I went from a 2008 2 door hardtop to a 2014 4 door soft top. It was and has been the absolute best decision I could make. The 3.6 is world's apart from the 3.8. Get rid of the 3.8. Almost all my parts swapped except my lift, which probably would have but just been lower due to weight, and the rails. I had the dealer throw in 4 door ones in order to do the deal. Oh, and I couldn't swap my supercharger of course, and my spod. Most everything else was a go. DO IT!!!!

 

You are correct, at the bottom of the list are the parts I am hoping to swap with the unlimited, the hood itself being one of them. They mentioned it would be possible but would need to make sure the service manager is okay with it as well. My only worry is that they will say it is okay but they want to do the swap, which A) would probably cost me a stupid amount, and B) really don't trust their work

Items such as the snorkel without swapping the hood would be pretty goofy due to the huge hole in the hood, hope that is a little enticing factor for them. I have a feeling it will take a bit of time since they were not able to locate one in Canada over the weekend. Basically has to look the same, rubi, 4 door, black, same color dash (seats have covers so don't care of seat color), non painted fenders, nav systems optional, basic power options, tow package, don't care about the nav display as long as it has the satellite radio, which I think they all do, 3.8L JK, so 07-10 I believe, Penstar would be nice but then that means having to rebuy a lot of the panels as you mentioned, so sticking with the current version.

Is the tow package really worth it? When I did my LOD rear all it seemed like it was, was the hitch itself, and a wiring harness. Is the harness cheap or is there some other 'module' in the Jeep for it? The rear LOD bumper has a trailer hitch in it so the only part left of the factory tow package is the harness and whatever else is included in it.

 

You know.... I reeeeally was looking at the new ones but I don't know... I like that I've almost paid it off and they want about 36k for the start of the penstars to about 49k for the 2014 4 door rubi and only 12k for my 08 as trade in. A lot more then I want to spend as I'm trying to save up for a new home as well. Figure this idea shouldn't cost more then a couple thousand to swap (not counting my hours of labor )

 

When I purchased my previous JKU (a 2011 Sport) the Jeep did not have the tow package. Typically the tow package includes a different ratio rear end, the wiring harness, and the hitch. The dealer charged me $350 which, in my opinion, is high. There is no module needed for the harness. I believe it plugs into a connector inside the taillight area. The hitch and/or harness may be purchased separately, or, the hitch kits from places like 4X4 or Quadratec have both the harness and hitch. Both harness and hitch should cost less than $100 even after tax and freight.....unless you live in California where the tax rate is like paying double for anything.

KG6SLC aka Eugene

 

I still have my 2008 2 door. I will probably private sale and add the money to the new Jeep. I honestly will tell you it was well worth it. Some $25 panels are easily replaced. I didn't buy a Rubicon and won't as almost everything we change anyway. I have Fox external reservoir shocks, Teraflex upper and lower adjustable control arms, and most everything else you can think of..... 35s, etc. I am getting average 18 to 19mpg. My 3.8 with a supercharger and same rims and tires only got 12mpg max. It was well worth it and doing a private sale you can get a lot more for yours than 12K the dealer offered. Add it to it, and before you know it your new one is paid off.

Oh and yes..... The hitch and harness should be less than $100. I switched mine from my 2 door. I have 3.73 gears on the 2 door and 3.21 gears on new 4 door and it still pulls better than my 2 door 3.73s with the supercharger. I am just saying. I was in your same boat. It was well worth it.

 

Op you might consider getting a used jku sport from the 3.6 years, that gets you the 3.6 which will out perform the 2 door with a 3.8, like other posts mentioned if you do sersious off road modding you would be taking off rubicon stuff anyway, so same with a sport, just alot cheaper. the main difference in performance between the jk and jku is the longer wheel base, its a smoother ride on the highway and you can climb and descend slightly steeper angles, at least on paper. youll love the jku as much as your jk, especially once its modded just the way you want it.

 

Good info! Thank you

All this talk really makes me re-question putting all this work to get the 4 door in a 3.8.... The pricing around here for the 3.6 in 2012 is not bad and still manageable with the budget.

I'm not sure how much money I would save getting the sport over the Rubicon around here since they all seem to be $29-35k regardless of trim level I'm planning to take the Jeep in a more expedition/overlanding direction then serious offroad on rocks and such. The rubi seems like a good starter platform in this case. Wouldn't I need to upgrade the entire diff and axles to get the Dana 44 w/locker + gears? Seems like it would cost a good chunk of change. With the dana 44 and rubi locker I wouldn't plan to change it out anytime soon since on my 08 at least it has proved to be sufficient for what I do. I'm always interested in saving some money by DIYing but afraid buying it all up to get where I would be with the rubi would end up costing more.

 

And thinking about it, the rubi has a 4:1 transfer case where as the sport doesn't. So I'd need to look at a rear locker ?and gears?, front locker with gears or get a dana 44 with lockers and gears, sway bar disconnects, and a new transfer case. I imagine that will all run me more then the difference on a used sport vs rubi.