To rubicon or not?

[Tyvokka]

To Rubi for sure

[eksjay]

I dont want to digress here, because you are looking only at JKs, but have you ever considered a TJ Rubi???

I have seen these things done up on Davis Autosports Youtube videos, and they look incredible! I want one.

As a two door Wrangler, the TJ looks the goods, although the 2 door JK is definitely bigger and can carry more on a long trip.

[WHHEMI]

Originally Posted by eksjay

I dont want to digress here, because you are looking only at JKs, but have you ever considered a TJ Rubi???

I have seen these things done up on Davis Autosports Youtube videos, and they look incredible! I want one.

As a two door Wrangler, the TJ looks the goods, although the 2 door JK is definitely bigger and can carry more on a long trip.

You would have to import one, the TJ Rubi was never available in Australia.

[Nanook]

As much as I loved my TJ, I would never recommend one for a long trip away.

In the bush or on the sand they are more fun than the JK but there is no way I'd want to drive one any great distance especially when full of gear, not that you can fit much in them even with the rear seats removed.

[Turismo07]

JK Rubi front diff is not stronger, housing is the same as the sport models. Only thing stronger are the ring and pinion in the D44 vs the D30, but the D30 is not the weakest point in the front end. Its the axle/diff housing itself which bends under hard offroading. Rubi or Sport, the front axle needs the same strengthening anyway.

For what you want to do, there is nothing wrong with the Sport's D30 front diff.

The rear diff differences is negligible.

The other Rubi bits are nice though, but may not be useful to you...

Elec sway bar disco (a sport can be optioned to have this as well), but these also prove to be problematic after they've been drowned and/or exposed to the elements, some say are more trouble than they are worth and swap back to a manual setup like you would have on the Sport.

4:1 low range ratio, great low speed technical stuff like rock crawling, not great for anything that is medium speed like beach driving - as 4lo is too slow (with engine rpms too high and unnecessarily reving) or 4high is too fast (with engine rpms too low and lugging the engine). So the typical Jeep low ratio of 2.72:1 (which is already lower than most competitors) is quite often perfect for most offroad conditions.

[eksjay]

Originally Posted by Nanook

As much as I loved my TJ, I would never recommend one for a long trip away.

In the bush or on the sand they are more fun than the JK but there is no way I'd want to drive one any great distance especially when full of gear, not that you can fit much in them even with the rear seats removed.

I recently did a 2000km round trip in my JKU and although quieter than my XJ, I found the seats uncomfortable compared to the stock pre update XJ ones.

Are the JK seats more comfortable than TJ?

[Nanook]

Originally Posted by eksjay

I recently did a 2000km round trip in my JKU and although quieter than my XJ, I found the seats uncomfortable compared to the stock pre update XJ ones.

Are the JK seats more comfortable than TJ?

I've done some big trips and put in some big hours in my JKU and did it easily.

The seats are definitely better than in the TJ. My major issue with the TJ is not that it was uncomfortable to drive but it was a lot nosier and I found that it wore me out quicker. After a only a couple of hours on the road I was knackered.

Then again, it might just be that I'm getting old