2024 Willys versus Mojave

[dayusmc]

If you are going to lift it go Willy's. Most of the best parts of the Mojave is the suspension and if you lift it you throw that away. Only thing you will miss is the 4.10 gears.

This is wrong and has been discussed MANY times on the forum...
Mojave has a reenforced frame, wider axles, steel knuckles, taller hood and cowl, 4.10 gears, etc ...
The springs and shocks are only part of the Mojave package, a very small part. And even if you lifted the Mojave, you can use shock extensions and still use the Mojave shocks. You basically are then just talking about "loosing" your Mojave springs and that is about $400..
My first gladiator was a Sport Altitude, after I bought it I regretted not getting the Mojave almost instantly. As bad luck would have it (ended up being good luck), I totalled my Sport. Them I bought my Mojave and couldn't be happier.
I really don't understand the statement "if you are going to lift the Mojave you are loosing most of what you paid for". Does anyone really think they paid 12k to 17k for shocks and springs?

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[Badunit]

Since first looking at Rubicon vs Mojave it has baffled me why the MSRP is the same for both. Comparing them, the Rubicon gets you a front locker. With Mojave you get much more expensive shocks, hydraulic bump stops, iron knuckles, and some extra frame reinforcement. The rest of the differences are a wash cost-wise (different transfer case gearing, different hood, etc.). The Mojave seems to be a much better deal.

I never really looked at the Willys but there is an advantage to having a limited slip differential vs a locker for casual 4 wheeling and especially for driving in mixed snow/pavement on the roads. It is always there doing its thing. If you are going to go places that stress the limited slip, though, you'll want a locker.There is also something to be said about upgrading and modifying to make your vehicle uniquely your own. That is part of the fun of owning a Jeep. I wouldn't want to do that with a minivan or anything, but it is part of Jeep ownership in my book.

 

[GI Grandpa]

Hey folks,

I'm excited I'm about to be a new owner of one of these models. To preface, I'm all in on 2024 for a variety of reasons, so I do understand I'm spending money otherwise could be saved on a 2023 if I found one that matched my liking. I'm brand new to Jeep stuff, never rode a trail, done mud stuff in my trade-in (F150 Tremor), and pretty green in general here.

I have two similarly decked out models that I'm looking at. Out the door the Mojave is 12k more than the Willys. If I were to get the Mojave I'd keep it bone stock for a long time outside of a sound system, but If I went the Willys, I'd want to do the 2.5 inch lift, and put katskinz on the seats, and get a spray-in bed liner so that's ~5-6k for those three things (plus the sound system too of course.)

Since I'm new, I'm unsure where to make a line-in-the-sand decision on which way to go. On one hand, that additional 12k isn't a burden, but it does mean I finance that 12k instead 'walking away' with the title on the Willys day 1, fully owned. I posed this same question elsewhere with mixed results, but many seemed to lean towards Mojave. I drive ~8k miles a year atm, much more if I get into trail riding and such I'm sure since I could use a new hobby anyway. My wifes vehicle is the 'family vehicle' but is also an EV so if we took a super extended roadtrip where planning became an issue, we'd need to take this for it with our kids.

I'm literally split 50/50 here. Same color, same features I want (Mojave has blind spot, which is nice, but not required), just no idea how to make a blind deterministic decision on if a Mojave is worth ~7k more. I have test drove a Willys, and a sport, but never a Mojave. This one is ~100 miles away and I can't get off work to buy it, so that's why I'm blind to the quality differences of the drive.

Bonus question: Is the new 2.5 lift kit with the remote reservoir Bilstein shocks good? I can't find much about them.

Have you driven both? The Mojave suspension isn't just for the desert, it provides a much nicer ride on the street too. The seats are also better and you get the reinforced frame. I know they made some changes in '24 to the Willys package, so not sure if it includes the heavy duty and wider Dana 44's, but the Mojave has steel knuckles, also the rear locker, 4.10 gears and 33" tires.

 

[TheDerb]

Since first looking at Rubicon vs Mojave it has baffled me why the MSRP is the same for both. Comparing them, the Rubicon gets you a front locker. With Mojave you get much more expensive shocks, hydraulic bump stops, iron knuckles, and some extra frame reinforcement. The rest of the differences are a wash cost-wise (different transfer case gearing, different hood, etc.). The Mojave seems to be a much better deal.

I’m curious what the volume cost is on those components, and if the ‘frame reinforcement‘ isnt a few welds or a different piece in the ladder frame or its abutted components that cost no more than about $0.16 more for purchasing to buy at bulk.

I regularly see people locking up on the trail, benefitting from the crawl ratio on the Rubicon, and enjoying the convenience of the sway bar disconnect.

The features of the Mojave are all passive except for the rear locker. (And I have driven both and can’t tell a difference between the ride quality on-road- ride quality is subjective, though.)I certainly believe that Stellantis reinforces the frame, and I can see the shocks have reservoirs, but I’ve never been in the trail with somebody who says “man I wish I had reinforced jounce things on my shocks”. I have heard people say “man I wish I had front lockers, or a sway bar disconnect, or that better crawl ratio”.

Ive also never seen anybody break a body mount or have a control arm mount come off that wasn’t doing things that no Mojave or rubicon had any business doing without waaaay more modifications than a stock example is going to have. For desert running, which I have no first hand experience with, I know these things are important. I also watch a lot of desert running videos and don’t see a lot of Mojave’s.

So while I am sure that the group of people who get their Mojave’s out to the dunes and race them are plentiful and regularly take advantage of those features, I think that overall the Mojave boasts features that literally will never be used by a great many of the owners, whereas with the Rubicon, those features are regularly used all across the US.

So, to price the Mojave meaningfully higher than the Rubicon doesn’t make too much sense considering the benefits are quite a bit more passive, and people would choose the Rubicon far more often if the price was steeply different.

of course, this is all only true for people that don’t regularly desert run. It’s a no brainer if you are out there in the dunes bouncing around at 50 mph. Thats not a big class of users, though.

 

[Yock]

Have you driven both? The Mojave suspension isn't just for the desert, it provides a much nicer ride on the street too. The seats are also better and you get the reinforced frame. I know they made some changes in '24 to the Willys package, so not sure if it includes the heavy duty and wider Dana 44's, but the Mojave has steel knuckles, also the rear locker, 4.10 gears and 33" tires.

I haven’t found a Mojave nearby to test drive sadly, and can’t get off work to find one.
The 24 Willy’s has rubicon shocks and rear locker standard. It’s missing some of those other small things but also missing the bigger things like the wider axels and gearing. I don’t know the true value of those though.

 

[NVjeff]

Not to confuse the issue but since you mentioned towing I'd suggest looking into a Rubicon, from everything I've seen it has a better tow rating than the Mojave.

Unless there is some reason you're set against one.

Another thought is, you mention owning the Willy's free and clear or having to finance 12K on the Mojave. What would the interest rate be on that 12K? If you own the Willy's outright you can install your upgrades as you can afford them.

 

[Janster]

Sounds like you’re financially stable that you can ‘treat‘ yourself to all the extra bells & whistles the Mojave has over the Willy’s - even with $12 loan.
Someone has already listed all the difference between the two - and, to me….seems like a no brainer.

We bought a 2024 Mojave X a couple months ago and love it!! We replaced a 2016 GMC Canyon. We’re not new to offroading (20 years ago, had a trail rig / rock crawling). We don’t plan on doing any of that extreme stuff - but would love to get out and get it dirty once in a while on the green/level 1 trails. This thing is MORE than equipped to do any basic trails (and a locker in case you get that urge ?). No lifts needed…..just jump in and go!

I love having the 4WAuto (The Canyon had it also). I’m impressed with the stock tires how well they do in the driving rain - but the 4WAuto helps too!

We will be towing a small bass boat… 17.5ft Bass Tracker (3-3500lbs) every weekend hopefully. Had it out for a test run and the Mojave towed it perfectly. The Mojave X has a 6,000lb towing capacity. So, can’t complain there.

Get the Mojave and enjoy it… No need to lift it, no regearing, nothing to research…. The time you would’ve spent researching lifts & such….. you could be in the jeep with the top down, doors off, and having fun!
Good Luck!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I haven’t found a Mojave nearby to test drive sadly, and can’t get off work to find one.
The 24 Willy’s has rubicon shocks and rear locker standard. It’s missing some of those other small things but also missing the bigger things like the wider axels and gearing. I don’t know the true value of those though.

The 24 Willys has rear locker standard? With a 3.73 ratio and the narrow axles. Didn't know they did that. Can't find it on the web site anywhere. Where's that listed?

I’m curious what the volume cost is on those components, and if the ‘frame reinforcement‘ isnt a few welds or a different piece in the ladder frame or its abutted components that cost no more than about $0.16 more for purchasing to buy at bulk.

Supposedly the same frame as used on the ecodiesel. That helps out with the volume bit.

So, to price the Mojave meaningfully higher than the Rubicon doesn’t make too much sense considering the benefits are quite a bit more passive, and people would choose the Rubicon far more often if the price was steeply different.

base price is the same, and that makes some sense since some of the Rubicon aspects offset some of the Mojave features.

I've driven each, and a STOCK Overland had such a great ride, that's why we went with it - twice. Now that it's gone, I've been looking to the future and have again gone out and asked my sales guy to let me drive a couple new JTs - I went with the 24s, the X of each. Mojave ride is a close match to what Overland was.
Sadly I've lost some of my great Overland ride with Eibach shocks on the rear - they are a heck of a lot harsher on rough streets, uneven RR track crossings and so on.
So it rides more like a Rubicon, IMO.
I priced each out with the options I'd get - and the final price for a Rubicon vs. Mojave - identical.
So if I trade, I have to decide on what things are important to me and my use of such a truck.

Part of me is resisting as I do NOT want a locker on either end, I want only LSD - so maybe an axle swap would be in my future if I traded to get rid of the locker and get LSD in the rear. There's probably someone out there with a wide rear axle set that has LSD that would swap for a rear locker.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Not to confuse the issue but since you mentioned towing I'd suggest looking into a Rubicon, from everything I've seen it has a better tow rating than the Mojave.

Rubicon - 7,000
Mojave - 6,000
(BOTH AUTOMATIC transmission)

 

[MudderNuker]

Not sure what you mean by the comment about regear being necessary for towing, or something is necessary for towing?

Gear changes with the Willys would only be needed if you jump up over 33" tires - then maybe not so necessary, depending on your use.

What do you mean by "advanced tow package" - there really isn't any such thing.
It's either tow package or not unless you go to the Sport with max tow.

In my opinion, and speaking from experience, a JTW on 33" does not need regear for towing. Before I traded the JTW< I towed a 20 foot camper and an 18 foot flatbed trailer and it did everything I asked for. Really not much difference from 32" to 33". Granted both trailers are on the lighter scale. 3,500 for the camper and 2,000 for the trailer, empty.

 

[NVjeff]

Rubicon - 7,000
Mojave - 6,000
(BOTH AUTOMATIC transmission)

Those are the specs I could find for '23 and older, I was assuming they were similar for the '24's.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Have you driven both? The Mojave suspension isn't just for the desert, it provides a much nicer ride on the street too. The seats are also better and you get the reinforced frame.

I'm still confused about the "better seats".
I've put thousands of miles on two Overlands with leather seats. I've driven Mojave X for a few miles (sales guy let me just drive and drive and drive) and frankly, I found no difference at all!
People talk of the "bolsters" - well, the Overland seats fit my butt and back the same way, maybe better. I have back issues from years as a mechanic lifting stuff I should never have lifted, and farming - lifting thousands of bags of seed over the years, lifting tractor parts, dealing with dual tires, fluid filled tires - my back is toast and my hips ain't so great so I'd love a better explanation as to the differences.
IMO, the Overland seats are just like the Mojave seats in fit and comfort.
I can't figure out the differences! Maybe it's "because they are bolted in a Mojave, that makes them better automatically" type thing??

 

[ShadowsPapa]

In my opinion, and speaking from experience, a JTW on 33" does not need regear for towing. Before I traded the JTW< I towed a 20 foot camper and an 18 foot flatbed trailer and it did everything I asked for. Really not much difference from 32" to 33". Granted both trailers are on the lighter scale. 3,500 for the camper and 2,000 for the trailer, empty.

Agreed.
That's why I said "if you jump up over 33" tires"
I've had two overlands. We all know - 3.73 ratio, period, end of story, no other factory option.
I ran 33s from a Rubicon for a while. Could hardly tell the difference - maybe a little, but no, not really.
A 3.73 ratio is fine with 33s, but over that, and I don't have personal experience OVER 33", so I say "maybe" you'd want to consider - but that depends on what you tow, the frontage of what you tow and where you tow - mountains or plains.

I agree, my experience is the same - 3.73 with 33" is ok even towing.
Rubicon 33" tires are actually about 32.8" according to many tire size sites.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Those are the specs I could find for '23 and older, I was assuming they were similar for the '24's.

Same here - I guess I should mention that's 2023 specs.

If looking at Mojave X, hold on to your hat, maybe sit down first before opening the door and looking at the sticker - payload on a 2024 Mojave X is about 850.

Yes, that's more than 100 pounds less than my 2022 Overland and about 170 less than my 2020 Overland was - both fully loaded.
So take a 2024 Mojave X and sit my butt in it, along with a SMALL cooler, my wife, and my trailer, I'm done, fully loaded.
Likely the JT's butt would be sagging badly (soft springs)
And that brings up another concern for me - I bet my snow plow would bring a Mojave X down with its chin sitting on the pavement.
Love the ride but I bet with a winch and my snow plow up front, it would be impossible to drive the thing without bottoming out on every pavement crack.

But then - it's a purpose built vehicle.

 

[Banned]

This is wrong and has been discussed MANY times on the forum...
Mojave has a reenforced frame, wider axles, steel knuckles, taller hood and cowl, 4.10 gears, etc ...
The springs and shocks are only part of the Mojave package, a very small part. And even if you lifted the Mojave, you can use shock extensions and still use the Mojave shocks. You basically are then just talking about "loosing" your Mojave springs and that is about $400..
My first gladiator was a Sport Altitude, after I bought it I regretted not getting the Mojave almost instantly. As bad luck would have it (ended up being good luck), I totalled my Sport. Them I bought my Mojave and couldn't be happier.
I really don't understand the statement "if you are going to lift the Mojave you are loosing most of what you paid for". Does anyone really think they paid 12k to 17k for shocks and springs?

You'll bust both those stock axles 40 times before you even come close to needing a reinforced frame.

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