Jeep Wick
Well-Known Member
I agree with most of what you said. But having gone from a standard Rubicon to an XR, the 4.56 gears are ideal. Especially with 35's. And I don't know specifics on the brakes, but there is a better booster or something because the difference is night and day.The xr track bars are the same as a non-xr. In my opinion it still needs longer lower control arms to track properly. The front bump stop clearance isn't enough for driving even moderately quickly off road and bottoms out all the time, so at minimum I'd add a 1" coil spacer up front. The shocks are too short and limit wheel travel (a problem across all JL models). Trading in to get 35s on your JL still leaves you needing another $1k to get it to really work properly. The beadlock rings cost almost as much as beadlock wheels and are never in stock so the beadlock "capable" wheels add little real value and no performance. The front brakes are standard Rubicon and the rears are only slightly larger. If you're in the market for a new Jeep, the xr package is worth the money. If you already own one building is not only far cheaper but you end up with a much better package. I felt like the 4.56 gears were too low for 35s on the freeway and would rather have 4.10s with 35s personally. You could buy a high quality 2.5" lift that addresses caster properly and has much better shocks for under$3k. Add wheels of your choice and 35s that are better than the KO2s for another $3500. Sure if you feel the need for deep gears you'll be in it for another $2500 but even then you'd have a Jeep that way outperforms the stock xr on and off road and save a bunch of money in the process.
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