Shopping for new Rubicon - noises on test drive

[word302]

The K02s that come with the Rubicon are one of the noisiest and heaviest all terrain tires you can get. I mean they are superb for the trail, they are very thick and strong so hardly puncture, you can drop the pressure a lot, etc etc... but for the road they are not so great. There are many, many great AT tires out there that will be a lot more comfortable on the road. There is a sports package (no slip differential) that I strongly suggest you get if you buy a Sport or Sahara, that package comes with a limited slip locker differential on and dana 44 axle on the back and also includes the Wrangler AT tires, which are really good tires on the road. And if you want something more aggressive, there are a lot of options out there, but the 33in KO2s are completely engineered for off-roading.

The Sport S with all the fancy packages is a really comfortable vehicle and gets close to giving you a more "luxury" feel. I think it fits exactly what you need, daily driver, towing (with the towing package), and off-roader. I personally don't like the Sahara, I know they tried to make it "luxury" but it looks pretty tacky to me, specially with those plastics sidesteps. However, a lot of people really like it so give that one a try too.

I know Rubicons are cool and all that, and if that's what you want go ahead and get it. But it won't ever be as comfortable to drive as a Sahara or Sport S.

Lol. First of all, the limited slip is not even close to the same thing as a locker. 2nd of all, explain how a Rubicon will "never be as comfortable to drive as a Sahara or Sport S".

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[Shannon]

I have a 2019 2.0 rubicon. I have that low rumble when I first shift into drive and stay on the brake. As soon as I let off the brake, it stops. And I only notice it the first start up of the day. I assume it’s associated with the relatively complex 2.0 engine. I don’t have any wind noise at any speed other than the fact that your pushing a box through the wind. Love the JL 4dr. Had a 2008 2dr jk rubicon. Wow what a difference!

 

[Sgt Krypto]

I took your advice. I went to a different dealer and drove a Rubicon with a head liner. The harmonic at idle was only noticeable one time. The buffeting at 40-45 was still there, but not as pronounced. I tried messing with the AC and cracking windows but nothing stopped it. I'll admit that I am more sensitive to low frequency noises than others. I have tinnitus pretty bad. I can't even hear squealing brakes. It drives my wife crazy.

As I was trying to decide if I could live with the buffeting on my daily drive, which is mostly 40-45 MPH, I was irritated by the stiffness of the ride. Then I noticed the dealer had 45 lbs in all the tires. Since I did not notice it on the other Jeep, I'm guessing dropping to 32 would help a lot.

I must be getting (more) irritable in my old age.

Usually our hearing gets worse with age. What's your trick?

Some people expect more out of a Jeep than any Jeep can provide, just remember it's a Jeep.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-steering-complaints.38222/page-3#post-853727

You'll love the Rubicon, just figure out what you want on it and pull the trigger. Will it be perfect? No automobile is, but running around in a Rubicon is the most fun you can have with your pants on.

 

[entropy]

Lol. First of all, the limited slip is not even close to the same thing as a locker. 2nd of all, explain how a Rubicon will "never be as comfortable to drive as a Sahara or Sport S".

An LSD is often seen as a type locker, like it or not, it is intended to lock the wheel without traction while off-roading, just doesn't mechanically lock it 100%. I never said it is the same as the on demand lockers that come with the Rubicon?, and I am not sure if you wheel or not, but people's been using LSD's on off-roading for decades and the one on the Wrangler works extremely well, it wont get you out of an extremely tricky rock crawling situation like real active lockers would as it doesn't lock 100% the spinning wheel, but it does get you out of most situations. Regardless, that's not the point of this post, a Rubicon will never, ever, ride the same as a stock sport or Sahara for a few reasons:

1) Tires. The KO2's are great off-road, but they are loud, clunky and heavy on the road.
2) Ride height. The Rubicon sits higher than the Sport, almost 2 inches, and that is going to affect maneuverability and comfort. It also raises the center of gravity making it tippier.
3) Longer and stiffer suspension. Some people will disagree with this one though, and say that the Rubicon suspension feels better just because it has better shocks.
4) Weight. The rubicon is heavier than the sport, and that will affect how the vehicle feels on a freeway.

Those are the reasons that come to mind. The Sport and Sahara behave much better on the pavement, I've driven all of them and to me the biggest difference is the tires. I don't think it takes much of a brain to realize that the Rubicon is going to perform worst on the pavement than the other trims. It is common sense. Why get all that crap if never taking the Jeep rock crawling and it will be a daily driver 99% of the time on the pavement? it will make your ride on pavement more uncomfortable and it costs extra $$$. That's just a fact and people should be aware of it. I have nothing against people liking how the Rubicon looks and feels and prefers them even on the pavement as a daily driver. People do with their money as they please and we only get to live once. But just be aware of pros and cons that's all.

The OP wants a daily driver to occasionally take off-roading, sounds like very occasionally and easy off-roading. OP also mentioned he cares about the ride, and noises, and all that, and how he wants AT tires. Sounds to me like a Sport with the LSD package, tech, headliner, towing, etc... is the perfect fit, it is an amazing off-roader, probably much more than the OP needs and it rides better on the pavement. It is up to the OP if he wants that or prefers to have the Rubicon decal, large KO2s, high profile fenders, etc...

 

[debandi]

I love my little 2 door. The K02 tires are actually very quiet on the road and road manners on a Rubicon are fantastic. Some bad info on this thread.

 

[entropy]

I love my little 2 door. The K02 tires are actually very quiet on the road and road manners on a Rubicon are fantastic. Some bad info on this thread.

It depends on the person... but they are louder and road manners just can't compare to a vehicle that sits lower...

But whatever, a Jeep is a Jeep, sport or rubicon they are what they are. So I get it, comparably the difference is not like Grand Cherokee vs. Wrangler. I just think OP should at least try the other trims, some people notice massive differences some don't really care that much, it is relative. I used to drive a JL with a soft top and I loved it and I would claim it wasn't loud at all. Now I have a hardtop with headliner, and I can't see myself going back to the soft top lol. I am debating it, because the softop is such a good design and easy to go topless vs. the hardtop. Some people say they can't notice much of a difference between soft top and hard top road noise, but man to me it is the difference between an Audi and a Kia.

And to some people the road manners between a sport and a Rubicon are heaven to earth.

 

[word302]

An LSD is often seen as a type locker, like it or not, it is intended to lock the wheel without traction while off-roading, just doesn't mechanically lock it 100%. I never said it is the same as the on demand lockers that come with the Rubicon?, and I am not sure if you wheel or not, but people's been using LSD's on off-roading for decades and the one on the Wrangler works extremely well, it wont get you out of an extremely tricky rock crawling situation like real active lockers would as it doesn't lock 100% the spinning wheel, but it does get you out of most situations. Regardless, that's not the point of this post, a Rubicon will never, ever, ride the same as a stock sport or Sahara for a few reasons:

1) Tires. The KO2's are great off-road, but they are loud, clunky and heavy on the road.
2) Ride height. The Rubicon sits higher than the Sport, almost 2 inches, and that is going to affect maneuverability and comfort. It also raises the center of gravity making it tippier.
3) Longer and stiffer suspension. Some people will disagree with this one though, and say that the Rubicon suspension feels better just because it has better shocks.
4) Weight. The rubicon is heavier than the sport, and that will affect how the vehicle feels on a freeway.

Those are the reasons that come to mind. The Sport and Sahara behave much better on the pavement, I've driven all of them and to me the biggest difference is the tires. I don't think it takes much of a brain to realize that the Rubicon is going to perform worst on the pavement than the other trims. It is common sense. Why get all that crap if never taking the Jeep rock crawling and it will be a daily driver 99% of the time on the pavement? it will make your ride on pavement more uncomfortable and it costs extra $$$. That's just a fact and people should be aware of it. I have nothing against people liking how the Rubicon looks and feels and prefers them even on the pavement as a daily driver. People do with their money as they please and we only get to live once. But just be aware of pros and cons that's all.

The OP wants a daily driver to occasionally take off-roading, sounds like very occasionally and easy off-roading. OP also mentioned he cares about the ride, and noises, and all that, and how he wants AT tires. Sounds to me like a Sport with the LSD package, tech, headliner, towing, etc... is the perfect fit, it is an amazing off-roader, probably much more than the OP needs and it rides better on the pavement. It is up to the OP if he wants that or prefers to have the Rubicon decal, large KO2s, high profile fenders, etc...

Yeah sorry, been off roaring for 30 years. I've never heard anyone call an LSD a locker. There are selectable lockers like the Rubicon has or an ARB, and there are automatic lockers like a Detroit locker. They are much different than an LSD. Nevermind that the LSD has clutch plates that wear out, rendering it useless. Some of your points are kind of valid, but how does ride height affect comfort? You state all kinds of stuff as "fact" and "not taking much of a brain", but it's mostly just your opinion. Have you driven a lifted jeep with a quality suspension on and off road?

 

[entropy]

Yeah sorry, been off roaring for 30 years. I've never heard anyone call an LSD a locker. There are selectable lockers like the Rubicon has or an ARB, and there are automatic lockers like a Detroit locker. They are much different than an LSD. Nevermind that the LSD has clutch plates that wear out, rendering it useless. Some of your points are kind of valid, but how does ride height affect comfort? You state all kinds of stuff as "fact" and "not taking much of a brain", but it's mostly just your opinion. Have you driven a lifted jeep with a quality suspension on and off road?

Is a manual transmission useless because it has a clutch plate? regardless, why are you turning this into a conversation of rubi lockers are better than LSD? that's just stating the obvious and pointless.

But since when does the Rubicon has an aftermarket suspension?. And as far as I know Audis and other considered comfortable and luxury sedans sit way lower than a Wrangler. I don't think most people would think about lifting their comfy Audi to make it "more comfortable". Lifting a vehicle does raise its center of gravity, that is simply a fact. And when you take a turn on a vehicle with a higher center of gravity on the pavement it will feel different for yourself and the passengers, being pulled by G-forces is not comfortable. That's just a fact.

I don't think stating the ride quality of a sport on the pavement is going to be better than a rubicon is an opinion. Just like stating the ride quality of a rubicon on the trail is going to be better than a sport.

But I get your point and you are right. It does boil down to a personal opinion, to some, the better shocks of the Rubicon might feel better on road bumps and outweigh the other "cons". Or maybe to some the difference in height and tires is negligible.

 

[Indio]

Lol. First of all, the limited slip is not even close to the same thing as a locker. 2nd of all, explain how a Rubicon will "never be as comfortable to drive as a Sahara or Sport S".

A lift kit will sometimes use a higher rate spring, because it has to deal with more body roll due to the higher center of gravity. Hence that can negatively impact ride quality. I don't know if Jeep uses the same spring rate on the higher Rubicon as the lower Sport, but it's something to consider. Maybe someone has access to the spring specs to verify.

Also my buddy has a JKU Rubicon, and I was surprised how crummy it rides. (And I'm saying that as the owner of CJs, and not some person used to a posh ride.) I think part of the issue is the mud tires on his JKU, which for some reason seem worse than the 33 inch knobbys on my 1998 TJ.

Anyway, you lift a vehicle and put mud tires on it, the ride can deteriorate compared to a lower stock vehicle. On a somewhat related note, I played around removing/swapping leaves on my old Land Rover to effectively change the rates, and got it riding fairly plush, although then it was bottoming out on every speed bump.

 

[UtahRubi]

I drove from Utah to Connecticut and back last month. While in CT I drove all over the place. I ended up putting 6622 miles in 32 days on my 2018 JLU Rubicon. I drove it off road, in the rain mud and snow (yes, it snowed in UT) on the highway at 80 mph for hours, in super high winds in Kansas and parts of Wyoming, etc... Here are some observations:

• For a vehicle that looks like it was designed by a preschooler (I like the styling!) it averaged 20.3 mpg for the trip.
• I had zero speed wobble though I have the steering stabilizer replacement per the safety notice. I did not experience any wobble before being notified by FCA of the safety notice.
• The hard top/tailgate squeaks when it's super dry and dusty or cold (below 35 degrees or so). I turned up the tunes and it went away!
• The rig was surprisingly stable (for a Jeep) in some nasty winds in Kansas. Trucks were all over the road and the gusts were huge. Worst I've experienced in years. Though the Jeep wandered a little bit, every vehicle was getting moved around.
• I really like the layout of the controls and everything was intuitive and easy to locate reach and read at night.
• The ventilation in high humidity areas caused the windshield to fog regularly. The midwest was super humid and I had to run the defroster and use the wipers from time to time.
• I noticed a slight driveline/transmission/rotational whine from time to time when starting from a stop. Not sure if that's the way it's supposed to sound but it didn't get any worse. Anyone else hear that? Normal? I know these things can be noisy (it wasn't that loud but I noticed it...).
• For a Jeep, I thought the handling was great and it drives like a car.. well... maybe not like a car but it handled good.
• It started easily every time even after 14 hour days behind the wheel with multiple stops (I have a yellow lab and we stopped every few hours).
• The rear door hinges are chipped and the rear flares are dinged up from the tires chucking rocks. This kinda' sucks but I touched up the hinges and don't really care about the flares much. I might do a more permanent fix for the hinges.
• The wind noise was loud but tolerable and I am thinking of trying Hothead liners to cut down on the noise and heat.
• The LED lights worked great though MANY people flashed their lights at me thinking I had my high beams on.
• The transmission was smooth and the gearing meant that it always pulled when needed. It could use a little more torque.
• The roads in the midwest sucked and I hit several potholes HARD. The Jeep maintained alignment and still tracks perfectly.
• The seats were adequate and I grew to like them more as I drove long stints. Still think they could use a little more rake so that you don't get the feeling of sliding forward. My dealer made some shims for me that work awesome! Is someone producing these yet for the JL's?

Didn't mean to hijack the thread but I thought you might like to hear my experience after putting 21,000 miles on my JLU Rubi this year. I love it!! I most likely will always own a Jeep of some type going forward.

P.S. Few things will brighten your day more than another happy Jeep owner giving you "the wave" as they pass by or someone stopping you in a parking lot to ask about your rig.

 

[entropy]

A lift kit will sometimes use a higher rate spring, because it has to deal with more body roll due to the higher center of gravity. Hence that can negatively impact ride quality. I don't know if Jeep uses the same spring rate on the higher Rubicon as the lower Sport, but it's something to consider. Maybe someone has access to the spring specs to verify.

Also my buddy has a JKU Rubicon, and I was surprised how crummy it rides. (And I'm saying that as the owner of CJs, and not some person used to a posh ride.) I think part of the issue is the mud tires on his JKU, which for some reason seem worse than the 33 inch knobbys on my 1998 TJ.

Anyway, you lift a vehicle and put mud tires on it, the ride can deteriorate compared to a lower stock vehicle. On a somewhat related note, I played around removing/swapping leaves on my old Land Rover to effectively change the rates, and got it riding fairly plush, although then it was bottoming out on every speed bump.

The Rubicon springs are longer and stiffer. I agree with you I think the ride quality feels so different to some of us between sports and rubicon due to the "lift" + mud tires. I think it is mostly the tires because the Sahara with the stock road tires feels much better and I think it is closer to the rubicon in terms of height and suspension than the sport, I might be wrong.

 

[word302]

Is a manual transmission useless because it has a clutch plate? regardless, why are you turning this into a conversation of rubi lockers are better than LSD? that's just stating the obvious and pointless.

But since when does the Rubicon has an aftermarket suspension?. And as far as I know Audis and other considered comfortable and luxury sedans sit way lower than a Wrangler. I don't think most people would think about lifting their comfy Audi to make it "more comfortable". Lifting a vehicle does raise its center of gravity, that is simply a fact. And when you take a turn on a vehicle with a higher center of gravity on the pavement it will feel different for yourself and the passengers, being pulled by G-forces is not comfortable. That's just a fact.

I don't think stating the ride quality of a sport on the pavement is going to be better than a rubicon is an opinion. Just like stating the ride quality of a rubicon on the trail is going to be better than a sport.

But I get your point and you are right. It does boil down to a personal opinion, to some, the better shocks of the Rubicon might feel better on road bumps and outweigh the other "cons". Or maybe to some the difference in height and tires is negligible.

You're missing the point. You called the LSD a locker. I simply said it wasn't. My point about the clutches is that nobody is going to pay to replace them once they wear out. It's not at straight forward as replacing the clutch on the transmission. You said raised vehicles were less comfortable. I asked a question to guage your experience.

 

[word302]

The Rubicon springs are longer and stiffer. I agree with you I think the ride quality feels so different to some of us between sports and rubicon due to the "lift" + mud tires. I think it is mostly the tires because the Sahara with the stock road tires feels much better and I think it is closer to the rubicon in terms of height and suspension than the sport, I might be wrong.

Curious what the tire pressure was on the stock Rubicon you drove. They ship way too high and most dealers don't lower them. I run 25lbs in my 37s and they ride like a dream. I aired the stock tires down to 30 before I drove it home. I think they were at 45 when I took delivery. Tire pressure makes a giant difference in how these things ride.

 

[entropy]

You're missing the point. You called the LSD a locker. I simply said it wasn't. My point about the clutches is that nobody is going to pay to replace them once they wear out. It's not at straight forward as replacing the clutch on the transmission. You said raised vehicles were less comfortable. I asked a question to guage your experience.

Yeah well in colloquial terms people refer to Jeep's "anti-spin locking differential" as LSD and differential lockers like those on the rubi as lockers. The reason I said the word locker, which I actually said "LSD locker" was because a lot of people don't know the LSD on the wrangler acts as a locker. And I am not the only one to call it a "locker" due to its functionality it acts to lock the wheel that has no traction. This is similar to Jeep engineers calling the electronically controlled brake locking system as "brake lockers". They are functionally lockers, even though it is simply a computer applying the brakes to the spinning wheel, not a mechanical system like the LSD or the locking differentials on the Rubicon. Just like disc brakes and drum brakes are functionally brakes. I understand and made it very clear that the LSD in the sport and Saharas is not the same as the Rubicon locking differentials.

I am not sure if Jeep calling the LSD "anti-spin rear differential" is just an advertising gimmick or what.

 

[word302]

Yeah well in colloquial terms people refer to Jeep's "anti-spin locking differential" as LSD and differential lockers like those on the rubi as lockers. The reason I said the word locker, which I actually said "LSD locker" was because a lot of people don't know the LSD on the wrangler acts as a locker. And I am not the only one to call it a "locker" due to its functionality it acts to lock the wheel that has no traction. This is similar to Jeep engineers calling the electronically controlled brake locking system as "brake lockers". They are functionally lockers, even though it is simply a computer applying the brakes to the spinning wheel, not a mechanical system like the LSD or the locking differentials on the Rubicon. Just like disc brakes and drum brakes are functionally brakes. I understand and made it very clear that the LSD in the sport and Saharas is not the same as the Rubicon locking differentials.

I am not sure if Jeep calling the LSD "anti-spin rear differential" is just an advertising gimmick or what.

I give up.

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