Yankee

There is nothing wrong with your logic of building your own from a Sport.

I like my Rubi, because with 2 jobs I knew it might be years before I got around to serious suspension mods. Since then, I have found the stock Rubi does fine for my level of offroad (sand, some mud, climbing and trails) since I am not willing to risk going too hard core with my daily driver.

Even worse, I have since discovered that one can buy brand new Jeep frames (from the 50's to the 90's ) with Chevy V-8 mounts already welded in, complete fiberglass and/or steel bodies, modern hard core suspension systems. Complete (real) roll cages and the list goes on. I love my JK, but am starting to envision a Jeep that will never see a roof or doors, and will not be built as a daily driver. It will not be as safe as my JK but it will be much simpler. I finally miss wrenching something..such a project would let me take my time and still have my JK to play in every day.

If I do this and when my wife sees the final price tag, she is going to want to strangle me for insisting she not throw away the Jeep parts catalogs I get.

The best thing about Wranglers is that the huge aftermarket support lets us each do our own unique thing.

tslewisz

I'm building my '10 Sport. No regrets.

strat_53711

2007-2011 Jeep JK Wranglers can come from the factory with 255/75R17. Thats a 32" tire. +8 inches would be 40".

Torrin

It all depends on what you want to do with your rig? If 33's are the biggest you are going to go, get the Sport (That's what I did). I am going 35's now, and I wish I would have purchased the Rubi instead. The big differences:

Rubi has D44 up Front vs. D30 on the Sport
Ruby Comes with 32's Standard vs. Worse on the Sport (depends on trim package)
Rubi comes with Elockers
Rubi comes with Electronic Sway Bar Disconnect
Rubi comes with 4.10 Gears vs. 3.73(?) on the Sport

If 4.10's are low enough for you, it is well work $7k for the Rubi. (Gears + Lockers are $3k, D44 up front is another $3k)

Widewing

I bought a new '08 X, with the option package that included 32" tires. I also ordered the LSD for the Dana 44 and the heavy duty suspension (spring and shock upgrade, which could no longer be ordered after the '08 model year).

Since then, I have added rocker protection, additional armor, an autolocker for the Dana 30, 33" Coopers with Spidertrax spacers. No lift...

So, for low speed rock crawling, a stock Rubicon is better than my JK. For just about everything else, my upgraded X is better. For even the hardcore rock crawlers, everything else still constitutes 95% or more of the Jeep's use.

My front locker locks up in high range, as does the rear LSD. Useful advantage... A stock Rubi can't engage lockers without first shifting into low range (although you can install a bypass switch, but that risks your warranty). A stock Rubi has open differentials in high range.

It comes down to knowing what you want and buying/building to meet that. Just keep in mind that a stock Rubi is still a long way from serious hardcore, and you'll still be spending major $$ to build it up... Nonetheless, if that's your ultimate goal, you'd be better served in the long run by buying the Rubi up front.

Dan415

I posted this on another forum for a different purpose.

Light / Medium Offroad

( trails, camping, sand etc. Then you will save money getting an X or Sport because you will not need to replace the D30 front axle and you dont need lockers but once a year maybe)

Medium / Heavy Offroad

(you'll spend less on the Rubicon if your a medium to hard offroad user, because the lockers and axle will already be there and have all that you need. If you buy the sport upfront you'll end up exceeding the purchase cost of the Rubi just trying to get it to the same level. Second and very important thing to consider is that Rubi's not only warranty the lockers/axles but your resell value is much higher than a sport. You'll never convince the average buyer that your Sport is worth 3000$ more because it has lockers, but NADA actually lists the Rubi higher which sets the market resell price)

Heavy / Hardcore

( The defining factor is really if you decide you need to replace your Rubicon axles, run your lockers independent eg. run the rear locked at high speeds (prerunner) etc. In this case go back and buy the X or Sport because you've already decided to replace everything)

TMahaffey

I just bought a 2011 Sport. I picked sport over Rubi because of price, the fact that I won't be doing much rock crawling, and fuel mileage. If I was going to do rock crawling, or lifting the jeep extensively, I would have gone Rubi.

The rubi has 4.10 gears (which I dont see myself needing) granny low gear transfer case, which I will NEVER need, and lockers, which I do t like the electric ones anyway.

My sport gets 20 mpg, because of 3.21 gears, and I can use 4LO on a daily bases. The 4LO on rubi is designed for SUPER slow speeds and control, and I mainly do trail riding, camping, mall crawling, etc

It seems to me you are lifting, and maybe doing some heavy wheeling, so I agree with others and will say save some money in the long run with a Rubi. It all depends on what you need.

EzK

Wise decision.

DowneastNick

Back in January, I went with Widewing and his brother snow wheeling. The snow was very deep. Widewing led the way at first. His Jeep just plowed through the deep snow. I wanted to lead for a while, but my Rubicon got stuck twice. I had to go into 4 low and switch on the lockers and was still unable to get loose once. Widewing pulled me out and took over leading again. He said his tires were better than my BFGs for snow and that I needed to get more experience, and that is probably true. I did air down to about 12 psi, as I've read here. But, i drove his jeep later, and was just better in deep snow. Didn't need low range to dig through the tough stuff like I did.

Nick

Widewing

Nick, your biggest issue was not carrying the necessary momentum into the deeper drifts. If I had driven into that depth at the speed you were carrying, I'd have bogged as well. That snow was around 3 feet deep. The drifts where the snow was that deep were maybe 10 to 15 feet wide. Other areas had a little as perhaps, 8 inches. So, when you see the drift looming ahead, build some speed and push through. Now, since we were wheeling on a well traveled fire road, we knew that there was little chance of hidden objects under the snow. Thus, you could power-up with little worry. Still, it takes some experience to gauge the proper speed for conditions.

Your BFGs don't work well on packed snow and ice, as you found out yourself. Even in deep snow, once it packs down under the tire, they have trouble getting a bite. Thus, the need to keep momentum. You saw that my brother's TJ didn't get stuck when he was breaking trail. He kept up his momentum and his 31x10.50-15 Duratracs get a really good bite.

(Edit) By the way, when are you going to get some coils spacers to offset the sag from those bumpers and winch?

Nick's Rubi is on the left, my JK is on the right... Same color...