Most capable Rubicon?

[SSWIM]

Until it gets high centered.

This happened to me last weekend actually. a 4 door JKUR on 35s and I am on my 2 door JL sport on 33s, open front diff. We were doing this rock climb obstacle and my 2 door went over no problem. The 4 door couldn't clear the same line, it would just get stuck no matter what, and also had this rock awkwardly positioned that my 2 door used to get the rear tire up.

The 4 door had to pick a different line to come up, and was waaaay more difficult than the line I picked with my 2 door. He couldn't make it, it was a really sketchy line and we winched him up.

I have been in situations when that 4 door climbs over something that I am like. nope. no way. lol.

I am talking black diamond trails here in California btw, not sure how Colorado wheeling is.

So I guess it depends. Idk why so many 4 door owners are so against 2 doors. I mean here I am talking about how both of them are great, and admitting that I rather have a 4 doors if I was gonna go big tires. But you hear 4 door owners like "NAH 4 DOORS BETTER NAH NAH".......

bone stock. the 2 door Rubicon. I won't change my mind on that one lol. take a 2 door rubi on something like the rubicon trail and a 4 door bone stock, and let's see how it goes.

Yep. Rubicon? On it. Wheeling in Moab and adjacent areas in Colorado is where I am talking also. Please do not take this the wrong way, and I am in no way insinuating I am above or better than you or anyone. But if you are comparing an open diffed 2 door to a locked Rubicon in any type of serious wheeling I think you might need to rethink your equipment. I am not degrading the 2 door. It is a competent ride. But this thread is titled most capable Rubicon. Of course a good driver can put an open diffed vehicle in a lot of places. But, give same driver the option of locked or open?? You see where I am going I hope.

Sam

Sponsored

 

[SSWIM]

Good as a place as any to ask so here goes... I would love to have the 392 of course, seriously. To those of you who have them and have used them in higher temperatures and rock crawling, how are the engine temps? It appears this is addressed by the hood design but I still wondered as I drooled on one when I picked up half the cylinders. So sad. Ha! I know my four banger sounds like a an F35 in the rocks at times. I want to say the temps were in the low 100s at the time, Vegas and all.

Temps are absolutely fine. No issues at all crawling in 100* temps. AC is awesome.

Sam

 

[AcesandEights]

...
You see where I am going I hope.

Sam

Yep, two-door, JLR.

 

[SSWIM]

Yep, two-door, JLR.

Good one.

Gotta love a good belly laugh.

Sam

 

[entropy]

Yep. Rubicon? On it. Wheeling in Moab and adjacent areas in Colorado is where I am talking also. Please do not take this the wrong way, and I am in no way insinuating I am above or better than you or anyone. But if you are comparing an open diffed 2 door to a locked Rubicon in any type of serious wheeling I think you might need to rethink your equipment. I am not degrading the 2 door. It is a competent ride. But this thread is titled most capable Rubicon. Of course a good driver can put an open diffed vehicle in a lot of places. But, give same driver the option of locked or open?? You see where I am going I hope.

Sam

Of course I'll take locked any day. The JL powerplants are all plenty strong to provide the necessary torque for low speed offroading, lack of traction is what gets people from going over obstacles, so lockers are a gazillion times better than an open diff and provide a lot more benefits than some V8 or turbocharger. I was just saying how the locked 4 door had issues going over an obstacle that my 2 door with open diffs did without a hassle. Given it was the wrong line for the long wheelbase. As I explained I was able to get my rear tire on that rock and that provided enough traction where lockers weren't needed, and well, some momentum to get through. My point being I had more options than the 4 door, he had to go try a line where he had a chance but couldn't make it. My 2 door would have had 0 chance on that line without lockers and I would've had to winch too.

Idk man. I've been going to places where I see all these old dudes tell me "you need lockers, you're gonna scratch the body, you're gonna flip your 2 door". I am talking hard obstacles if you don't believe me then that's you. But I'll take the 2 door anyday. I never said open was better than locked. In fact I am getting lockers soon, because if I don't I am gonna end up getting some bad damage sooner or later. From my own experience, I've completed obstacles with the open diffs (rear LSD) because of the flexibility of the short wheel-base. Some of them I had to be a bit rough though, that's the nature of open diffs. But a 4 door on 33s would crap out, lockers or not.

If you look at the belly of my 2 door you'll see the abuse. and that's with the breakover angle of the 2 door. I cant even imagine how a 4 door stock would look like. And yes, I would take my 2 door with rear LSD over a 4 door rubicon on 33s. But not over a 4 door rubi on 35s, or 2 door rubi on 33s or 32s obviously.

There is no way a 4 door on 33s is gonna do some of the stuff I've been doing. It'll get high centered constantly. 2 doors are rock crawling beasts. So yeah, maybe we are wheeling different places. From my experience once on the trail most people don't make any comments about 2 door vs 4 door, it is usually in town or some easy trail. I've seen a 2 door willys on 32s take on obstacles where 4 doors on 33s get high centered. Way too many inexperienced 4 door drivers telling people their gonna flip their 2 doors or that they can't do anything without lockers. Don't take this wrong.

 

[AcesandEights]

Just remember, before Jeep came out with the four-door Wrangler, 100% of rollovers were with two-door Wranglers. Fact.

 

[blnewt]

They're all badass, wish I had one. Or at least the 4:10s, 4:1 transfer case, and the lockers

 

[vegasblue]

Temps are absolutely fine. No issues at all crawling in 100* temps. AC is awesome.

Sam

Thanks Sam! Can't wait to wheel with one so their exhaust drowns out my jet propulsion system!

 

[SSWIM]

Of course I'll take locked any day. The JL powerplants are all plenty strong to provide the necessary torque for low speed offroading, lack of traction is what gets people from going over obstacles, so lockers are a gazillion times better than an open diff and provide a lot more benefits than some V8 or turbocharger. I was just saying how the locked 4 door had issues going over an obstacle that my 2 door with open diffs did without a hassle. Given it was the wrong line for the long wheelbase. As I explained I was able to get my rear tire on that rock and that provided enough traction where lockers weren't needed, and well, some momentum to get through. My point being I had more options than the 4 door, he had to go try a line where he had a chance but couldn't make it. My 2 door would have had 0 chance on that line without lockers and I would've had to winch too.

Idk man. I've been going to places where I see all these old dudes tell me "you need lockers, you're gonna scratch the body, you're gonna flip your 2 door". I am talking hard obstacles if you don't believe me then that's you. But I'll take the 2 door anyday. I never said open was better than locked. In fact I am getting lockers soon, because if I don't I am gonna end up getting some bad damage sooner or later. From my own experience, I've completed obstacles with the open diffs (rear LSD) because of the flexibility of the short wheel-base. Some of them I had to be a bit rough though, that's the nature of open diffs. But a 4 door on 33s would crap out, lockers or not.

If you look at the belly of my 2 door you'll see the abuse. and that's with the breakover angle of the 2 door. I cant even imagine how a 4 door stock would look like. And yes, I would take my 2 door with rear LSD over a 4 door rubicon on 33s. But not over a 4 door rubi on 35s, or 2 door rubi on 33s or 32s obviously.

There is no way a 4 door on 33s is gonna do some of the stuff I've been doing. It'll get high centered constantly. 2 doors are rock crawling beasts. So yeah, maybe we are wheeling different places. From my experience once on the trail most people don't make any comments about 2 door vs 4 door, it is usually in town or some easy trail. I've seen a 2 door willys on 32s take on obstacles where 4 doors on 33s get high centered. Way too many inexperienced 4 door drivers telling people their gonna flip their 2 doors or that they can't do anything without lockers. Don't take this wrong.

Make a trip to Moab and I can easily show you the difference. Incredible country and a great wheeling experience. If you have not been, you should do it. On most off-road enthusiasts bucket list. I would be happy to show you around. Any day on the trail is better than a day on the keyboard.



Sam

 

[Wabujitsu]

I don't think anyone here is saying the 392 Jeep isnt capable. All I'm saying is a longer wheel base will definitely be harder to navigate the tight trails with without some kind of body damage. Especially Gladiators. Those are guaranteed to get body damage everytime they go out here on the East Coast. It's just the nature of the longer wheel base.

And yes I definitely wouldn't want to pay $75k and bang it off of trees. Lol. With that said I do want to get into more adventure Overlanding type offroading and the 4 door would definitely suit that scenario well. Although if I'm out hiking and the 392 is back at camp I don't how I'll feel about leaving it by itself in the woods. Lol. Especially in the National forests where thieves are know to prowl around and rob your camp.

I do think Jeep will come out with a less optioned 392. When not sure. But it will happen. Probably when the hype dies down some and they want to sell more.

Speaking of thieves out in the middle of nowhere...

Years ago I was camping with a buddy in a north FL WMA, way out on a levy in the middle of a salt marsh. We set up the tent, popped out our two chairs, sat down and started imbibing some delicious apple jack that we had made, and had been cooking in the sun for a day and a half.

A little while later I heard a vehicle coming down the levy. I picked up my apple jack and my pistol and started to walk into the palmettos. My buddy laughed and said I was being paranoid, but I faded into the foliage anyway. An old pickup bounced into our camp, and two scruffy country boys get out brandishing rifles. My buddy calmly remained sitting, smiling at them while getting his buzz on. I chambered a round quietly. The following conversation ensued.

”Boy, whatchu doin’ out heah?” My buddy smiled, took a sip and said “Just enjoying the jungle.” The second rifle-wielding guy opens up our tent flap with his rifle barrel and says, “You out heah alone, boy?”

My smiling buddy looks him in the eye, takes a long swig, pointedly looks at the empty chair next to him, looks back and says, “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

Tweddle-dee and Tweedle-dum look at each other, then look around at the brush line, unsure and clearly uncomfortable, and silently got back in their truck and departed.

I crawled out of the palmettos and sat down next to him. We both looked straight ahead, sipping our tasty beverages. I cut my head to look at him, with a raised eyebrow. He silently gave me a wry grin, and toasted me.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Speaking of thieves out in the middle of nowhere...

Years ago I was camping with a buddy in a north FL WMA, way out on a levy in the middle of a salt marsh. We set up the tent, popped out our two chairs, sat down and started imbibing some delicious apple jack that we had made, and had been cooking in the sun for a day and a half.

A little while later I heard a vehicle coming down the levy. I picked up my apple jack and my pistol and started to walk into the palmettos. My buddy laughed and said I was being paranoid, but I faded into the foliage anyway. An old pickup bounced into our camp, and two scruffy country boys get out brandishing rifles. My buddy calmly remained sitting, smiling at them while getting his buzz on. I chambered a round quietly. The following conversation ensued.

”Boy, whatchu doin’ out heah?” My buddy smiled, took a sip and said “Just enjoying the jungle.” The second rifle-wielding guy opens up our tent flap with his rifle barrel and says, “You out heah alone, boy?”

My smiling buddy looks him in the eye, takes a long swig, pointedly looks at the empty chair next to him, looks back and says, “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

Tweddle-dee and Tweedle-dum look at each other, then look around at the brush line, unsure and clearly uncomfortable, and silently got back in their truck and departed.

I crawled out of the palmettos and sat down next to him. We both looked straight ahead, sipping our tasty beverages. I cut my head to look at him, with a raised eyebrow. He silently gave me a wry grin, and toasted me.

You were probably too close for comfort to their weed farm.

 

[AnnDee4444]

Just remember, before Jeep came out with the four-door Wrangler, 100% of rollovers were with two-door Wranglers. Fact.

I always knew the 4-door SJs were unflippable.

This one must have been hit by an asteroid or a falling piano.

 

[kermitjewel]

I always knew the 4-door SJs were unflippable.

This one must have been hit by an asteroid or a falling piano.

doesn't quite look like a rubicon 2 dr or 4 dr to me, suspiciously looks like a grand wagoneer

 

[DUNE RAP]

When I wanted an Off-road toy I wanted the smallest, lightest short wheelbase vehicle I could find. So 2dr Rubicon it was!

 

[Zandcwhite]

When I wanted an Off-road toy I wanted the smallest, lightest short wheelbase vehicle I could find. So 2dr Rubicon it was!

A side x side is much lighter, smaller, and shorter.

Sponsored