Should I go Rubicon or Mojave?

[NachoRuby]

I’m finding this to be true but, I’m so glad to have a Mojave, the daily drive is painless and euphoric.

True, I'd have looked at a Max Tow, but I can't give up my 6 speed. So for me, the choice was Willys (Sport), Sport (S), Overland, Freedom, Rubicon, or Mojave. Plus I wanted the lockers and swaybar disconnect to have a factory warranty. That's really the appeal of the Rubicon and Mojave, at least for me. You get a good setup out of the box, and for the first 36k, if something goes mechanically wrong, it's on Jeep. After 36k, I'm going to mod away on suspension stuff. But still want to keep the powertrain side intact for as long as possible. At 61k, that's when this thing will become true "fun".

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[ecidiego]

True, I'd have looked at a Max Tow, but I can't give up my 6 speed. So for me, the choice was Willys (Sport), Sport (S), Overland, Freedom, Rubicon, or Mojave. Plus I wanted the lockers and swaybar disconnect to have a factory warranty. That's really the appeal of the Rubicon and Mojave, at least for me. You get a good setup out of the box, and for the first 36k, if something goes mechanically wrong, it's on Jeep. After 36k, I'm going to mod away on suspension stuff. But still want to keep the powertrain side intact for as long as possible. At 61k, that's when this thing will become true "fun".

I got the 8/100k ....woops. lol. I rarely buy warranties but 1700$ for that seemed smart. We will see.

 

[SonoranMojave]

The Rubicon will go everywhere the Mojave will go, it just won’t be as fast getting there or nearly as comfortable. And your JTR will high center before you get to test the limits of your front locker and ESD.

 

[PeterGriffin]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, and although I wasn't the one who coined the phrase, having traded in a '17 JKUR for my Mojave, the Mojave can do about 90% of what the Rubi can while the Rubi can do about half of what the Mojave can.

Living in the exact environment that the Mojave was purpose-built and designed for, I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. The biggest thing that the Mojave is "missing" that the Rubi has is a front locker which, if you need it, is easily enough to add. Apex Designs sway-bar disconnects are even easier, and ridiculously cheaper than adding a MOPAR auto disco.

Try that the other way around and it's impossible to make a Rubi into a Mojave...without trading it in to buy one! The Mojave's actual upgraded/reinforced frame, cast-iron steering knuckles, etc. would be absolutely cost prohibitive to swap .

And that's why I bought the Mojave, to use exactly exactly as advertised and shred around in the desert. I don't commute, and the heaviest thing I'll end up towing is my Can Am X3 Max whenever the trailer I want comes back in stock!

 

[NachoRuby]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, and although I wasn't the one who coined the phrase, having traded in a '17 JKUR for my Mojave, the Mojave can do about 90% of what the Rubi can while the Rubi can do about half of what the Mojave can.

Living in the exact environment that the Mojave was purpose-built and designed for, I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. The biggest thing that the Mojave is "missing" that the Rubi has is a front locker which, if you need it, is easily enough to add. Apex Designs sway-bar disconnects are even easier, and ridiculously cheaper than adding a MOPAR auto disco.

Try that the other way around and it's impossible to make a Rubi into a Mojave...without trading it in to buy one! The Mojave's actual upgraded/reinforced frame, cast-iron steering knuckles, etc. would be absolutely cost prohibitive to swap .

And that's why I bought the Mojave, to use exactly exactly as advertised and shred around in the desert. I don't commute, and the heaviest thing I'll end up towing is my Can Am X3 Max whenever the trailer I want comes back in stock!

Reinforced frame, yes, that might be hard. But cast iron steering knuckles, not really.

https://www.reidracing.biz/jljt

 

[bleda2002]

Cast iron knuckles, 700 bucks, Bilstein adjustable bypass with better ride and travel, 4k, hydro bumps, 700, 5.5k you have a Rubicon that's a better Mojave.

Mojave can be made a Rubicon as well, front locker 3000 or so, swaybar disconnects won't be electric but 2-300, low speed transfer case 2500+ labor.

 

[NachoRuby]

Cast iron knuckles, 700 bucks, Bilstein adjustable bypass with better ride and travel, 4k, hydro bumps, 700, 5.5k you have a Rubicon that's a better Mojave.

Mojave can be made a Rubicon as well, front locker 3000 or so, swaybar disconnects won't be electric but 2-300, low speed transfer case 2500+ labor.

Once you get into the realm of modding, as Jeepers have been doing since about 1941, if you can think of it, an aftermarket part exists. I'm staying stock for now, but I fully understand that anything and everything can be done aftermarket, so that's never a good argument. Any of these jeeps can be made into anything. And since they're really the same truck underneath, anything that fits one will fit the other.

 

[The White Rabbit]

After all the metamorphosis of what the possibilities are and how I want to use and what I do use my Mojave for, I’m now leaning towards building an overland trailer for it so I can remove my max tow springs that I used to replace the rear Mojave springs and just stick with the airbags I installed. Than I do need all that camping gear on the truck. Just wheeling gear on truck so I can stay as close to stock as possible because the ride is so smooth. It’s the biggest part of what made me convinced that I had to have the Mojave.

 

[The White Rabbit]

After all the metamorphosis of what the possibilities are and how I want to use and what I do use my Mojave for, I’m now leaning towards building an overland trailer for it so I can remove my max tow springs that I used to replace the rear Mojave springs and just stick with the airbags I installed. Than I do need all that camping gear on the truck. Just wheeling gear on truck so I can stay as close to stock as possible because the ride is so smooth. It’s the biggest part of what made me convinced that I had to have the Mojave.

*don’t need

 

[bleda2002]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, and although I wasn't the one who coined the phrase, having traded in a '17 JKUR for my Mojave, the Mojave can do about 90% of what the Rubi can while the Rubi can do about half of what the Mojave can.

What exactly is the half the Rubicon can't do? It literally will go anywhere the Mojave will except slightly slower or slightly faster depending on the terrain.

I get wanting a purpose built desert racer, but why not a raptor at that point?

Edit: I mean in Peter's specific case where this seems to be used only as a desert toy and not as a DD, or general offroader that's going to see varied terrain that a raptor wouldn't handle better.

 

[kingern]

Had the same question and was heavily leaning toward Mojave. I wanted a gecko green with specific options, but all the Mojaves within 300 mi were either overpriced or did not have all the options I wanted. Happened upon a gecko green Rubicon at a local dealer, with all the options I wanted, at a decent price, so I got it last week. It's a bit of overkill for what I intend to do with it (trails, mall crawl), but I like the look and I still smile every time I walk outside and see it.

 

[Redruby]

Before you do any mods drive the vehicle for one year then decide what it is that is missing, I recommend this to every newbie I meet , they all want to change everything but not really sure of what they want, that’s why I say drive it for one year in every type of road condition to determine what you like them make the mods

 

[gmojaveperez]

Howdy Truckers,

First off, I want to say thank you to all of you that post on this site; I’ve been lurking for a few weeks now, and the amount of useful information on this forum is astonishing!

I’ve seen a couple of other threads about Mojave vs Rubicon, but I wanted to get a fresh perspective from some of y’all, particularly when addressing my trucking needs.

I’m coming from a 2020 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X with the “updated” power train (3.8l V6, 9sp auto), which I use as my daily driver, primarily; however, it is also our adventuring vehicle to do off and on grid camping with our teardrop trailer, which weighs approx 3,000lbs fully loaded. We head out about once a month, and now that our son is a little bit older, we want to do more off the beaten path camping/overlanding in and out of state.

The Nissan has worked great for towing, daily driving, and light off-roading. With that said, the aftermarket for this truck is absolutely non-existent, and upgrading the suspension, wheels, tires, bumpers, lighting to where I want the truck to be with the available options to me is just not worth the time and money, IMO.

Seeing as I can get all of my money back and then some on the trade, I started researching Gladiators, specifically Ribicons and Mojaves. I’m pretty well versed as to what the differences are, yet I’m still unsure as to which truck is better for the needs I listed above. I think both trucks will provide more capability out of the box than the Frontier, and because of the awesome aftermarket support, I know I will be able to update the truck far into the future if need be. I test drove the Rubicon yesterday, and I was pretty impressed with the whole package. I don’t necessarily think I will need a front locker, but I do need a back locker, as I’ve had to use the one on my Frontier quite a bit. Unfortunately, there are no Mojave’s in my area at the moment, so the test drive will have to wait, but in y’alls opinion, which truck would you go with and why?

I know this is probably a redundant thread, but thank you in advance for kindly providing your input!

You know well the mechanical differences ..To me it's about looks, get the one that looks better for you! I personally don't like the red dash and I love the way the Mojave looks overall stock, I got the Mojave one month ago and I love it

 

[antwon412]

I thought long and hard and realized that unfortunately , realistically the great majority of my driving is going to be on road. With that in mind I chose the vehicle that performs better on the road which is the Mojave.

either model can probably outdrive me and will do anything I need to do on the trail, so I went for street comfort.

 

[Jaxmax]

Most all of us drive a lot more on road, some do beach driving, some do forest roads, some don’t do anything remotely called off road, but we all wanna have the look, and really they all have the look coming from factory. I went Mojave after testing an Overland, Rubicon and Mojave same day, then realizing that for the towing I do the and the options I wanted the Mojave and Rubicon were my choices. I’m in love with the ride on the Mojave, screw desert racing, Jeep should have pushed potholes, railroad tracks and speed bumps as the reason, for the Mojave

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