Is the Rubicon X worth the extra money and complexity over the standard Rubicon?

[ScottBeach]

Grein46087. That site is referring to all gladiator. But the 7700 lbs is limited to max tow optioned sport s.

Mojave is 4500 lbs manual or 6000 lbs auto

And Mojave X Has a load limit of 969 lbs. So a 6000 lbs trailer with a 15% tongue weight means you better weigh under 200 lbs with all your gear or you are over weight. I didnt buy mine to tow but Mojave x downside is tow limits

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[legacy_etu]

To piggyback on what Jefe1018 stated, I wouldn't spend the extra on full-time 4x4 unless I lived in an area where I had to deal with snow-covered roads on a regular basis.

One other benefit people overlook to the 4W auto is the tighter turning radius you get when in 4WD with CV joints VS U joints. The turning radius just sucks when in 4WD.

 

[ygrignon]

I know towing 6k with any Gladiator is questionable at best

My JT Max Tow towed my 6k Airstream over 10k miles so far. Through the Adirondack and southern Utah. I wouldn’t worry about your 8 miles trip on flat grounds.

 

[ecidiego]

Mine does - and. this documents some as well.
https://www.executivejeep.net/2024-jeep-gladiator-towing-capacity/#:~:text=With its standard 3.6L,past New Haven and Milford.

That's a dealer website with generic Jeep marketing statements.. No Mojave built is rated 7,700.

 

[Sivaru]

The Alpine audio upgrade and the included auxiliary switches can easily reach the 6k mark if you were to install aftermarket. I had a loaner vehicle for 2 days and the audio quality was like night and day. Since the dealer has both, hop in each vehicle and see if the differences are significant enough for you.

 

[Lochsa]

Miami, you have to ask yourself if the following is worth $6K to you...we have our opinions, but it's your money and ultimately your vehicle. This is the delta from a standard Rubicon to a standard Rubicon X:

• 12-way power adjustable front seats
• 12.3-inch digital touchscreen with navigation
• Nine-speaker premium Alpine audio system
• Integrated Bluetooth speaker
• Nappa leather seats
• Heated seats and steering wheel
• ParkSense rear park-assist system
• Blind-spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Path detection
• Steel front bumper
• Integrated front off-road camera
• Body-color fender flares
• Body-color hardtop with headliner
• Rock-Trac full-time transfer case

Just purchased my Rubicon X four weeks aga at a 18K discount. I priced a Rubicon with the components of the X-package, and you definitely save money with the package. I also keep my vehicles for a long time, so getting exactly what I want is important. Of course, not everyone will find the components of the X-package necessary. For me the most important bits were:

12-way power adjustable front seats, I do long trips so comfort and adjustability in the seat are welcome. These seats are really comfortable, so much better than the 2014 JK I traded in.

12.3-inch digital touchscreen with navigation, the stereo system does sound really good. The most important part is the GPS navigation. Living out west and doing whitewater kayaking trips, I find myself without cellular coverage often. If I forget to download maps to my phone, having GPS navigation is very helpful.

Integrated front off-road camera, I will be out in Moab this year and can't wait to test this out. Blind climbs should be a little easier.

Steel Front bumper, like the look, plus you get heavier duty springs, which will be helpful when I add a winch.

Heated seats and steering wheel that actually work compared to my JK. Important in NorCal, maybe not so much in Miami? Really nice with doors off.

One thing DirkG forgot was the automatic high-beam, I really like this feature, it makes nighttime driving so much simpler.

Body-color flares, this is a trade off. Fade vs rock chips. Keeping my tires tucked (35x11.5x17 on stock wheels) so will try to minimize the chips. After 12 years in the California sun my black fenders on my 2014 JKUR were faded and looked like crap.

Full time transfer for me should help in the rain. Where I live we don't get rain from May to October. The first rain tends to make the roads slick as oils on the road have had a chance to build up. Also should be helpful driving through the Sierra in the winter.

As far as complexity, the 2024 Gladiators have so much more electronic complexity compared to my 2014 JKUR I traded in. Hopefully I got a good one, time will tell.

 

[Jefe1018]

Mine does - and. this documents some as well.
https://www.executivejeep.net/2024-jeep-gladiator-towing-capacity/#:~:text=With its standard 3.6L,past New Haven and Milford.

If you can or it can do it is different than a rating form the OEM. A JT with over 1,710lbs of payload and 7,700lb stated towing capacity is a basic sport with Max Tow and very few few if any options. A Rubicon usually has 7,000lb tow capacity, unless you have a diesel, which nerfs you at 6,000lbs. Have a manual? You’re capped at under 5,000 iirc. All others go down or slightly up from there. That website, is just giving you generic information about the JT as a whole.

 

[Mr Miami]

Thank you all ..... I pulled the trigger yesterday to get the 20% Jan 2025 discount plus dealer discounts on a new Gladiator at a dealer near Ft. Lauderdale FL (their last Rubi). I would have gone the Rubi X route based on all the generally positive comments on the full-time 4x4 here but I basically got what I wanted at what I think was a great price (43k, which came out to just under 46k with tax (6%)and tag out the door on an MSRP of 66k). It has the Technology Group which includes the Navigation, the upgraded Alpine audio, forward camera and other stuff. Also, it has the Active Safety Group for the park-assist system, blind spot thing on the outside mirrors, etc. It includes the steel bumper for a winch, hardtop headliner, automatic, mats and the spray in bedliner. Plus, the dealer had installed dark tinted windows ($299 as a dealer add-on) for the Florida sun. So it has a lot of the stuff that comes standard on the X (excluding the power leather seats) but at the price I am more than pleased.

As a side point, it was late in the evening and the finance guy had to leave and I did too. Since I didn't purchase any additional items such as warranties, the finance guy said he would have locked me in his office earlier to buy something since they were actually losing money on the sale just to move the inventory. He said they were under so much pressure from Stellantis to order more Jeeps for 2025 production that they just need to make room for new inventory. After pushing the guy on numbers a little more, he said there losing about 3,000 of which they will get 3% of the invoice amount back from the hold-back from Stellantis and a few hundred on the tag fees but it will still be at least a 1,000 loss in the end. In order to get the deal and the best rate for finance (7.5%), they wouldn't even let me put anything down since the total financed increases their kick-back from the lending institutions. Interesting. He said just pay it down later. And he didn't have anything good to say about the prior management of Stellantis. I could tell it was a very sore point with him. So anyway, off to get the Apex 12000 winch today. HF has a coupon for $70 off for $530. Enjoy all!

 

[Bucephalus]

Is it me or does the Rubicon

Thank you all ..... I pulled the trigger yesterday to get the 20% Jan 2025 discount plus dealer discounts on a new Gladiator at a dealer near Ft. Lauderdale FL (their last Rubi). I would have gone the Rubi X route based on all the generally positive comments on the full-time 4x4 here but I basically got what I wanted at what I think was a great price (43k, which came out to just under 46k with tax (6%)and tag out the door on an MSRP of 66k). It has the Technology Group which includes the Navigation, the upgraded Alpine audio, forward camera and other stuff. Also, it has the Active Safety Group for the park-assist system, blind spot thing on the outside mirrors, etc. It includes the steel bumper for a winch, hardtop headliner, automatic, mats and the spray in bedliner. Plus, the dealer had installed dark tinted windows ($299 as a dealer add-on) for the Florida sun. So it has a lot of the stuff that comes standard on the X (excluding the power leather seats) but at the price I am more than pleased.

As a side point, it was late in the evening and the finance guy had to leave and I did too. Since I didn't purchase any additional items such as warranties, the finance guy said he would have locked me in his office earlier to buy something since they were actually losing money on the sale just to move the inventory. He said they were under so much pressure from Stellantis to order more Jeeps for 2025 production that they just need to make room for new inventory. After pushing the guy on numbers a little more, he said there losing about 3,000 of which they will get 3% of the invoice amount back from the hold-back from Stellantis and a few hundred on the tag fees but it will still be at least a 1,000 loss in the end. In order to get the deal and the best rate for finance (7.5%), they wouldn't even let me put anything down since the total financed increases their kick-back from the lending institutions. Interesting. He said just pay it down later. And he didn't have anything good to say about the prior management of Stellantis. I could tell it was a very sore point with him. So anyway, off to get the Apex 12000 winch today. HF has a coupon for $70 off for $530. Enjoy all!

Congratulations. We need pictures! Planning on hitting any trails soon? Do you go to any local meets?

 

[DirkG]

Just purchased my Rubicon X four weeks aga at a 18K discount. I priced a Rubicon with the components of the X-package, and you definitely save money with the package. I also keep my vehicles for a long time, so getting exactly what I want is important. Of course, not everyone will find the components of the X-package necessary. For me the most important bits were:

12-way power adjustable front seats, I do long trips so comfort and adjustability in the seat are welcome. These seats are really comfortable, so much better than the 2014 JK I traded in.

12.3-inch digital touchscreen with navigation, the stereo system does sound really good. The most important part is the GPS navigation. Living out west and doing whitewater kayaking trips, I find myself without cellular coverage often. If I forget to download maps to my phone, having GPS navigation is very helpful.

Integrated front off-road camera, I will be out in Moab this year and can't wait to test this out. Blind climbs should be a little easier.

Steel Front bumper, like the look, plus you get heavier duty springs, which will be helpful when I add a winch.

Heated seats and steering wheel that actually work compared to my JK. Important in NorCal, maybe not so much in Miami? Really nice with doors off.

One thing DirkG forgot was the automatic high-beam, I really like this feature, it makes nighttime driving so much simpler.

Body-color flares, this is a trade off. Fade vs rock chips. Keeping my tires tucked (35x11.5x17 on stock wheels) so will try to minimize the chips. After 12 years in the California sun my black fenders on my 2014 JKUR were faded and looked like crap.

Full time transfer for me should help in the rain. Where I live we don't get rain from May to October. The first rain tends to make the roads slick as oils on the road have had a chance to build up. Also should be helpful driving through the Sierra in the winter.

As far as complexity, the 2024 Gladiators have so much more electronic complexity compared to my 2014 JKUR I traded in. Hopefully I got a good one, time will tell.

@Lochsa, I think your post speaks to the versatility of the Gladiator. It can be so many things to so many people. Someone who uses their vehicle as a daily driver with some weekend Home Depot runs may want more luxury. Someone who hits the trails may not care as much. Someone may just want a useful truck and not care about off-road capabilities or luxury.

Even families may differ on how to use the vehicle. When we test drove our Jeep Beach, my wife loved the Katzkin leather but then looked over at me shocked, "wait, it has leather but they're not power seats??"

Edit: Congrats Mr. Miami!

 

[Mr Miami]

Is it me or does the Rubicon

Congratulations. We need pictures! Planning on hitting any trails soon? Do you go to any local meets?

@Bucephalus. Nothing planned yet but getting the winch hopefully today, if they have them in stock with the sale. Also, I am taking the rock rails off. I purchased the Mopar side steps. I could have bought others I saw but being a bit mechanically challenged, I just want something that I know will fit and be done with it. Hopefully take the rock rails off and put the steps on over the weekend.

 

[Mr Miami]

I'm new to this forum and should have started a new thread, not added on my purchase from a tech/opinion thread. I will start a new thread. Again, thanks to all.

 

[legacy_etu]

@Bucephalus. Nothing planned yet but getting the winch hopefully today, if they have them in stock with the sale. Also, I am taking the rock rails off. I purchased the Mopar side steps. I could have bought others I saw but being a bit mechanically challenged, I just want something that I know will fit and be done with it. Hopefully take the rock rails off and put the steps on over the weekend.

Be aware, when replacing the rock sliders the frontmost body bolt has red loctite on it.

 

[Mr Miami]

Be aware, when replacing the rock sliders the frontmost body bolt has red loctite on it.

@legacy_etu ...

Sounds like I need to get the breaker bar ready.

 

[ecidiego]

@legacy_etu ...

Sounds like I need to get the breaker bar ready.

Heat it too....the nut breaks.

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