Rubicon take off suspension help

[2021JeepGladiatorWillys]

Hoping I can get some help from the experts here.

I have a 2021 Jeep Gladiator Willy's gas motor with a tow package.

After looking at lift kits and other options for my gladiator I decided I wanted to go the Rubicon take off suspension route. From what I was reading it would get a small lift and improvements in the ride.

I found a take off kit from eBay and bought it.

I am not sure what Rubicon option the kit came from


Shocks:

68341383AF--- Front shocks
68341415AG--- Rear Shocks

Springs

68506362AA--- Front (not sure if this is left or right)
68506361AA--- Front (not sure if this is left or right)

68506210AA--- Rear (not sure if this is left or right)

68506211AA--- Rear (not sure if this is left or right)

Did I get a kit that is worth installing or is what I have stock on the Willy's better.

I am installing a steel number and winch in the next week.

After reading other posts about Rubicon take offs I did not realize there were so many spring combination for these vehicles.

Sponsored

 

[Hootbro]

General rule of thumb when it comes to spring part numbers for the 3.6L gas, the end part number before the two letter suffix is that even numbers go on the drivers left side and odd numbers go on the passengers right side.

As to ride improvement, that is going to be subjective. Having owned a Willys and a Rubicon, I can say your best on road highway ride is going to be your Willys suspension. The Rubicon suspension is a mixed bag on road with many that complain of a rear end bouncy ride. Off road, the Rubicon suspension works better and what it was designed for.

Adding a heavier steel bumper and winch is going to throw a lot of the above out the window IMHO. If you are looking at a primarily daily driver, I would argue just putting in the Rubicon springs in the front and leaving the factory Willys springs in the rear and keeping the factory Willys shocks, that will give you a more level out front end with the heavier bumper and winch and maintain a somewhat more comfortable on road ride.

@ShadowsPapa did something similar with his Overland model and probably could comment better on this.

 

[2021JeepGladiatorWillys]

Hootbro

Thank you for the reply and advice. We are planning on using the Willy's for both on and off road.

Do you know anything about the spring part numbers

I can not find anyone mentioning these 2 part numbers on the forum

68506210AA

68506361AA

 

[AmishMike]

You can save the weight of a steel bumper and just modify your plastic one. Then use synthetic line and save another 25-30 lbs.

 

[2021JeepGladiatorWillys]

@AmishMike

I have seen that done but the wife wanted a different bumper.

I did go with a synthetic rope winch so I saved some weight.

 

[AmishMike]

When the wife says to spend money on the Jeep, you spend mine on the Jeep!!
Not too sure about aluminum bumper options.

 

[Hootbro]

Hootbro

Thank you for the reply and advice. We are planning on using the Willy's for both on and off road.

Do you know anything about the spring part numbers

I can not find anyone mentioning these 2 part numbers on the forum

68506210AA

68506361AA

There have been threads in the past people posting what their spring part numbers were and what options they had. I have not seen any definitive decoding on part numbers and spring rates, just speculation. I also believe to compound things further, Jeep has reset their part number ranges on later production vehicles

 

[yzinger]

My 2021 Rubicon (bought new) have those springs. I have the hard top, AT, plastic bumper in front.

68506362AA--- Front (Passenger)
68506361AA--- Front (Driver)

68506210AA--- Rear (Driver)
68506211AA--- Rear

 

[2021JeepGladiatorWillys]

@yzinger

Seems from what you posted on your spring location. Seems mixed as far as the normal goes.

On my wife's 2022 overland ( yes I have 2 gladiators )
Rear springs ending in
117 drivers side
118 passenger side is also opposite of what is considered the norm



@Hootbro

Is there a better way to go to give a little more lift and improve off road with out hurting on road drivability to much?

 

[Hootbro]

@Hootbro

Is there a better way to go to give a little more lift and improve off road with out hurting on road drivability to much?

Yeah, that is a subjective. Unless you go all out for a complete front/rear suspension lift with matching shocks, control arms and track bars, everything else that just does a "minor" lift is going to be a compromise and you are not going to be able to have the best of everything on and off road.

If your are only looking to negate suspension drop after installing a heavy bumper and winch, then what was previously mention for running Rubicon Springs up front and leaving the rear alone is probably a good option. I am not a fan of spacer lifts and expecting to keep a factory ride.

 

[2021JeepGladiatorWillys]

@Hootbro

Thanks you also mentioned keeping the stock Shocks and not using the Rubicon take off shocks.

Are the Rubicon shocks to soft for a daily driver ?

 

[Hootbro]

@Hootbro

Thanks you also mentioned keeping the stock Shocks and not using the Rubicon take off shocks.

Are the Rubicon shocks to soft for a daily driver ?

I would not call them soft. It is one of those things you will probably have to install and figure out yourself if they suit you.

Jeeps are not a one and done thing for most people. Expect to pull out and try other things even though it may be a pain, shocks are not that big of a deal to swap on a sliding scale. It is a learn as you go thing and do not be committed to the Rubicon stuff just because you bought it.

 

[yzinger]

@yzinger

Seems from what you posted on your spring location. Seems mixed as far as the normal goes.

Correct.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

General rule of thumb when it comes to spring part numbers for the 3.6L gas, the end part number before the two letter suffix is that even numbers go on the drivers left side and odd numbers go on the passengers right side.

As to ride improvement, that is going to be subjective. Having owned a Willys and a Rubicon, I can say your best on road highway ride is going to be your Willys suspension. The Rubicon suspension is a mixed bag on road with many that complain of a rear end bouncy ride. Off road, the Rubicon suspension works better and what it was designed for.

Adding a heavier steel bumper and winch is going to throw a lot of the above out the window IMHO. If you are looking at a primarily daily driver, I would argue just putting in the Rubicon springs in the front and leaving the factory Willys springs in the rear and keeping the factory Willys shocks, that will give you a more level out front end with the heavier bumper and winch and maintain a somewhat more comfortable on road ride.

@ShadowsPapa did something similar with his Overland model and probably could comment better on this.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the Rubicon Fox shocks. I found them to be "bouncy" on the rear of my truck. Not so bad on the front, though.

For my 2020, I put Rubicon springs up front (and BEWARE, when one says "Rubicon springs" they can be any of at least 3 or 4 different number - each of these trucks can come with varying spring numbers based on options and so on) So there is no one "Rubicon spring". I would always ask "which Rubicon springs" do you have. And for the later model years, the numbers have changed a bit.

My 2020 - Rubicon springs up front (numbers below) and Max Tow springs on the rear.
I gained shy of 1" up front when on my 2020 Overland.
The max tow springs gained no height. They are shorter than Overland springs, they carried weight ok, but it's not something I'd do again.
If I were to have re-done my 2020, I'd have left the Rubicon springs under the front, put different springs and air bags under the rear and left the stock shocks on. All I gained was appearance with the Rubicon Fox shocks.

For my 2022 Overland - I put air bags in the rear, and Synergy 2" lift springs under the front. Those really lifted the heavy front of my 2022. I have steel Rubicon style bumper, heavy Badland Apex 1200 winch, heavy Bulldog winch plate, a 2" Curt receiver and snow plow brackets and mounting bar up there.

JT 2022 Overland STOCK Springs-
Left front - 6342AA
Right front - 7796AA
Left rear - 6118AA
Right rear - 6119AA

2020 Overland STOCK Springs-
Left front - 325AB
Right front - 330AB
Left rear - 439
Right rear - 440

Rubicon take-off springs I bought for my 2020 Overland -
Left front - 339
Right front - 340
Left rear - 449
Right rear - 450
I did not use the rears.

When I traded, the dealer wanted me to take it back to stock so I took the springs and shocks back out. They are sitting on a shelf in my garage with the max tow springs.

eeps are not a one and done thing for most people. Expect to pull out and try other things even though it may be a pain. shocks are not that big of a deal to swap on a sliding scale. It is a learn as you go thing and do not be committed to the Rubicon stuff just because you bought it.

OMG - Hootbro nailed it LOL. I'm on my second pair of front springs.
I was told the Synergy 1" springs would lift a fully loaded Rubicon JLU 1" so I figured they'd life my Overland 1". Dumb dumb dumb. The Gladiator is heavier (not sure where, it it's heavier) and NOW synergy says "oh, that doesn't really mean FULLY loaded.......... they don't count a winch, etc.
So all the 1" lift springs did was bring the front of my Overland back to STOCK height with the weight of the bumper, winch, winch plate and receiver.
So swap springs AGAIN (I should be able to do this in my SLEEP!)
This time over-kill. I figured that hey, 2" is 1" bigger than 1" so I'd gain 1" from where I was with the 1" springs - right? No. Gained 1 3/4".

The ride is incredible. Smooth, stable, smooth, no trouble crossing rough tracks.

My decision this time was based in part on the fact I have a snow plow. I needed multiple rate springs to keep my nice ride when driving in the summer, but be able to handle the 300 pounds of the snow plow sticking 3' out in front of the bumper.
I didn't have that on my 2020 so the Rubicon springs worked - gave me just about 1" of "lift" and a decent ride. Max tow springs under an overland - nice experiment but I'd not do it again.
Fox shocks - not worth it IMO. They have to be a bit softer than some to articulate. You want that axle to move up or down quite a distance and quickly when crawling over boulders and through ravines. That's my explanation, anyway.

Yeah, I now have springs sitting all over the place - every truck is different, every purpose is different, and every owner or driver has a different definition of ride and handling.

I can definitely recommend the Synergy springs - what happened was likely mostly "my fault" or being anxious, excited, for the changes.

 

[2021JeepGladiatorWillys]

This is way more complicated than I thought it was going to be.

I think I am going to install the parts and just see what happens and how it drives.b

I will put them on on @yzinger showed his to be installed and go from there.

Sponsored