Ancient Machine

Well, this whole 3.6 fiasco just put my whole plan up in smoke. "No plan survives first contact..." and so forth.

I currently have an 07 JK, manual, 2dr, 4WD and am in Phoenix. I've been wanting/needing to upgrade to a newer JKU and an auto to accommodate the needs of most of my usage: DD, road trip, overlanding. I somehow missed the fact that there was a new motor and that the autos got a new gear box. Holy crap!! For reference, my first Jeep was an 07 JKU with 4.10s and 35s and it was an MFer to drive on the highway.

I plan to put 35s on the new JKU as well, along with a rack, RTT, ARB fridge, recovery gear, etc. BUT, since I had planned on regearing and probably upgrading to PR44s at some point, I had my 5 year plan laid out. Now with the stock gears and a 3.6 auto (from what I understand) this is a totally driveable setup as far as power and capability goes. I don't want to regear if I don't have to, as that money could be better spent on a rack or a RTT or whatever. So potentially no regear needed - huzzah, right?

Well, along with the new axles (justified by regearing cost vs investing in new axles) I was really going for strength and potentially lockers as well. So now with no regear, I'm left with the Sport axles and no lockers. I've had an issue with the stock weakness in the past, but I've yet to find a need for lockers. I know they can be extremely useful, and I'd rather have at least one than none for overlanding.

Is it worth it to spend the extra on a Rubicon and just reinforce the axles and call it a day? The 4.10s would be pretty amazing with the 3.6 and 35s. OR do I go Sport, reinforce and regear and throw in an auto locker?

My driving will be primarily pavement, but lots of ice/snow, plenty of steep and muddy fire roads and trails too, as I'll likely be driving it up to AK for a permanent home.

What do you recommend as far as having good power with 35s and extras, good reliability as far as strength, and good capability as far as lockers or none? Cost is definitely an issue, and the thought of financing the Rubi as opposed to putting PRs on a CC (or waiting forever to save) is more appealing though perhaps not the most cost-effective. What say?

Invest2m4

PR44s are way overrated in my view and the cost is insane for what you get. There's a reason no one else made a replacement 44 for a JK - it didn't make sense. Congrats to Dynatrac for building something no one needs, but everyone will buy.

Keep things simple. One payment. You'll be happy you have the t-case. The 4.10 gears are perfect for 35s. You have lockers. Toss some c-gussets on and some sleeves, and call it good. You'll have a warranty and peace of mind. If that isn't strong enough, then you need D60s.

The axle shafts on the Rubi got beefier joints this year as well, so the stock shafts should be all you need.

horrocks007

I'd put thinks like a 44 front axle, rubi t-case and lockers lower on the priority list. A lift, bigger tires and c-gussets will take you anywhere you'd feel comfortable going in the middle of nowhere loaded with gear. A rear locker is great if you can, but a limited slip is great too.

If you have 3.73 gears, you'll be fine with 35's.

Ancient Machine

Ah yeah Invest2m4 thanks for reminding me, I also meant to ask if there was any strengthening done on the Rubis or Sports in addition to the new motor. So the shafts seem to be a bit safer, which is great. My 07 I destroyed the shaft, Cs and joints, and when I repaired I went straight to RCVs.

I like to have it just very slightly overbuilt, but if there's no value then why invest? My current JK has not mods other than wheels and tires and has crawled up some gnarly walls in Moab - and that's not even the stuff I like to do! So I'm concerned my perception of safety due to past breakages may paralyze me into pure strengthening mods when they might be a waste.

As far as I understand it, the Rubi in the past wasn't really any stronger than the X axles. Is there anything there to really justify the extra cost (other than keeping it simple, like you said, which is valuable to me).

I have found a lot of functionality with the stock 07, once I learned to drive more wisely. If I don't have to invest so much in axles, I'd love to move that investment over into suspension.

Invest2m4

Middle of nowhere without lockers? And by nowhere, the OP said AK. And 3.73 gears on 35s blows. With 35s on a loaded JKU it brings the suck. So, now we're back to regearing and getting lockers, which essentially makes up the cost difference (minus a warranty). Plus, it's only $75/month difference at most vs. a sport and he never needs to cough up a ton of money for mods down the road.

Ancient Machine

That's really it. If I'm honest about my needs, I think a locker is definitely in there for where I'll be traveling. No point in building it half way and not being able to do what I need. But really, is it only a $75/mo difference?? And would 4.10 be enough?

IF the Rubi axles (w/ reinforcement) are strong enough AND 4.10s are low (high?) enough, AND the additional cost is justifiable vs regearing/gusseting/locking Sport axles, THEN I should go Rubicon. Yes? Any other factors I should be inserting in this logic table?

Jeep Wrangler JK Gear Ratios

Invest2m4

In terms of financing, I assumed $5k more for a Rubi, 2.5% apr, and 72 month loan (at that rate, borrow as much and as long as possible, you'll maximize your net worth all other factors held constant).

4.10s are fine. If it gets tough, you have a 4:1 transfer case. Sleeve and gusset the axle and you're good to go. That's $200 of insurance.

MOPWR2U

I've been doing more or less what you're doing, for the last 40 years. Except, back then we called it back country exploring, instead of overlanding. I go exploring almost every weekend. I've been stranded four times in 40 years, despite being pretty good at getting things fixed well enough, when they break, to get back off the trail. So when I decided to build a new JK I built it with the purpose of back country exploring in mind, which I frequently end up doing alone, or at least in just one vehicle, even if I have someone else with me. I knew I wanted a strong reliable drivetrain, and a winch, and I wanted to use 35" tires. I built the Jeep a little on the overkill side, but it works, and it should be as reliable as the myriad of electronics on a new Jeep will allow it to be. Here's what I did, see if it helps you out in your situation. Mine is just a two door, which works well for me.

Exploring Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument


3" lift
35s
Dana 60s w/ front locking hubs, 4.56 gears, Eaton electric lockers
Tom Wood driveshafts w/ 1350 joints
Poison Spyder armor
Teraflex tire carrier
Warn winch

jadmt

I believe (well know) the rubicon has stronger axle shafts and ring gears then the sport. axle tubes are the same.

MOPWR2U

The c-knuckles and tubes are the same, which are the parts that need beefed up the most.

And as for the $5000 difference between a Sport and a Rubicon that invest2m4 assumed, when I bought my Sport the prices were different than that. I went to Jeeps web page and went to the "Build your Own" section, and added all the options I would want on a Sport, and then built a Rubicon with all the options I would want on a Rubicon, and the difference was $10,000. That was almost enough difference to pay for my Dana 60 axles (which cost $13K). Except for the axles, everything else I put on my Sport I would have also put on the Rubicon. So the Sport with Dana 60s cost $3000 more than a Rubicon with stock axles.