Jeeps and C-Dory's, a connection?

W

Wood Zeppelin

New member
I have a Jeep I plan to tow my future C-Dory with. I've noticed there seems to be a lot of Jeep owners who are also C-Dory owners. Jeeps are unique and so are C-Dory's. I think they both have a similar aesthetic as well as functional appeal. Does there seem to be a connection out there?

And, do Jeeps make good tow vehicles for C-Dorys!?

-James
 
James, yes I believe there are similarities & in more ways than just the utilitarian concept of the two. With especially, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon & CD22 having the go anywhere look with the ability to actually do it matched. Yet, I see most of the jeep wranglers set up for the extra rugged look, doing mostly mall cruising & many of the CD22's set up & used similarly except being on the water. Which is very fortunate for those in the market to buy used in near new condition.

We have owned many jeeps over the years with my first jeep experience, driving my Dad's Willys off road at age 10 & the present a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. We have owned our CD22 since 2003. Both our good looking Jeep Wrangler & CD22, have had their good looks with matching superb capabilities, well tested, but we would not use our Jeep Wrangler for towing the CD22, though it would be a wonderful looking set up if it's spec's qualified it to do so.

Jay
 
ssobol":xqqd9hyg said:
Based on various reports, I'd say that C-Dorys are quite a bit more reliable than Jeeps.
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I second that and might compare them more generally to Subarus in general capability.

Greg
 
Aurelia":3l5gxlw6 said:
ssobol":3l5gxlw6 said:
Based on various reports, I'd say that C-Dorys are quite a bit more reliable than Jeeps.
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I second that and might compare them more generally to Subarus in general capability.

Greg
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You two, may well be right if your applying your comments of the jeep being unreliable & also comparable to a Subaru in context to a jeep in the collective term encompassing most all the jeep brand name's made presently by Fiat Chrysler, as I can only relate my personal experience in the last six years to the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. If so a better comparison would have been the Toyota FJ Cruiser to the jeep, though both with their high relative fuel mileage, making for one comparison to a C-Dory that is poor. The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is one of the very few passenger vehicles still produced that uses solid front & rear axles, that come standard with lockers in both axles with a quick disconnect front suspension that gives it the ability to go over extremely rough terrain slowly, but very reliably with the additional ability to smoothly cruise on a freeway. I have found this present variation of the jeep the most reliable road vehicle I've owned so far. I could only wish all the Ford, Chevy, Dodge & other makes of vehicles I've owned in the last 49 years would have been near as well made. Thus said, I'm still not disagreeing with those who have had troubles with them, but I feel like those who have abused them, either C-Dory or Jeep Rubicon there are limits to how extreme they can be used & still hold up & there is the possibility of lemons & cherries coming out of the same factory. This, I can say for sure. In the comparable time I've owned & used both C-Dory & the 80000 miles on the two Jeep Wrangler Rubicon's, I've only had to perform preventative maintenance on the jeeps, while the C-Dory has consumed enumerable hours of my time doing actual repair, replacement & upkeep.

Greg, after posting the above paragraph, I re read your comment & then understood you were comparing the Subaru line up to the C-Dory & not to jeeps as I thought, so I'm editing this to say, I actually agree the Subaru might be a better overall comparison, though the best perhaps the old vintage VW bus.

Jay
 
I agree with the Subaru comparison, but I may be bias because of my new WRX purchase and the fact that my family has owned and loved Subarus for the last 15 or so years.

Hunky Dory wrote:

[In the comparable time I've owned & used both C-Dory & the 80000 miles on the two Jeep Wrangler Rubicon's, I've only had to perform preventative maintenance on the jeeps, while the C-Dory has consumed enumerable hours of my time doing actual repair, replacement & upkeep.

That's every boat owner![/quote]
 
After comparing most of the vehicles to tow my CD22, the first to be eliminated was Chrysler/Jeep. We finally chose a 2015 Ford F150 with the 2.7 liter eco-boost, tows 7600#, to tow both our CD22 and an RV.

The Subaru comparison is right on. We have a 2004 Forester with 172k miles that is still running strong. If there had been a Subaru that could have towed what we need...............
 
The "panther" is very interesting--but apparently the only thing "jeep" are the doors! The kit--ready to install the Honda engine, and VW transaxle--which apparently can be street licensed, is only $126,000. The unit complete with the Honda engine, and VW Transaxle, plus graphics is only $155,000.

Basically a fiberglass "hull", with Hamilton Water Jet--

Yacht tender in some areas? If you have a deck big enough to put this on, then maybe you could afford the Panther..
 
Back in college and for a few years after, I owned a CJ-5. It had a Buick V-6 with a 4 or 6 speed, I can't remember, plus a split transfer case and a Hi-Lo 4&2 WD. Loved that little rig. I pulled a ton of trailers with that. One that weighed about what my 22 Cruiser weighs. It was a 26ft Kawanda rowing dory. and then we loaded it with canoes and kayaks and drove from SE Washington state down to the Oregon coast at, you guessed it, Cape Kawanda, and back.

I never really compared my 22 Cruiser to the Jeep, but I sure would compare it to the VW bus. Can't say I ever slept in the Jeep. Might have, just don't remember doing it, at least not on purpose. :oops: :lol:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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The DW and I have owned jeeps for most of our lives. My wife use to race a V8 powered CJ-5 when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis WA in the late 70's. We also owned a specially equipped 'rock-crawler' that took us to so many tread-lightly places that most people will never see, especially as the government keeps closing off these areas to hiker's only. We still own a 1947 CJ-2 Willy's Jeep Overland with the classic WWII look.

To me , a C-Dory 22 is the floating equivalent of a CJ Jeep. It's small in stature, big in heart, and can go just about anywhere the owner has the guts to take it. That said, I have become a 'little' spoiled in my 'golden-years, and prefer the comfort and ride of the Tomcat.

Edit- I forgot to mention that I have found that short wheel base vehicles like the CJ/Wrangler are not generally good tow vehicles because of their short wheel base.
 
These last 2 posts have brought back a lot of memories from my days of being a fanatical 4X4 enthusiast.

Harvey - my first Jeep was a 1967 Willies Kaiser Jeepster Commando. It had the Buick V6 as well. No seat belts. Hit a bear trap(hole in the ground camouflaged with leaves and sticks) once. 3 guys onboard - 3 heads hit the windshield - 3 melon shaped bulges in it! Right front wheel was in the hole, left rear wheel was in the air. After assessing the situation my 2 friends hung on the left rear bumper to level the vehicle and I backed out. Oh to be young and fearless again!

John - I worked for American Motors from 1974 - 1980. Loved the CJ's. With the 304V8 they had the power to turn some big wheels. By 1977 I had saved enough and decided to order a pickup - the black "Honcho" model. My boss came to me one day and said that a guy was trading in a FJ45 Landcruiser. He had just bought it and didn't like it because its turning radius was too wide for bush trails. He got a CJ5 and I bought his Landcruiser which was less than 4 months old. Drove it daily for 26 years - still have it - wife says she is going to bury me in it. :) Most of the old trails around here have been closed as well. One has a shopping mall and subdivision on it. Others have been closed to all motorized vehicles. And others have just been closed because whoever owned the land is afraid of lawsuits if somebody is hurt.

Sorry for the reminiscing ramble.
Rob
 
I don't personally think much of Jeep products (nightmare history of reliability and safety issues), but I love how they look. I saw recently that Jeep will introduce a Wrangler pickup truck by 2017. Go online and take a look; I think it looks ruggedly awesome in a simple/utilitarian way.
 
Well, when we realized that Dotty doesn't drive anymore and we didn't need two vehicles, we settled on a 2014 Jeep Compass. It's just a 2.4L 4 cylinder with a tow package good for up to 2000lbs and a wonderful sealed Hyundai 6 speed tranny. It pulled our 16 footer like it wasn't even there. After 23,000 miles I have to say I have fallen in love with this much maligned Jeep product.
 
westward":1yi2iomu said:
I don't personally think much of Jeep products (nightmare history of reliability and safety issues), but I love how they look. I saw recently that Jeep will introduce a Wrangler pickup truck by 2017. Go online and take a look; I think it looks ruggedly awesome in a simple/utilitarian way.
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The only thing "Jeep" in a Chrysler and/or Fiat 4-wheeler is the Jeep decal :lol:
 
"To me , a C-Dory 22 is the floating equivalent of a CJ Jeep. It's small in stature, big in heart, and can go just about anywhere the owner has the guts to take it. That said, I have become a 'little' spoiled in my 'golden-years, and prefer the comfort and ride of the Tomcat.

Edit- I forgot to mention that I have found that short wheel base vehicles like the CJ/Wrangler are not generally good tow vehicles because of their short wheel base.
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John Clark
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John, You are right there, however, that short wheel base is tough to beat if you need to do a lot of backing and fine maneuvering to park.

My Jeep is one of two vehicles I ever owned that I wish I had not sold. The other.... my 74 Toyota Tercel 4WD Wagon. Sold it with 680,000 miles and new 100,000 mile tires and it was still getting 34mpg. I guess it was my second "Jeep"

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

HH_Cal_09_07_Jul.thumb.jpg
 
I rebuilt and drove both a '79 CJ5 and a '75 CJ5 starting in high school and into college. Then in my 30's a rebuilt an '83 Scrambler (CJ-style pickup), which I drive now, and plan to use to tow my 16' C-Dory. It has something like a 103" wheelbase, longer than the shorter CJ models and equivalent to most of todays mid-sized SUV's. It's only rated to tow 2000# though. It has plenty of power, I think it's a braking and stability issue, because it has a higher center of gravity. It also has relatively light weight axles. I'd love to get a 19' C-Dory but at 3000# I'm afraid it's too heavy for my Scrambler to tow. I've heard that with electric trailer brakes, maybe some axle upgrades on the jeep, and other tow/stability accessories?? I could go up to the 3000# 19'..? Anyone want to "weigh in" on this?
 
As far as comparisons, I think there is a form and function thing happening that Jeeps and C-Dory have in common. I also get the VW Van references (I've owned one of those too). When I think of VW vans, Jeeps and C-Dorys, to me they all have a spirit of fun and adventure about them. They look fun and they're built for adventure.

I have not had reliability or safety issues with any of my jeeps (Drove a '92 Wrangler for many years as well as my two CJ-5's and Scrambler). The CJ5's are the shortest wheelbase (and were narrow too) with highest center of gravity. Granted I never had to swerve radically at high freeway speeds, but the only time it was ever "tippy" was when I was young and doing some crazy off-road stuff one day. Reliability wise, I never had problems. I drove my Wrangler 250,000 miles without any major issues. In some ways they were built cheaply, however their simplicity of design and amount of abuse they take more than made up for it. Easy to fix and maintain! And they can do things most other vehicles can not... AND, Jeeps are both a convertibles AND a 4x4.. how fun is that?
 
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