New owner, with a little buyers remorse.

[Sarge502]

How much do you think Rubicons cost? Comparing base to base, they are only 3800 more than an Overland. We all know that dealers rarely stock base Rubicons, but they don't often stock base Overland either. My Rubicon was well under $50k, and I know Overlands can easily hit the same price. To me, it was just matter of what was in stock, and had the options I wanted, but there were definitely overlands that were more than Rubicons on the lot.

My JTO was stickered at 52k Pretty much equipped with everything other than I didn’t have a bedliner which I ended up getting a Line X anyways so wasn’t a big deal. I paid 50k though. For me to get all the same features that I wanted in my overland in a Rubicon it would have been another 8 to 10 grand easily here in KY at almost any location. I can’t justify that for my use living in the city. And as I said I will not buy a Rubicon even if it’s only 3 to 5 grand more that didn’t have the features that I like in my Overland.

Rubicons here are typically anywhere from 55k-64k depending. Of course that’s generally speaking

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[Chris262]

Just throw some BF Goodrich KO2s on it and call it a day

 

[NachoRuby]

My JTO was stickered at 52k Pretty much equipped with everything other than I didn’t have a bedliner which I ended up getting a Line X anyways so wasn’t a big deal. I paid 50k though. For me to get all the same features that I wanted in my overland in a Rubicon it would have been another 8 to 10 grand easily here in KY at almost any location. I can’t justify that for my use living in the city. And as I said I will not buy a Rubicon even if it’s only 3 to 5 grand more that didn’t have the features that I like in my Overland.

Rubicons here are typically anywhere from 55k-64k depending. Of course that’s generally speaking

May be regional. Most of the Rubicons (and Mojaves) around here top out at about $53-55k, on the high end. The most expensive gladiator of any trim I saw when I bought mine was around 61k. But I live in the middle of nowhere, so they probably stock accordingly. It's easy to find one under $50k. Well, it was before they stopped the production line. Now it's hard to find any at the local dealer. Good thing I already got one though haha.

 

[Tackett1980]

Wow some really great advise here, you are all fantastic thank you!

So I guess the mods I’m going to do, in no particular order.

tires
Winch
Interior protection (seat covers, etc.)
Spacer lift
Couple of bright lights
Brake controller (for mah trailer)
Some skids and protection

I think that covers it?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

WOW, those are the tire prices in the NE? Rubi and Mojave take offs sell all day long here for $800 - $1,200.

You almost can't even give away the Overland tires though. I've been watching several sets locally go from $500 down to around $200 for the whole set. If they go any lower I might grab 'em and sell them off as singles for those who are looking for a matching spare. I need one myself. I changed my tires, but kept the Overland wheels and I gave my tires away since I knew I wasn't going to get jack for them anyway.

Yup - I paid 1100 for Rubicon take-offs and turned around a year later and sold them for a grand and that money went toward a set of General A/TX tires for my truck.
You can routinely see Rubicon take-offs for sale here in this forum or on FB marketplace. NOT ALWAYS CLOSE, but I got lucky and found a set about 4 hours away. Gave me an excuse to go see a friend and pick up some old dealership signs.

I also added a front receiver to my Overland to make it easier to maneuver and park my car hauler. Next week this truck pulls one of my cars to Il for a show/swap meet/races.

Even with the mods and extra weight I still get over 20 mpg, and have hit 22 recently on one tank.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hi Ben, my name is Ben and I also have an Overland (High Alt). Welcome to the community!

Nothing you describe here requires a single modification to an Overland Gladiator. It doesn't require a single thing that a PW has that a Gladiator in any trim does not have. Towing boats, snowy trails, non-rock-crawling off roading -- I have done all of these things in my Overland, and that's with the 20" HA wheels.

Don't get mod envy. With standard 4WD, stock Gladiator in any trim is a very capable truck.

If the HA was available when we bought back in 2019, my wife may have suggested that direction......

 

[MrJeep]

Wow some really great advise here, you are all fantastic thank you!

So I guess the mods I’m going to do, in no particular order.

tires
Winch
Interior protection (seat covers, etc.)
Spacer lift
Couple of bright lights
Brake controller (for mah trailer)
Some skids and protection

I think that covers it?

FWIW, 30 year plus off roader here who also went with an Overland over a Rubicon (partially because I have a TJ Rubicon for serious off roading).
I immediately swapped the tires and wheels for a take off Launch Edition set and 20k miles later got rid of the 33" (285/70/17, really 32.5x11.5) noisy as hell Faulken wild peaks and put on Yokohama g015's of the same size with no lift. This tire brought me: tremendous noise and fuel economy gains (20 lbs at each corner!), massive gains in rain and the snow and minimal loss of off road ability. Only downside is they don't look as cool.
I put on a winch and front bumper, and some sway bar disconnects. I also put in a brake controller. Don't put on too heavy of a winch. Most people run massive boat anchors they never use on the front and just weigh themselves down.
I can go on and on about skid plates, it really depends on what you plan on doing. I'd say 90% of people are running too many skids for what they do and just wasting fuel & money and reducing capability because of the weight. Same philosophy as the winch: less can be better. Now I believe the JL/JT oil skid is pretty light so maybe not a bad idea.
Sway bar discos and properly aired down decent tires are what will get any Jeep through more than should be possible.
Good luck with your Jeep!

 

[Blade1668]

I thought about that too, but a can of Plasti-Dip would accomplish the same for $10 I bet.....

Make it a $20.00 ?

Tackett1980

Best bet is for you to read the owner's manual then take it out in a open field then try out the factory "switchs" in 4Lo then you have a better idea of the truck before buying stuff.
A picture of my Sport S Max-Tow with out the Track-Loc (I would prefer to have). That was after my 50 plus mile drive home. My LJ and XJ have a Trac-Lock in rear
The JT in "stock trim" is very capable as many have said. I'm "running" stock tires still at 41000 miles, I had a rock damage a tire that benched my Bridgestone AT's so now HT's that I got from a forum member here. My front yard is a National Forrest so roads I drive are everything from dirt to concrete and I'm not able to just miss work.

:

Yes, I am quite a bit off road. 2-3x a week of the family and job cooperate. There are some places I haven’t had my gladiator right now because I’m a little afraid to. I don’t think I’m a very good off road driver despite how much I do it.

With the last line you have made yourself a better "Off-Roader" than 70% of the people who drive 4×4 vehicles.

 

[steveorama]

May be regional. Most of the Rubicons (and Mojaves) around here top out at about $53-55k, on the high end. The most expensive gladiator of any trim I saw when I bought mine was around 61k. But I live in the middle of nowhere, so they probably stock accordingly. It's easy to find one under $50k. Well, it was before they stopped the production line. Now it's hard to find any at the local dealer. Good thing I already got one though haha.

I'll second what @Sarge502 had said previously as well, I believe we have both commented similarly before, but I purposely went with the Overland instead of a Rubicon because for all practical purposes, it had everything I wanted and I didn't have to pay an extra premium for the Rubicon "extras" I would rarely use as my DD. While at the dealership, the Overland and Rubicons were right next to each other and they were almost exactly $9k-$10k difference between the two trims on the lot the way they were ordered. My JTO was just over $53k as were all the other JTOs and the JTRs were $63k-$65k with almost the same options plus. Our local dealers mostly cater to those who have more money then sense so they order the fully optioned trims and have no problem selling them. I imagine 75% of the new Jeeps here in the Austin area have never left payment. In Texas the luxury truck market is huge and of course a status symbol so I have plenty of neighbors with brand new Platinum F350s, but don't even have a trailer.

 

[NachoRuby]

I'll second what @Sarge502 had said previously as well, I believe we have both commented similarly before, but I purposely went with the Overland instead of a Rubicon because for all practical purposes, it had everything I wanted and I didn't have to pay an extra premium for the Rubicon "extras" I would rarely use as my DD. While at the dealership, the Overland and Rubicons were right next to each other and they were almost exactly $9k-$10k difference between the two trims on the lot the way they were ordered. My JTO was just over $53k as were all the other JTOs and the JTRs were $63k-$65k with almost the same options plus. Our local dealers mostly cater to those who have more money then sense so they order the fully optioned trims and have no problem selling them. I imagine 75% of the new Jeeps here in the Austin area have never left payment. In Texas the luxury truck market is huge and of course a status symbol so I have plenty of neighbors with brand new Platinum F350s, but don't even have a trailer.

Interesting. Just so you know I'm not lying, Here's a Rubicon at my local dealer. $49080 is the sticker haha. A Willys is $46080, and the sport S Max tow is the most expensive Gladiator on the lot, at $49140! Hence my confusion when everyone always talks about how expensive Rubicons are. They're all priced about the same around here, mostly right under $50k for automatic, and 47-48k for a manual. Maybe that's why there are so many JTs around here!

https://www.shivelymotorsofchambers...diator-rubicon-4x4-crew-cab-1c6jjtbg3ml614128

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Interesting. Just so you know I'm not lying, Here's a Rubicon at my local dealer. $49080 is the sticker haha. A Willys is $46080, and the sport S Max tow is the most expensive Gladiator on the lot, at $49140! Hence my confusion when everyone always talks about how expensive Rubicons are. They're all priced about the same around here. They don't have any Overlands right now, though.

https://www.shivelymotorsofchambers...diator-rubicon-4x4-crew-cab-1c6jjtbg3ml614128

Wow, the Rubicon would have added about 4 grand to mine, and the Sport S with max tow was cheaper than the Overland. So my wife talked me into a more expensive truck as I was trying to cut costs and my wife slapped me down a bit for doing something less than we really wanted.
Absolutely Rubicon is more expensive here - but then dealers stick pretty much to MSRP here.
There's no way a Rubicon would sell for under mid 50s here.

 

[NachoRuby]

Wow, the Rubicon would have added about 4 grand to mine, and the Sport S with max tow was cheaper than the Overland. So my wife talked me into a more expensive truck as I was trying to cut costs and my wife slapped me down a bit for doing something less than we really wanted.
Absolutely Rubicon is more expensive here - but then dealers stick pretty much to MSRP here.
There's no way a Rubicon would sell for under mid 50s here.

I think they just order them at the levels the local populace is willing to pay, and $50k must be the sweet spot in South Central PA. I'll say, I see a ton of JTs around though.

 

[steveorama]

Interesting. Just so you know I'm not lying, Here's a Rubicon at my local dealer. $49080 is the sticker haha. A Willys is $46080, and the sport S Max tow is the most expensive Gladiator on the lot, at $49140! Hence my confusion when everyone always talks about how expensive Rubicons are. They're all priced about the same around here, mostly right under $50k for automatic, and 47-48k for a manual. Maybe that's why there are so many JTs around here!

https://www.shivelymotorsofchambers...diator-rubicon-4x4-crew-cab-1c6jjtbg3ml614128

I have no doubt JTR's can be found for different MSRPs based on options across the country. It makes sense a dealership would order what they can sell to their market, but in markets like the one I live in, unless you order your JTM or JTR it's going be fully optioned by the dealer so they can make maximum profit. Like I was saying people purely buy them around here as they are seen as the "highest trim" so it's a status thing.

At the moment it looks like they have 3 at my dealership all for just under $60k at the moment. For some reason they even have a Willys at $53k. These aren't even inflated MSRP numbers. That's the window sticker cost. What they did to me when I got there was I found out they tacked on an extra $2k for dealer add ons like tint, wheel locks, nitrogen tires, etc.

 

[Painkillerspe]

Interesting. Just so you know I'm not lying, Here's a Rubicon at my local dealer. $49080 is the sticker haha. A Willys is $46080, and the sport S Max tow is the most expensive Gladiator on the lot, at $49140! Hence my confusion when everyone always talks about how expensive Rubicons are. They're all priced about the same around here, mostly right under $50k for automatic, and 47-48k for a manual. Maybe that's why there are so many JTs around here!

https://www.shivelymotorsofchambers...diator-rubicon-4x4-crew-cab-1c6jjtbg3ml614128

That Rubicon has almost zero options and is virtually bare bones.

I personally would not buy that Rubicon.

I was able to get my Overland with all the bells and whistles for 47,000 That includes adaptive cruise, parking sensors, leather, premium soft top, upgraded audio and screen, auxiliary switches, spray in bed liner, trail rail system, under seat storage, truck bed outlet and led lights. A similarly equipped Mojave on the dealer lot was selling for 64,000.

The only thing I kinda regret is not getting the diesel, but I'm still very happy with my gasser.

 

[NachoRuby]

I have no doubt JTR's can be found for different MSRPs based on options across the country. It makes sense a dealership would order what they can sell to their market, but in markets like the one I live in, unless you order your JTM or JTR it's going be fully optioned by the dealer so they can make maximum profit. Like I was saying people purely buy them around here as they are seen as the "highest trim" so it's a status thing.

Oh, I understand the "Texas Truck" thing. My roots are in Texas. I'm a transplant to the east, from a young age, but my family resides in Texas, and they drive Texas trucks. I also don't think there's a single manufacturer without a special Texas trim, including Jeep. Glad this discussion was fruitful and without the flaming that sometimes goes on when folks compare trims. Nice chatting with you, from a fellow (former) Texan. Once a Texan, always a Texan.

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