The Jeep Wrangler YJ — which many of you know from the Jurassic Park movies — is known as the “redneck Jeep” for a reason. It has the distinction of being the only open-top Jeep in the brand’s 82 year history that, once lifted even slightly, becomes a vehicle that would look a bit out of place at a fancy establishment. Seriously, imagine an old Jeep CJ-5 or even a Jeep Wrangler TJ or a modern JL — any of those would look great out front of a country club; this is one of Jeep’s greatest strengths — it’s a great equalizer, loved by folks of all social classes. And yet, for some reason, this doesn’t apply to a lifted YJ, which is why I’ve vowed to keep my YJ in the only form that allows it to look just as classy as its siblings: stock form. As such, I’ve actually downsized my tires last weekend in order to go off-road without breaking off my fender flares; I bought the cheapest all-terrain tires I could find at Walmart, and then hammered on the bone-stock Jeep alongside a Ford Bronco Sport. What I learned is that a stock YJ isn’t easy to off-road, but it’s incredibly rewarding.
To drive home my point, just imagine you’re being dropped off at your fine accommodation in a limousine, and you see this vehicle parked out front:
“That thing is cool,” you’d probably say. Vintage!
Or imagine if, instead of that old CJ-5, you saw this Jeep TJ Rubicon:
“Oh man, a Rubicon! Badass!” you’d probably chirp to someone who couldn’t care less.
Or what if there were this modern JL Wrangler there, parked prominently:
That’d probably fit in quite nicely, I bet.
And finally, what if you opened up your Lincoln Continental limousine’s door and saw this near the front door of the Ritz?:
Something about that just doesn’t work, at least for me and quite a few others. Even ignoring the difference in paint color, that lifted YJ looks a bit like a Tonka truck. There’s something about how that creased grille and those square headlights interact with the big, now prominent leaf springs — it just looks childish. The Jeep CJ-5 shown before also has prominent leaf springs that aren’t particularly pretty, but I think they’re offset by the gorgeous bread-shaped grille and rounded front fenders. An old CJ is classy. A lifted YJ can never be.
In the Jeep world, the YJ has a reputation as a “redneck” Jeep not just because it’s the cheapest Wrangler money can buy, but because there’s just something about its looks, particularly once it’s been jacked up, which is something almost all owners do. And owners lift their YJs for good reason, too, as the stock suspension doesn’t articulate very well due to a strange design that includes both leaf springs and a track bar — a seemingly redundant setup. And while I plan to write more about this suspension in an upcoming article on how the Jeep Wrangler came about and why the CJ name died, my point here is that most YJs look a bit…off, since most have been lifted.
An unlifted YJ, though, is a whole different animal. Despite still having a creased grille and square headlights, and despite having leaf springs that one can see fairly easily (but that are not as prominent as they’d be were the vehicle lifted), the stock YJ is beloved by most, having garnered much of its public adoration in these scenes from Jurassic Park:
The sequel Jurassic World, includes this scene of two kids discovering and fixing the old 1993 Jeep Wrangler YJs that captured the world’s hearts in Jurassic Park:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-7HdIEkiGI&pp=ygUZanVyYXNzaWMgd29ybGQgamVlcCBzY2VuZQ%3D%3D
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the above clip:
Look at that stock Jeep; it’s small, it’s loyal, it’s tough, it’s reliable, it’s nimble. It’s just lovable.
Anyway, it’s for these reasons that instead of lifting my Jeep to accommodate the stock 31-inch tires that would have rubbed while off-roading…
…I simply bought some smaller 29-inch tires, which I realize may sound like blasphemy to you diehard off-roaders:
Then I headed to Rowher Flats off-road park with my friend Chris Rosales, author at The Drive and Ford Bronco Sport pilot for that weekend. First, I aired my tires down to PSI in the staging area:
Then I met with Chris and his particularly-nice-looking Ford Bronco Sport:
The park consists of a bunch of steep, rocky dirt roads that climb beautiful hills and that are fairly challenging.
Chris and I spotted an abandoned $1 Million RV on the trail (you can read more about that here):
The biggest issue that I noticed right away in my YJ was traction. Because the trail featured so many rocks and so many deep dirt ruts, the YJ had trouble keeping all four wheels on the terra firma. Here’s a spot where I got stuck, as the Jeep’s open differentials mean that if one wheel from each axle is up in the air, the vehicle cannot move forward (my rear clutch-based limited slip differential cannot transfer enough torque to the opposite wheel help in this situation):
Here you can see how stuffed my passenger-side rear tire is into my wheel well. Boy am I glad I downsized those 31s, or that black fender flare would be destroyed:
You can see two images above that the front axle doesn’t articulate much (due in part to its sway bar being connected), but as the photos above and below show, the rear’s flex isn’t awful:
Here’s a look at the right rear suspension, which is resting on its bump stops:
Because its open differentials mean lifting a single tire on each axle yields no forward movement, the YJ relies heavily on suspension articulation to keep its tires on the dirt. Typically, a dual-solid-axle design like the YJ’s will articulate quite well, but the YJ is different from all the CJs (and the WW2 “MB”) before it and all the Wranglers after it because the YJ is the only open-top Jeep ever to include a track bar with its leaf springs.
The track bar is the metal bar that runs from the frame down to a bracket on the axle; you can see the torx bolt that holds one end of the track bar to the axle here:
And here you can see the torx bolt that holds the bar to the frame on the passenger’s side:
The track bar’s job is to make sure the axle doesn’t move side-to-side relative to the frame, and I only mention it because it’s what makes the YJ so unique, suspension wise, compared to any of its forebears or successors — and not in a good way. The track bar swings in an arc as the axle articulates, but the leaf springs only want to go up and down. So you end up with a situation where the track bar wants to swing, but the leaf springs don’t want to bend, so they prevent that motion, thus limiting articulation. Pair that flex-limiting setup with open diffs, and as you can see, there’s a problem with forward motion:
Not helping things is the fact that the front leaf spring shackles reach fairly far down below the front bumper, reducing approach angle to about 32 degrees. (not horrible, but not amazing).
The rear bumperettes significantly affect departure angle as well; you can see my passenger’s side one digging into the dirt here:
Here’s a look at the Jeep from another angle. I’m stuck:
This situation, like all other times that I got stuck, required me simply backing up (Chris gave me a little push from the front in the situation directly above), and then adjusting my “line” (i.e. the path I’m going to take) and using momentum to launch the Jeep past the places where I had no traction due to limited articulation.
I’ve been off-roading open-differential vehicles my entire life, so I’ve developed a “feel” for when to apply power to get just enough speed to make it past the point where my tires have limited grip, and through an obstacle.
The Bronco Sport offers an entirely different approach than the Wrangler. Its articulation is even more limited than the Jeep’s, but it has a few tricks up its sleeve: traction control and a better clutch-based rear axle “lock.”
The Bronco Sport was able to leverage this technology to continue moving forward despite raising its wheels in the air. Its main problem, really, was its lack of a low-range gear like the Jeep’s, meaning it had to rev the engine to make enough wheel torque to overcome the tougher obstacles. In fact, you can see what I’m talking about in this video:
You’ll notice how the traction control system makes sure power gets to all wheels, but you’ll also notice that the engine seems to be straining itself trying to make enough power to get up the grade (Chris has his foot deep on the pedal). Ultimately, the Bronco Sport was unable to make it over this obstacle, as an engine-overheat warning popped up on the gauge cluster. (I think we could have gotten the vehicle up had we tried a few more times).
I won’t elaborate further on the Bronco Sport’s performance, as Chris is writing an article on that. But I will note that, way back in early 2021, just before the Bronco Sport went on sale, I had a chance to drive a few off-road in Michigan. As a former cooling system engineer, I had enough experience to call out my concerns about the vehicle’s thermal system; it didn’t seem robust enough to handle log durations of loose, steep off-road driving. Check out my article “Multiple Ford Bronco Sports Overheated Off-Road. Let’s Talk About It” for more on that topic. (To my surprise, though, it was engine cooling and not four-wheel drive system cooling that was the problem this time around, but nonetheless it’s all exacerbated by the same issue: lack of adequate gearing and thus a requirement for the engine to rev up to create enough wheel torque).
To be sure, the Bronco Sport exceeded my expectations in many ways. Its approach and departure angles, as well as its traction control system, mean it’s well-prepared to tackle some awesome obstacles, but doing so over a long duration in high-ambient temperatures isn’t something the vehicle excels at.
Anyway, both vehicles did make it to the top of the trail and down the backside overlooking a beautiful reservoir. Oh, and Chris nearly ran over this beauty:
I shooed the snake off by getting uncomfortably close to it. It was the second time in a week that I had to move a snake off a trail; the week prior I’d had to shove a rattlesnake off a hiking trail with a long stick. Check it out:
That thing had a loud rattle, but it was no big deal to me.
When I was a kid, my brother and I would go “creeking” almost daily in our local creek in Leavenworth, Kansas. We’d look for snakes, and Michael would catch them; all he used were some leather gardening gloves and a stick to pin their heads. We had some amazing close-up looks at some truly beautiful specimens. I think all that exposure to snakes is why I don’t fear them (unless they surprise me up-close, of course).
Anyway, what’s the takeaway, here? Is the Jurassic Park Jeep good off-road? The answer is: Absolutely. But, perhaps more than any other two-door Jeep Wrangler or CJ (not including longer CJs like the CJ-8, and not including the CJ-10 — I’m talking only the YJ’s true predecessors), the YJ requires a skilled driver. With no traction control system or locking differentials, limited suspension flex/articulation, and low-hanging front shackles, the driver has to be able to precisely maneuver the Jeep to get the front tires up onto an obstacle, then the driver has to accelerate at just the right rate to get the vehicle over the obstacle and past the points where a wheel on each axle might be up in the air.
There’s plenty of torque, the vehicle is lightweight, and the belly is small and well-protected with skidplates; the YJ has a lot going for it, so in the right hands, it can be a formidable off-road weapon. But with an unskilled driver behind the wheel, the thing isn’t getting too far past the parking lot.
As an avid off-roader who enjoys a challenge, I love the YJ’s off-road performance, and actually, I think it handles on-road better than I’d have expected. Those track bars that limit off-road suspension flex keep the vehicle planted nicely through corners. The ride isn’t amazing, but it’s fine, and that five-speed manual coupled with the 190 horsepower 4.0-liter straight six makes the YJ a true joy. And that’s with the top on.
I suspect that once that lid is off, the YJ is going to quickly become my favorite vehicle in my fleet.
The only things I know about jeeps, other than riding shotgun in someone else’s, are from this site. However, I know what I like aesthetically.
Great call on the tires, DT! I think they look much better. Are you gonna keep the full-frame doors?
No, going to half-doors!
You can’t really go wrong 🙂 Congrats on making a decision, ha
Being a slacker, I do most of my autopian reading at work, which has for some reason blocked the image host used in this article (I assume Facebook). I can see the jazel hosted images, but most are blank.
I know this is more of a “me problem”, but I am likely not the only one.
same problem at work for me as well.
Likewise, I just see “No description available.”
The YJ holds a special place in my heart.
When I drove my first YJ, I realized that it was something different, something special. Maybe it’s because it was the first vehicle that reminded me of riding around the yard with my grandfather in his beat-to-hell CJ2A; with him perched atop a milk crate and cushion, with me on the floorboard on some milk jugs with coats on top, grabbing on for dear life.
For the first test drive, that YJ felt like a road “legal” version of that CJ2A from so long ago. The sound of the road filtered in through the panel gaps and thin floorboards, the canvas top whipped and rippled, snapping in the wind as the Jeep roared up to 45 MPH. The AMC 2.5 was winded and out of tune, but still up to the task of pushing this metal lunchbox through the humid summer air and down the road. I felt like Calvin, sans Hobbes, hurtling down the hill on a metal wagon, a rickety seat separating me from the fleeting tarmac below.
Something, something it’s a Jeep thing.
Not at all surprised the Bronco can keep up with the YJ on the trail. I regularly drive a 7 passenger mid size SUV off-road (fairly mild stuff with AT tires) and in most situations it does beautifully. Even when I’m teetering, the traction control makes sure the wheels on the ground get power to keep moving forward. If I drive those same trails with my ’70 Jeepster (mechanically similar to a TJ), I feel like I’m an explorer, mapping out undiscovered lands. The SUV is like listening to classical music while drinking tea and the Jeepster is like moshing to death metal. You can guess which one my wife won’t ride in.
I think stock YJs look great and those wheels are my favorite stock Jeep style along with the Icon wheels on the XJ Classic and Limited near the end of their production run. Re: the Bronco, on the trail I’ll take a mechanical system over electronic any time so I think you still have the better vehicle there regardless of the YJs setup. And that Jurassic World clip would have been so much better if they had actually made that engine sound like a four liter.
The factory yj suspension is better described as a structure as opposed to a mechanism. Get some sway bar disconnects it’ll make a world of difference.
A friend of mine bought a YJ new off the dealer lot back in ~94 or so.
he described the ride and handling as the worst he had ever experienced in his life (and that includes the military trucks we drove)
he spend a bunch of money on some high end gas charged shocks, better tires and maybe a 2″ lift and it just made it worse.
he sold it after less than a year and a half because it was, in his words, the worst car he’d ever experienced.
about the same time I bought a ranger XLT supercab 4×4 5sp with the off road perf pack (LSD, bigger tires, factory 2″ lift, 4.0). to this day I regret ever selling that truck, the zenith of small pickups.
Buys off-road vehicle full of ancient technology and uses it on-road
Upset that it drives like shit
????
Short wheel base too. I will still bet money the open diff, solid front axle would run circles around the Mazda from Ford.
This article to me proves you don’t really need all modify the crap out of your 4×4 to do most trails, just a bit of skill and patience. My old man used to take us off roading in our LandCruiser and later a Prado in the 90s/00s and the only modifications he made were a good set of all-terrain tyres and a bull bar (unfortunately essential here, especially when driving at dusk). Recovery gear was a shovel and some lengths of timber. No lift kits, no giant muddies that generate that incredible droning roar, not even a snorkel (though admittedly he wanted one). The best thing was the car didn’t drive like garbage on the hundreds of KMs of paved roads between the high country or the desert or wherever and our house in the suburbs.
And yes we probably couldn’t do every trail, but I’ll wager we got through about 90% of them, including the famous Simpson Desert crossing, some pretty steep grades in the high country and later my parents tackled the Cape York track in the Prado.
DT, as someone who isn’t a member of the Church of Jeep, I think all Wranglers look like Tonka trucks. They all look redneck. None of them look classy.
You take that back!
says the guy in the “Free Candy” van.
I don’t make claims about its beauty.
Hey, I got in a couple of cases of M&Ms yesterday. Want some?
Yes!
In 1989, I came this close (picture a thumb and forefinger about an inch apart) to purchasing a new Khaki Metallic Wrangler for around $13k. I didn’t pull the trigger because I thought that was too much money for something as primitive as a Jeep and because I really disliked the square headlights. If the dealer had had a Spinnaker Blue Metallic model on the lot, things might have been different as I was an Air Force man and that blue was close to our official vehicle color. But it was Army green, so I passed and bought a ‘74 CJ5 for $500, instead. Funny to note that an average ‘89 Wrangler would still be selling for $13k today. And I still think it’s too expensive, though I’ve grown accustomed to its face.
So I was looking at an 86 CJ that I could have sworn had a front track bar.
I understand that a track bar and leaf springs isn’t normal on jeeps, but it’s nothing unusual on other cars. Chrysler minivans often have leafs and a track bar, and 3/4 and one ton pickups often do too.
86 was a transition year, it possible could have had some early Yuppie Jeep parts on it. but I think you either saw the steering arm or even more likely an early sway bar if it was just one bar and up front. Track bars are generally a pair (though I do have an F250 axle wrap bar that looks trackish on my CJ with a GM 14 bolt out back) and they connect the frame to the axles near the springs/shocks
My biggest problem with the YJ’s appearance has always been that the front wheels aren’t centered in their arches. They’re too far rearward. It makes it look like something is broken. You don’t notice it on lifted ones, but at stock height it sticks out like a sore thumb.
I see David’s white YJ pull up to my “fine accommodations” and I think, “That mail-person drew the short straw and got the left hand drive mail Jeep.”
Cher Horowitz a redneck? As if!
Why would you leave the track bars and sway bar hooked up?
breaking the first rule of off roading, don’t leave the Mall crawler stuff in place
There’s a fancy establishment that serves pasta in shower stalls? Must be an LA thing…
I’m not saying the YJ isn’t a Jurassic Park jeep because it absolutely is, but to me it will always be the MacGyver jeep first.
Same. I can still hear the theme song
You’re a good person for stopping for snakes, and ushering them out of harms way.
The trampling over of wildlife and habitat is one of my biggest grievances about the rise of the overlander phenomenon.
I like to believe that most people in the off road community are attuned to this problem but have come across too many that don’t even consider it.
Hence, why my blood gets set to simmer when I see commercials for these types of vehicles showing them speeding along a trail at break neck speed or when I see the rich novice in their decked out Barbie cruiser on the highway.
I recognize that I am not innocent in this regard due to the fact that I drive a car, and every car kills creatures.
My contention is with those that go out seeking fun with a solipsistic mindset.
Where I grew up we would occasionally get large swarms of migrating Monarch butterflies passing through.
Watching drivers mow through them because they couldn’t be bothered to slow down, and all the faintly fluttering ones heaped on the side of the road is burned into my memory and thought process.
I know, it’s just one snake, but there are angry eyed Jeep drivers out there that will swerve to hit them on purpose. And not have the decency to bbq and eat them afterward.
Anyway, I guess my point, as a fellow snake lover, is that gofer snake looks delicious and it’s skin could be used to make a few nice wallets.
Perhaps the best movie about motorcycles ever made is On Any Sunday. The sequence on desert racing has one of the movie’s best little bits of offbeat humor – as the racers are blasting through, a desert tortoise starts mistakenly making his way across the course. He’s narrowly missed a few times as he heads toward the middle of the path and certain death.
Just when things look bad, a racer pulls off, puts his bike down, runs out/picks up the tortoise, and carries him to the other side, brushing him off as he sets him down in safety. Bruce Brown’s laid back surfer narration captions it perfectly with simply “desert racers are good people.”
Brown’s whole reason for making the movie was to show people that motorcyclists weren’t just obnoxious dirtbags harassing people, but the kind of cool people you’d want to know. That one scene nailed it.
It’s been on the back burner for a long time, sounds like I need to move that film up the viewing list.
I’ve never even heard of “On Any Sunday” Jack.
But now I want to watch it.
You’ll love it…even non-vehicle people like it, so anyone who’s here will really enjoy it. And Bruce Brown’s son, Dana (also a renowned documentary filmmaker in his own right) made a followup in the ’10s called On Any Sunday – the Next Chapter that’s nearly as good.
Slight correction (not meant to offend), the tortoise did not ‘mistakenly’ enter the course. The course traversed it’s habitat.
Yup! It was the tortoise’s fault for being on my land before I got there.
Perhaps we need to build a big beautiful wall. And make the tortoise pay for it!
Quite right.
Watching the movie the first time, I wondered why they were showing that bit and was unsure (b/c it was made in the ’70s) what would actually happen/be shown.
1000% this: On Any Sunday
Thank you. Whatever happened to tread lightly? My blood boils watching all the river fording. These people don’t even have clue of the damage they are doing in the name of ‘recreation’. Cool maaan!!! Watch me make a mess of this! Maybe redneck after all…
“Whatever happened to tread lightly?”
Facebook, and all social media outlets that ride their jet skis in its wake.
The YJ is also the model that MacGyver drove. Hard top no less. In one episode, he uses its radio, the electrolyte from a cactus, and his watch to triangulate the location of a mobile guided missile launcher!
For those of us in Mustangland, this article reminds me a lot of the versions with the relatively unloved 4.6 modular V8.
The engine has neither the history of the 302/5.0 that preceded it nor the refinement of the Coyote 5.0 after it, but it’s quite good for what it is. Very durable, fairly optimized from the factory (whether that’s good or bad is debatable), and imparts a final pony car rawness that later Mustangs lost as they became more sports car.
That’s a San Diego Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer annectens). Harmless.
Unless you’re a rodent.
I’m just happy you bought actual new (not ‘new to you’) tires for it, DT.
I don’t have that much experience with YJs (though I will absolutely be building a Jurassic Park clone eventually). Can the suspension be upgraded to address these issues at stock ride height?
The purchase of brand new tires was certainly the biggest surprise of the article.
At stock ride height they only have a few inches of uptravel, at least mine did. I suspect the springs on most of them have settled so new stock springs may lift it an inch or more and provide more uptravel. Disconnecting the sway bar will greatly improve articulation in the front. A rear locker would make a huge difference as well, the limited slip isn’t adequate for tire lifting situations, but that would put a lot of stress on the rear axle which was always a week point in these.
I feel like if Steve Martin had ever driven a Jeep on film that David would know who he is.
TBF DT knows who Steve Martin is he just thought most of the Autopian Crowd wouldnt know.
Just riffin’ man.
Steve Martin? I hear he is a wild and crazy guy or maybe a jerk. He may also have two brains, be the father of the bride and occasionally make a leap of faith.
I had a YJ for a while abd everybody I talked to said ride quality (not to mention articulation) was greatly improved by cutting off the track bar. Seems Jeep only put that there as a half-nod to rollover prevention, not that it did much.
(Argh, I give up. Posting image links here is miserable.)
Sorry about that.
I guess there are fewer and fewer services thar allow image hosting due to copyright and abuse issues. Internet today kinda sucks…
“thar allow”
Aye, it’s best we not let the pirates continue to plunder our artistic or intellectual properties.
Lest we lose all creativity in a vast conglomerate whole.
I’m excited to read the article on how the top of the line Bronco Sport overheats brand new offroad.
Hopefully there will be a future technical deep dive article on the subject of ‘How 4x4s are built to stay cool when wheeling…’
Go read the article DT linked. The bottom line is that the engineers had to compromise somewhere, and hard core off roading was not the Bronco Sport’s mission. Ford sells a Bronco for that purpose.
Yeah, I’m getting a different message: “A Bronco Sport off-roads as well as a YJ??? That’s impressive! I had only expected it to off-road about as well as a CR-V.”
Bigger capacity radiator bigger reserve, electric fans.
Diffs and transmissions need cooling too. It could easily be a whole article.