silvertoy

Hello everyone, I'm a total newbie to the site, but I forums have always served me well in the past and I've always tried to serve them back so here's my story.

I'm from PA, I do some light trail running occasionally Paragon (may she rest in peace) but mostly Rausch Creek where I enjoy a good day trip, some camping and some light blue/green trail running, and the occasional black .

I had a TJ (sport) for about 5 years which I loved. MT with some upgraded tires, rear locker and skids.

Soon, I had too many kids, needed 5 seats and wanted to upgrade my off-road capablities simultaneously, so I bought a well equipped FJ with Rear Locker, Atrac and the MT. The biggest compromise on-road was the loss of the convertible top (which is HUGE in our opinion) and the breakover angles. In return I get better mileage, better highway ride, much better power and so far, better reliability, knock on wood.

Then... The 4 door unlimited came out 6 months later and we were devastated. It had the 5 seats we needed and was convertible, had better on-road manners than the old jeep (not better mileage or power sadly from what I've heard).

So now I'm looking to place an immediate order for either a Rubicon, or an X with the rear locker and front sway disconnect (all 08's because I get supplier pricing, so no matter what, I'm paying about 300-500 under invoice. They are giving me an unbelievable amount for my FJ, so I'm not losing my butt there either). The sahara is pretty much a no-go because I can't order it with the rear locker or disconnect, only the limited slip. I only keep cars for about 3 years, so I don't usually do many mods myself other than tires (although I modded the hell out of my FJ unfortunately).



So, any thoughts on the X w/ rear lockers and disconnect, vs. the Rubicon. I know there are tire differences, but that doesn't phase me. What are the suspension differences. Also am I wrong to rule out the limited slip on the sahara as a viable trail worthy vehicle, mind you, I never plan to do much more than the green/blue type trails (aka, undercarriage dings, scrapes and mangled skid plates) not with the family in the car with me at least. I have been in situations w/ the FJ where I have needed to alternate the rear locker and the a-trac (brake based front locker) due to slippery rocks and such. Does that pretty much mean I shouldn't consider anything but the Rubicon. Mind you I did these same trails w/ the Wrangler Sport with only rear locker, but it was easier because of the breakovers and mostly because of the size of the old jeep, the new unlimited is significantly larger.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

count dogula

If you dont want to do much modding then I would really recommend the rubicon.

Renegade

This has been debated many, many times. If you can afford it and will use it, get the Rubicon. THe X is still VERY capable. Good luck.

Ctimrun

If you don't keep cars very long and don't want to mod it out, definitely get the Rubicon! Especially if you can somehow get the good pricing on it. I have alot of family who are employees of Jeep and could not get more than $100 off of MSRP on a Rubicon.

You will enjoy no matter what you choose because they are fun.

'drack

I'll agree with the consensus so far. If you don't plan on adding your own front locker to the X, then go with the Rubicon. You've stated that you found front traction assist useful in the FJ, so no sense in loosing that option when coming back into the Jeep fold. Gearing is another thing to consider with the 08's. Since 4.10's are only gonna be available on the Rubicons that might also steer you in that direction depending on the tire size you plan on running. I'm running 33's with the 4.10's right now and am rather pleased with it (2dr though)

On the other hand, a front locker and regearing both front and rear axles shouldn't run much more than two grand and that'd put the X below the sticker of the Rubicon....4:1 case is nice, but nothing that's necessary for greens and blues. Probably best to decide what the Rubicon has that you absolutely need that isn't available on the X and go from there, either way ya can't go wrong.

silvertoy

I'm not totally against getting the X and adding front locker. I'm more concerned about the suspension setup, I see that the x is almost 2 inches less ground clearance, is this from tires, body lift, suspension setup or am I mistaken? That's $600 right there for a good set of shocks and an alignment. Of course, now I'll probably have better shocks than what are on the Rubicon.

How about resale value? I look on cars.com and I see a couple of saharas and Xs floating around (not many though) But I never see a Rubicon, is it safe to say that the Rubicon will hold it's value better than the others. Coming out of the toyota that only lost me $800 over the course of a year and a half, I know I'll be dissapointed with my resale, but I would like to cut my losses however possible.

Also, I'm looking at the '08 change sheet that the dealer gave me, I don't see anywhere about the loss of 4.10, I know that it's on the x and sahara as standard, but it shows that when you add the tow package, or the Auto Trans it adds the 4.10 back in, is that the case? I forgot to mention that I probably will be getting the AT, I really don't like the idea of getting the Auto, because I would rather be replacing clutches than trannys, but at least my wife could drive it, it'll be my first AT vehicle, sadness. So is the 4.10 argument out?

'drack

They might have dated materials, but for the X and Sahara, 3.73's replace the 4.10's (3.21's are still the other gear available). That's what pushed me to getting the 07 rather than ordering an 08 (and having it now, I'm impatient like that). I'll try and dig up a link, but it's been posted on here already.

The ground clearance difference is as you suspected, tires. When they do the factory stats, they'll use the base X (which has 29ish" tires) vs. the 32" Rubicon. I'll let a Rubicon owner answer, but I believe the shocks are different as well, but that'll just effect ride quality....gotta say the stock X shocks are a bit gamey for my liking, but I went in knowing that I'd be swapping them out in a coupla months.

silvertoy

Good responses so far, I'm going over to OK-4WD tomorrow night in Phillipsburg NJ to talk about how much it would be to upgrade a Wrangler X with better shocks, tires and FR locker (I would order the Disconnecting sway and rear locker factory). So it's safe to say that the Auto tranny will have a 3.73 vs. 4.10, gotcha. The FJ's ratio is like 3.91 and that was usually adequate, I could have sometimes used something a little slower to crawl over some of the bigger rocks but since I will have an AT, I probably won't mind as much.

That being said, any additional comments on the drive ratios is welcome.

There is a 3K difference between the Rubicon and X with locker and e-sway. That can buy a lot of tire, shock and locker, but my main question is... Will the rubicon have a much higher resale, just because it's a rubicon? Whereas mods usually decrease my value? Do you agree? By the way, I'm all for using the search feature, but I haven't found these topics people said have been covered before, can anyone hit me with some links to those topics, no need beating a dead horse of course.

b1pig

i wouldnt buy ANY JK without the 4.10 gears. period. the engine is underpowered on the auto. merely adequate. the 6spd had much better response in the X with little tires and 3.2x gears than my Rubi with auto, 4.10 and 32s does.... as my memory serves me. I didnt drive one with the 4.10 and 6spd... wish I had, though.

I took the lump, as I knew I would add a couple of power mods later. I like wheeling with the auto. It tows good... but not nearly as well as my ZJ. (4.0, 33s and 4.56)

a coworker just bought a FJ. Its nice. I did like the design, and it seemed to have more power than my Rubi. Not a Jeep, though.

yellowjeeper85

i have the Rubicon 6 spd and i love it. I have an intake, a jet chip and a throttle body spacer and now that the motor is fully broken in, its really not underpowered. I can burn out if i want, do plenty of passing on the freeway or city streets, and keep up with plenty of my buddies "faster" cars. I would say go for the rubicon because it gives you everything you need and it would then be under warranty. My thoughts are that you would be right that a rubicon would bring more value at resale than an X, but i suppose it would depend on your buyer. If you were to sell an X with the lockers, gears, and tires aftermarket to an avid jeeper, he would be willing to pay a little more as he knows its worth it. If you were to try and trade it to a dealership, they would likely screw you big time for the aftermarket stuff. Thats been my experience at least. I have my Rubi for about 8 months now and i still have no complaints, rides great, has power now that its broken in, does everything i need it to and more, and i can go wheeling with it knowing if a locker goes bad, the e-disco swaybar dies, etc etc, its under warranty. at least for a while. Good luck with your purchase whatever you end up doing. As for the tranny, i'll always buy a manual out of preference, as for you, if you usually only keep cars for three years, i would certainly hope you wont have to change a clutch or an auto tranny. again, good luck