The Non-Rubicon Jl & JLU Thread

[Sean L]

Sport S in the Making... I call it a Sporticon...

The rarely heard of decepticon basketball team.

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[Jeeper123]

The rarely heard of decepticon basketball team.

Way cool!

 

[stil2low]

Forgot about this thread!
Here’s some pics from last couple weekends out with my group. My buddy has the blue JLU with MetalCloak 3.5 and I’m running Rock Krawler 2.5

 

[stil2low]

We need to tell these stories more. Too many people think the only really good off-road Jeep is a Rubicon. I went off-road with a couple of guys here who have modded Rubicons. Their Jeeps did great but my Sport S held its own. The Rubicons were better, but I came away feeling like my Sport could do everything I was comfortable doing and more.

Edit: Some good examples here: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/wheeling-stock-lets-see-the-pics.28559/

Ive only been wheeling jeeps for about 6 years now and never owned a Rubi. Dont get me wrong a rubicon is great out of the box, but wheeling a sport/sahara will make you better at line choices and overall knowing your jeep better
The JL is quite impressive with the new BLD system, works amazing compared to the JK. Combine the BLD with a great set of tires for your terrain and you will be able to keep up all day long

 

[lightsout]

No posts recently in this thread. Hopefully, the Rubi folks haven't chased off everyone else.

I did my second trail ride this past weekend with my Sahara. We took some trails that were much more difficult than I expected, mostly due to massive amounts of rain this spring that washed out several spots. I had a great time and the Sahara performed extremely well.

I was the only JL in our group. There were quite a few JKs and a few TJs, YJs, and a few other custom builds, even an Army Hummer. I have a 2.5" RC lift but everyone else had a bigger lift - most were 4"+. I have BFG KO2 315/70/17 tires but everyone else had MTs, though a few were smaller than mine.

I have regretted not getting a Rubicon but the Sahara has performed extremely well so far. I watched a dozen or so other models attempt obstacles and a few had trouble and had to make multiple attempts to get over. The only problem I had was on one stair step where I hit my bumper skid, but I backed off and changed the angle and walked right up it. Regarding the others who had troubles, I don't know who had lockers and who didn't. There were some Sports and some were de-badged. Only thing I know is I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Sahara with LSD and BLD performed.

Wait till later this year or next year when Easton releases their Electric Lockers for your front the combo of LSD rear and Locker Front except for extreme rock crawling you will be on par with the Rubicon and in many situations even more capable.

 

[UKCATS]

you will be on par with the Rubicon and in many situations even more capable.

 

[IronScott]

Wait till later this year or next year when Easton releases their Electric Lockers for your front the combo of LSD rear and Locker Front except for extreme rock crawling you will be on par with the Rubicon and in many situations even more capable.

I think that would be perfect. I think the only thing available now is the lunchbox front locker and that doesn’t appeal at all. Just have to be patient.

 

[IronScott]

Hey. You’ve got plenty of your own threads

 

[UKCATS]

Hey. You’ve got plenty of your own threads

 

[IronScott]

Ha

 

[ThirtyOne]

Wait till later this year or next year when Easton releases their Electric Lockers for your front the combo of LSD rear and Locker Front except for extreme rock crawling you will be on par with the Rubicon and in many situations even more capable.

To me it’s not really about being better than a rubicon. It’s hard to beat a rubicon in 4 low. But the sport is good enough to handle what most people will throw at it and will be better in other situations where the rubicon parts don’t help as much like daily driving and 4 high (where you can’t use lockers). 4:1 transfer case is also great for crawling and i certainly find it harder to crawl in my manual sport but i think in the long run it will make me better.

 

[dugal]

W

Sport S in the Making... I call it a Sporticon...

What front bumper/winch do you have? Can you flat tow with it? I'm looking to replace my stock bumper. Thanks

 

[lightsout]

To me it’s not really about being better than a rubicon. It’s hard to beat a rubicon in 4 low. But the sport is good enough to handle what most people will throw at it and will be better in other situations where the rubicon parts don’t help as much like daily driving and 4 high (where you can’t use lockers). 4:1 transfer case is also great for crawling and i certainly find it harder to crawl in my manual sport but i think in the long run it will make me better.

Never suggested it was a competition only suggesting that JLUS with a front locker and rear LSD is more capable in most conditions, most people who have JLUS only regret is only about the lockers, thing is it really is a non issue as you can upgrade at reasonable cost (less than the JLUR upgrade cost) however you will not rock crawl with the Rubicons however for trails and light crawling, snow, mud the combo described above will do as well if not better than all lockers, that is just perspective.

I too had initial regret however I had no choice but to select the sahara the Rubicons are too heavy to tow behind 90% of the gas Motorhomes out there, however after researching and leaning more about the upcoming Easton electric lockers I have no regrets at all as the LED and front Locker will actually be better for me than Rubi lockers.

Besides a $500 winch makes up for the current lack of lockers if needed.

That is just my POSITIVE spin.

 

[lightsout]

W

What front bumper/winch do you have? Can you flat tow with it? I'm looking to replace my stock bumper. Thanks

I can answer that question, You should not flat tow from ant bumper without adding a Frame tie in Bracket, Currently LOD is the only one that makes that. Reason being is the attachement where the bumper connects to the frame is just a very light weight piece of flat metal with two tiny welds connecting it to the frame, mopar says you should not tow from that connection. The Tie in plate is a heavy duty bracket that ties in the frame plate to the frame, then you can use the LOD tow connection bracket that through bolts to the tie in bracket, this is assuming that the bumper you chose is through bolt capable.

If you are pulling with a gas motorhome you need to watch your weight as you do not want to exceed 5000lbs typically, I recommend you install an aluminum bumper to manage the weight.

Myself when I set up my wrangler I installed the Blue OX tow plate as the LOD tie in bracket did not exist. While some have suggested that you lose clearance with the tow plate that is absolutely false as most of the bumper designed for towing are rather large with alot of heights for example the LOD towable Bumper is about 1/2-1' lower than my tow plate so clearance is about the same. In fact my tow connection is only 4.5" below the lowest bumper bolt, most of the towable bumpers set lower than that (That may cjhange as more bumpers become available)

With that said I plan to install the LOD tie in bracket and Blue OC connection bracket and remove my tow plate simply for aesthetics. I use the Barricade Alloy (aluminum bumper (45lbs)

 

[stil2low]

Wait till later this year or next year when Easton releases their Electric Lockers for your front the combo of LSD rear and Locker Front except for extreme rock crawling you will be on par with the Rubicon and in many situations even more capable.

I love this combo, it works so well.
I know, I know there’s no JL’s from last year lol My white jk was locked up front with an Aussie locker and all the rest are sports, Sahara’s and a Willy’s that are just basically lift and tires but still went everywhere I did and the yj
The YJ was locked front and rear till he broke lol
Line choices and tires is all you need in most trails

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