Im going to day to look at and either order or buy my new 2012 JKU. I'm trying to decide between the rubicon and a fairly loaded sport s.

I know there are many threads out the on this and I have done a good amount of looking but can't seem to find my answers. I don't care about the discos, or the lockers. I plan on switching both out anyway. I plan on running 38" tires on a 4" long arm. I am just getting into offloading so i am somewhat new but I know I want to get into it a whole lot more. The little I've done I've had a blast and want more.

My question is price difference. My difference from the rubi and sport s is $5441. I know I'll need a front axle, a re-gear, and I want rb air lockers but I was going to re-gear and get the lockers on a rubi anyway plus the discos I would do with the lift kit. Is it worth it to get the sport and put that money towards the axle. I can't seem to find a price for a pro-rock 44 with gears and an Arab locker on it. Maybe one of the vendors here can give me a price on it.


If there is a thread or multiple threads that maybe I missed or something that explain this please post them.

 

Oh by the way this will not be my dd so I wont mind and will actually enjoy building it up. I have never built an off road rig before but I am capable of doing just about everything I need to do. Except maybe the re-gear.

 

I say go with the Sport and build it up yourself. Building it up is the best part anyways, I have a 2010 JKU Sport and I absolutely love dreaming about what parts I'm going for next. Just my .02

 

I went with the sport because I was planning on pulling it apart anyway. One thing I do wish I had was the Dana 44 in front with the electronic lockers. Future upgrades I guess.

 

All depends how serious you are about a rebuild. If you have an extra 15k laying around to tinker with, go with the sport. If not, go with the Sahara or Rubi. Everyone has big pipe dreams about what they want to do with their rig. Paying for it is another issue. If you want a rig that can get you around on trails right out of the box go with a saraha (with rubi tires) or a rubi. I have a sahara and love it. It's stock height, no lockers, rubi tires, and it gets me where I need to go. I've only been stuck once. I'm a hunter and backpacker so I am offloading quite a bit and it's perfect.

 

Ok that's what I was thinking. Ok cool so if I did the math correctly I can have both front and rear pro44s for right at around$5950 not including the stock hardware for the rear and the lockers for the front and rear. That's what I was hoping for. I didn't include the price for the lockers only cause I was planning to upgrade to those anyway. I'm looking at costs of the replacement rubi hardware. The axle all I reall care about.

In case your wondering I added the housing $2k, gears for $300, axle shafts for $950, ball joints for $400 that equals $3,650. Then take out the ball joints, and axle shafts for the rear for a price of $2300 for the rear for a total of $5,950 for front and rear.

For a few hundred more than the difference I can have pro44 front and rears.

 

Well I'll be buying this as a toy. It's going to be in the garage a lot of the time except when I want to take it out on the trails. I know this before I have even made the purchase. So I have already planned to set aside x amount of dollars every month to basically have it exactly where I want it to be by the time 3 years rolls around. That's the plan at least but as with my last project new parts come out that you didn't anticipate wanting on your vehicle and your budget and time frame gets shifted around a bit. I am very meticulous about my vehicles I build up and want things a certain way and try to plan for it ahead of time.

 

My newbie opinion:

I went with the sport, I kind of regret that decision, because I wasn't planning on replacing axles. Now I'm thinking I might have to, even with just 35's, or at least be prepared to deal with the consequences of not upgrading. If you're planning on replacing axles anyway, go sport. If not, go Rubi.

 

The only reason I might say get the Rubi is for the transfer case (more specifically the lower gearing in it). Also, with the 2012, you'll get 4.10 gears and I'm hearing you won't have to regear down the road. When you go to Prorocks (or whatever), you could always sell the Rubi axles with lockers for a good price, or reuse the lockers and gears in the Prorocks. Just something to think about.

 

Keep in mind you can sell parts as you take them off. You won't get what you paid for them but it's something. If you want to go offroading right off the bat either will do it but the Rubi is much better at it. The Sport S tires are garbage. The sidewalls are thin and the tread tears off on any rocks.

Really if it is just a toy you want to build up you should be looking at a base model Sport. Saves you even more cash that now you are at around $10k off the Rubi? That's a lot of scratch towards a real trail rig.