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How to get best of both Rubicon and Mojave worlds?

shyoung1

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Crazy thing to argue about! Obviously Jeep realizes different models will appeal to different needs, that’s why they make more models available than any other truck maker!
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guarnibl

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And here I am with my Sport S happier than a you know who with a bag of you know what’s. It’s my first Jeep, and even in Sport trim it puts a smile on my face.
All that matters ! Glad you’re enjoying it. No reason to touch it if it does all you want.
 

KurtP

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Bickering aside, I added metal cloak sway disconnects to my mojave and pull them when i air down on trails where it is warranted. It works great, but less convenient than the elec disconnect system of the rubicon.

No one who is serious about wheeling leaves stock skid plates on their truck. I personally went with a metal cloak undercloak. It works great, and a factory skid plate argument is kinda weak sauce.

You can mostly lock your front differential by applying brake pressure with your left foot while you climb or traverse. It works great, and people underestimate the effectiveness.

If you really think you need a front locker, there are several on the market that can go into your Mojave easily enough. Brake locking also makes modulating your approach with a taller xfer case gearing much easier and helps protect you from breaking an axle. I personally wouldnt like a 4:1 tcase. Opinions vary.

Having broken the coil bucket off a frame in a g out before, and really knowing what good suspension drives like, i was bias towards the Mojave. If youre fully flexing out 37’s or bigger and dragging your belly pan every weekend, sounds like youre going to want a rubicon with a GC3.5” system on it so you can articulate.

Assuming people actually try to avoid damaging their trucks and have similar builds: there is nowhere a Mojave is getting a rubicon cant. It just wont do it as fast or as comfortably or with as much stability. There isnt anything a rubicon is getting up and over a mojave cant. It just wont be quite as fast or as easy.

Let your personal priorities guide your decision.
 

Deleted member 30519

Bickering aside, I added metal cloak sway disconnects to my mojave and pull them when i air down on trails where it is warranted. It works great, but less convenient than the elec disconnect system of the rubicon.

No one who is serious about wheeling leaves stock skid plates on their truck. I personally went with a metal cloak undercloak. It works great, and a factory skid plate argument is kinda weak sauce.

You can mostly lock your front differential by applying brake pressure with your left foot while you climb or traverse. It works great, and people underestimate the effectiveness.

If you really think you need a front locker, there are several on the market that can go into your Mojave easily enough. Brake locking also makes modulating your approach with a taller xfer case gearing much easier and helps protect you from breaking an axle. I personally wouldnt like a 4:1 tcase. Opinions vary.

Having broken the coil bucket off a frame in a g out before, and really knowing what good suspension drives like, i was bias towards the Mojave. If youre fully flexing out 37’s or bigger and dragging your belly pan every weekend, sounds like youre going to want a rubicon with a GC3.5” system on it so you can articulate.

Assuming people actually try to avoid damaging their trucks and have similar builds: there is nowhere a Mojave is getting a rubicon cant. It just wont do it as fast or as comfortably or with as much stability. There isnt anything a rubicon is getting up and over a mojave cant. It just wont be quite as fast or as easy.

Let your personal priorities guide your decision.
 

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BamaJeepTruck

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All that matters ! Glad you’re enjoying it. No reason to touch it if it does all you want.
I do find it funny how much the Jeep culture already has changed how I look at my vehicle. I keep looking at upgrades, and rubicon parts, yet the stock Sport S is the most off road capable vehicle I have ever owned. Guess it is chasing the dragon lol
 

stickshifter

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You cannot replicate a mojave unless youre willing to do a body off frame modification, and even then it would be half ass. A rubicon is just a sport with some parts tossed at it.

If you care about the frame tuning changes, getting a Mojave is the only way to get it. You can add a front locker if you think you need it; i added sway disconnects to mine and like it.

If you dont care about the frame changes, and just want the shocks, get a rubicon and add fox 2.5 dsc’s with butterfly shim valves from accutune. Itll perform almost as well as the bypass system does and you can keep the elec sway/front locker if that is what is important.

It depends what features of each trim are important to you.
Hey Kurt,
I know that you have worked on your Mojave a lot. Could you explain what they've done to the frame to make it stronger? I have found some vague information, but nothing very specific. This is what Jeep says: "We’ve reinforced the frame and axles, added cast iron steering knuckles and enhanced the suspension with a 1-inch front lift to create a high-speed desert racer." This is from Road and Track: "Take [a dune jump] too hard and you'll benefit from the reinforced frame, designed with extra stiffness around the suspension mounting points to handle serious abuse." Anything specific would be really helpful. Thanks!

EDIT: Okay, I just saw your more recent post: "The main thing is re-inforcements of the coil buckets, but there are others. Theres a video on the web with the chassis off." You can ignore my question.
 

KurtP

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Hey Kurt,
I know that you have worked on your Mojave a lot. Could you explain what they've done to the frame to make it stronger? I have found some vague information, but nothing very specific. This is what Jeep says: "We’ve reinforced the frame and axles, added cast iron steering knuckles and enhanced the suspension with a 1-inch front lift to create a high-speed desert racer." This is from Road and Track: "Take [a dune jump] too hard and you'll benefit from the reinforced frame, designed with extra stiffness around the suspension mounting points to handle serious abuse." Anything specific would be really helpful. Thanks!

EDIT: Okay, I just saw your more recent post: "The main thing is re-inforcements of the coil buckets, but there are others. Theres a video on the web with the chassis off." You can ignore my question.
It pays dividends when moving at speed over terrain. You can feel the difference in the chassis tuning driving back to back with a rubicon.

The extra strength and rigidity was the biggest selling point for me, as i could get told im moving back to africa at the drop of a hat and i like trips out west on the high desert.

I get why a serious rock crawler would want a rubicon(but why a JT??); the mojave is better everywhere else. Imo it is decidedly a better overland rig.
 

MoparToYou

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Assuming people actually try to avoid damaging their trucks and have similar builds: there is nowhere a Mojave is getting a rubicon cant. It just wont do it as fast or as comfortably or with as much stability. There isnt anything a rubicon is getting up and over a mojave cant. It just wont be quite as fast or as easy.

Let your personal priorities guide your decision.
Very well said. That is your bottom line, right there.
 

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HooliganActual

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if you go for a lift down the road, you might end up changing the shocks anyway.
^^^ THIS...all day, every day

There is a lot of truth here. I own a JTR and 2 JKR's and only one of the JKR's still has the stock Rubicon suspension on it. The other two wound up getting suspension changes because my use case changed and the stock Rubi suspension no longer met the need.

For those wanting the Mojave's suspension and the Rubicon's T-case, lockers, etc., you might consider what I've done. I am in Arizona, so lots of desert to contend with but also mountains. I set my JTR up for overlanding and by the time all the gear was in place, the stock Rubi suspension wasn't cutting it any longer. Instead of going with one of the more "traditional" Jeep suspension systems like Mopar, AEV, Metalcloak, (insert your favorite here), I went to a place that specializes in building the desert runner trucks and they set me up with a 2.5" Icon suspension.

The Icon suspension has been very impressive. It has great road manners and handles like a dream at 20-35 mph in the desert (That's not an indictment of the suspension over 35 mph, simply that I don't typically go over 35 out there) So now I have a suspension designed for the desert on my Rubicon. And the suspension that came of of my JTR...I will probably put it on my stock JKR, at least the bits and bobs that fit.

So to the OP @SubiRubi, maybe you ask yourself, "Self, will I lift this someday?", and if the answer is "Yes", buy the Rubicon throw the Icon suspension on, sell the Rubi takeoffs and then go get that thing dirty.
 

shyoung1

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^^^ THIS...all day, every day

There is a lot of truth here. I own a JTR and 2 JKR's and only one of the JKR's still has the stock Rubicon suspension on it. The other two wound up getting suspension changes because my use case changed and the stock Rubi suspension no longer met the need.

For those wanting the Mojave's suspension and the Rubicon's T-case, lockers, etc., you might consider what I've done. I am in Arizona, so lots of desert to contend with but also mountains. I set my JTR up for overlanding and by the time all the gear was in place, the stock Rubi suspension wasn't cutting it any longer. Instead of going with one of the more "traditional" Jeep suspension systems like Mopar, AEV, Metalcloak, (insert your favorite here), I went to a place that specializes in building the desert runner trucks and they set me up with a 2.5" Icon suspension.

The Icon suspension has been very impressive. It has great road manners and handles like a dream at 20-35 mph in the desert (That's not an indictment of the suspension over 35 mph, simply that I don't typically go over 35 out there) So now I have a suspension designed for the desert on my Rubicon. And the suspension that came of of my JTR...I will probably put it on my stock JKR, at least the bits and bobs that fit.

So to the OP @SubiRubi, maybe you ask yourself, "Self, will I lift this someday?", and if the answer is "Yes", buy the Rubicon throw the Icon suspension on, sell the Rubi takeoffs and then go get that thing dirty.
Couldn‘t agree more about Icon suspension. When I wanted to lift my Superduty 2”, I wanted the same drive ability as stock, and Icon provided that. Yes they are pricey, but worth it in my opinion.
 

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One persons opinion here from running Moab last week with brand new set up. Rubicon with a 3” lift, 37 13.5s and the Falcon SP2s.

We did it all. Rocks, slick rock and sand in all shapes and form. Was running the dunes behind The Rocks (where all the Broncos were) With John Marshall from Coyote Exp.

We were wailing it through the sand and through the back exit to the dunes into tight turns and deep sand. We were hauling the mail! This combo, especially the Falcons set on 2.4, inhaled all the ruts and bumps and performed near flawlessly.

I was very impressed and these shocks are worth every penny spent.
 

hjdca

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One persons opinion here from running Moab last week with brand new set up. Rubicon with a 3” lift, 37 13.5s and the Falcon SP2s.

We did it all. Rocks, slick rock and sand in all shapes and form. Was running the dunes behind The Rocks (where all the Broncos were) With John Marshall from Coyote Exp.

We were wailing it through the sand and through the back exit to the dunes into tight turns and deep sand. We were hauling the mail! This combo, especially the Falcons set on 2.4, inhaled all the ruts and bumps and performed near flawlessly.

I was very impressed and these shocks are worth every penny spent.
yeah, I am having a similar experience... My normal Forest trail, I used to run around 15 mph, now, I cook at 25 mph, and I hit the bump stops on one rut at setting 2.4. The next time, I set the shocks at 2.5 and hit the same rut, at the same speed and no bump stop hit - great predictable shocks... BTW, you have to try setting 3 on the street -- in high winds, or in a curvy canyon -- the suspension transformation is amazing -- Gladiator stays level, and your confidence goes way up -- you can carve up a curvy canyon with 37" mud tires. lol.
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