Shakedown run for new 2024 Wrangler Rubicon X

[ELJL]

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[Murphydog]

Nice write up

We are just back from a week in Moab from Seattle, ~ 1,100 freeway miles each way. I have a 23 Rubicon XR, traded from a 21 non XR Rubicon.

I know each Jeep is slightly different, but damn my current XR kills it on the highway even pushing 90 MPH. My wife took over helm duties from Twin Falls Idaho to Ogden Utah and I had to keep reminding her we don’t actually have to go 90.

drive down tires were at 41 PSI warm and no issues! 34-35 PSI for the trip home and again no issue. And I know they were too high going down, had been playing with the Morrflate the night before and over shot my preferred mark.

I fully expected the XR to be squirrelly, but was pleasantly surprised with mine

i well say there was a strong wind the last 100 miles home, that really did push us all over the road.

enjoy You Jeep, the are a ton of fun!

 

[Chief_Dan]

Nice JLUR!
I had mine in the mud & muck while still sporting a drive out tag. Glad you are enjoying it.

If I can add a little observation of mine...
You are right about the handling & it is the solid front axle. Think of the handling like this. Try to hold it straight, when it starts to wander, make slow determined corrections & try to keep it straight. The steering wheel won't snap back to center, so you may have to return it back. So, don't correct it like you would any other vehicle or you will get into a fight with the steering. Just remember you want that when offroad so the steering wheel won't be snapping around as you hit ruts & boulders.

Lastly, the Jeep is a fantastic offroad vehicle that is good on road. Where everything else (4Runner, Bronco, most trucks, SUVs) are great on road vehicles that are good offroad.

There really is nothing like it offroad & what the Jeep does great it usually does it slow.

Enjoy & post more pics!

 

[Apexcars]

As others have said, you definitely need to replace the front lower control arms with the ones from the Mopar lift. They are cheap to do and they make a noticeable handling improvement.

 

[new to JL's]

I did drive the 392 to see if it could replace the TRX but at this time, it's a no.

Nice Jeep and I'd say the TRX is a keeper, especially after they just announced it's going away after MY24

 

[DaCran]

Where were you in these photos?

 

[UnlikelyJeepLady]

Really nice write up.

Glad to see the handling was better on the ride home. I'm waiting on the same build (minus winch--which I am kind of regretting) and the handling is the one thing I'm worried about.

 

[BobW]

In the case of the M151 Jeep it was meant to carry up to 6 people x 175 ls each +. rucksacks etc. The C model was could have a M 60 Tank Search light mounted in the rear, up front was a GIANT 90,000 Volt genes it took to light the Arch on the Xeon search light. Then there is 105 MM Recoiless Rifle that was mounted along with a 2 man crew and a whole lot of ammo. Then you had the M 10 Ammo trailer and the M 416 trailer and I have seen those trailers loaded down till the leaf springs were bent down not up.

So if the above it the criteria then what kind of springs do you have at each corner? Coil, what weight limits? You can image the springs needed to haul 1000s of lbs cross country while towing 1000s of lbs. The springs had to have enough energy to support all this. But when not in war you don't have all this weight and as a result in a situation where the spring can unload it flip the Jeep over.

Clearly NO ONE took that into consideration.

How does Ford do it? Well for starters All Superduty trucks DF 250/350/450 run solid axles. The axles on my F 450 are rated Front 6000 lbs, Rear 16,000 lbs.

So Ford has done on the Bronco has developed a front long travel suspension, something the M151 DID NOT have! They also developed a "High-Performance Off-Road Stability System (HOSS). Combined with very wide 35 tires and wide track and springs TUNED to the weight of the Bronco and not 1000 of lbs of Infantry soldiers and ammo being carried on the battlefield.

The rear is is a solid axle.

Ford does like that Wide tires, wide stance all in to stabilize it with is what the solid axle does on a Jeep. Until the GOTA LIFT HIGH crowd jumps in send the Jeep into Nosebleed space where only a Jump qualified Airborne Ranger would go.

Here is the rule I follow when I build a Jeep: For every INCH I lift, I go out from OEM 1 ½ inches per side on order to maintain the OEM stability.

I see folks putting on 5 in lifts. To maintain OEM stability you need to go out on each side 7 ½ inches.

BUT WAIT: I just don't build Jeeps I engineer them and that is the difference, I don't need a 5 in lift to get 5 in of lift, I can do it on far less than that...the trick is not in how high you lift it, but how you lift it high!!

A coworker, a retired Army Ranger, told me the Humvee was a blast to drive.

 

[BVGeezer]

A few comments... Your Jeep has the aerodynamics of a brick. In 20+ mph crosswinds it will be squirrely especially at high speeds. Head and tailwinds will cause some buffeting. This is from 45 years of driving FJ40s and Jeeps. We had an early JL, and it was really squirrely looking for the ditch until it got broke in and we lowered the tire pressure.

Also, I can't believe you guys talk about driving 80-90 mph. We both drive 65-68 on the highway. On a few hundred mile trip you might think you get there sooner but you'll suck a lot more gas requiring additional gas stops. Plus it's just not safe, but it is your life.

One last comment, from your photographs, your obstacles were pretty mild. Wait till you find yourself on some real trails in Colorado, Arizona or Utah. You'll learn what a stock Ruby can do. Pick your line and point and shoot we call it.

 

[BobW]

Yesterday was our shakedown run for the new Jeep. We had a blast and had a few observations. The trip was a 1 day drive that consisted of 350 miles of road driving and 20 miles of off road.

Our goals were getting familiar with the Jeep and making sure everything works on road, offroad and testing parts I installed. We wanted to make sure the Jeep and we were ready for our vacation next week.

Observations-

1. On road - Did we buy a toaster? It was a windy day and boy does the wind push this thing around. Driving a TRX as a daily, MPG isn't something that I have ever concerned myself with. After too many stops to fill the Jeep up, I did confirm that it has the aerodynamics of a toaster.

2. On road- Am I going to drive this thing into the ditch? The first time I got it up to 65 mph and felt like I didn't have much control. Was this the wind pushing me around or is this just how a straight axle front feels? Mind you, the wind was blow 20+ mph on the entire trip and the TRX is almost a perfect road trip vehicle. Before the truck, I have always had AMGs so I am used to cars that handle great. Maybe I just have to get used to it?

3. On road- the layout- the fit, comfort and dash are all pretty good. Actually better than I predicted so it was a nice surprise.The ACC was one of the better I have used. Yep there is a lot of wind noise but I had accepted that before we purchased the Jeep.

4. On road- Are Jeep people awesome? I quickly noticed how Jeep people look out for each other. On the way to the trail and back, another Jeep always found us and either lead or followed us and didn't really allow other cars in between us. We also got stuck behind 2 wrecks and while most people wouldn't let us over to the open lanes, 3 different Jeeps made room for us and waved us over. I felt like a little moral fabric had been added back to society. Could this be what the Jeep community is like?

5. Off road- Where is the owner's manual, I have never looked at one before. Being pretty new to offroading, should I have read the manual, probably. As we headed down the trail and the time came for the 4x4 stuff, I found it was a little difficult to get it into 4L. I followed the sequence as I do in the TRX and put the trans in "N" but it was a pretty hard slam to get it in L and it wanted to pop back into "N" on the TC. I did notice it was easier if I did it way before I needed it. I was uncertain of the sequence of the swaybar disconnect so I also put trans in "N" and it the button and after a little bit, it disconnected. The lockers were pretty straight forward so no issues there.

6. Off road- I don't think this thing is a toaster. It is handling obstacles like they aren't even there. This thing just crawls up anything in front of it, and I was shocked at the articulation as compared to my TRX. iIt was almost a dream on the trail and the turning radius is awesome, you can really maneuver between and through everything.

7. Off road- Am I a Jeep mechanic? My OBA and winch worked perfectly. Our storage was good and everything was easy to get to. Spooling the winch and airing up and down was a very simple process.

8. On road- The way back home- Did this thing become better on the road just 6 hours later? I highly doubt the tires broke in and the suspension settled during the short trip but the wind was still blowing and I hit most of the trip home at 83mph. A fellow Jeep member caught up to me and followed us almost the entire 175 miles back home. What happened on this trip? Did the Jeep handle off road so well that I excused it's on road manners or am I slowly becoming a Jeep person?

9. Final thoughts- Wait a minute, I don't own a Jeep. This is my wife's jeep, I drive a TRX. As much as I love the TRX, it is big and I have fallen in love with offroading over the past year. Can I live with just a Jeep in the family, one that I will never be able to mod the way I want? What happens next.......

I had always thought "aerodynamics of a brick". However, upon reflection, "toaster" is a much more accurate comparison.

 

[Old Jeeper]

A few comments... Your Jeep has the aerodynamics of a brick. In 20+ mph crosswinds it will be squirrely especially at high speeds. Head and tailwinds will cause some buffeting. This is from 45 years of driving FJ40s and Jeeps. We had an early JL, and it was really squirrely looking for the ditch until it got broke in and we lowered the tire pressure.

Also, I can't believe you guys talk about driving 80-90 mph. We both drive 65-68 on the highway. On a few hundred mile trip you might think you get there sooner but you'll suck a lot more gas requiring additional gas stops. Plus it's just not safe, but it is your life.

One last comment, from your photographs, your obstacles were pretty mild. Wait till you find yourself on some real trails in Colorado, Arizona or Utah. You'll learn what a stock Ruby can do. Pick your line and point and shoot we call it.

Truer words never spoken.

I know of FEW places in the US that have above a 75 mph limit, Texas is one of them. We have 80 and 85 mph.

Will you get there sooner than my 65-68 mph? NO you will not. You mpg will eat your lunch at those speeds and Wind resistance is no linear it increased exponentially as speed increases and at 80-90 mph you will suck gas like a Payday Friday Hooker without any teeth.

Before Mr 80-90 mph weighs in that his Jeep with 40s and get 27.8 mpg! < Actual post by a Jeeper on another forum I am on about his Gladiator.

 

[Ktmracer21]

Nice ride! My rubi x is 2 months old and already on 37’s with an additional 1.5” of lift (3” springs) I ordered a new C8 and drove it for 6 months before I was over it! Lol. These jeeps are a blast.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Nice Jeep and I'd say the TRX is a keeper, especially after they just announced it's going away after MY24

Yes, there is a chance, at the time to sell it, that I could pull off driving a TRX free for a couple of years when the HC goes away.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Where were you in these photos?

Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area in Gilmer TX

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Really nice write up.

Glad to see the handling was better on the ride home. I'm waiting on the same build (minus winch--which I am kind of regretting) and the handling is the one thing I'm worried about.

No need to pay for the factory winch option. I just slapped a $400 Openroad winch on it. About every winch besides the Warn Platinum series are made in one of two Chinese factories. The money I saved can buy some aftermarket rock rails.

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