I've had the Jeep for a few weeks now and have gotten used to it. I only bought the Rubicon because it was on the lot with extremely low miles and priced way under it's real value. I have no intentions on using it for rock crawling. It's a daily driver and may see some dirt roads now and again.

I've been scouring the forums ever since getting it and it seems as if almost all of the chatter is about modifications and random repairs. But I haven't seen much in the way of "known problems" other than things like hood flutter.

So with that said... What are the weaknesses that I'm missing here? I may spend some money on giblets and farkles, but won't ever install a lift kit or bigger wheels/tires. What SHOULD I consider spending money on just to avert impending doom? There's got to be something that I'm missing, as every other vehicle-specific forum I've joined over the years is pretty good at highlighting weaknesses that will haunt you eventually.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Tom.

 

Here's what I would do: upgrade all fluids to synthetic. Save the rest of your money for gas.

 

^^^yep, change all fluids (use fluids that meet Chrysler specs). I changed all mine early on and found that the fluid in my manual trans was half full from the factory (it was a 2013).

Change the trans, t-case, and diff fluids.

Not sure where you live, but once every couple months, at least hit a dirt road and shift into 4wd and 4lo and also engage the lockers. Will help keep things working long term.

 

I just installed 1.5" wheel spacers with my stock Rubicon Wheels. I like the wider stance and it seems to handle a bit better on the road, especially in the corners.

 

Tom, my only advice would be to someday allow your Rubicon to impress you with its capabilities off road. People buy Rubicons for all sorts of reasons, some having nothing to do with using them off-road and that's just fine. Take someone that knows, go, and be amazed. If you never utilize the capabilities of a Rubicon, it's like never burying your foot into the carpet of a Porsche GT3 RS. You'll forever be missing something, even if you only do it once, go do it to see what it feels like. For me, personally, Jeep only gets some of the credit, but getting the hell out of Dodge and where Subarus can't go, has been life-changing for me, and I've done it all in a paltry little Wrangler Sport.

In terms of "known problems", you're probably in the clear. You're looking at routine maintenance and common SUV/4x4 issues like ball joints that sometimes wear prematurely, and keeping up with fluid changes in the axles, transmission, etc. With a model-year 2013, you might be part of the Pentastar tick issue if you have an early 2013. I've heard Chrysler has since reached out to a subset of affected owners and has automatically extended the powertrain warranty for affected vehicles.

Modifications that will suit you well on-road are things like headlight upgrades (stock to Trucklite LED's, for example). The H13 headlamps in our stock JK's are pretty dismal at night. Maybe when your stock BFG KM2's go, you could look at getting a tire that's more suited to highway travel. I'd keep it "all terrain" but something with a tighter tread pattern, harder compound to help with gas mileage, tire longevity, and ride comfort.

Fact is, we're dealing with a relatively new engine (Pentastar 3.6), and some new interior components, but the rest has already been proven time after time and mile after mile. The rest, we will find out in time as these vehicle start to age. The Dana axles will last seemingly forever with mostly on-road use, the 5-speed auto is a proven transmission from Mercedes, and the 6-speed manual has been around for ages.

Congrats on the purchase...you have many happy miles ahead of you!

 

Hey OP, good buy, even if you dont offroad heavily. Having been in almost the same boat as you, I upgraded my hood latches, metal ones dont flutter, although can be a pain to install, I also park outside, all day every day, so the rubber ones would have been eaten by the sun.

Mud flaps, otherwise you will be washing daily to "try" to keep the stripes off the doors, and gravel/roadwork/puddles with chunks in them will only damage the hinges and door paint if you dont flap up. Sure its a jeep and its meant to get dirty, mine gets dirty sitting still in my yard for **** sake, thats no reason to not keep it awesome looking with some mudflaps.

thats about the only 2 things you really have to spend money on off the bat, anything else is just prefference for a daily driver. if you like to keep it clean and shiney by all means make sure you have a good car wash kit or a season pass to the local power wash place.

just remember to do the upkeep and itll be a great vehicle for a good long time, and dont forget to do a full 5 tire rotation every few K miles, if you just leave the spare on the back, itll rot with 100% tread and be wasted, where if you rotate all 5, when its time to replace them they will all have similar tread wear.

 

Hey.....how about a good set of headlights?? IMHO, the Jeep's dim, poorly performing headlights is it's main weakness. It's probably the best "mod" for your DD that you can do.

 

this is very true, I myself was just checking out the options: for under $100 you can get a Halogen kit that blows them away, for almost $400 you get trucklights, which supposedly blow the halogens away and make you think jeep sucks for using what they used in the first place. I am very definitely considering the halogen kit, as $400 for head lights when I dont drive in the dark for 6+ months of the year seems like overkill.....

 

Get a rack to store your doors, take the top off/down, put some floor mats in, buy a bikini or Spiderweb shade, get it naked and enjoy it

 

Good advice all, and thank you for the responses. I already found out how badly the stock headlights are and have already replaced them with a set of TruckLite lamps with the anti-flicker connectors. Literally night and day difference. Synthetic fluids are definitely a good start. I've done this to most of my other cars. I still only have 6k miles on it and figure on changing fluids around the 10k mark. 5-tire rotation also. It sounds like I've missed the posts on known problems simply because there really aren't any. That's good to know. Mine is a late-13, so well out of the 3.6 head issue range. For my off road time, well... The wife and I are avid mountain bikers and really get our zen connection that way. We have taken short adventure trips to the boonies, but have previously been limited by the capabilities of my 2-WD pickup. I do expect to venture farther now that I have a Jeep, but again, I can't imagine myself venturing farther than the basic Sport model would easily take me. The Rubicon package will be mostly wasted on me. But again, it was well equipped with both tops, less than a year old, only 5k miles, and less than $30k. I couldn't not buy it! Otherwise I'd have been perfectly happy with a Sport. Anyway, please keep the advice coming. All is welcome. Tom.