RUBICON!?!? Here's some specs on it in case anyone is interested.

30 Spline D44's Front & Rear W/1330 U-joints
(I don't know if those U-joints are really good or not to be honest)

4:10 Gears

Selectable lockers front and rear

4-wheel disc brakes

4:1 NVG2410R Transfer case (I don't know how stout that is, but 4:1 Kicks ass!!)

Goodyear 31" MT/R on 16" aluminum wheels (kinda small but a good start from the factory)

Diamond plated rockers

The 4.0L I-6 w/190HP and 235lb of torque

and either and auto tranny or and NVG-3550


I don't know about you guys but about 90% of that sounds pretty kick ass to me, especially considering that it includes a factory warranty:eek:

I defintely got to give props to JEEP:beer:

check the rubicon post

And you could probably buy a plain- jane stocker and add all of that for about half the cost of those "factory" additions.
Not to mention that the "warranty" won't be worth a shit, cause they will find some way to say that you voided it by doing this or that.

REAL RIGS ARE BUILT, NOT BOUGHT!
All that said, it looks pretty good and I'm sure that it will sell like hotcakes.

Originally posted by Dick Hertzer
[REAL RIGS ARE BUILT, NOT BOUGHT!
[/B]

:rolleyes: Uh, so you built your own air lockers and 4:1's? This thing will just save you the time of having to BUY all that stuff and installing it. Then you can get on to more important things like making your own tires.......

i bet you it will be in the 20 to 25k range and i don't think you could do all the mods that cheap. i mean it doesn't cost anymore to make a set of 4to1 gears than it does a set of 2.7to1 gears. the cost to a manufacturer differance on a 44axle to a 30 is not more than 100 bucks. it may just turn out to be the best deal to hit in a long time. and this is from a guy that is not a jeep fan. time will tell. hell a little lift and some 35s this thing should kick ass.

Yeah and taking your truck to the shop to have them do it saves you time, too. Doesn't make it right. I may be wrong, but I'd bet that the price of one of these will be close to 30k. Can you build a superior rig for 30k? I'd hope so.
Overall it is a really good base to start with for a new vehicle, but why would you buy a 25-30k vehicle to wheel that still needs another $3-5k in lift, tires, winch, etc. to even come close "Getting It". Just my opinion.

yeah I saw it dana 44s.....about fwaken time

Originally posted by Dick Hertzer
Yeah and taking your truck to the shop to have them do it saves you time, too. Doesn't make it right. I may be wrong, but I'd bet that the price of one of these will be close to 30k. Can you build a superior rig for 30k? I'd hope so.
Overall it is a really good base to start with for a new vehicle, but why would you buy a 25-30k vehicle to wheel that still needs another $3-5k in lift, tires, winch, etc. to even come close "Getting It". Just my opinion.

If you have to have a TJ, this may be a good deal, but since we don't know the price we can only speculate. I am with you, if I had 25K I'd buy a $100 Zuk, put about 8k into it, roll it a few times to break it in and then buy a trailer and tow rig and go anywhere I want.

Originally posted by Dick Hertzer
Yeah and taking your truck to the shop to have them do it saves you time, too. Doesn't make it right. I may be wrong, but I'd bet that the price of one of these will be close to 30k. Can you build a superior rig for 30k? I'd hope so.
Overall it is a really good base to start with for a new vehicle, but why would you buy a 25-30k vehicle to wheel that still needs another $3-5k in lift, tires, winch, etc. to even come close "Getting It". Just my opinion. Maybe for you, but I am sure there are a lot of people who would be very happy with the way it is setup from the factory.

Maybe for you, but I am sure there are a lot of people who would be very happy with the way it is setup from the factory.

You are totally right, for the most part I figure that the yuppies will be completely satisfied with their new mall rig. haha

Seriously though, I really hope that Toyota and the other truck manufactures follow suit and build some capable rigs off the factory lines. That way in 5-10 years there will be some kick ass used vehicles to modify and wheel.

The things that still concern me, are,
I heard the D44 has D30 outers.
Does it have locking hubs?
It still has the 5 on 4 1/2" bolt pattern.
How reliable is a niponzacki(or whatever its called) air locker?
Price?
DC policy on honoring off road breakage?

I believe it will be in the $28K, it doesnt matter how much it costs them to upgrade the axle, this is about marketing and proffits, and in the past Jeep ahs always asked a pretty penny for the "Elite" models.
Lift kits designed to match the level of performance that the Rubi edition will be expected to handle, will be very spendy. The vast majority of buyers will be city dwellers with disposable cash, and that is who they will market, and price accordingly. I would think that a 4" , 5" or 6 1/2" Long arm Rubicon Express, or Tera lift, with all the bells and whistles could easily run into $4K - $5K.
Steering mods will be extra, and cost will depend on whether or not they do have D30 or D44 outers, it would have been nice if they would have supplied the Rubi with flat top D44s. going on the previouse statement that changing an axle from a D30 to a D44 only costs about $100, then adding flat top knuckles should be about $15 a side(yeah right).
This rig will still be very expensive to get to a performance level, and will still not be equipt to reliably handle 38" tires.
If Jeep is not generouse with their warranty policy, i see absolutely no reason to own one of these packages except as a Yuppie Status symbol.

Originally posted by H8monday
The things that still concern me, are,
How reliable is a niponzacki(or whatever its called) air locker?As opposed to a Austrailian air locker? Well let's see most nippon-eze cars run much longer than most "American" cars. Almost everything electronic is nippo, hmm I wonder. Run an air locker at 60 psi or one that runs at 6. A locker that's not only selectible but a LSD when not a spool. Hell Tractech has been chewing on this design forever without success or bringing it to market.
Price?Does it matter? Look at possible junkyard deals later down the road. You or I may not buy it, but I don't care as long as a million others do. Send the signal to Detroit, Tokyo, England etc that YES the American public wants a capable off road vehicle from the factory. I say capable with reservations, it's not going to win an ARCA event out of the box, but it'll blow the doors off a other TJ without lockers and smaller tires.
DC policy on honoring off road breakage?Probably the same as any other manufacturers, you off road it, it is no longer covered. You gotta pay to play.
i see absolutely no reason to own one of these packages except as a Yuppie Status symbol. True, but I still would like to see a million of them sold.

Besides, Jeeps is what all the cool 16 year old cheerleaders drive.

i'm with belly dragger on this one. hell if it gets the attention of the other manufactures it would be great. i am not a jeep fan but i think the more people we can get wheeling the better. face it, this set up could hit 99% of the trails in america and do fine. hell i have seen rental jeeps and a 12 pack cover some pretty tough terrian. will it bring in some yuppies, hell yes but i think we will be better for it, the more the better. mike

You guys are forgetting one KEY benefit to the new Rubicon TJ: FINANCING. To be able to get a somewhat capable rig from the dealer and finance it is a big advantage to those who can't afford to buy a used rig and/or don't want to wait till they have the money to modify it.

I'm not saying this is the road I'd go down, but the idea has merit, and I think the vehicle, *if priced within reason*, will sell very well. Whether we'll see them on tough trails or not remains to be seen, chances are that the first owners will (for the most part) be the usual poseurs that Jeep is interested in.

I am not saying its not gonna be a capable rig, or even that its a bad concept. I am actually very surprised that it has made it this far, considering the current corporate SUV marketing strategies. I would say that someone on the corporate ladder has worked his butt off, to get this thing to production, and probably has his carreer on the line that it sells well. What I am saying is that some of the high stress parts, do not yet have an established field record, and I dont think I would want to be the guinea pig, considering the evry thing that would break it may void it from being covered,...some warranty. I also think that they came up short in a few critical areas,(lug pattern, locking hubs, and D30 outers). And, vehicle price and aftermarket lift kits are goinna be very expensive. I believe this rig will cha-ching in, at well over $K30, when performance lifted to 35" or 36" specs. And at that point it will be at about its limits, without doing axle swaps,...and all the other "here we go agains".
I like the idea, I hope it sells well, but isnt the end all to beat all, by any means.
Its will be annoying, having any yuppie with good credit, try to explain to me how his Rubi can outperform my rig, because the saleman told him so.
I like it best when they just shut up and watch when Im hooking up the recovery gear to pull them from some ditch, thay cant drive out of.