Did I make a mistake getting a JLU instead of a JLUR?

[Kyanche]

A lot of loaded Rubi and Sahara owners are going to be in for a surprise IMO. The options on Wranglers are way too bloated $$$.

I'm not sure really. KBB on my 2015 fully loaded Sahara is only $3500 more than a base Sport automatic. With the 2018s it's more like a $8,000-10000 difference between the sport and rubicon.

Though I'm positive if you take a fully loaded Rubicon to the dealer for a trade in, they'll try to scam you and say that the options are worthless. Of course, they'll sing a different tune when they go to sell it lol.

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[Buckster]

....diary of thoughts of a poor man convincing himself his sport is just as good as a Rubi.

Come on people, be serious if he could have afforded the Rubicon OF COURSE he made a mistake.

The Rubicon is more than just rock sliders and a hood.

You new Jeep owners crack me up

Wow, join the forum and immediately start bashing members and models. I guess you’re the expert here to set everyone straight.....

 

[Wrangler-NS]

I did the same and I am in the process of basically building a Rubicon. Will I save any money in the end? Probably not but it will be better than a Rubicon in the end too. I've done everything I want to my 2018 JLU Sport in the 15 months that I've had it. The only thing remaining will be an axle swap that will include new gearing and lockers.

 

[Strommen95]

....diary of thoughts of a poor man convincing himself his sport is just as good as a Rubi.

Come on people, be serious if he could have afforded the Rubicon OF COURSE he made a mistake.

The Rubicon is more than just rock sliders and a hood.

You new Jeep owners crack me up

The arrogance of certain(not all) Rubicon owners is astounding. Nobody said a Rubicon is just “rock sliders and a hood”. People have commented they don’t need or will use what makes a Rubicon a Rubicon. There is nothing hard to comprehend about this.

Your poor mans comment is hilarious. I assure you that those that live below their means are usually the ones that have the fattest wallets. I truly pity the fool who judges by trim level.

 

[RubenZ]

Wow, join the forum and immediately start bashing members and models. I guess you’re the expert here to set everyone straight.....

I think he's a troll. didn't he start the Gladiator hate thread.

 

[Jamrock]

The Rubicon hate is palpable on this forum. Being new to Jeeps I struggled to comprehend it at first. But after reading the literally dozens of threads asking or explaining “why I didn’t buy a Rubicon”, “why you don’t really need to buy a Rubicon”, “why buying a Rubicon is stupid”, “why nobody should buy a Rubicon”, it’s gotten kind of old. This exists somewhat with different platforms, but nowhere to this extent that I’ve seen.

The biggest arguments I see against Rubicon ownership time and again are that “you don’t need those features if you know what you’re doing”, “you can/should buy a Sport and add Rubicon options through the aftermarket”, “Rubicon costs too much”. But what if I WANT power windows, lockers, bigger axles and tires, etc.? If I have the money and choose to spend it on a $60K Jeep instead of a $35K Jeep, why are you advising me against it? If I want factory lockers for the 2 or 3 times I’ll “need” them, why tell me what a waste they are? Since I haven’t been wheeling since 1967 aren’t I more likely to find myself in a situation where they come in handy? Maybe there’s a reason why some folks would rather manually crank a window up or down. Not me. I was poor as a kid and did it by necessity, and I can tell you that it’s overrated. Power windows and locks are awesome! I love the LED headlights. I think they’re actually better than the ones on my wife’s Lexus. Why are Sport owners snatching up $4000 Rubicon axle sets as soon as they’re listed for sale if the the Sport’s axles are perfectly capable of handling any trail you care to try? Yes, I swapped out the stock 33” Rubicon tires and spent money to replace parts I just paid for. But I got a pretty good price for them to go toward the 35’s I have now. Sold them to a Sport owner. Same with my stock Rubicon suspension when I installed a lift. Hmm... I presume there’ll be someone willing to buy my 35’s if/when I go to 37’s.

Like I posted earlier, if you bought what you want and you’re happy with it, that’s what matters. But it seems to me there’s more Sport on Rubicon hate than the other way around. I’d always heard that the Jeep community was more cohesive and accepting of all fellow Jeepers than lots of other car communities that I’m familiar with or have been a part of. Seems that was wrong. Trim level snobbery/jealousy/envy is real, folks. Lol.

Happy wheeling all you hardcore Sport owners! And as for you Pavement Queen, Mall Crawling, no wheeling, painted fender and top having, XM Satellite radio listening, 20” rim/no sidewall having, Rubicon driving posers??? I’ll see you tailgating on Saturday at Rice University games sipping Chardonnay and eating fondue.

I am new to Jeeps. I can only give you the perspective of someone who is just learning about them.

At first, I got the impression that only the Rubicons were capable vehicles. I saw Youtube videos of people crawling over rocks and doing stuff that I wouldn't do with a $50,000 vehicle. I never really saw the benefit of owning a Jeep. Why pay so much money for a vehicle and then scratch up the paint and put a dent in the body?

After reading threads like these, I am getting the impression that people buy Jeeps based on what they want to do with them. Owning a Jeep makes more sense to me now.

I have seen people running less intense trails with Sport and Sport S Jeeps. They have a lot of fun modifying them. I have seen some really nice modified vehicles. These are mostly daily drivers that run a trail once in a while.

I have read posts from people who buy a Sahara because they want a daily driver that has some nice features and can take on trails of medium difficulty.

Then there are those who just want to get of the pavement and head up to the toughest trails they can find. That is just their thing. They need to buy a Rubicon. Nothing else will do.

I don't hate Rubicons. I just don't need all that power. I have learnt a lot from these non-Rubicon threads.

The people who end up with regret are those who don't plan to wheel the big trails then change their minds after they purchase a non-Rubicon Jeep. That is a problem.

 

[RastaPasta]

That you can buy

"It's not the same!"
-My inner 4 year old

 

[Headbarcode]

The Rubicon hate is palpable on this forum. Being new to Jeeps I struggled to comprehend it at first. But after reading the literally dozens of threads asking or explaining “why I didn’t buy a Rubicon”, “why you don’t really need to buy a Rubicon”, “why buying a Rubicon is stupid”, “why nobody should buy a Rubicon”, it’s gotten kind of old. This exists somewhat with different platforms, but nowhere to this extent that I’ve seen.

The biggest arguments I see against Rubicon ownership time and again are that “you don’t need those features if you know what you’re doing”, “you can/should buy a Sport and add Rubicon options through the aftermarket”, “Rubicon costs too much”. But what if I WANT power windows, lockers, bigger axles and tires, etc.? If I have the money and choose to spend it on a $60K Jeep instead of a $35K Jeep, why are you advising me against it? If I want factory lockers for the 2 or 3 times I’ll “need” them, why tell me what a waste they are? Since I haven’t been wheeling since 1967 aren’t I more likely to find myself in a situation where they come in handy? Maybe there’s a reason why some folks would rather manually crank a window up or down. Not me. I was poor as a kid and did it by necessity, and I can tell you that it’s overrated. Power windows and locks are awesome! I love the LED headlights. I think they’re actually better than the ones on my wife’s Lexus. Why are Sport owners snatching up $4000 Rubicon axle sets as soon as they’re listed for sale if the the Sport’s axles are perfectly capable of handling any trail you care to try? Yes, I swapped out the stock 33” Rubicon tires and spent money to replace parts I just paid for. But I got a pretty good price for them to go toward the 35’s I have now. Sold them to a Sport owner. Same with my stock Rubicon suspension when I installed a lift. Hmm... I presume there’ll be someone willing to buy my 35’s if/when I go to 37’s.

Like I posted earlier, if you bought what you want and you’re happy with it, that’s what matters. But it seems to me there’s more Sport on Rubicon hate than the other way around. I’d always heard that the Jeep community was more cohesive and accepting of all fellow Jeepers than lots of other car communities that I’m familiar with or have been a part of. Seems that was wrong. Trim level snobbery/jealousy/envy is real, folks. Lol.

Happy wheeling all you hardcore Sport owners! And as for you Pavement Queen, Mall Crawling, no wheeling, painted fender and top having, XM Satellite radio listening, 20” rim/no sidewall having, Rubicon driving posers??? I’ll see you tailgating on Saturday at Rice University games sipping Chardonnay and eating fondue.

Agreed on all counts. You tell it, Chocolate!

And a big thanks for that send off! I nearly pissed myself! I'll have to look you up next time I'm down your way. I'll bring the chardonnay if you provide the fondu. Maybe meet at a beach, but stay in the parking lot. The sand might rub my tire shine off.

 

[Kyanche]

Tire shine :D

 

[xtopherm]

Did I make a mistake on getting a JLU instead of a JLUR?

Rubicons cost about 10 to 15k more, it does come with some nice upgrades, but I’ve always been a believer that if I buy a Sport and make it my own then it’s just a good without the higher monthly payments. You are going to replace wheels and tire, bumpers, add quick releases, skid plates, etc... to upgrade either Jeep. I agree if you don’t plan on doing those upgrades and want to off road, buy the Rubicon. Now, that I am in the stages of updating my sport, I keep being told you should have gotten a Rubicon and I keep asking myself why? Did I make a mistake?

Just do a 2" lift, some 35s and put a rear locker in it and you are in great shape. The axles are not quite as strong, there is no front locker, the brakes are not quite as strong, but if you don't beat the sh*t out of it or do crazy wheel-bouncing rock crawling, a JLU Sport with a rear locker and 35s is going to handle 95% of the fun trails you would want to do and a friend's winch or tow strap will help you with the other 5%. And this is coming from someone who owns a JLUR, so I am not just saying it to rationalize not getting one.

 

[xtopherm]

I'm tired of seeing all these Wish I had a Rubicon threads. 99% of Rubicon owners seem to be women who probably don't even know what a Lockers is no offense. Theres more Rubicon owners out there who don't even wheel. Jeep must have the best salesman around.

Seriously, I'm already seeing a shit ton JLUR Axles for under 4K front and Rear. If you have no rocks in your area the 4:1 Tcase is a waste. Theres is absolutely nothing wrong with a SPORT. Just get a set of new take off Rubicon Axles for the 4:10 Axles and Lockers and you have an every bit as capable Jeep as a Rubicon for 99% of the scenarios. The factory sway bar disconnect is irrelevant to me because they seem to give out with water damage after a while anyway.

I disagree. I run my JLUR (with 35s) on rocky eastern trails and it is great, but the place the 4:1 tcase really shines is on the beach. I do a ton of dune and beach driving on sand in the summers and the 4:1 plus the 4:10s give me exactly the right gearing for sand driving. The Jeep is a PITA in high range - always struggling for torque and seemingly never in the right gear. In low range, gears 2, 3, and occasionally 4 are perfect for sand wheeling.

 

[xtopherm]

Yeah..there's a bunch of frankly really stupid stuff on this site said about the 4:1 by people who obviously haven't driven one. The fact that the 4:1 is coupled to a 6 speed manual or 8 speed auto pretty much negates the "oh, it's too low" argument. Upshift the tranny. Problem solved.

Yep, mine is the 6-spd. Couldn't agree more.

 

[nlicalsi91]

I have a 2015 Sahara and I always thought what it would be like if I went with the Rubi. In all of my off road ventures on Long Island and Cape Cod, Ive never needed lockers. Now looking at the gladiator, the base sport would suffice for me

 

[KPsrq]

I just got back into a Wrangler after a 8 year hiatus. I had a 07 Rubicon and it was incredibly capable in stock form. Sure I put on a short arm suspension and 35s but for the money, it’s really hard to beat the options you get in a Rubicon if you aren’t doing a hardcore wheeling build.

So with the JL, I went back to what I knew and I knew and luckily found a fully loaded JLUR with a Teraflex level kit w/ Falcon 3.3 shocks locally to me at a great price so I jumped on it.

It seems lately in the car world you can’t get all the fancy options unless you first start at the higher trim levels.

 

[fat_head]

You need a Rubicon to go offroad? I've been doing it wrong apparently.

I just back from Dust Ball Rally:Diverted. I followed a Rubicon all day long. The driver said "Wow, I thought you needed a Rubicon to go where we are going."

You don't. And while a Rubicon is superior offroad to a Sport, a stock-ish Sport (put Rubicon take off rock rails at a BARE MINIMUM for $100.00) will be able to tackle stuff that you won't dare to even try.

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