too bad I love 4 cylinders.

Still looking for advice.

[Jeffy]

The weight of a hardtop is not an issue.  Actually at highway speeds the hardtop is more aerodynamic then the soft top and the extra 300lbs isn't a hindrance.

You won't find manual hubs on anything in the late 90's.  Just about everyone went autolocking hubs.  If that's a concern then you could add them like in your other thread.

[bidi]

I'd actually go with either the 2.4L or a 4.0L, not the 2.5L.  The low end torque is nice but since you're going to be spending most of your time at 65-75mph the other two are better.  Mine gets pretty unstable if I start going much over 65mph, and the engine is really screaming at that speed.  Exactly because of the 2.4's ability to easily rev higher, I'd suggest it for this application.  Later Jeeps even have that 6-speed tranny.

As a matter of fact, you can do even better if you were to get a 4wd Cherokee or Liberty.  They have 4 doors and are built to go faster.

[aw12345]

for a 4 banger go 2.4 is a pretty gutsy engine does better on the highway and crawls just fine on rocks

[howler]

  The 2.4L comes with an additional 27 hp factory and pushes 165lbs of torque @ 4000 RPM.
The 2.4 also comes with a factory electric fan. The six speed manual is nice as well.

[Jeffy]

Cons would be they only used the 2.4L in Wranglers from 2004-2006.  They went through two different manual's and 3 different auto's in that short amount of time.  The 2.5L was first used in 1984 with the CJ.  The Wranglers started off with the TBI in '86.  Then in '91 they went MPFI till the end in 2003.  Drivetrain was basically unchanged meaning they're are a lot of them out there.  Parts are cheap because of this.

Still, I wouldn't turn down a 1991-2006 with a 4.0L though.

As for mileage, check the Mileage thread.  It varies a bit but overall the I4's have better mileage over the I6.