My very humble opinion is sought after? Back in 1977 I bought a brand new 1976 Toyota Landcruiser. Life got in the way, career, ex wife, kids, mortgage etc etc. 20 years later I purchased a Jeep Wrangler, then in 2004 I purchased a new Rubicon. That was a great local vehicle, as it soon became way to small and weak for our extended long range touring needs. It was also very slow and lacked the GVW rating we needed to pull our trailer. I had an OME heavy suspension and it still bottomed out often. There is nothing quite as nasty as headwinds and having to downshift to 3rd gear wrapped up to 3200 rpms just to maintain 55 mph. It then became obvious that at around the 150 thousand mile mark we would have to begin thinking about major drivetrain repairs. It was already eating front axle universals and bumpstops for lunch, and the front driveshaft needed rebuilt about every 50 to 60k miles. And I'm a good driver, I don't abuse my equipment. I used to go wheelin with the local jeep guys and without fail, some one always suffered major carnage, and this was on vehicles with less than 100 thousand miles on em. I seriously considered an LS swap when it was time. All along though
I found myself attempting to make my Rubicon cruzer like, or at least like the 40 series I used to own. After a trip to Moab 4 years ago and having the crap beat out of us on interstate highways I decided enough was enough. ( note: I am a very experienced interstate traveler. during my career I averaged 140,000 miles a year, so I shouldn't have been suffering from severe fatigue at the end of a 12 hour day behind the wheel ) A month later I purchased our Toyota Landcruiser, sold the jeep and have never looked back. Toyota is so far ahead of the curve that American auto makers should be ashamed. Mine is a 1996, Full float solid axles, Triple Locked, body on frame, etc etc. Chrysler had none of these features until 2003. Nearly 15 years after Toyota introduced them to the consumer market. So, your question again? Build your Jeep or buy a Toyota? The Toyota will be what you are wanting your jeep to be right out of the box. Any build up of a Toyota is just icing on the cake.
