There is a lot of WJ hate that exist for no tangible reason. If we're going to get into it, there isn't anything that jeep has made that didn't have issues of some sort. Even some of the most legendary Jeeps are legendary for rusting out pretty much just from looking at them.
within the wide world of jeeps, you are going to find people who are a little extreme about their preference of Jeep you are going to find XJ people who usually hate anything that is not an XJ, people who have stick shift Jeeps that universally hate any jeep that ever came with an automatic, and a WJ gets the nasty spot light thrown on it because it was considered to be the beginning of the end for the so-called pure Jeep.
Even when I go into the bush with other Jeep people, and I am able to keep up with everything that there are wranglers are doing, I still get told how my truck is actually just a minivan.
Off road trucks has become as much about image, preference, and concept as it has actual function. When I really load up the gear and have to take one of my four wheel drive diesel Rams, I get nothing but fist pumps and thumbs up. I find this extremely odd because my WJ when it was bone stock would run circles around either of my Rams with the WJ set in 2 wheel drive high.
I chose a WJ over and XJ or a Wrangler because it is distinctly more versatile, and definitely more comfortable while giving up little against either of those trucks. it's also a good deal easier to find a WJ at a reasonable price than it is either of the other trucks. in the quarter million miles of this trucks life, I have been given no reason at all to regret my purchase. Naturally, the Chrysler transmission needed to be rebuilt at about the 210,000 mile mark, but otherwise has had no major issues.