Willys XR vs Rubi XR

[JeepViking13]

Why manually disconnect? I love the push button ease and the tazer allows ot to be disconnected at in speed or transfer case position. It still flexes great running the electronic disconnect in my experience. I can stuff one side to the bump stops while maxing out the 30" long shock on the other.

Do you not get out off your Jeep to air down the tires anyway?? That's when you can manually disconnect at the same time. No big deal.

Maybe there's a button in the cab to air down tires too? Seems to be a button for everything these days. Lol..

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[entropy]

Do you not get out off your Jeep to air down the tires anyway?? That's when you can manually disconnect at the same time. No big deal.

Maybe there's a button in the cab to air down tires too? Seems to be a button for everything these days. Lol..

lol so true. it takes me less than a minute to disconnect and I usually do it when airing down. Some people do install overly complex systems to air down and even air back from their seat. nuts.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Do you not get out off your Jeep to air down the tires anyway?? That's when you can manually disconnect at the same time. No big deal.

Maybe there's a button in the cab to air down tires too? Seems to be a button for everything these days. Lol..

The guy I replied to has a Rubicon though, why is he manually disconnecting? When it's raining, snowing, muddy, or 120⁰ out I've been known to either not air down or not air back up right away. Drove from moab to Tehachapi ~700 miles at 21 psi due to it being inconvenient to air back up when we left at 1:30 am. Also ran all over moab that week without ever airing back up, including up and down a windy mountain road to our camp at Werner lake. Having the sway bar connected was necessary, having more than 18psi in the tires wasn't (they bump up to 21 with heat when you drive on the street for a while). Conversely I'm not airing down for every bumpy dirt road I encounter, but it sure is nice to disconnect the sway bar with the push of a button. Is it the reason I bought the Rubicon? Of course not. Could I live without it? Sure. Am I going to waste my time manually disconnecting when I have it? Hell no. Back when we bought, there was no XR package. It was either dana 30 front, standard transfer case, no lockers on any model or go for the Rubicon. It wasn't even a consideration back then. If I were ordering today, I'd still go Rubicon even though the Willy's xr closed the gap some. I prefer the leather seats for cleanablity, and the Willy's doesn't offer that. I prefer the 8.4 unconnect,, an expensive option on the Willy's. Obviously I prefer lockers, a disconnecting sway bar, and lower gears transfer case. Add all of that to a Willy's either factory or aftermarket and you're going to spend Rubicon money minimum.

 

[John VonJeep]

Open diffs suck. And the BLD system is frustrating as hell.

Thank you. I’m glad I’m not the only one who hates BLD.

 

[JeepViking13]

The guy I replied to has a Rubicon though, why is he manually disconnecting? When it's raining, snowing, muddy, or 120⁰ out I've been known to either not air down or not air back up right away. Drove from moab to Tehachapi ~700 miles at 21 psi due to it being inconvenient to air back up when we left at 1:30 am. Also ran all over moab that week without ever airing back up, including up and down a windy mountain road to our camp at Werner lake. Having the sway bar connected was necessary, having more than 18psi in the tires wasn't (they bump up to 21 with heat when you drive on the street for a while). Conversely I'm not airing down for every bumpy dirt road I encounter, but it sure is nice to disconnect the sway bar with the push of a button. Is it the reason I bought the Rubicon? Of course not. Could I live without it? Sure. Am I going to waste my time manually disconnecting when I have it? Hell no. Back when we bought, there was no XR package. It was either dana 30 front, standard transfer case, no lockers on any model or go for the Rubicon. It wasn't even a consideration back then. If I were ordering today, I'd still go Rubicon even though the Willy's xr closed the gap some. I prefer the leather seats for cleanablity, and the Willy's doesn't offer that. I prefer the 8.4 unconnect,, an expensive option on the Willy's. Obviously I prefer lockers, a disconnecting sway bar, and lower gears transfer case. Add all of that to a Willy's either factory or aftermarket and you're going to spend Rubicon money minimum.

I guess. But if your a person like me that doesn't care about interior creature comforts with an 8.4 screen and want to build a Jeep starting from the Xtreme Recon package then the Willys Sport is the way to go over a standard Rubicon. I paid $43k OTD for my Willys s Xtreme recon. Adding lockers still under cuts the Rubicon in price. And you get one he'll of a rig for the money. Last I priced just the regular standard Rubicon 4 door auto it was $49k before taxes.

 

[Zandcwhite]

I guess. But if your a person like me that doesn't care about interior creature comforts with an 8.4 screen and want to build a Jeep starting from the Xtreme Recon package then the Willys Sport is the way to go over a standard Rubicon. I paid $43k OTD for my Willys s Xtreme recon. Adding lockers still under cuts the Rubicon in price. And you get one he'll of a rig for the money. Last I priced just the regular standard Rubicon 4 door auto it was $49k before taxes.

For your use and preferences, the willys support xr makes sense. If I were going full build, I wouldn't even go that far. I'd go base model sport and spend the saved money on tons, wheels, and tires as even the xr still only gets you a Dana 44 and shitty KO2's. Our axles have held up great, but we also kept them stock for 3 years and ~50k miles because I didn't want to void the warranty. Had they broke I'd have swapped some 33's back on and taken it in. Regeared recently as I figure that ship has sailed. We will pass 60k miles this week on the Rubicon trail and then all bets are off. If my plan started with ripping into the diffs and the electronics by swapping out the radio, I wouldn't have started with a loaded $50k+ rig, I'd be shooting for as close to $30k as I could.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Few reasons just based on experience. I've seen the sway bar "flip" in the wrong direction destroying the actuator. I do get slightly more travel but it's disconcernable. Mostly because of the damage I saw happen on the trail. I figure the JKS quick discos are cheap and easy insurance. Not to say I do this all the time, only when I know we are doing something challenging. Rest of the time I use the electronics. Cheap redundancy. Trust me, it's a common "But Why?!" question.

Inverting is more of a function of the sway bar end links being too short. The synergy high steer kit raises the axle mounts ~2” and we run longer end links. I’ve checked it fully flexed out and it isn’t close to inverting even when the shock is fully extended.

 

[Apexcars]

One more difference that has been left out. Rubi 3.6 XR is 6100 lbs GVWR. I don't remember what the Willys XR's is but it is under 6000. If you own your own business, the Rubi can actually come out cheaper once you figure in the 179 deduction.

 

[JeepViking13]

For your use and preferences, the willys support xr makes sense. If I were going full build, I wouldn't even go that far. I'd go base model sport and spend the saved money on tons, wheels, and tires as even the xr still only gets you a Dana 44 and shitty KO2's. Our axles have held up great, but we also kept them stock for 3 years and ~50k miles because I didn't want to void the warranty. Had they broke I'd have swapped some 33's back on and taken it in. Regeared recently as I figure that ship has sailed. We will pass 60k miles this week on the Rubicon trail and then all bets are off. If my plan started with ripping into the diffs and the electronics by swapping out the radio, I wouldn't have started with a loaded $50k+ rig, I'd be shooting for as close to $30k as I could.

The Dyna 44 on the XR are the heavier axles by 10mm. Also you get iron steering knuckles over the aluminum on the standard Rubicon. Plus the performance breaks, And I personally like KO2s because they are quite on the road and still good for Off-roading. Also the stock wheels that come with the XR are some of the nicest I've seen and bead lock capable. It really has everything I want and need stock from the factory. And all the extra heavy duty stuff it comes with is under warranty.

I would by a sport and build it from scratch is if I was doing a project like Lite Brite is doing and dropping a Hellcat or Demon engine in it. Can't believe they're doing it to a new 392 but whatever. Or building a dedicated rock crawler with dyna 60s and the works even without changing the engine.

I don't know I guess we all have our priorities and starting points. There's no wrong answer really. All personal preference.

When I look at my rig even in stock form I know I made the right decision for me. It's pretty bad ass. The entire XR package with the wheels and 35s and the color Gobi just looks sick.

 

[TheDogPack]

Will they offer the XR on Willy next? You will have to wait and see. It might not even be a question.

 

[wanderer]

Mo
Option for leather either. And I am sure about heated seats

 

[wanderer]

Open diffs suck. And the BLD system is frustrating as hell. Rear LSD is alright.

But the willys is an awesome package. You can always add aftermarket lockers later for about 3k but no factory warranty and no resale value on those.

The sway bar disconnect I guess is convenient. However manual disconnects are cheap and easy to install. You do have to get out of the Jeep and get grease on your hands. i really dont mind but some do. I take the simplicity of manual disconnects over the electronic.

4:1 tcase is also a plus. But with the 4.56 and the 2.71:1 tcase youll have plenty of crawling capabilities. Some people think the 4:1 tcase is too much sometimes.

Id personally go Rubi XR if the difference was under 3k. Under 5k i would think about it, the value is there though. But thats me. If it was standard Rubi vs willys XR id go willys XR. You cant go wrong with either honestly.

so if you got the willys with the 456 axel 35s and the 272 ? T case what would you crawl ratio be?

 

[wanderer]

lol so true. it takes me less than a minute to disconnect and I usually do it when airing down. Some people do install overly complex systems to air down and even air back from their seat. nuts.

Mud. And snow

 

[Zandcwhite]

so if you got the willys with the 456 axel 35s and the 272 ? T case what would you crawl ratio be?

4.56×2.72x4.7=58.29 not bad, but the Rubicon would be 85.29 to 1 crawl ratio. Major difference.

 

[entropy]

Mud. And snow

If you are already on the mud and didn't disconnect before, you are doing it wrong.

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