New JL - Rubi vs Sport for basic Overland travel

[Concours14]

I have a 16' JKU Sport with auto, 3.73 gears, the factory limited slip, and factory takeoff BFG KM's (32"). In California southwest desert I can go 85% of the places where my buddies go with their locked Jeeps and FJ's on 35's. For what you are talking about I believe you will be fine with a Sport with the limited slip.

 

[Jeep or Tacoma]

I have a new jlu rubicon i had an older jku 08 rubicon by the time oi put a lift left the wheels stock added a winch and a bunch of other stuff iwas set i drove it 175000 miles and sold it for 12k i mcould have held out for more the rubicon hold their values as far as a brake lock it is not a locker and will not do as wel asva fully locked rubi

another thing youll find is that younwill go places you hadn't considered before and lockers are not just for rock crawling use them when traction is iffy i also have to disagree with the mudtire statement inflation of the tire is imho more important finally therevare many other options you can get on a rubi that you cant get on a lower trim off road pages for one lastly if you go alone many do then younwant the best most capable rig you can get ....... rubicon throw on some 35s a good winch you are pretty much unstopable

A jkur with 35s a winch and an ursaminor is a dream come true

 

[American Jeeper]

I would say the lower gearing of the Rubi and lockers make more of a difference than tires. Not that tired aren’t important...

 

[Jeep or Tacoma]

true all i am saying is proper inflation for the conditons are at least as important or more so than running mud tires. Many belive that you can get where you (true) want to go with limited slips rather than lockers there are some places you can't . Period . But here is the point while you can do it in many cases, when push comes to shove, you are going to be spinning your wheels tearing up trails, risking braking your equipment and potenially putiing yourself in harms way. With lockers you have terrific traction and cn really control wheel spin and other trail damage. I realize that different things work for different people. If you are going to run limited slips or open diffs get your self a reliable winch and learn how to use it.
How do I know? Well 40 years of being a geologist working off road, alone, and getting stuck. so for me I now always have a jeep rubicon with full lockers and a winch. In the past i have had fully lockable landcruisers, with winches. I used to get stuck when I had stuff that didn't have lockers.