Another "Deciding Between Willy's and Rubicon" Thread

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Rubicon, Rubicon, Rubicon.

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[sixspeed]

I posted this on FB and thought I'd post here as well to see how the opinions/answers align.

Currently going back and forth on which 2024 model to order to replace my 2019 Sport S.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Willy's over the Rubicon. The ~$7k price delta is hard for me to justify with my current Jeep currently being a pavement princess. Something about the Willy's when I build it on the Jeep website just calls to me, not sure what it is.

However, I see it said a lot that "If you were even thinking Rubicon and don't get it, you'll regret it!" I do have a few questions that I'm hoping this group can help.

Does the 2024 Willy's come with the bigger brake setup that the Rubicon and Sahara get?

What are some of the other things I'd potentially miss if I don't go Rubicon?

A few items I can tell are more off-road inclined suspension, front facing trail cam, auto dimming rear view mirror, front lockers, cool looking Rubicon hood, and non-blacked out grill and wheels. What else am I missing?

It seems that if I really wanted a colored grill, Rubicon hood, or the Rubicon wheels I could just buy them after the fact and still come out ahead in the $$$ department?

I feel like there must be something else I'm missing in that $7k price delta?

I have a 2020 JLRU. I don't do "heavy duty" off roading but do a lot of difficult trails and I have used every Rubicon feature to some extent. What I use least are the front lockers. What I use most is the sway bar disconnect. With a Tazer, I can disconnect the sway bar in 2WH and 4WH and go any speed I want, which I do a lot since I frequently go over the 18 mph normal limitation. I think this might be typical for a lot of non heavy duty off roaders.

So for me, I could be happy with Willy's if it had the sway bar disconnect. Since it doesn't, that is a deal breaker (although I know there are after market, I think manual, ways to disconnect the sway bar). I would not like the fabric dash since the car will always get dusty, and I really like the red one. I don't like the idea of the smaller AC vents with the bigger tough screen. I am replacing my windshield more than once a year--I'm sure the antenna in the windshield makes this a much more expensive proposition.

In your case as a pavement princess, I'd guess you don't need all of the capability of a Rubicon. You can aftermarket the colored grill, better suspension, Rubicon wheels and even the hood, although that would be expensive. The front facing camera and auto dimming rear view mirror offer very little in my opinion.

You don't mention a steel bumper and winch, but I think this is quite important to rescue yourself, and what you don't pay for the Rubicon can be used for this along with the other things you mention.

Good luck.

 

[iklo]

The "standard" tires changed from a KO2 A/T to Faulken M/T in early January, but you can still pick a free option to get the KO2s if you custom order.

I'm in the same boat of I ordered a 2024 Willys in July 2023 with KO2s, and it showed up in January 2024 with Faulken MT01 tires. Dealer told me to pound sand as I ordered it with "Standard" tires, when clearly my order form had the code used for KO2s.

What is that tire code you mentioned? Specifying the KO2 wasn't an option when I built my Willys a couple of day ago. Can it be deciphered from the order:

 

[Fatfreewilly]

What is that tire code you mentioned? Specifying the KO2 wasn't an option when I built my Willys a couple of day ago. Can it be deciphered from the order:

I don't see the Ko2 option on the willys builder now, just the Falken MTs... but it was:

Falken: LT285/70R17C BSW Mud-Terrain tires

BFG KO2: LT285/70R17C BSW Off-Road Tires

My order only had KO2s as the option when I placed it, but they changed it to Falkens before it got to me. It didn't have the tires on that order page you posted.

The dealer was Koons in Virginia. The sale was smooth, but literally no effort to get the KO2s as you could pick at the time my order arrived... and I 1000% would have picked KO2s over MTs. They also haven't responded to 3x emails about the Mopar warranty. Great deal price-wise, but nothing else there....

Also had a giant "KOONS" sticker on the back in a big crown, that going back to Philly with that is a good way to get keyed.

But looks like you're getting Falken MTs. Hope you like them! They're like a KO2, only louder, and not 3 peak snow rated.

My favorite review I read was "They're quiet... for a mud terrain!" which I would agree with. I have 3k miles on them, no real complaints other than they're a little loud, but Ive only have had them on pavement.

They're certainly more aggressive looking, and I swear are taller than the same size K02.

Did I come off as salty about the tires?

Congrats on your order! Glad to see another manual Willys.

 

[2nd 392]

I don't see the Ko2 option on the willys builder now, just the Falken MTs... but it was:

Falken: LT285/70R17C BSW Mud-Terrain tires

BFG KO2: LT285/70R17C BSW Off-Road Tires

My order only had KO2s as the option when I placed it, but they changed it to Falkens before it got to me. It didn't have the tires on that order page you posted.

The dealer was Koons in Virginia. The sale was smooth, but literally no effort to get the KO2s as you could pick at the time my order arrived... and I 1000% would have picked KO2s over MTs. They also haven't responded to 3x emails about the Mopar warranty. Great deal price-wise, but nothing else there....

Also had a giant "KOONS" sticker on the back in a big crown, that going back to Philly with that is a good way to get keyed.

But looks like you're getting Falken MTs. Hope you like them! They're like a KO2, only louder, and not 3 peak snow rated.

My favorite review I read was "They're quiet... for a mud terrain!" which I would agree with. I have 3k miles on them, no real complaints other than they're a little loud, but Ive only have had them on pavement.

They're certainly more aggressive looking, and I swear are taller than the same size K02.

Did I come off as salty about the tires?

Congrats on your order! Glad to see another manual Willys.

Damn near any tire is taller than the “same size” BFG
“KOONS” sticker quote

 

[sixspeed]

I posted this on FB and thought I'd post here as well to see how the opinions/answers align.

Currently going back and forth on which 2024 model to order to replace my 2019 Sport S.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Willy's over the Rubicon. The ~$7k price delta is hard for me to justify with my current Jeep currently being a pavement princess. Something about the Willy's when I build it on the Jeep website just calls to me, not sure what it is.

However, I see it said a lot that "If you were even thinking Rubicon and don't get it, you'll regret it!" I do have a few questions that I'm hoping this group can help.

Does the 2024 Willy's come with the bigger brake setup that the Rubicon and Sahara get?

What are some of the other things I'd potentially miss if I don't go Rubicon?

A few items I can tell are more off-road inclined suspension, front facing trail cam, auto dimming rear view mirror, front lockers, cool looking Rubicon hood, and non-blacked out grill and wheels. What else am I missing?

It seems that if I really wanted a colored grill, Rubicon hood, or the Rubicon wheels I could just buy them after the fact and still come out ahead in the $$$ department?

I feel like there must be something else I'm missing in that $7k price delta?

I don't know if you can get colored grills aftermarket. You can get the black Willy's.

For me disconnecting the sway bar is a big deal and it's not on the Willy's. You can really upgrade this with a Tazer but I never thought about whether it works on model not set up to disconnect the sway bar. I doubt it since there is no button to disconnect from but maybe others know. That would be an easy solution.

 

[Diastole]

The "standard" tires changed from a KO2 A/T to Faulken M/T in early January, but you can still pick a free option to get the KO2s if you custom order.

I'm in the same boat of I ordered a 2024 Willys in July 2023 with KO2s, and it showed up in January 2024 with Faulken MT01 tires. Dealer told me to pound sand as I ordered it with "Standard" tires, when clearly my order form had the code used for KO2s.

Also OP - Bikini Pearl is an option too vs. Hydro Blue. I swear Bikini is just Hydro with a red filter on it. I had a JK in Hydro and like both.

Bikini Willys + few Hydro pics here:

I am in the same situation. Did you keep the MT01s or change to KO2 (taking the loss at a tire dealer)?

 

[Fatfreewilly]

I am in the same situation. Did you keep the MT01s or change to KO2 (taking the loss at a tire dealer)?

Kept them, dealer wouldn't do shit about it. I'll just run them till they die.

5k miles in, they're noisy on the highway

 

[Camaroboi13]

My vote is for 24 Willys, but I’m a little biased

 

[exilepa]

I wound up ordering the Willy's and picked it up a few weeks ago. I couldn't justify the extra ~$7k for the Rubicon and features I'd probably never use. I'm probably pissing off Willy's purists by having already swapped the Willy's wheels and ridiculous noisy ass M/Ts for a set of 4xe Rubi KO2 takeoffs (wanted the blue Jeep on the wheels to match the hydro blue.) I also ordered some 4xe center caps for the wheels to give it even more blue.

 

[Camaroboi13]

I'm probably pissing off Willy's purists by having already swapped the Willy's wheels and ridiculous noisy ass M/Ts for a set of 4xe Rubi KO2 takeoffs (wanted the blue Jeep on the wheels to match the hydro blue.) I also ordered some 4xe center caps for the wheels to give it even more blue.

Those MTs were quiet as a mouse for me, they were just 4 inches too small. Sold em to my neighbor for 500 bucks with 800 miles on them and went 3.5” lift and 37s within the first two weeks of ownership. I actually did consider those 4xE wheels for my Gladiator when I bought it but found a better deal on the wheels I have now. Love the color on yours, but the Willys is my wife’s and her first choice was Earl Grey. Happy wife happy life

 

[evo8904]

I wound up ordering the Willy's and picked it up a few weeks ago. I couldn't justify the extra ~$7k for the Rubicon and features I'd probably never use. I'm probably pissing off Willy's purists by having already swapped the Willy's wheels and ridiculous noisy ass M/Ts for a set of 4xe Rubi KO2 takeoffs (wanted the blue Jeep on the wheels to match the hydro blue.) I also ordered some 4xe center caps for the wheels to give it even more blue.

Looks great! Yeah, the only reason I got the Rubicon was for the front locker but haven’t needed it. I haven’t even needed the rear locker. Damn Wrangler just makes off roading too easy lol.

 

[autotragic]

Rubicon, Rubicon, Rubicon.

Thanks for making me remember this...ugh

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