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Will Jeep switch to IFS in the Wrangler?

drive21bronco

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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?
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NeoS281

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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 exactly. Solid axles are Jeep’s bread and butter and moving to IFS will lose their core enthusiast base IMO. Given their lengthy model year run (about 10 years) I can certainly see them doing this when the next gen (JM?) arrives. Maybe in Sahara-only form.
 

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Philly

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I have mentioned it before in another thread, but a good family friend of mine is an FCA engineer and he all but guarantees that the Wrangler will eventually become IFS. He didn't say when, but he was adamant it was going to happen. He also said the JL was closer to becoming IFS than we all think.

If the Bronco is as successful as we all think it is going to be, it might force Jeep to make the change for the next version of the Wrangler. Honestly though, things could change and Jeep could dig their heels in harder as a result of the Bronco and stick with SFA, but it's not the current plan.
 

HarderCorer

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I don't know but I guarantee that they have quite a few bean counters looking at focus groups to see where the money is. The point of the Bronco and Wrangler isn't to be the main moneymaker of a company. Instead we sell the image that sells the rest. The big question is, who will they calculate to be better for buying and promoting their brand, the old school SFA grey beards or the cool kids and their new fangled IFS.

And honestly I can't tell you. I'm not on wrangler forums. I only read this echo chamber.
 

ZackDanger

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I have some serious Mandela Effect recollection of an announcement that the Sahara trims would go IFS, and the rubicon trims would stay SFA....

Maybe it was just speculation while we were all waiting for the JL reveal.

---

At first I was thinking that perhaps the success of the Bronco would "allow" Jeep to put an IFS in the Wrangler finally... but the more I think about it, I think the move is for them to stick with the SFA and use it as their defining attribute to set them apart from the Bronco...

The ad campaign would be "Get a Bronco if you want to look like you wheel... get a Jeep if you're actually serious about Wheeling... you are serious, aren't you?"
 
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EvlNvrDys

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For all the guys who keep saying that Jeep will never go IFS because it's what Jeeps are, well that doesn't really matter to the bottom line.

I'd be curious to see how many Wranglers are bought every year by the diehard crawlers/off roaders. My guess is that is a mere fraction of total sales. The majority probably go to people who 1. Want to take the top off 2. Can easily mod to make it different. And if people start driving the Bronco and move to the Bronco for it's IFS, Jeep will certainly follow suit.

Who does Jeep want to sell to? 5k diehards that want SFA? or the other 195k people who don't care about SFA? and want a smoother ride.
 

PWillette

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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.
 

AcesandEights

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Those 195k other people don't know the difference between SFA and IFS. Most don't know what's under the hood, they don't know what 2.3, or 2.7 or 3.6 even mean, let alone what suspension or axle configuration they have.

The SFA is better for what the Wrangler is touted to be. It's a better off road design than IFS. The reason IFS is popular is for ride quality, and the Wrangler is not marketed based on ride quality.

IFS has been around forever, and Wrangler could have gone that way decades ago (in fact they did with other models). It's not because the Bronco comes out that they will change the Wrangler. The Wrangler had competition decades before the Bronco came out.

The Bronco is not a unique and special snowflake. Wrangler doesn't have to "respond" by going to IFS.

It isn't "diehard" Jeepers that maintain the SFA in the Wrangler. It is a simpler, stronger design that is better in most off road situations.

If Jeep goes to IFS in the Wrangler, they'll lose lot more "fans" and buyers than diehard Jeepers.
 

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Jeep sells more than 240,000 Wranglers per year as it is...amazingly successful for a long, long tim. I don’t think they jump ship unless after three years Bronco is outselling Wrangler by a decent margin. Even then...there would be tons of resistance within FCA. I highly doubt it ever happens.
 

Blksn955.o

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I kind of wonder when center diff IFS setups make it to production rigs. I am talking about when the diff/pumpkin is in the middle with equal cv axles out...like razer side by sides and stuff. Those setups have kind of proven very capable even in super rocky crawling.

With that said, would jeep do that? I kind of think that would be the way to step up and shut up to an extent the solid axle flex guys.
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