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Will Jeep switch to IFS in the Wrangler?

crashmtb

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Considering the Land Rover Defender also switched to IFS after a 33 years of SFA I'm thinking jeep will eventually follow suit.
The New defender shares nothing with the old one apart from the names stuck to it.
the old defender simply didn’t change for decades. Mostly because LR had no money.

the MB Geländewagen is a better example, having recently been redesigned and including IFS, with 95% of people who buy those never leaving pavement or the Starbucks drivethru. ...although they still make the old version for military customers.
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BrentC

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I guess that depends on if your segment is supported.

I have a full-size V8 AWD off-road SUV and a 4 door manual trans V8 sedan.

I can’t replace either with a newer modern vehicle. I think our current offerings available are less than ‘slim’.
Just noticed you have a Commodore, and you’re in North Carolina? Interesting.

Did you keep it right-hand drive?
 

NCOBX

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Just noticed you have a Commodore, and you’re in North Carolina? Interesting.

Did you keep it right-hand drive?
Negative, left hand drive SS

I’ve met someone that had one right hand drive but that’s taking it too far for me.
 

rtsherry73

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I have been thinking about this. The 2021 Ford Raptor, with its 5 link coil-spring rear suspension versus standard F150 leaf springs, answered the question. The Wrangler will have 2 different front suspensions: Wrangler Rubicon will have a solid front axle, other Wrangler models will have IFS.
 
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drive21bronco

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I have been thinking about this. The 2021 Ford Raptor, with its 5 link coil-spring rear suspension versus standard F150 leaf springs, answered the question. The Wrangler will have 2 different front suspensions: Wrangler Rubicon will have a solid front axle, other Wrangler models will have IFS.
This would probably be in Jeeps best interest and I wonder if that in turn would entice Ford to do something similar, however I don’t think they would ever go with a SFA option for Bronco.
 

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PWillette

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I have done my due diligence to give the new Defender every opportunity to prove me wrong, I’ve sat in them and gotten under them and studied them - it’s a damn crossover by any definition.

People want to use the GC with solid axles to say that unibody is capable off-road while ignoring the entire market of exoskeleton companies strengthening the unibody and the out of alignment frames. The fact is the new defender doesn’t have the frame and without a proper frame the suspension means bumpkis.

Every off-road stunt I’ve seen is in a heavily controlled environment. There is only so much you can do when you can’t equip it with decent sized tires.

As the word goes LR couldn’t afford to built an appropriate predecessor so they took a unibody vehicle and tried to make something it’s not. At very best the Defender is in the same off-road category as the Bronco Sport. I’ll take a Tahoe with a G80 any day over that.
Chill out dude, I'm not Defending the Defender and I totally agree with you but to my point Land Rover didn't give two shits about what the off-road enthusiasts wanted. When it comes to the bottom line Jeep will follow suit. In 25yrs there most likely won't even be a passenger vehicle with a combustion engine or MT let alone a SFA.
 

flatlander40

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I’m sure jeep is having some real tough talks and decisions to make right now

By no means am I an expert but I really don’t feel like they will just “give up the segment “and keep the I FS for that reason

Mall crawlers are the reason for jeeps success not rock crawlers

Watching all of these videos with hard-core jeep guys grinning from ear to ear is telling

Even many of the hammers vehicles are I FS

They could save themselves by offering both if It’s doable. Maybe have their wrangler model and then some sort of a Baja model

And then in time honestly probably fade out the solid front axle
 

TeocaliMG

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A part of me dies every time I see someone say that IFS is chosen for highway ride quality and is entirely a compromise to SFA off-road. We had some threads dedicated to the subject, i'm not wasting my time on it again. I just wish more people understood the differences and legitimate strengths of either architecture OFFROAD. Even after a week of KOH....smh.
 
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frinesi2

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A part of me dies every time I see someone say that IFS is chosen for highway ride quality and is entirely a compromise to SFA off-road. We had some threads dedicated to the subject, i'm not wasting my time on it again. I just wish more people understood the differences and legitimate strengths of either architecture OFFROAD. Even after a week of KOH....smh.
This thread really takes me back. I almost started throwing chairs.
 

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Just a thought :

If IFS proves to give the Bronco a much more enjoyable driving experience over a Wrangler do you think in time Jeep will end its stubborn love affair with the solid front axle in the Wrangler? If so how soon would they do it?
Not a chance. They’d lose their most devoted customers
 

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Dads_bronze_bronco

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Really? I would guess that only an extremely small number of off road enthusiasts buy it for that reason and that most people buy it because the top comes off and it’s a Jeep.

I would guess that if you surveyed Jeep owners only about 10% know what a solid front axle is or that they have one.

The same logic will apply to Bronco. The overwhelming majority of customers will never off road it or care what suspension it has.

However, if the ride quality is noticeably better to the average consumer that’s a huge win for Ford.
I think the “death wobble” press and now the Bronco may be the straws that break the camel’s back, but we won’t know until the independent YouTubers run comparisons.

Frankly I am surprised both Ford and Jeep aren’t designing for solid front axles on Badlands/Black Diamond and Rubicon/Willys, and independent on the rest (Wildtrack and Mojave being the desert runners).

Imagine how much TJ, JK and JL Rubicons will be worth if they do shift to IFS ...
 
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A part of me dies every time I see someone say that IFS is chosen for highway ride quality and is entirely a compromise to SFA off-road. We had some threads dedicated to the subject, i'm not wasting my time on it again. I just wish more people understood the differences and legitimate strengths of either architecture OFFROAD. Even after a week of KOH....smh.
I didn't watch much of KOH but to me it looks like those are rock bouncers. If I'm wrong go ahead and correct me. Most people don't offroad their Jeeps let alone drive them like rock bouncers offroad. I bought both my Jeeps just for the SFA I prefer to keep all 4 wheels on the ground when I rock crawl and that's much harder to achieve with IFS.
 

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I didn't watch much of KOH but to me it looks like those are rock bouncers.
King of the Hammers is a week long event, with all kinds of vehicles and races.

The big show / main event is not what most people consider "rock bouncing," though there is a rock bouncing event. KOH is always interesting discussion, because it combines insane rock trails with desert running in the same race. You can try bouncing the rocks, but you risk breakage the harder you drive the rock sections.

Tube chassis off road vehicles have taken on all kinds of shapes and suspension designs, each with a varying degree of success, in different disciplines of off road racing. One could write a book on the subject.

Anyway, back to the question, I think every time the Wrangler is up for a re-design, there is probably some discussion of IFS. I think one day, it will finally happen. I think the JL is a pretty decent vehicle. It it were to be the last solid axle Wrangler, I suspect they would continue making it along side an IFS successor for some time. It's possible that they could continue making the "old solid axle version" for a long time after the "new IFS version" is introduced.
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