Should I go Rubicon or Mojave?

[JTmaybeTX]

The only hills in south TX are the overpasses and the only rocks are caliche roads.

Lol, true, unless you’re in the hill country!

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[Alans17]

Lol, true, unless you’re in the hill country!

I’m from the valley. To us, the hill country is central Texas.

 

[FormerToyotaGuy]

I had the same tuff decision. After studying and pondering I went with Rubicon and here was my reasoning. Where I live at least they both were the exact same price. For that price with the Mojave you get some pretty crazy cool shocks made for flying your 60K truck off dunes, a rear locker, re-enforced frame (I was told??) and stronger front wheel knuckles made out of steel instead of aluminum. BUT the BIG thing about Mojave is the shocks. Rubicon you get good Fox shocks, automatic sway bar disconnect, front and rear lockers and a crawler transfer case. To me it makes sense to go Rubicon, even if some day you put crappy shocks all around you still have a Rubicon for all those other factors. You take Mojave shocks away you have basically a gladiator with a rear locker ..........Dollar for Dollar make mine a Rubi.

 

[bleda2002]

,

How did this thread go on for this long and no one called out this "fact"

Mojave and rubicons are the exact same price. Same base price, all the options cost the same, and neither one has a "popular equipment package" that saves any money like the overland.

If you build each the same, they cost the exact same amout to the penny

Never checked the build for both to notice the same MSRP for the base since I was going heavily optioned and the Mojave can't get the same equipment like the steel rear bumper which I wanted.

When I bought mine the dealer prices on a comparable Mojave we're always 2-3k more than the rubi. My 60k rubi was 53, the 60k Mojave was 56k. After driving both, the Mojave rode better, but I couldn't spend 3k more to have a less capable off road vehicle when I could spend 3k on mods/shocks.

 

[ecidiego]

Mojave. It's a stronger truck,. You can get swaybar disconnects and a front locker after the fact. Can't get the Mojave's frame.

 

[19Delta]

I had a lot of the same questions as you. I researched until I couldn't see straight. I finally took an entire day to do nothing but test drive jeeps. It took most of the day as it was hard to locate dealers that had them in stock.

After several test drives, it was SUPER clear to me that I was buying a Mojave. For my needs, I would have felt like a rubi was a big sacrifice. I will later add a locker and front disco.

You need to test drive them both and then decide.

 

[JTmaybeTX]

I had the same tuff decision. After studying and pondering I went with Rubicon and here was my reasoning. Where I live at least they both were the exact same price. For that price with the Mojave you get some pretty crazy cool shocks made for flying your 60K truck off dunes, a rear locker, re-enforced frame (I was told??) and stronger front wheel knuckles made out of steel instead of aluminum. BUT the BIG thing about Mojave is the shocks. Rubicon you get good Fox shocks, automatic sway bar disconnect, front and rear lockers and a crawler transfer case. To me it makes sense to go Rubicon, even if some day you put crappy shocks all around you still have a Rubicon for all those other factors. You take Mojave shocks away you have basically a gladiator with a rear locker ..........Dollar for Dollar make mine a Rubi.

Yeah, I’ve gotten stuck on the exact dilemma of the shocks/re-enforced frame of the Mojave vs the front locker/sway-bar disconnect of the Rubicon. I wonder which one requires less maintenance long-term. I’m tempted to say the Mojave with less moving parts in terms of the front locker and sway bar, but yet again, those shocks are probably a pain to replace and or service?

 

[NachoRuby]

Mojave. It's a stronger truck,. You can get swaybar disconnects and a front locker after the fact. Can't get the Mojave's frame.

I'm going to make the same argument many make about front lockers. Who will actually need the reinforced frame? Let's be honest. Folks aren't bending frames like crazy on any of these. There's no bent frame epidemic. The only ones I've seen bending frames were on way overloaded vehicles. No one is bending the frame on Gladiators rock crawling, off roading or daily driving. This isn't a trophy truck. None of them are. Some say they aren't going to do rock crawling on their 50k truck. I sure as heck am not doing desert jumps and whoops in mine either haha. And on the speed thing. We have 285 hp and 260 ft lbs of torque. These aren't fast. They just aren't. None of them are, unless hemi swapped or supercharged. The differences between the two are minor, imo. Sure, they are tailored to different usages, but one is not drastically different or better. They share way more than separates them.

 

[JTmaybeTX]

I had a lot of the same questions as you. I researched until I couldn't see straight. I finally took an entire day to do nothing but test drive jeeps. It took most of the day as it was hard to locate dealers that had them in stock.

After several test drives, it was SUPER clear to me that I was buying a Mojave. For my needs, I would have felt like a rubi was a big sacrifice. I will later add a locker and front disco.

You need to test drive them both and then decide.

You’re absolutely right, I need to just wait until I can test drive a Mojave. There’s just none in my area at the moment. I would have to take a weekend and drive up to Austin possibly.

 

[bleda2002]

Mojave. It's a stronger truck,. You can get swaybar disconnects and a front locker after the fact. Can't get the Mojave's frame.

It's a couple welds in the rear and reinforced shock mounts.. It's not a different frame or even a heavily reinforced modified frame, it's literally just extra welds and different shock/coil mounts. Perhaps this will matter if you do jumps, but the weak point is the FAD not the frame and we all have fads sadly.

 

[TroutFishingInAmerica]

I went Mojave, and a Go Fast Camper, very happy. Working out great so far. If I wanted a "rock crawler" I personally would not be in a 4 door long wheel base truck, but that's just me, it obviously works for others. This fits my needs perfect. I'm probably considered a minimalist and weight weenie, your milage may very.

 

[JTmaybeTX]

I went Mojave, and a Go Fast Camper, very happy. Working out great so far. If I wanted a "rock crawler" I personally would not be in a 4 door long wheel base truck, but that's just me, it obviously works for others. This fits my needs perfect. I'm probably considered a minimalist and weight weenie, your milage may very.

I love the idea of GFC. Almost got one for my Frontier. Speaking of mileage, what are you seeing on your Mojave, stock or otherwise?

 

[RavensEyeOffroad]

I have a mojave and am happy with it, if I were to do it again Diesel Rubicon.

 

[john#21]

Op @JTmaybeTX ,

The real question is do you plan to add a lift to this truck?

If you do or are unsure go with a rubi or max tow. Otherwise you will feel bad for ditching the shocks on the Mojave or will compromise with a lift to work with them.


I have a Mojave and it is perfect for me stock, ymmv. I live in South/ Central Tx.

 

[FREEZE451]

Didn't notice any mileage difference for either.

Although I put 35s on within 5,000 miles on both.

Winter gas, 16mpg. Summer 18mpg.

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