Tyler2786

I would (and did) go X for your needs. I personally couldn't justify the extra cost when I don't plan on slow rock crawling with the 4:1 transfer case. You'll probably be a lot happier getting to add that extra $10,000 saved to new goodies for the jeep

pearl-drum-man

I think the X would work for you, but from what you intend to do I would go with the Rubicon, stronger front axle, lockers, and 4:1 transfer case.

deconstructionist

Check out this thread-- especially the posts by Ghostship.......


https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-talk-26/rubicon-vs-x-mod-48071/

Rubi alll the way!

pastorsteve

Because of your planned mods, I would get the X with sway disconnect and locker. The extra money you'll spend on the Rubi will more than build your X into what you plan.

Zee

I've never seen anyone regret buying a Rubi...

pastorsteve

Possible but I've never seen a "bone stock" anything. Dealers around here load the Rubi's up to between 32 & 34k. Stickers are running about 10,000 like the poster said above X prices at 22 - 24 K. I've had 6 Jeeps over the past including my current 08 JK and never needed half the weight or expense of half the add ons some guys put on their Jeeps to ride fire trails.

In fact I spend half my time around or above 12,000 feet on bedrock mountain passes and rutted trails and never needed a locker or disconnect - even when I have them. Unless the poster is planning on "heavy" off road or has an extra 10k laying around, he can go almost anywhere with a "bone stock" X - plus any add-ons he likes.

pastorsteve

Yep....... If you live below 2,000 feet you might think that. But it's not about finding a mud hole and jumping in. It's about getting places that others don't and experiencing the beauty that exists. If you think that "Jeeping" is all about mud and rocks, then you're missing out on the other 98%. Just ask some of your friends that have been to Ouray or other Colorado or other Rocky Mountain jeeping locations. Most get to places they've never imagined with a little skill and ........... yep, bone stock Jeeps.

pastorsteve

So that would mean....... nobody ever went in there before Rubicons? I think not. I'm sure everywhere you go folks who had never heard the name Rubicon went decades before you. For some reason people who purchase Rubi's (as nice as they are) think that's where the bar begins. I would actually imagine that there are more "mall crawlers" driving Rubicons than X's. Because "it looks cool".

And the places I go (again high-mountain passes with glacial lakes and terrain you can't even access until July because the snow doesn't begin to thin enough until July) finds many, read MANY non-Rubicon vehicles. Again I think they're great but not the end all. Just another Jeep. The driver is half of it. Grab your oxygen and come up and see us some time.

pastorsteve

The divisiveness on the other Jeep forums is why I tend to stay around here. On other forums it's always my TJ or my YJ or JK or CJ.....always knocking one over the other. Here, at least most of the time, it's all about JK's. Hopefully it will stay that way.

I would rather have a guide with a box-stock 1969 CJ who knows what he's doing and can wench, than some cowboy in a tricked-out Rubicon (or any over weight, over equipped Jeep) lead me into and out of the "stuff" any day. Again it's more about the driver than the vehicle. A lot of people who think their Jeep add-ons will get them, or keep them, out of trouble get into more trouble than the guy in the 4-banger Toyota 4 Runner who takes it easy and stays out of trouble.

pastorsteve

Nope. Just letting you know that Jeeping in something other than a Rubicon - is still Jeeping. "Get over yourself."? What are you 12?