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BuyHold

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My favorite memory with my stock Rubicon was when we got lost in the mountains north of Los Angeles, found this old ghost town, and then quickly realized that we were trespassing on a movie set.

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Also appears that Kesha Die Young music video was filmed here. I am sure Kesha is a fan fave of JLwrangler forum so I have provided the URL.

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kah.mun.rah

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Also appears that Kesha Die Young music video was filmed here. I am sure Kesha is a fan fave of JLwrangler forum so I have provided the URL.

Cool! Thanks for finding/mentioning that! Here is a picture I took of the inside of the front door that matches time = :48 in the video

Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367
 
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CenTX JPR

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So each bracket will help the bumper ends resist 87.5lbs more dynamic load than stock. And 200lbs more static.

I personally think they should be left to roof rack duty, or maybe supporting the weight of an average sized adult man standing on the end of the bumper for whatever reason. Otherwise, it's nothing more than another $174 getting shoved into the body after dropping off a ledge. And a thicker bracket chopping into the pinch seam. Just me, but if I still had the stock rear bumper, I'd steer clear of any drop offs. And if they couldn't be avoided and the bumper got stuffed, I'd at least still have $174 in my pocket.

I understand the appeal towards the factory look. It does have nice lines that compliment the Jeep as a whole, which is why I kept the front, but it requires more than a couple of repurposed brackets if it's really expected to resist a hit from below.

Without seeing it, as I gave mine away to a fellow member, my first thought is to box it like a frame rail. A "U" shape is naturally resistant to forces directed towards the center of the curve. It'll naturally twist as it bends when enough force is directed towards one of its webs/legs. This could be done with a flat plate, but it would need to be thick. A slightly lighter weight alternative would be a channel beam, which wouldn't need to be quite as thick, and I would orient it's webs facing rearward to counter the twist tendencies of the bumper itself.
Agreed. Don't think these will be a preventative measure to a hard landing. I've landed 'medium' on the stock rear and while it didn't hit the tub, it bent it up and in a little, leaving me now with about a 1/8" gap. I'll have to be careful in Moab this May, will still have the stocker.
 

Headbarcode

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Agreed. Don't think these will be a preventative measure to a hard landing. I've landed 'medium' on the stock rear and while it didn't hit the tub, it bent it up and in a little, leaving me now with about a 1/8" gap. I'll have to be careful in Moab this May, will still have the stocker.
In my humble opinion, that $174 is better put towards a bumper designed out of the gate to take a hit and laugh at it. Last September in Windrock Park, my Jeep took several hits to the rear bumper and just needed a spritz of rustoleum when I got home. I slid off of a boulder mid stream and gave my LOD Destroyer slider a nice whack. It didn't breach the powdercoat, surprisingly, but left a silver dollar sized dimple as a souvenir.
 

AZDIESELRUBI

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Xtreme Recon, but it's still considered "stock," right? I've done a few mods since, but here is some AZ wheeling when it was less than a month old
Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367

Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367

Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367

Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367

Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367

The GAP is a great trail. The other looks like Sedona.
 

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txj2go

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That’s actually why I started this thread, because I wasn’t sure what direction to go in. I Initially went down the rabbit hole of wanting a bigger lift, bigger tires, then that leads to more supporting mods, etc. so I thought, how good is it stock? Maybe I just need some skids, stubby front bumper, steel rear, for protection and a 1” spacer lift just for a bit of clearance.
It depends on where you want to go, meaning what trails. Elephant Hill is a pretty significant trail but not difficult by Moab standards. My Sport had no problem with Elephant Hill but I wouldn't attempt anything in Moab more difficult than Fins and Things or Hells Revenge. I look at the trails in the trail books, whether Utah or Colorado, and I consider carefully anything rated difficult. I have 33" tires and Rubicon height. Sometimes the difficult trails only require more clearance and maybe more tire to help go over large rocks or ledges. Sometimes they require that you go all out with momentum and spinning tires.
My theory is that there is a line that you can go up to with a Sport with 33" tires, a stock Rubicon will only go a small amount farther. Go to 37" tires and more lift and you can make a pretty good difference. If you want to push the limits of what you can do with 37" tires then you can go bigger tires, regear the axles, and armor is essential. I didn't need armor on Elephant Hill but in the Maze we scraped a few times since I have a habit of moving ahead without careful spotting.
 
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Jeepn’

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It depends on where you want to go, meaning what trails. Elephant Hill is a pretty significant trail but not difficult by Moab standards. My Sport had no problem with Elephant Hill but I wouldn't attempt anything in Moab more difficult than Fins and Things or Hells Revenge. I look at the trails in the trail books, whether Utah or Colorado, and I consider carefully anything rated difficult. I have 33" tires and Rubicon height. Sometimes the difficult trails only require more clearance and maybe more tire to help go over large rocks or ledges. Sometimes they require that you go all out with momentum and spinning tires.
My theory is that there is a line that you can go up to with a Sport with 33" tires, a stock Rubicon will only go a small amount farther. Go to 37" tires and more lift and you can make a pretty good difference. If you want to push the limits of what you can do with 37" tires then you can go bigger tires, regear the axles, and armor is essential. I didn't need armor on Elephant Hill but in the Maze we scraped a few times since I have a habit of moving ahead without careful spotting.
Long term id like to do the rubicon; every year me and my buddies do a rubicon camping trip, eventually I’d like to join with my JL and not just as a passenger. I also do very long road trips, so I’m thinking I can get away with 35s, 2” lift, bumpers, winch, skids and sliders. I think that would be a good blend of something really capable but also good on the Highway.
 

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dragoneggs

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My favorite memory with my stock Rubicon was when we got lost in the mountains north of Los Angeles, found this old ghost town, and then quickly realized that we were trespassing on a movie set.

Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367


Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367


Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367


My buddy in front of the barn where they filmed Friday the 13th.

Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367

Jeep Wrangler JL Post pictures of stock Rubicon on HARD trails! 1680285571367
Careful… could get shot by a Baldwin. :whew:
 

txj2go

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Long term id like to do the rubicon; every year me and my buddies do a rubicon camping trip, eventually I’d like to join with my JL and not just as a passenger. I also do very long road trips, so I’m thinking I can get away with 35s, 2” lift, bumpers, winch, skids and sliders. I think that would be a good blend of something really capable but also good on the Highway.
I think ground clearance is what stops you more than anything, adding 2" lift on top of Rubicon clearance, and going to 35" tires which gains you one more inch, is helpful. My Sport has Rubicon tires and Rubicon springs which per my before and after measurements raised it between 2.5" and 3", and that gets it to stock Rubicon height. Going through the Maze we did scrape a few times when I wasn't as careful as I should have been but it wasn't anything serious. We drove that trail almost all in 2WD, we didn't stop to spot, we didn't stop to stack rocks. No drama, we just drove through it. The last part of the trail is rated difficult by my trail book.
 

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Headbarcode

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Long term id like to do the rubicon; every year me and my buddies do a rubicon camping trip, eventually I’d like to join with my JL and not just as a passenger. I also do very long road trips, so I’m thinking I can get away with 35s, 2” lift, bumpers, winch, skids and sliders. I think that would be a good blend of something really capable but also good on the Highway.
Not trying to be an enabler, as it comes naturally, but larger lift height and tires can drive better than stock when done fully and proper.

My JLUR is lifted 5.5-6" and on 40x13.5's. My wife and I took a roadtrip from new york to Tennessee, where we drove all over the state, staying in Pidgeon Forge, Chattanooga, Nashville, Knoxville, and also a couple nights in Greenville, South Carolina. We also spent a couple days rock crawling in Windrock Park. We had the cargo area mostly stuffed with 3.5 weeks worth of suitcases, a cooler, recovery gear, and tools. We spent most of the time running at 80-85mph. On the way home, my brother in law came with us to visit family. Adding him and his luggage, the cargo area was filled to the roof and there was only enough room in the backseat for him to sit with the armrest down. We also collected some souvenirs, including over 200 pounds of ammo. Still, zero issue pulling 75-80mph all the way back home. The Jeep handled the trip like a champ, and I never had to touch a single tool.

Just thought that was worth mentioning.

Welcome to the Jeep community!

Also, check out the litebrite YouTube channel. Scroll back to about 4 years ago to see what their 2018 JLUR was doing when it still had paper plates.
 

X-Treme

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My stock XR climbing 'the steps' in my local offroad forest playground. No effort required at all!

IMG_3814.jpeg
 

jlandry287

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Engineer pass was pretty rough in a stock rubi.

it had been raining for a few days prior, as well aa while we were driving the pass. Once we got to the backside all of the switchbacks were washed out and slicker than snot, and I was still on stock KO2. It was extremely stressful having little control of where we were sliding, but with patience we were able to safely make it down.

Also had to switch to my spare since I got a flat on the way up, plus we were over landing so we had 500+ pounds of gear in the back.

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