Let’s face it, not everyone who drives a Jeep is a hardcore fanatic. Not everyone knows they have a 1988 Wrangler YJ with Dana 44 axles, ARB lockers, 4” Skyjacker lift with double steering stabilizer and drop pitman arm, Supertop soft top and 33” mud terrain tires.
For you, maybe it is just the simple fact of driving the vehicle, and doing your own thing that matters. And that thing doesn’t include weekend trips over rocks and through mud, or lift kits, lockers and wheels – where you really need to know what you drive to get the parts you need.
Understandable.
And yet, while a Jeep owners’ manual does not come with a mandatory off-road punch clock, or a requirement you must spend 20 hours per week fixing something on the vehicle, it still can be helpful to know what you drive.
Because the question will invariably come up.
What kind of Jeep do you have? A JK? JKU? TJ? LJ, YJ, CJ?
Maybe you have found yourself at a Jeep event and the topic came up, or perhaps bumped into someone at work who is that hardcore fanatic and wants to know. You could even need a new soft top or ‘summer’ type top – nothing fancy – just a replacement, and you’ll be asked.
What type of Jeep?
It is this question which may be confusing to those who previously had no real reason to know, and one that often elicits only a shrug in response, or some half-hearted answer like ‘I don’t know, it’s a Wrangler.’
Thankfully, there is no reason to be embarrassed if you don’t know the answer, because you are not alone. We see and hear this all the time either daily on the phone or at the various shows we attend during the year.
So, in response, how can you tell what you have?
Well, it isn’t as difficult as you may think. Nor are those two- or three-letter codes listed above some secret ‘handshake’ kind of thing designed only for hardcore Jeeps lovers. In reality, they are simply internal designations by the various auto manufacturers who have owned Jeep over the years – AMC, Daimler-Chrysler, Chrysler LLC and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. And discovering which one you have can be as easy as knowing the Jeep’s model year.
Those of you who drive newer Wranglers, meaning ones built from 2007 to present, have the JK model (2-door) or JKU edition (4-door). This designation also fits a good majority of owners out there as Wrangler sales have skyrocketed over the past five years and now are approaching nearly 200,000 per year. That is a lot of Wranglers, and a lot of JK or JKU Wrangler owners.
However, if your Jeep Wrangler is a bit older, it could either be a TJ or YJ depending on the vehicle year.
Wrangler YJs were constructed between 1987 and 1995, while TJ models entered the market in 1997 before ending production in 2006. There was also a longer wheelbase TJ made from 2004-2006 called an Unlimited, or LJ.
Vehicles older than 1987 move outside the Wrangler era, and are termed CJ. These models were built from about 1945 through ’86, however they are a bit more rare compared to Wrangler and most who have one generally know what model they are driving. So we will stick with identifying Wrangler differences.
Now, what if you bought your Jeep used, inherited it, or came to ownership some other way and do not know when the vehicle was built. That gets a bit trickier, but the quickest way is just visually identifying a few key points on the Jeep.
Jeep Wrangler JK
If your Jeep Wrangler has four doors, then in just about all cases it is a JKU. There are a handful of custom-built Jeeps out there which started life as a two-door, but have since been stretched out to include an extra set of doors, but odds are you’d know if you had one of these odd balls as they are considerably more expensive than the average Jeep.
A few other easy ways to tell if your Jeep is a JK are side facing turn signal lights on the fender flares, as well as signal lights on the grille under the headlights, integrated fog lights into the bumper and performance enhancing features like stability or hill descent controls. In addition, all JK vehicles do have round headlights.
Jeep Wrangler TJ/LJ
Jeep TJs also have round headlights, but do not have amber lights on the front grille. Instead, the turn signal lenses are embedded into the front of the fenders. Plus, the factory front bumper does not have integrated fog lights. In addition, the vehicle’s width is about five inches narrower than a JK, so it is pretty easy to tell if you are able to compare.
Like we said before, Jeep also made a longer wheelbase Wrangler during the TJ years called an Unlimited (LJ). This one has a pronounced longer area from the rear wheels to the tailgate as its wheelbase is about 10-inches longer than a TJ – standing at 103.4 inches.
Jeep Wrangler YJ
The easiest, and quickest, way to know if your Wrangler is a YJ is to look at the grille. Wrangler YJs were the first Jeep to offer square headlights instead of the traditional round ones. Besides the headlights, two other defining features are windshield wipers that rest on the windshield itself due to the vehicle’s wider windshield, as well as ‘kinked’ grill slats that give a bent appearance to the front grille.
One quick note, Jeep did not officially build a Wrangler for the 1996 model year, but some people do have what they believe are 1996 Wranglers – or at least ones purchased in 1996. In most cases, these are actually left over 1995 edition Wrangler YJs with a few TJ parts included, but, again, the easiest way to tell would be square or round headlights.
Additional ways to identify your Wrangler
While features on the vehicle are an easy way to determine what you have, your vehicle may not be around to look at when you need to know.
So, other ways to figure out if you have a JK, TJ, or YJ – as well as the vehicle year – are through the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Most insurance cards list this number and you can enter it on Jeep's website here. Generally, this will let you know if your Wrangler is a 1998 or newer, plus it will also list any recall notifications you may not know about. Some cards will even list the vehicle year.
If nothing registers from that site, or if you know the vehicle is definitely older, another way is to check the 10th digit of your Jeep’s VIN as this corresponds to the model year. Vehicles built in 1997 have a ‘V’ in that position, while 1995 have an ‘S’, 1994 (R), 1993 (P), 1992 (N), 1991 (M), 1990 (L), 1989 (K), 1988 (J) and 1987 (H).
