Trim Levels, is it worth it?

[eternus]

Before I bought my JT, I knew nothing about shocks. When I started reading up a bit on shocks, it seemed that Fox has a great reputation in the industry and in the off road community. So is Fox a company that has always been vastly overrated? Or did Fox cheapen their normal shock quality to meet a price point for Jeep?

Any time a company makes a one off version for another company, especially to sell as many units as needed for Jeep... I feel like it'll suffer. That being said, I don't know how the Jeep version of Fox shocks compare to them directly... but I do know that buying directly from Fox seems overpriced. These are all uninformed opinions.

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[ShadowsPapa]

Before I bought my JT, I knew nothing about shocks. When I started reading up a bit on shocks, it seemed that Fox has a great reputation in the industry and in the off road community. So is Fox a company that has always been vastly overrated? Or did Fox cheapen their normal shock quality to meet a price point for Jeep?

That's what I figured and one reason I put those one - hey, big name, good reputation, has to be better. And they are - but.......... now I'm not so sure how much better or how long they last.

 

[Sazabi19]

I'm having the same results. I am disgruntled with Jeep at this point that I have to go spend all this money aftermarket to make the thing drive worth a damn. A $40k+ vehicle really should have top notch suspension for the primary use case (roads/highways) and it should last longer than a year.

Not me, stock Sport S w/Max Tow shocks. They're awesome so far :D A bit bouncy/stiff lol. Enough compression and it feels cushiony.

 

[eternus]

Not me, stock Sport S w/Max Tow shocks. They're awesome so far :D A bit bouncy/stiff lol. Enough compression and it feels cushiony.

To be fair, I swapped from Max Tow stuff to the Rubicon within the first month I had it... maybe it would have all been fine. (c: I will now chime in to say "Rubicon Shocks does not necessarily mean improvement" every time someone asks.

 

[cleatus]

overland with all the goodies. and i likes it that way
no ragerts

 

[WXman]

Owned both and not nickels worth of difference. Mojave rides better, rubicon will most likely get over a bigger obstacle. Tires are the same exact tires and wheels on Mojave look better.

See, I think the Mojave wheels are the ugliest wheels ever put onto a JL or JT from the factory. They're hideous. BUT.... I do love that they are the only wheels ever to have a +32 offset instead of that crazy +44 that Jeep has used on everything else for the last 15 years.

 

[BAT]

To be fair, I swapped from Max Tow stuff to the Rubicon within the first month I had it... maybe it would have all been fine. (c: I will now chime in to say "Rubicon Shocks does not necessarily mean improvement" every time someone asks.

I haven't found the Rubicon shocks to be any sort of a huge improvement over the max tow shocks but my mechanic said they looked to at least be a bit better quality. Eventually may go with something else. But have other things want to put on the jeep so can't spend a ton of money replacing things that should have already been in place

 

[eternus]

... have other things want to put on the jeep so can't spend a ton of money replacing things that should have already been in place

This is sadly so true. I'm going to be doing $2k worth of upgrading to make my truck feel fun to drive (or less like a death trap) for the mountain camping season. At least it was on my roadmap of upgrades anyway.

 

[BAT]

Would just suggest figure out your needs for the truck and then get what you can afford. If you are the person who plans to just strip it down and rebuild it because well that is just what you are going to do then perhaps lower level. Sounds though to me for what you plan to do maybe the Rubicon Ecodiesel would fit your bill leaving you with only a few minimal adjustments to get it to where you want it to be. I found since driving mine for about a year now things I wanted to change after I first bought it I now would not go that route. I decided to drive it for a year, save up some money and then see what stuff I might want to change. In that time believe me I would have wasted some money on things that would have been of little use to me

 

[XJADDICTION]

Sport S Max Tow 8 speed automatic 3.6L gas motor. You can get many more options now (limited slip, painted fenders, LED package, top line stereo, safety package with adaptive speed control) plus the standard Max Tow Sport S towing of 7650lbs 750 tongue weight, and payload 1550lbs.

Same wider 4:10 gear ratio (vs 3:73) Dana 44 axles as the Rubicon less the lockers.

Mine is daily driven, long trips for vacation carrying and towing toys up to 2000 miles round trip. I’ve towed 6500 lbs over 1000ft mountain elevation changes with plenty of power and MPG at about 16 at 65 mph avg speed. . Mine was an early one, build was in May 2019.

I am still on stock tires 245x75x15, , have 36,000 + miles on odometer, no issues except changing the steering box. I will upgrade eventually but have another 25,000 miles left on these tires AND want to see what economy brings Q4 before spending money on wants.

Avg fuel mileage 18.5 mpg (most from daily commute of 70 miles and weekend around town driving).

I built my own rack and hard cover for the JT as temporary fix until aftermarket had more offerings and prices came down some, Still not there yet. I did do the American Adventure Lab LED fender chop and LOVE it!

If you don’t need a rock crawler, a desert runner or soccer mom luxury... mine is pretty comfy with mid level 7” stereo, dealer upgraded speakers and sub, heated cloth seats (dealer will upgrade to leather for me at $1000.00, but I like my cloth seats) heated steering wheel, aux switches, running boards, dealer installed front matching window tint and dealer had Ceramic Coating applied by local shop. I paid $42,000 out of the door in October of 2019.

 

[garzilla]

Having made the mistake of buying a sport model wrangler in the past and spending a fortune trying to build it into a rubicon, I went with a rubicon this time. I wheel mine, so I wanted the lockers, swayer disco, and 4:1 rock trak. As far as the seats, I went leather because my dogs make a mess of cloth seats, much easier to vacuum leather. The 8.4 was also a must for me, I wanted the bigger screen with the navigation for cross country trips, and the alpine speakers that come with it are awesome. So I guess it just depends if you want to pay for upgrades up front with a better trim, or pay as you build with a base model.

I think the mistake was building it to a rubicon. Usually you start with a sport if you
Don't need a rubicon
Or
Are going to build beyond a rubicon (Dana 60s, coil overs, etc)
Or in the truck case
Building it for a different purpose (like the mojave)

If your goal is to build a rubicon, but a rubicon

 

[-miko-]

It's an endless circle of pros and cons, hopefully when I go to buy I can figure out what is going to be best for me.

I'm in exactly the same boat. I'm going to trade in my MT Base that has Rubicon takeoff springs and shocks and was as close to a Mojave as I could get at the time I bought it.

Even after the spreadsheet of pros and cons and costs I'm still waffling between a Base w/ Max Tow (knowing I'll need to upgrade the shocks and maybe front springs later but get the gearing and simplicity I want) or just take the $5500 plunge for the Mojave (knowing I'll be paying for some things that I don't really want but get a locker and more trail capability out the gate).

Either way I'll be ordering it though, to get exactly what I want (once I figure that out). Decisions, decisions.

 

[Sazabi19]

I'm in exactly the same boat. I'm going to trade in my MT Base that has Rubicon takeoff springs and shocks and was as close to a Mojave as I could get at the time I bought it.

Even after the spreadsheet of pros and cons and costs I'm still waffling between a Base w/ Max Tow (knowing I'll need to upgrade the shocks and maybe front springs later but get the gearing and simplicity I want) or just take the $5500 plunge for the Mojave (knowing I'll be paying for some things that I don't really want but get a locker and more trail capability out the gate).

Either way I'll be ordering it though, to get exactly what I want (once I figure that out). Decisions, decisions.

How is a Mojave more trail capable than a Rubi? More comfortable? Sure. But more Capable? It's designed for more baja, less trail. That's higher speed over sand and some uneven terrain.

 

[BAT]

The bad part is with skyrocketing steel and components parts manufacturing, shipping wars that are sending prices even higher and no sign of the craziness to end at least not this year. The trickle down effect is likely going to drive car prices, etc even higher. Perhaps though maybe the Bronco coming out will take a bit of sting out of Jeeps pricing ????

 

[Caraholic]

I’ve thought this before but an overland or 80th packaged with the 410 axles would be an amazing package instead of pigeonholing us to pay way more or pay waayyyyy less. semms like that is a no brainer I guess that’s why I’m not a marketing and branding expert that can up sell you and ring more outta you

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