How  I roll...
I'm a pickup truck kind of guy. I haul stuff. I tow other vehicles around from place to place often. I help people move all the time and until recently I just couldn't see myself driving a small SUV. A lack of physical space is the main reason I guess. I especially didn't think a small Jeep Wrangler 2-door would work for me.
Recently, however, our long term tester Jeep, a '07 JK Rubicon, was assigned to me for evaluation. At first I told myself "It's o.k., I'll simply put off all my hauling projects until I get the Jeep tested". I guess my rational was things can wait until later. However when looming deadlines and personal vacation plans started getting in the way, the anticipation of the stress to come forced me to make the Jeep work.

First stop: Jeep dealer in Prescott, Arizona.
Objective: Ready the Jk for Towing.

The new JK Wrangler comes equipped with a rear cross member that allows for easy bolt-on installation of the factory receiver hitch. Because our test Jeep didn't come with the factory hitch I figured I'd simply eat the expense and purchase one. Once at the dealership I was surprised to find this part was no bigger than a kitchen toaster-oven, and better yet only required one wrench to install. The cost was just under $170.00. The installation was a snap. Three metric bolts hold the unit to the chassis. Once I had the hitch installed a heavy rain storm hit Prescott. I took the little Jeep out in search of a place to shoot some water crossing photos. With a little help from my girlfriend I was able to get a few good action shots .
Packing Light:
Next we loaded our stuff for a two-week long road trip towards Lake Shasta in Northern California.
I found the Jeeps interior limited but workable. I stuffed softer items like sleeping bags and air mattresses between the hard-top and the rear-most down bar of the cage. This allowed plenty of space for my camera bags, laptop case and my girlfriend and her 11-year old son's clothing bags.
We spent a day in southern California before heading north to the Bay Area where my pending projects were waiting for my presence. The back seat of the 2-door JK is perfect for kids. My girlfriend's son said it felt more spacious than the back seat of the Nissan Titan extra cab I had recently returned to our loaner pool. I was impressed to find 19.5 MPG on our trip to southern california from Prescott, Arizona. It was 113 degrees outside and the JK had no problem staying cool or keeping us cool with the powerfull factory A/C. This made the 6-hour drive easy.
Towing with a JK.
The hitch  I installed would allow me to tow up to 2,500-lbs, enough to take a load of used tires up to my buddies place in Placerville, California. The little trailer shown here is the new official TTC Support Trailer I'm currently working on. This trailer is way to small to haul a side x side, but for smaller loose items like tires it's perfect. And talk about a perfect tow test for the short wheelbase JK?
Next task:
I needed to haul our Project Rhino up to the Sierra's for a photo shoot and testing. No problem. I simply borrowed a different utility trailer from a friend and loaded up the Rhino. Though the weight of the Rhino was noticeable the Jeep's 3.8L V6 did just fine lugging the load up the highway 50 towards Placerville.
Going Topless:
The new JK hardtop is super easy to remove. I simply removed three torx head bolts and with the help of two other people the top was gone. Once removed the Jeep took on a hole new character.
Lake Tahoe in the summertime is the perfect place to drive a Jeep topless. As such, I decided it would make sense to head up to a friends vacation home on the North side of the lake and soak in the scenery. The setting offered an awesome backdrop for a JK Rubicon photo session. It also gave me a quiet environment to write stories while my girlfriend and her son enjoyed the lake with friends.

So far so good.
I've started to realize the Jeep JK dosn't really hinder my lifestly as much as I though it would. The fact that it can tow a load negates all my complaints about limited cargo capicity. The open top is a nice benifit for environments where the spectacular scenery can be enjoyed. the MyGig sound system with Serius Sattelite radio sounds awesome and sure make the long drives go by faster.  The MPG benifit is worth mentioning as well. I'm used to 13-MPG best from just about any other pickup in our fleet. So these long road trips are costing much less thanks to the JKs 16-19.5-MPG I've observed thus far.