2023 Rubicon or 2022 High Tide?? Help!

[Jeep24Dmb]

You have to think about what you plan to do with the Rubicon. Will you lift it? Add that money onto the Rubicon. It's not a $1500 difference now.

If I get a Rubi I think I’d leave it stock. Most I would do is 35’s down the road. No lift in my future.

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[BDinTX]

I’ve heard about this too! Lots of folks unhappy with that. Won’t happen in the Rubi? I’m leaning towards sticking with the Rubi even if I never use the lockers/disconnects.

It’s not impossible to hit the bump stops on the non XR Rubicons but in that I’m like - yeah I hit that thing too fast.

Compared to my 3.0 that also has the longer jounce tubes. Hit a small pothole and I’m like - wtf did I seriously just hit the bump stop???

I added a lift but didn’t extend bump stops to resolve.

 

[Ratbert]

Hopefully you got a below invoice deal on your order. If not then there's a third option: try one of the dealerships in the spreadsheet in my sig and save a few thousand bucks.

 

[dragoneggs]

Great comments on either side of the question. I could argue both as has been said. I'm more senior now and I like to buy once cry once on tools and toys now.

I bought a '22 2dr Rubicon thinking it was overkill but cool. Wasn't much of an offroader prior except to take my F150 on dirt roads and camping/fishing.

After almost 6 months of ownership and a couple of BOH trails behind me, the bug to mod my Jeep continues to grow. I now say I only want to move from 33s to 35s and a minor lift.

I love the stock capability of a Rubicon but as others have said, most will never meet the limits of their Jeep Rubicon or any Wrangler model.

Offroading will beg you to do many mods whether you have a Rubi or not. Ability to air down/up, winch for self extraction or help others, camping equipment, etc. will take the rest of your cash quick enough.

Happy Decisions...

 

[goose77]

The XR package is amazing and very capable even without lockers. Pretty sure it has brake lock diff which emulates a locker. High Tide all the way, unless you like the red accents. I just got a JLURXR and saw a High Tide the other day it looked amazing. I was kind of jealous lol You never see them.

 

[slowpoke387]

I think it boils down to a cpl of things. Is the lift high enough for you on the HT? Would you want to lift the Rubicon? The High Tide already has the higher lift with 35’s. If that’s sufficient and also if you think the Rubi would need a lift later then it’s a no brainer to me. HT for the win. Especially if youre not needing the extra stuff on the Rubicon. $1400 savings plus thousands more for a lift, tires, possible wheels saved.
But if youre thinking a higher lift is needed anyway then I’d get the Rubicon.

 

[JeepViking13]

I would do High Tide. I'm a big fan of the Xtreme Recon package from the factory.

 

[Steph1]

Let’s brainstorm…

With the main consideration that you’ll never use the lockers. I owned a 10A Rubi myself and never used them.

The Rubicon has a much nicer hood, but only has 4.10 gears, 33 inch tires, much cheaper wheels and stock lift. To obtain the hight tide stance, you’ll need to sell the 33s for next to nothing and buy 35 inch tires, at least a spacer lift, regearing to 4.56 to get proper gearing but will be stuck with the stock wheels which aren’t ideal for 35s. So ideally better wheels should be part of your plan. So you’re looking at more or less $5000 just to give it the same stance and driveability as the High tide.

The high tide doesn’t have the rubi hood, but has nothing that you’ll never use, comes with 35 inch tires, proper lift and gears. So technically, you buy it and have very little expense other than the hood if you really want it. So you’re looking at about zero dollars, or $1500 for a painted Rubi hood.

Now, if you plan on going with a much more agressive build, this argument doesnt really stand other than for the better gearing.

As a side note, should the high tide have the Selec-trac transfer case, then the choice really really makes it a no brainer to me.

 

[JeepViking13]

Let’s brainstorm…

With the main consideration that you’ll never use the lockers. I owned a 10A Rubi myself and never used them.

The Rubicon has a much nicer hood, but only has 4.10 gears, 33 inch tires, much cheaper wheels and stock lift. To obtain the hight tide stance, you’ll need to sell the 33s for next to nothing and buy 35 inch tires, at least a spacer lift, regearing to 4.56 to get proper gearing but will be stuck with the stock wheels which aren’t ideal for 35s. So ideally better wheels should be part of your plan. So you’re looking at more or less $5000 just to give it the same stance and driveability as the High tide.

The high tide doesn’t have the rubi hood, but has nothing that you’ll never use, comes with 35 inch tires, proper lift and gears. So technically, you buy it and have very little expense other than the hood if you really want it. So you’re looking at about zero dollars, or $1500 for a painted Rubi hood.

Now, if you plan on going with a much more agressive build, this argument doesnt really stand other than for the better gearing.

As a side note, should the high tide have the Selec-trac transfer case, then the choice really really makes it a no brainer to me.

I personally don't like the Rubi hood with the fake black hood vents. I like the classic clean Jeep hood look. That's just my personal taste though.

 

[Steph1]

I personally don't like the Rubi hood with the fake black hood vents. I like the classic clean Jeep hood look. That's just my personal taste though.

Wether the vents are functional or not, These hoods don’t really compare. Especially on a muscular ‘’agressive’’ build like the XRs, the plain hood looks like it was forgotten in the build. The plain hood is at its place on stock Sports and Saharas.

To make the plain hood work, one needs at least a hood blackout stripe, but it’s still very far from the Rubi hood.

My take

 

[TexazGuy]

I own a HT and love the thing. I'm not the off-roading type so I didn't need all the added lockers and such. I had a guy tell me the other day that my relatively stock HT was prolly the nicest Jeep he's seen in the city. As far as I know I also have the only HT in my city so it feels cool to have something that others don't. The "limited edition" aspect prolly doesn't hurt for resale value either.

 

[Old Dogger]

Rubicon..

 

[KrispyKotex]

I have had locking differentials on my last three jeeps. I’ve been in situations that without them would have got me stuck. One time on a nice sunny day, I was hauling my UTV to a park. Well, it rained suddenly and the nice grass in the parking lot turned into muddy grass. This is one situation I did not plan for for, but without lockers, would have been impossible to get out of. Stick with the Rubicon.

 

[BDinTX]

comes with 35 inch tires, proper lift and gears.

I think you left out a very important word. The XR needs a proper lift.

Here is a perfect example of “why” in another thread. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/xr-observations.98957/post-2051092

The quote from @onemoreokie
A few more bump stop pics. This time passenger side. It’s a bit worse. I’m 140 pounds and can bottom it out by sitting on the bumper.

I’m not trying to dog on the XR package, there is a lot to like about them. But I think it’s important for folks to know what they’re getting into and that an actual proper lift is something they will need to consider.

 

[wolf]

With the HT or any of the others you could add your own aftermarket lockers and not have to worry about the electrical switch sensors filling up with oil.

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