Arctic Offroad Forums

What years were they made? Is 06 the last year of the TJ? Rubicon Unlimited's started when? Any thoughts on the best year of the Rubicon package or were they all pretty much the same?

Are there manual 6 speeds any good?

Rubicons started in 2003. This is the last year for the TJ, but not the Rubicon. 2007 is the new body style, but will still offer a Rubicon with all of the trimmings. They are all identical with the exception of year made.

The six speed is about the same as the AX-15 as far as strength goes. It's gearing is a little more stout, I think it's overdrive is a .8 or .85 compared to .75 or so in the AX-15. It does have a nice and low first gear though.

From what I've heard, folks with the 4.0L wish they would've stuck with the NV3550 as it was a stronger tranny, but for the 3.8 V6 going into the 07's, it will probably work better.

IMO the NV3550 shifted better and seemed less noisy. But that's the comparison I did on a 02 TJ and a 05 LJ (unlimited Rubicon)

Airmanwoody Wrote:The six speed is about the same as the AX-15 as far as strength goes. It's gearing is a little more stout, I think it's overdrive is a .8 or .85 compared to .75 or so in the AX-15. It does have a nice and low first gear though.

From what I've heard, folks with the 4.0L wish they would've stuck with the NV3550 as it was a stronger tranny, but for the 3.8 V6 going into the 07's, it will probably work better.

IMO the NV3550 shifted better and seemed less noisy. But that's the comparison I did on a 02 TJ and a 05 LJ (unlimited Rubicon)

When did they stop using the NV3550?

I haven't found much info online about the 6speeds (NSG 360) other than they're closely related to the one they put in Crossfires. It's noisy because of the extra shaft end-play they designed into it. Supposedly that allows them to be beaten on, overheated, whatever, and not bind up and wear the internals. I think 1-2 is a jerky shift, but it's still pretty new and a tripple-cone synchro. All said, I really do like it.

05's and up have the new tranny.

Per specs I've seen the NV3550 could handle more torque.

The six speed is nice though.

If I were to buy a Wrangler, I'd go for the Unlimited Rubicon. I like the extra room and wheelbase.

Any Rubicon owners out there have any problems they came across? With a dealer or the Jeep... Anyone have the auto? My right shoulder is in bad shape and my need orthoscopic work down the road. An auto my be the way I need to go...

I've seen "Tomb Raider" packages. Are there any others and were they just a decal option or did they include any nice off road parts?

I'd wait a few more months and try to get a Diesel Wrangler that's supposed to be out soon.

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Just my opinion, and everybody has theirs....

Rubi's are not all what they're cracked up to be. The only decent part is the T-Case. The axles are hybrids. Not true D44s, but a mixture of D30/D44 and D35/D44. You can't remove the factory locker and toss in an aftermarket one... stock is the only one that will work.

While you get instant lockers and such right away, if you plan on building a TJ up, it's cheaper to build up a Sport for cheaper with far better aftermarket parts. But if you're buying one to keep stock and use as a DD, then it would work well.


The new '07 TKs will still offer the Rubi package, and the Unlimiteds will be 4-doors.

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Another important part of the rubi is the warranty. Oh wait, never mind. Gene's would probably screw you out of that.

sevenslats Wrote:Another important part of the rubi is the warranty. Oh wait, never mind. Gene's would probably screw you out of that.

I'm not interested in buying from Gene's... Looking at one in Anchorage and my folks in Oregon are going to see whats avalable in there area. I was planning to go see them in Dec anyway and I do love the road trip.

A warenty is a big plus for me right now. I don't drive to work on a daily basis an would probubly put under 8k a year on it. I'd get the full term out of the warranty that way.

I'm looking into getting one of those 1/2 cab hard tops from GR8TOPS.COM. I'd put it on an unlimited and call it an 06 Scrambler!

SilverstoneXJ Wrote:.
Just my opinion, and everybody has theirs....

Rubi's are not all what they're cracked up to be. The only decent part is the T-Case. The axles are hybrids. Not true D44s, but a mixture of D30/D44 and D35/D44. You can't remove the factory locker and toss in an aftermarket one... stock is the only one that will work.

While you get instant lockers and such right away, if you plan on building a TJ up, it's cheaper to build up a Sport for cheaper with far better aftermarket parts. But if you're buying one to keep stock and use as a DD, then it would work well.


The new '07 TKs will still offer the Rubi package, and the Unlimiteds will be 4-doors.

I wasn't aware of that. How do the Rubicon axles hold up to bigger tires? Where is there weak link?

The axles aren't quite as good (supposedly) but I do know someone with 37's on a Rubicon Unlimited and he hasn't had any problems. He wheels it hard, but does take good care of it.

AKCJ8 Wrote:Any Rubicon owners out there have any problems they came across? With a dealer or the Jeep... Anyone have the auto? My right shoulder is in bad shape and my need orthoscopic work down the road. An auto my be the way I need to go...

My biggest problem has been getting good work out of Gene's. I had them install accessories bought with the Jeep and a little bit of warranty work. The offroad package install was a straight-up fiasco. I also had a bad front right outer axle seal that was leaking FAST. I dropped it off in the morning and when I came back at the end of the day they said "DUUHHH, we couldn't find the leak." I took the service manager out to the parking lot, got down on the ice, pointed to the puddle on the ground, dipped my finger in the gear oil in the steering knuckle and said "You're telling me they couldn't find that?"

And I've got plenty more stories... You'd hope a "trained technician" could put tail lights on correctly; not upside down and backwards. To save a few $$ I actually took it to them once and let them change the oil using the free scheduled service deal...now who could screw up an oil change? How hard is it to wipe the spilled oil out of a skid plate? It must be nearly impossible... I guess they figured a filter's worth of oil puddled on the skidplate wasn't that bad a mess...

SHoppe715 Wrote:My biggest problem has been getting good work out of Gene's. I had them install accessories bought with the Jeep and a little bit of warranty work. The offroad package install was a straight-up fiasco. I also had a bad front right outer axle seal that was leaking FAST. I dropped it off in the morning and when I came back at the end of the day they said "DUUHHH, we couldn't find the leak." I took the service manager out to the parking lot, got down on the ice, pointed to the puddle on the ground, dipped my finger in the gear oil in the steering knuckle and said "You're telling me they couldn't find that?"

And I've got plenty more stories... You'd hope a "trained technician" could put tail lights on correctly; not upside down and backwards. To save a few $$ I actually took it to them once and let them change the oil using the free scheduled service deal...now who could screw up an oil change? How hard is it to wipe the spilled oil out of a skid plate? It must be nearly impossible... I guess they figured a filter's worth of oil puddled on the skidplate wasn't that bad a mess...

Thanks for the heads up. I have my eyes on one at Lithia in Anchorage. I'm considering the oil change package but after reading this I probubly will opt out of that.

Rubicon just means you're paying 10k more for something you could do in 5 or less.

Darkchild1723 Wrote:Rubicon just means you're paying 10k more for something you could do in 5 or less.

Your probubly right but I'm not sure I agree with it being 10K more. More like 5K but I have't really compaired them. At any rate I don't have the time to do the mods and if I did they would void the warenty which I don't want to do.

One of the Jeep dealers in Tucson wouldn't void the warranty as long as you let them install a 4" teraflex for you. Makes the extra few buck to have them do it worth while.

That was a good dealer.

The Rubicon wasn't that much more and you get, hybrid D44's (still better than D30/D35), lockers, 4.11's, SYE, 4:1 low witih a much more HD case, 31" MT/R's, and slightly taller springs. If you did all that to an X or a sport, you'd spend more money than getting the package from Jeep. We looked it up once.

Comparable base price at Lithia in Anchorage for Unlimiteds are currently $24265 and $28735 for the Rubicon version. With the employee pricing and a $500 rebate I can get into a loaded Unlimited Rubicon for $27125...

The thing with the Rubicon axles is the front D44 is pretty much a D30 with D44 shafts...very weak axle tubes. The carriers are also incompatible, D44 ring gear but that's it. So, they make axle shafts and lockers for Rubicons only, and different models for regular D44's.

TJVigilante Wrote:The thing with the Rubicon axles is the front D44 is pretty much a D30 with D44 shafts...very weak axle tubes. The carriers are also incompatible, D44 ring gear but that's it. So, they make axle shafts and lockers for Rubicons only, and different models for regular D44's.

They still use an axle disconect and not locking hubs right?

No disconnect. No hubs. Unitized bearing. front driveshaft spins 100% of the time; via input from the front wheels. Once you shift into 4wd, it spins via input from the transfer case.

Anyone out there know how the Chrysler Warranty looks at wheeling, lift kits and bigger tires? I'm guessing not very well...

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My experience with Gene's and a lifted Jeep... not good. I once swung the old XJ by there to see if they had any idea what a certain noise was. When I got the service manager to walk outside, he saw the XJ across the parking lot and asked, "Is yours the lifted Cherokee?" I said yes. He replied, "That's your problem, it's lifted and has big tires". Without even getting close to it, he was already forming an opinion. A ride down the raod, and he said he still couldn't help me.

Every time we took the TJ there, we noticed the following at the bottom of every service paper... "Vehicle has modified suspension, and oversized tires". And this was just with 2" coil spacers and Rubi wheels and tires! Luckily, all we get are compliments from the jeep dealership here in Cheyenne. No hassles at all.

If you look out of state, let me recommend the dealership in Idaho. Dave Smith Motors. Known nationwide as having the best prices on vehicles. Bob (TnT) told me he got a quote through them, along with a plane ticket price to fly up, and the diesel cost back, and submitted it to our local dealership here for them to beat. They were higher, but matched it. Don't think any AK dealer would though. You were talking about a trip to Oregon... you could swing by there on the the way back up.

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