Willys suspension vs Rubicon suspension

[wyldewoodwonder]

I actually owned a Willys Gladiator and decided to trade it in back in October for a Rubicon Gladiator. The shocks on my willys were red and the shocks on my rubicon are silver and made by fox. I have actually taken them both off road near my house with some mild but considerable rock crawling. As far as the suspension goes, I wouldn’t say the rubicon is that much greater. At least not enough to notice. But the lockers and lower gear ratio of the rubicon was really the big change that I noticed.

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[ilovebikes99]

you got silver fox shocks on your Willys?

I think front are silver and rear are red. I will check tomorrow

@NachoRubi
will check tomorrow and let everyone know bud

 

[Hootbro]

My 2021 Willys gasser was delivered with steel body red shocks with the black plastic strut shaft tops. They look like the same style the JL's would get.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Gladiator Willys shocks - low miles take-offs -

 

[dadboddave]

Mine are red. From what i've read all the red accent shocks are the same from mopar. (in terms of jeeps) and the JL Rubis come with Red Accent shocks.

 

[DocMike]

Never rubbed in the back. My rims are -18 offset too. I'd think I would have had less issues if I didn't have the offset.....maybe

Do you also rub in the back? I'm about to buy rubi springs for mine. I also have a fender kit from american adventure labs to increase front clearance, as well as a leveling kit from teraflex. I'm wanting to run 35's but i'm scared i'm going to rub and need an actual lift.

 

[ilovebikes99]

Gladiator Willys shocks - low miles take-offs -

@NachoRubi @Jerhemi

I just checked under the truck, this is exactly what I have.
I was led to believe we got the Fox too, seen it on this forum. I apologize

 

[Hootbro]

@NachoRubi @Jerhemi

I just checked under the truck, this is exactly what I have.
I was led to believe we got the Fox too, seen it on this forum. I apologize

From what I have seen, the false assertion of the Gladiator getting the Rubicon Fox shocks was by people early on when the Gladiator Willys model was first announced. They made the assumption that since the Wrangler Willys JL got the JL Rubicon shocks which is like these red steel body shocks, the Gladiator JT Willys would get the Gladiator Rubicon Fox shocks.

 

[ilovebikes99]

From what I have seen, the false assertion of the Gladiator getting the Rubicon Fox shocks was by people early on when the Gladiator Willys model got announced. They made the assumption that since the Wrangler JL got the JL Rubicon shocks which is like these red steel body shocks, the Gladiator JT Willys would get the Gladiator Rubicon Fox shocks.

That may have been it. I was doing research on this forum before I ordered mine and that came up.
Now I'm curious what are differences in ride quality between these and Fox. I'd go for a more plush ride

 

[Hootbro]

Now I'm curious what are differences in ride quality between these and Fox. I'd go for a more plush ride

Having owned a Rubicon Gladiator and now a Willys Gladiator, I can say the Willys shocks/springs ride is noticeably softer than the Rubicon shocks/springs.

While the Willys is marketed like a "Rubicon Lite" it really is more of a decorated Sport model . Other than coming with MT tires and a LSD, suspension wise it is very much Sport model like.

In my case, I did not care for the soft suspension and went with Rubicon spring take offs and Falcon 2.1 shocks.

 

[Sallaman]

The fox shocks are better than the reds but how much better is the question, i think is up to personal preference for that one.
Does the willys use the same springs as a standard sport? The rubicon springs will give about 3/4 inch lift in the front over a sport

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The fox shocks are better than the reds but how much better is the question, i think is up to personal preference for that one.
Does the willys use the same springs as a standard sport? The rubicon springs will give about 3/4 inch lift in the front over a sport

Depends a lot on the Rubicon springs as there are multiple spring numbers used on Rubicon depending on the Rubicon weight, etc. Most people have seen about a 1" height increase. I got just shy of 1" on my Overland with the lighter Rubicon springs.
The fox shocks aren't better, just prettier. The rear of my truck now has a certain "bounce" to it where it used to be a smooth soft ride.
I had actually thought of putting my Overland shocks back on the rear instead of the Rubicon Fox shocks.

When one says "Rubicon springs" - need to specify WHICH springs. Each model may have different springs based on the curb weight/equipment it comes with.

 

[dadboddave]

Never rubbed in the back. My rims are -18 offset too. I'd think I would have had less issues if I didn't have the offset.....maybe

I'm gonig to be running 30mm offset wheels here in the future. My rubi takeoff suspension will be here this weekend. Pretty excited to see what it looks like after i get them put on.

 

[ilovebikes99]

I would opt for the softer and nicer ride over the stiff stuff. Ride comfort is one of the reasons why I got this truck and I really like how it rides now. I'd even go a touch softer because of some of the bad roads I take.
I have been to the Fox factory and was not impressed.

 

[NachoRuby]

I would opt for the softer and nicer ride over the stiff stuff. Ride comfort is one of the reasons why I got this truck and I really like how it rides now. I'd even go a touch softer because of some of the bad roads I take.
I have been to the Fox factory and was not impressed.

The Rubicon suspension is definitely on the bouncy side of things. I don't mind it, but it does drive "like a jeep".

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