buying a rubicon or sport package unlimited ?

Hi to everyone, if is Rubicon on your budget on my opinion you should get it but you have to consider for what you what it for? Where you are going to wheel and how many extras are you planing to upgrade.
My girlfriend and I start with a sport 2 doors and first of all we upgrade the car stereo on the sport No Bueno!!! Change the cheap speakers and a sub. But from the begining you know that You dont need electric locks and pwr windows.
And the only 3 things that we are away from the Rubicon is the front Dana 44, the transfer case and the hood sticker.,
 
Rollover41 said:
Hi to everyone, if is Rubicon on your budget on my opinion you should get it but you have to consider for what you what it for? Where you are going to wheel and how many extras are you planing to upgrade.
My girlfriend and I start with a sport 2 doors and first of all we upgrade the car stereo on the sport No Bueno!!! Change the cheap speakers and a sub. But from the begining you know that You dont need electric locks and pwr windows.
And the only 3 things that we are away from the Rubicon is the front Dana 44, the transfer case and the hood sticker.,
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and the lockers
 
TheStick said:
But for this you want a DTD on 40's?

And I am still waiting for the first person to convert their front axel to a D40, gears, T-case, lockers, e-disco and sliders for less than the $5k up charge for a rubi. But it does make for one hell of an Internet legend.
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I don't plan on tackling the dusy or the rubicon until I've got the jeep turned into what I really want, but I would like to tackle some milder terrain with it until I get it modified to my liking .I know I can't upgrade any package of a jk to 60's front and rear, double throw down and or high clearance long arm kit , 37-40" tires , bumpers , winch , air compressor, rock sliders, bead locks .... For the difference in price between a sport , not trying to be an internet legend just trying to figure out where to start the buying/building process
 
jeeeep said:
how soon do you plan to modify everything? do you have the budget to take it from showroom to full mods the way you want or are you looking at future upgrades?
10k difference in the sport versus rubi sounds like a lot but when you when you do the math of the mods you mentioned (I assume you've priced what your mods will cost) and the price of a rubi, the rubi does justify the difference if you have to wait to complete your mods, not to mention rubi axles etc...sell better and faster than sport parts.

as mentioned in other responses, Rubi is not only d44's, there's more there for the price
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It might be a year from the time I purchase the vehicle ( I think around the fall or early winter time) until I'm ready to transform it into what I want , I weld on natural gas pipelines and I typically work in the northeast part of the country , so spring to fall is my busiest time of year and I plan on doing ( most of ) the work myself so winter in Arizona is where I could really jump in and tear it apart . I'm thinking a little extra for a rubicon isn't a waste if the axles will sell quicker , I'm a man and don't need navigation ( I never get lost I just find new ways to go places !) but it would be a nice option , it would be nice to have e-disconnects , lockers, skid plates etc
 
Tmitchell798 said:
It might be a year from the time I purchase the vehicle ( I think around the fall or early winter time) until I'm ready to transform it into what I want , I weld on natural gas pipelines and I typically work in the northeast part of the country , so spring to fall is my busiest time of year and I plan on doing ( most of ) the work myself so winter in Arizona is where I could really jump in and tear it apart . I'm thinking a little extra for a rubicon isn't a waste if the axles will sell quicker , I'm a man and don't need navigation ( I never get lost I just find new ways to go places !) but it would be a nice option , it would be nice to have e-disconnects , lockers, skid plates etc
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IMO the Rubi would be the way to go, it'll give you more off-road performance than the sport. Yes you can do a lot with a sport but I've towed many a sport on various trails only because they didn't have the lockers to get them through.

i haven't decided which front axle I'm upgrading to but as soon as i let a local club buddy know i was going to upgrade I started getting calls from other club members asking to buy my old axle - it's 2010 D44
 
Tmitchell798 said:
I don't plan on tackling the dusy or the rubicon until I've got the jeep turned into what I really want, but I would like to tackle some milder terrain with it until I get it modified to my liking .I know I can't upgrade any package of a jk to 60's front and rear, double throw down and or high clearance long arm kit , 37-40" tires , bumpers , winch , air compressor, rock sliders, bead locks .... For the difference in price between a sport , not trying to be an internet legend just trying to figure out where to start the buying/building process
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I am not trying to be a dick so don't get me wrong, I am just trying to understand.

In the OP you mentioned money you don't have, $90k etc, but then you say DTD on 40's. I'd say $90k is about right :eek:

The trails you mentioned could be done with a BB and 35's. So there are many ways to skin a cat.

If you are really going to go 60's, 40's etc within a year, get a Sport for sure. But be realistic. If that is not realistic, a Rubi would give you some nice upgrades while wheeling stock or mild upgrades.
 
Tmitchell798 said:
I don't plan on tackling the dusy or the rubicon until I've got the jeep turned into what I really want, but I would like to tackle some milder terrain with it until I get it modified to my liking .I know I can't upgrade any package of a jk to 60's front and rear, double throw down and or high clearance long arm kit , 37-40" tires , bumpers , winch , air compressor, rock sliders, bead locks .... For the difference in price between a sport , not trying to be an internet legend just trying to figure out where to start the buying/building process
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ok i was under the impression you was gonna make these upgrades immediately in that case def do the rubi
 
If you are going to upgrade the jeep with Dana60's , skids. , etc. save that money of the Rubicon and do it on the Sport.
For the Navigation you can use your Tablet, iPad or smartphone
 
Rollover41 said:
If you are going to upgrade the jeep with Dana60's , skids. , etc. save that money of the Rubicon and do it on the Sport.
For the Navigation you can use your Tablet, iPad or smartphone
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A Rubicon will still give you a 4:1 transfer case, e-disco, nicer interior and will have a higher resale value. These are all things that cannot be had on a Sport and things that I love about Rubicons. Again, having had a chance to do it both ways, I went with a Rubicon when I had a chance to do it again. But, that's just me.
 
Tmitchell798 said:
I've always been into exploring the outdoors , I have previously done my outdoor exploring on four wheelers and or motorcycles but i think the jeep way of life would be much more relationship friendly than me taking off and leaving my girlfriend to sit at home , got some dogs that id love to put in the jeep and take with us . My biggest question at the moment is what i should buy , I know i want a unlimited for the extra space and wheelbase , but I plan on doing so much to the base vehicle i don't know if spending the extra money on a rubicon is worthwhile since i want to put dana 60's or possibly even 70's under it and run gears in the 5's , thinking of a double throw down set up suspension wise and 40" tires . I'd love to be able to pick up a dealer installed lifted sport package with 35"s on it to hold me over until i have the money to do it all the other mods at one time , but am concerned the 30 in the front might not hold up to what i may get into in the desert until i upgrade the drivetrain. I have a good friend in bakersfield ca who has done extensive modifications to a tj and he says buy a rubicon x and go from there , but he probably has 90k invested in his and he loved to spend money on his toy , id rather not spend money i don't have to as i do travel across the country welding on gas pipelines for a living i won't get the use out of a jeep that he did.. any input would be greatly appreciated and hopefully will ease the decision making process ! thanks everybody hope to see some of you out on the trails !
TJ
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If your thinking about big axles, 40 inch tires and a top dollar suspension before even buying your jeep. Then I would say buy the cheapest jeep you can that has the creature comforts you want and begin your build. Maybe even find a mildly used Jeep, I wouldnt spend the extra bling on a rubicon if I knew I was going to pull out most the thing's that make it a Rubicon. You can pick up a used rubi t-case and disconnect if you take the time to shop around for less than the diffence in up front costs.

Sent from my SCH-I605
 
wayoflife said:
A Rubicon will still give you a 4:1 transfer case, e-disco, nicer interior and will have a higher resale value. These are all things that cannot be had on a Sport and things that I love about rubicons
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There is still clearly two different points of view with this topic and they are the same reasons I've been contemplating on my own , I guess an investment or hobby as fun as jeeping has to be expensive because it's worth it , I think I'm leaning toward the rubicon given the different information pointed out by members on here ...
 
Tmitchell798 said:
There is still clearly two different points of view with this topic and they are the same reasons I've been contemplating on my own , I guess an investment or hobby as fun as jeeping has to be expensive because it's worth it , I think I'm leaning toward the rubicon given the different information pointed out by members on here ...
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The thing of it is, even if you were do make all the modifications to your Jeep the moment you get it, you can sell all the parts that come off for a pretty penny and use it to help fund your build. Of course, if you're going to take it slow, you can have a lot more fun with a Rubicon out of the box than you can with a Sport or Sahara if for no other reason than the fact that they don't come with a 4:1 transfer case. Of course, this is just my opinion.
 
Tmitchell798 said:
There is still clearly two different points of view with this topic and they are the same reasons I've been contemplating on my own , I guess an investment or hobby as fun as jeeping has to be expensive because it's worth it , I think I'm leaning toward the rubicon given the different information pointed out by members on here ...
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When I bought my Rubicon I did so for the lockers and Dana 44s. After learning that cons of the factory axles I questioned my choice since I will eventually replace those axles with 1 tons. That being said not having the money to emidately make the swap and the 4:1 as others have mentioned have made the Rubicon the better choice in my opinion. While you won't make $10k selling take offs as you go, you will still make more then then you would if they were sport parts. I sometimes find Jeepers fighting over who is getting my axles when I finally do the swap:twocents:
 
Not to want make people upset but it depends on your budget.
If you sell later the used parts its extra $ that you can use for upgrades.
 
The Sport S can be had with Leather and heated seats, it was an option on the build sheet when I ordered mine. It is also an option when you 'build' one on the Jeep website. No NAV option though, but you can still get the touch screen/DVD 430 Radio. With that said, if you do not plan on upgrading right away the factory Rubicon lockers, T Case, 4.10s and D44 front axle can buy you a lot of time before getting those 60s and 40s. There are more than a few who run 37s on Rubi's with some C Gussets, gears and a good suspension setup. Plus, as others have mentioned, you can sell the parts pretty quick as you replace them. I originally planned on building around a 35 inch tire so I was comfortable with the Sport S. Now I already want 37s and am currently looking for a D44 for the front. :doh: Just my 2 cents, but if the mods are coming down the road a ways, go for the Rubicon if you can afford it.
 
I'm in the same boat as the OP. I don't have a Jeep yet but wanting to get one. I'm torn between a Sahara or Rubicon. I like the options the Rubicon offers but at the same time look at the upgrades I will do in the future to replace those parts.

Coming from a different family of 4x4 that I own I mostly do Overlanding and some trails (Elephant Hill, SOB) and not yet trails like the Maze or Rubicon. I am not a hard core trail person but would like to tackle the occasional ones. The one that I would like to do once I purchase a Jeep is the Rubicon.

I'm not the kind of person who is afraid to get trail rash or get the paint scratch, although I'm the type of person that hates getting major damage. So as the original poster asked and the member's chiming in I'm more likely to opt for a Rubicon.
 
I'll provide a minority opinion. If you are not into rock crawling, I believe you are better served with the Sport. The Rubicon is purpose built for rock crawling, and I prefer the Sport's (or Sahara's) 2.72:1 transfer case in mud, snow, and sand over the Rubicon's 4:1. The crawl ratio of the Sport matches the historic ratios of it famous CJ ancestors from 1941 into the 70"s and beyond. I like to go off road but I seldom rock crawl. I'm very happy with my Sport. It is more capable off-road than my old 1948 CJ-2A.
 
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