im coming from a 94 yj with 33s 4.88s and lockers in both ends. minus lack of power from the 4 banger it was pretty much a go anwhere vehicle for me. im not into mud at all. im more technical trail/rock type of person. no i know i dont have a rubicon but just want to know how well this things gonna perform befoe i hit the local trails and wind up in a mess.
my jks a 2011 4 door sport auto. new tires on the way 265/75 m/ts.
just looking for a broad answer not really specifics. thanks Brandon

 

You'll be pleasently surprised at what a stock jk can do. A stock jk will take you places it would take a mod'd cj, yj, TJ to go though.
Plus, you can run larger tires with little or no lift. The brakelock/diff system is pretty good too once you play with it and learn how to use it.

 

I had a stock tj 4 banger that went almost every i asked it to go and was shock at the preformance of my stock x when i bought it. the only thing i liked better about the 97 tj was the sheet metal was much heavier.

 

No sh$t, my wife's 06 tj sheet metal is at least twice of what the jk is.

 

still wish i had the old girl but it needed the t case rebuilt and the frame was rotting pretty good.

 

My suggestion would be to take it out wheelin' in your favorite spots before you start making you build list. You will see that it is a very capable machine that is very comfortable, inspiring a lot of confidence. You may save yourself a lot of cash on mods that you don't really need.

Spend that cash on gas getting out to some beautiful Americana...

 

Disconnect your sway bar links and you will be surprised at what she can do off-road.

 

Amen, I just took my bone stock X out last weekend and wheeled all day with the big-dogs. Now given I wasn't hitting the hardest trials, but never got stuck all day and had a blast! These things are absolutely amazing even stock!

 

Since your 4 door is a much larger vehicle than your YJ, it won't be as much fun in tight woods, and since the wheelbase is longer, and you will have shorter tires, your new JK will high center easier. All that is obvious, right?

Coming from a locked Jeep, you might not be amazed by the Brake Lock Differential, but if you use it right, it does work. It isn't lockers, but adding a little throttle when you have a wheel spinning will bet the one on the other side working for you.

Any JK with good tires is pretty capable, and disconnecting helps. I have a buddy that bought an '09 and I bought a '10. Neither are Rubi's, both are 2 doors. The Jeeps in our group are mostly stock. The only Jeep in our group that is as capable as our JK's is an '06 Rubi. The other TJ with LSDś on both ends, a 4" lift, and 33ś is close.

 

That's funny, because the reason I made that statement is because last wee I was playing with big dawgs too, and was only unable to do the really gnarly stuff, but stayed up with them the rest of the time. Installed JKS Quicker Disconnects on Monday.