Sport S vs Rubicon

[Jglad15]

Peterson’s that most people on here rave about is actually local to me. They did nothing to try to earn my business. Wouldn’t come off the window sticker price at all. Next town over (15 min drive) I got a comparable max tow for 7k less.

Looked at or called every dealership within an 8 hour drive of me. The rubicon markup was real and that includes ones that weren’t equipped as well as what I bought.

dang man that’s nuts, wonder why they wouldn’t deal with you at all? Def worth a drive to get the cheaper price.

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[Deleted member 30519]

All the rich kids around here have JTRs. I doubt they know what the thing even has underneath. Big $$$ for that Rubicon decal.

 

[NachoRuby]

All the rich kids around here have JTRs. I doubt they know what the thing even has underneath. Big $$$ for that Rubicon decal.

Probably depends on the local market, but around here, the Rubicons are priced similarly enough to the other trims that I saw no reason not to get it. A loaded Willys was nearly the same price as my much less loaded Rubicon. The difference was about 3 grand, which was only like $50 a month different. I figured, why not. Factory warrantied lockers and 33 inch tires, sign me up! If you're not going to do heavy modifications, or replace all of the Rubicon parts with aftermarket, it's perfect. I didn't want an 8.4 inch screen or an automatic transmission, so I saved some dough there.

 

[Tarantularock]

Funny also Idaho here. I checked out Peterson’s too… when I told them what I was looking for around 37k; (sport S or less) - they lost much interest in emailing me back what they had available. I also just needed to go 15 min west.

 

[Jglad15]

Funny also Idaho here. I checked out Peterson’s too… when I told them what I was looking for around 37k; (sport S or less) - they lost much interest in emailing me back what they had available. I also just needed to go 15 min west.

I wonder if it’s cuz you guys were looking at inventory they had in stock. A sales rep I spoke to at Gupton said they only give those big discounts on custom orders.

 

[bastage]

Funny also Idaho here. I checked out Peterson’s too… when I told them what I was looking for around 37k; (sport S or less) - they lost much interest in emailing me back what they had available. I also just needed to go 15 min west.

west huh.. So you also bought from Dennis Dillon?

 

[Blade1668]

I know I'm late to the mudslinging, one small thing is a lot of us with "Max-Tow's" have done is getting slightly better MPG's too over the Rubicon and Overland's or regular Sport JT's even after doing some mods. I could push my MPG's back up a few more miles if I strip the gear I keep in mine out and pull off the topper I'm still getting 21- 23 MPG's depending on traffic in my area.
Now on the Trac-Loc rear differential I've had 3 and still have 2 (D44s), (one it had over 130000 miles was a D35 non C clip). FYI one has over 253000 miles on it going strong my LJ the other has 40000 plus and ran hard Off Road in my rock crawler XJ it's held up, the transmission gave up after 3 torque converters.... But then again I don't do full throttle driving bouncing off rocks with 40 inch tires with a LS1 engine.
In my area the Rubicon and Mojave are the cats a## market share. Would have could have I got a Rubicon... I could have do I regret not getting it no. But I didn't get a Trac-Loc mine is pre Trac-Loc Max-Tow

 

[Tarantularock]

west huh.. So you also bought from Dennis Dillon?

Yes the team there made it quick easy in and out… I test drove the sport they had there, I was leaving town so I put my deposit down and came back the next week and picked it up that night. I also ended up using their accessories department.

Peterson folks were nice & they did have a couple of sport s models priced a little more then what I was looking for, but either they didn’t want to deal on them them or maybe they were already spoken for. I gave them my info and after 3-4 days never heard from them… so by that time I had found the sport at DD.

I think @Jglad15 may be right with better deals come from ordering, but at that point I was tired of waiting / was on the bronco list for too long.

 

[bastage]

Yes the team there made it quick easy in and out… I test drove the sport they had there, I was leaving town so I put my deposit down and came back the next week and picked it up that night. I also ended up using their accessories department.

Peterson folks were nice & they did have a couple of sport s models priced a little more then what I was looking for, but either they didn’t want to deal on them them or maybe they were already spoken for. I gave them my info and after 3-4 days never heard from them… so by that time I had found the sport at DD.

I think @Jglad15 may be right with better deals come from ordering, but at that point I was tired of waiting / was on the bronco list for too long.

Yeah ordering wasn't an option when I bought.. I wasn't willing to wait. It was during the shutdown.

Peterson's had 4 max tows that they wouldn't budge on price on. DD had 1 & it happened to be 7k less for a comparable rig.

It was not a super fast buying process though. I showed up on the lot at like 5pm on a Friday night. Nobody came out to help & I had walked through all the JT's & picked one out. Then I walked into the showroom & had a guy putting on his jacket to leave & he asked if he could help I said "Yeah I need someone to sell me a F****** truck". Without missing a beat he responded with "Yeah, I can sell you a F****** truck". He took off his jacket & we walked out to it. He gave me a price, & I pulled out my Debit card & said here put it all on this. From there it took like 5 more hours because they were super understaffed. It was towards the beginning of the shutdowns so that wasn't unexpected. He did offer to buy me a buritto while we were waiting for all the other depts. that had to get involved (appraisal & finance since there was a 2k discount if I used Chrysler financing). Was very happy with the customer service overall. No complaints & they would be my first stop if I was buying again today.

 

[snide]

Sport S with Max Tow gives you most of the hardware from the Rubicon, for significantly less coin. Every bit as capable.

 

[KevinC]

What "hardware" are you getting on a Max Tow from a Rubicon?

Lockers front and rear
Swaybar disconnect
Roc-Trac 4.1 Transfer Case
Offroad +

Just curious what you are referring too

KevinC

 

[bastage]

What "hardware" are you getting on a Max Tow from a Rubicon?

Lockers front and rear
Swaybar disconnect
Roc-Trac 4.1 Transfer Case
Offroad +

Just curious what you are referring too

KevinC

Good job naming everything that is different.
2 of those there are better aftermarket solutions available (lockers & swaybar disc)
1 is nullified by the very good 8 speed transmission (tranfer case)
1 I dont even know what it is (offroad+)

Not saying one is a better option then the other, just agreeing with the post you quoted.

For the Rubicon axles to be at their strongest (35 spline axle shafts) you have to replace the lockers with ARB's. Starting with the Max Tow your not paying for lockers your going to replace. So with that as a basis then the better option depends on how far your going to push things aftermarket.

Max Tow Open Diff's < Rubicon eLockers < Max Tow w/ 32 spline lockers (OX or ARB) < either w/ ARB's & 35 spline shafts < full axle swap to D60's or better

 

[LostWoods]

I wonder if it’s cuz you guys were looking at inventory they had in stock. A sales rep I spoke to at Gupton said they only give those big discounts on custom orders.

See, I found the opposite when I shopped but that was also when the JT wasn't so popular and they were giving massive discounts. Trucks off the lot are sucking up inventory space and the OEMs don't like when you can't rotate your inventory so at some threshold, things get discounts. Mine was right at about 6 months when I drove it off the lot.

 

[Jglad15]

See, I found the opposite when I shopped but that was also when the JT wasn't so popular and they were giving massive discounts. Trucks off the lot are sucking up inventory space and the OEMs don't like when you can't rotate your inventory so at some threshold, things get discounts. Mine was right at about 6 months when I drove it off the lot.

Nuts I wonder if it depends on the market you’re in as well, depending on the area what they push more etc. if you catch my drift. Dealerships near me have mostly Rubicon’s and Mojave’s and I guess that’s just b/c that’s what they sell more of. And the lowest they’ll go if you’re lucky is invoice. Regardless if you order or buy from the lot.

 

[heftysmurf]

If I wasn’t old(ish), didn’t like creature comforts, and didn’t have a 3 year plan of being debt free:

Sport
wheels/tires at 37”
regear to 4.56
arbs while diffs are are apart
3.5 lift — maybe arms maybe not
armor

tackle anything I’ve ridden. Basically same setup as myJKU except I had a Sahara and it was a hoot.

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