Honestly, with the 4.1:1 and manual transmission on my Rubi I'm pretty happy so far, but if you must change (and I think at 3.27 or whatever, "must" is fair) think about the 5.x range, especially for an auto.[/QUOTE]

What about a manual? i plan to get a stick....what size tires are you runnin?

 

I got a Unlimited X and the damn thing is unstoppable off road. Get a Unlimited X and do all the mods you want Make it your Jeep not the Jeep Jeep' wanted you to have.

 

Manual is the way to go. Google "crawl ratio calculator" and play around, punching in your tire diameters and ratios. Looks like 4.88 is actually a good compromise point for the stick.

The main complication you've got to remember is that the Rubi has a 4:1 low on the transfer case, where the others are 2.72:1. The 4:1 makes it a lot easier to have both good crawl and good highway running.


Oh, and I still have stock tires. I think they are underrated.

 

I think alot of it depends on how long you plan on owning that specific jk. I know i went into my purchase with the mindset that I will drive this jeep until the wheels fall off it (and maybe then some). If you are thinking the same, I would go with an X or sport. I have an X with the factory rear locker and e-discos, so that helps a little. Maybe look for the same options, because that will get you alot of places until you eventually want/need to upgrade parts. It's kind of a compromise between the bare bones X and the all out Rubi. Eventually you will want to upgrade. Believe me....

Plus it will help you decide what upgrades fit your needs the most, so you can tailor your jeep to fit you perfectly

 

If you are planning on modding and doing upgrades go with the X.

 

Well, back in 2007 when I bought my X, I debated on the Rubi. At the time I wasn't going to off-road the jeep, so I got the X (manual).

Now, I went out and got a 4 door Automatic to make my commute less $hity. So now I have a jeep to tow my jeep to places and go off-roading it.

It's still stock and I'm lost in all the mods I want to do, Lift, Tires, Bumpers, etc. Plus I have other hobbies like jumping out of moving airplanes, so that's expensive too.

I'm thinking I'll mod after reaching the limit of stock parts. I have went up 1 jeep trail on a trip to VT, and have about 1000 acres down in VA that I can ride on, but here in MD, not a lot of places.

 

I am fairly new to the wrangler; just got an 08 sahara, but I've been driving jeeps ever since the 97 model year. In my humble opinion, jeeps say a lot about their drivers. If you're the type who likes to get your hands dirty and work on your toys yourself, you might enjoy getting a stock jeep for $ and putting mods on as you find them necessary, rather than just throwing $$$ at it and getting the instant gratification of a rubicon. Think of the stock jeep as a "trainer" as you get into the swing of wheeling, then as you get more and more serious, you can add more and more stuff to suit your needs.
Again, this is just my opinion, but you're going to love owning your very own jeep either way! Cheers!

 

All it takes is money and time... And, what your realistic expectations are for usage.

I traded a new 2010 JKU Sport with 2500 miles for my current 2008 Rubi (it had 8k miles when I bought it) because I didn't want to spend the time\money converting an X (upgrading to d44's w\lockers front and rear) into a Rubi... I'm really happy with my decision to trade up, I wish I would've just bought a 2010 Rubi for about $75 more a month at the time.


If I were to do this all over again, I'd buy a used, cheap JKU then upgrade everything (D60's or rockwells, ARB, 40's, hemi swap, coil overs, full cage, ect...). Kinda like the JKU build on Extreme 4x4 (spike tv) without the supercharger.


Since my lotto tickets returned $3 from a $10 investment, I'll stick with my Rubi

 

Go big or go home! Rubicon all the way!

Price difference is not that much, if you are purchasing new.

 

Are you the kind of guy that likes to work on stuff?? Don't buy a rubi..

Are you the kind of guy that wants to drive off the lot, and into some rocks? Buy a rubi.

The Rubicon actually gets ran on the rubicon trail... stock. It is by far the most off road capable stock vehicle around..

And if you're paying a shop to do the work for you.. you can not even come close to matching the stuff you get included on the rubi for the same price.

It doesn't matter which one you get for lifts.. or bigger wheels / tires. you're gonna end up changing gears and stuff anyhow..

So buy the rubi if you don't want to work on your jeep yourself..

Buy an X if you love to work on jeeps, or you want something so extreme that you'll be changing out axles..




One more note on upgrades... Rubi parts are sellable on the open market to x owners.... X parts are just about worthless.... so whateve you replace on your X has no returned value.