Question for experts about full time transfer case availability

[Yawnie'sPapa]

My wife is looking to get into a 2026 JLU
This is mainly due to handicaps and such to get the power seats and other things that a 2023 doesn't have

Requirements are:
REIGN (no other color)
Power seats
3.6 (although the I4 would do)
AUTOMATIC - her license is restricted to automatic due to her arms
33" tires - don't want it lifted or sitting high so I told the dealer "no recon package" - even with the RSE power steps she'd have trouble with a lifted Jeep on 35s not to mention the weight and mpg hit
FULL TIME/auto transfer case.

Dealer now says that he had to order a recon package to get the full time transfer case
I thought that it came with the X package - with a Rubicon X - he says the X package includes the recon package or the 35" package on the JLU
He said there is one and only one way to get that and that's with the recon package.

On the JT side, a Mojave X or Rubicon X comes with that standard.
I can't find a guide that talks of options and packages like someone posted on the Gladiator forums a couple of days ago, so maybe someone here knows the truth!
Can a loaded Rubicon X be obtained with a full time transfer case
or,
Do you really HAVE to get the recon package to get the full time transfer case?
Facts only, please, no guess-work, that's what we've been doing since I found the build sheet and that he included the recon package in it.

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[Faded glory]

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/2026-jeep-wrangler-order-guide/

 

[Flip]

Hey yawnie, its good to see you out here, it's been awhile. I hope all is well with you and yours.

 

[Yawnie'sPapa]

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/2026-jeep-wrangler-order-guide/

Looks like he's correct - the X package includes the 35s/recon package.
Well, looks like we'll have to order a different one to make really sure she gets a standard height JLU with 33s and ALL BODY color, if that's even possible. She wants it reign, but the catch is it must ALL be reign - no black roof, no black fender flares - all purple, 100%
Guess we'll have to skip the full time transfer case. She doesn't do winter driving like I do anyway.

Hey yawnie, its good to see you out here, it's been awhile. I hope all is well with you and yours.

Thanks - this fall has been a bitch. Day before my wife's birthday in November, we lost a favorite cat - he went downhill fast, so i ran him to a 24 hour emergency vet where he really went down hill and started coughing up blood and fluid - they said x-rays showed heart failure and lungs with fluid. So we lost Tuvak, then 2 weeks later, we lost Pickle.
One evening Pickle did what he does - sits near me and looks at me, but this time he looked at me with big round eyes, rather bulging, blood in one of them. Took him to vet - they were concerned about spots on an x-ray and low platelet count. They consulted with ISU vets over the Thanksgiving weekend and the next tuesday, we made that hard decision with him - systemic lymphoma. I said Tuesday as the Friday after Thanksgiving I sent my surgeon in Iowa City pictures of one of my head surgery sites - and he said get over there Monday morning for surgery to resolve it.
7 trips to Iowa City, 3 for surgeries - first to implant electrodes, then a week later a battery pack, and then a few weeks later, the incision started leaking clear fluid. Trips to urgent care, it's been one of the worst 3 months I can ever recall. I was waiting to go into surgery on the 1st when we got the call from the vet about Pickle's results being lymphoma, a cancer, and he likely wouldn't last but a few weeks, so I went under with that thought.
Now this mess with trying to get my wife setup in a new Jeep - and me on restrictions no lifting, no straining, no bending over.

 

[Flip]

Looks like he's correct - the X package includes the 35s/recon package.
Well, looks like we'll have to order a different one to make really sure she gets a standard height JLU with 33s and ALL BODY color, if that's even possible. She wants it reign, but the catch is it must ALL be reign - no black roof, no black fender flares - all purple, 100%
Guess we'll have to skip the full time transfer case. She doesn't do winter driving like I do anyway.



Thanks - this fall has been a bitch. Day before my wife's birthday in November, we lost a favorite cat - he went downhill fast, so i ran him to a 24 hour emergency vet where he really went down hill and started coughing up blood and fluid - they said x-rays showed heart failure and lungs with fluid. So we lost Tuvak, then 2 weeks later, we lost Pickle.
One evening Pickle did what he does - sits near me and looks at me, but this time he looked at me with big round eyes, rather bulging, blood in one of them. Took him to vet - they were concerned about spots on an x-ray and low platelet count. They consulted with ISU vets over the Thanksgiving weekend and the next tuesday, we made that hard decision with him - systemic lymphoma. I said Tuesday as the Friday after Thanksgiving I sent my surgeon in Iowa City pictures of one of my head surgery sites - and he said get over there Monday morning for surgery to resolve it.
7 trips to Iowa City, 3 for surgeries - first to implant electrodes, then a week later a battery pack, and then a few weeks later, the incision started leaking clear fluid. Trips to urgent care, it's been one of the worst 3 months I can ever recall. I was waiting to go into surgery on the 1st when we got the call from the vet about Pickle's results being lymphoma, a cancer, and he likely wouldn't last but a few weeks, so I went under with that thought.
Now this mess with trying to get my wife setup in a new Jeep - and me on restrictions no lifting, no straining, no bending over.

Hang in there buddy. I hope things get better very soon. 1 day at a time.

 

[Yawnie'sPapa]

1 other question for JLU experts (we own one, but like the man says - just because the box for the saw says "professional grade"..........)
My sales guy argued that the JLU Rubicon with the recon package isn't really lifted. He says all Rubicons are 1" lift from the factory (not really true as I've measured them) and that the 35" tires wouldn't add that much height and they weren't really lifted.
Well, the build sheet sort of implies otherwise.
I figure that the "recon" or "35" package" would likely come with something similar to the MOPAR 2" lift kit from the factory.
So if that's the case, based on a stock Rubicon JLU with 33s-
add roughly 1" height for the tires
add roughly 2" height for the "35" tire suspension"
and you get an added 3" of height compared to a fully stock Rubicon with 33s.
Is there anything to my logic?

There's no way with my wife's mobility issues, arthritis and bad knees (and handicaps from birth) she will want a "taller Jeep".

My guess is that the top line here means it has a 2" lift - is that a logical assumption?

 

[Yawnie'sPapa]

Hang in there buddy. I hope things get better very soon. 1 day at a time.

Exactly - each as they arrive. I guess I take it easy, and take care of our two remaining kitties - one of them deaf and absolutely totally missing his brother (he wanders all over the house crying loudly) and the silver terror, I mean tabby..............

 

[Flip]

Exactly - each as they arrive. I guess I take it easy, and take care of our two remaining kitties - one of them deaf and absolutely totally missing his brother (he wanders all over the house crying loudly) and the silver terror, I mean tabby..............

I just have the one cat but we've had her over 12 yrs now. Another jeep friend recently lost his little dog. Not a good month to lose pets.

 

[JamesWyatt]

The Rubicon X package does now include the old XR package. Can't get a Rubicon X without it now. But dealer is wrong about the X, it does have a lift over the non-X Rubicons. They have taller springs, it's not just the extra height from the 35" tires.

If you want the full time 4wd and power seats options but not the 35" tires and suspension, look for a used 2024 X that didn't have the XR package. They were separate things in 2024 but not 2025 and up.

 

[Yawnie'sPapa]

The Rubicon X package does now include the old XR package. Can't get a Rubicon X without it now. But dealer is wrong about the X, it does have a lift over the non-X Rubicons. They have taller springs, it's not just the extra height from the 35" tires.

If you want the full time 4wd and power seats options but not the 35" tires and suspension, look for a used 2024 X that didn't have the XR package. They were separate things in 2024 but not 2025 and up.

That's what I was afraid of.................

Any way to get the following? (the build site sucks - flip to an automatic and it removes 5 other things including body color roof)

Reign, with body color roof and fender flares.
active safety group (auto high beams, etc.)
full nav radio
power seats (that's the big reason for a change)
basically everything - towing, safety, convenience (heated seats, power seats)
auto transmission
V6 or I4 engine
?

Choose the automatic trans and you have to give up the headliner and steel bumpers? Really?

 

[2nd 392]

That's what I was afraid of.................

Any way to get the following? (the build site sucks - flip to an automatic and it removes 5 other things including body color roof)

Reign, with body color roof and fender flares.
active safety group (auto high beams, etc.)
full nav radio
power seats (that's the big reason for a change)
basically everything - towing, safety, convenience (heated seats, power seats)
auto transmission
V6 or I4 engine
?

Choose the automatic trans and you have to give up the headliner and steel bumpers? Really?

Those are certainly transmission / drivetrain related items, WTF .
Perhaps investigating low mileage unmolested 24’s isn’t a bad idea. You might get lucky, at least possibly closer than what’s offered now.

 

[Faded glory]

This one comes close but it’s overpriced. https://www.lhmdodgeboise.com/new/J...edium=referral&utm_campaign=cargurus_listings

Check out @Ratbert dealer list to see if they could order one with all your options
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/ratberts-dealers-below-invoice-spreadsheet.95841/

 

[JamesWyatt]

That's what I was afraid of.................

Any way to get the following? (the build site sucks - flip to an automatic and it removes 5 other things including body color roof)

Reign, with body color roof and fender flares.
active safety group (auto high beams, etc.)
full nav radio
power seats (that's the big reason for a change)
basically everything - towing, safety, convenience (heated seats, power seats)
auto transmission
V6 or I4 engine
?

Choose the automatic trans and you have to give up the headliner and steel bumpers? Really?

The model comparison tool on the Jeep site says you should be able to get a loaded out auto on a Sahara that includes the power seats. Power seats are not available on the Rubicon, only the Rubicon X.

Then there’s always the Gladiator where you can get the X without the 35” tire package.

 

[Dusty Dude]

Would it be easier to use Rubi takeoffs to get what you want? Forgive my ignorance on this part, but is the lift itself just a different set of springs/shocks? (The bump stops would probably be the hardest part.)

 

[Yawnie'sPapa]

Would it be easier to use Rubi takeoffs to get what you want? Forgive my ignorance on this part, but is the lift itself just a different set of springs/shocks? (The bump stops would probably be the hardest part.)

I've been told by a guy who owns one of the recon Wranglers that the bump stop mounts are taller, so taking away the lift means it would be riding down on the stops unless you chopped and fabricated.
There's the tire size, lift, axle ratio

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