Should I sell my LJ Rubicon and buy a closer to stock Jeep if i don't plan on off-roading? (no trails near me)

Keep driving it while you look for a replacement. Cast a wide net. If you find one drive it to see if the drive feels better to you. In your area it might take some time to find another Unlimited. Orange and the other bright colors are hard to find. If it is just a daily street driver you do not really need a Rubicon.

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Vtx531 said:
I think you might be amazed how nice a stock Jeep (in good condition) would drive and ride. Even just one without mud tires would probably blow your mind. Like going from an old, heavy, slow, noisy dump truck to a nice, new sports car.
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Yeah thats what i was thinking as well! because my jeep does ride nice. It has fox shocks, anti sway and a rock crawler lift. I want to try out 37 inch all season tires and see the difference in the ride.
 
RangerTJ said:
An orange TJ/LJ is automatically a death trap and you should get rid of it ASAP.

Because I'm such a nice guy, I'll gladly come up there with a trailer and $10k and remove that engine of destruction before you or some other innocent person gets hurt 🤪

Joking aside, if you don't need/use the extra capabilities of those mods, remember that you are indeed paying for them anyway.

Ride, handling, MPG, noise, even the convenience of vehicle ingress/egress can all be compromised by aftermarket mods as you've seen with that bar behind the seats.

And don't forget the difference in replacement costs when it comes time to put new 37s on it vs a new set of 31s or 32s.

Also the additional wear on routine maintenance items such as brakes, suspension bushings, u-joints, etcetera.

Only you can determine if the tradeoffs are worth it.

As mentioned, go find a closer to stock Jeep in similar good condition as yours and drive it before making a decision.

Yours would likely sell pretty quickly to someone who wants/needs those mods.

And hey, I'll still make the sacrifice and come up there and get it if you need me to. 😁
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haha. Engine of destruction. All great points and have me thinking even more. I wonder how much of a difference going from 37 inch mud tires to 37 inch all season tires would make?? I want to try to find a stock one like a couple of you have mentoned now. Maybe i will look for a dealer that has one.
 
TheBoogieman said:
:cool:
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:cry:
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Seeing the differences between the two are crazy.
Rickyd said:
Lower it a little and put it on 33-35s.it isn't that much work. Springs, shocks,tires.alignment and rear pinion adjustment. Probably bumpstops. I doubt it was geared correctly for 37s,especially if it has an auto.

Then sell the fox shocks and tires.

It doesn't need to be totally reinvented. Just modified a little.
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very True! maybe i will go that route once my tires wear out. They are starting to get a little dry rotted it looks like. My gearing i believe is 4.88
 
bucky said:
Keep driving it while you look for a replacement. Cast a wide net. If you find one drive it to see if the drive feels better to you. In your area it might take some time to find another Unlimited. Orange and the other bright colors are hard to find. If it is just a daily street driver you do not really need a Rubicon.

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I would be willing to travel far for the right jeep for sure. Thats probably what i will do. I mostly drive my jeep around town. I want to take it camping with my buddy one day. Debating on cutting the safety bar out of my jeep if i keep it or selling my cage and finding a different one. Nice jeep. I like that top as well. Bulldawg?
 
daylee6003 said:
Seeing the differences between the two are crazy.


very True! maybe i will go that route once my tires wear out. They are starting to get a little dry rotted it looks like. My gearing i believe is 4.88
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The auto has a very tall overdrive. 4.88 would be good for 33s. It would work fine with a manual too if a little on the high side for rpms
 
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I daily drive a stock LJ and it's great. It did drive better (quieter, smoother, shift points in the auto better as I haven't re-geared) when I ran stock wheels and the stock tire size. I put a set of my JK Rubicon wheels on it and it's not as nice (more of a pig) — that's been my only "mod" for this LJ. I do have another manual LJ with the same JK Rubicon wheels and stock JK tires and obviously the auto shift points are not an issue with that one and I like driving it better than the auto but it's not a daily.

I can't speak to driving a modded TJ/LJ as mine are stock (minus the wheels/tires), but I do have an '18 JK Rubicon that was a great driver...until I did the lift and 37"s, blah, blah, blah. It began to suck for daily driving, but for what I paid in tires, I only used it off road and driving to and from the trails on the highways and freeway wasn't great. Then I did the PSC power assist steering nonsense to make crawling easier in big rocks and for Moab, and now it *really* sucks to drive to and from the trails on the highway — not quite trailer mandatory, but it requires constant attention to the road and steering wheel, which can be painful after a long day for the 2 hour drive home in pouring rain at night. It took me a year before I could cruise it at 70mph on the freeway — I felt like I could only go about 45mph safely. Great for off-roading, tho, lol. Sometimes I think back on how nice my little shorty JK was to drive when I first bought it longingly, then I hit a trail and forget about that.

Long way of saying, you will like daily driving a stock LJ WAY better than your current modded Jeep.
 
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I have not put a lot of miles on my LJ. PO installed OME 2.5” lift and 32” KOs. I can only compare it to my 89 YJ with 2.5” lift and 31s. The ride is smooth but I do not know id I would want to take and evasive turn. I removed the Gobi rack and that should make a difference in handling.Plenty of pep with the manual for me. Stopping is acceptable but I would like to upgrade to Black Magic brakes in the future. No rocks for me just forest service roads, desert running and the dunes. On a side note the forrest service has closed all the roads in the San Bernardino forest until June 6 which sucks.
 
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I don't think it really matters what it looks like if you don't offroad, but is there anything about it being lifted that you don't like on the street?

You could always go down to say 33's and lower the suspension a bit to make it more road friendly, which IMO might be easier than trying to find a comparable condition stockish LJ with unknown issues.

Previous to my TJ I always had lifted XJs. I was a teenager/in my 20s when I owned them, and the bigger the tires the better. Where I live in CT there is basically no wheeling, so my TJ is mostly a street Jeep. It sits on 31's with H&R 1" springs, very mild compared to most on here, but it suits my needs which is being comfortable and able to tow my small utility trailer while hitting the occasional farm road. There are days I want larger tires, but I know besides looks it wouldn't really benefit me in any way unfortunately, and I'd probably have to regear.
 
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Good question. I honestly love how it looks. Main thing I don't like about it now is how hard it is for my friends to get in haha. One of my friends tried to climb up and hit her head on my roll cage when she boosted herself up. haha. Also would like to take my mom for a ride but she can't get in. I should maybe get a miata to go with my Jeep haha

I recently installed grab handles though. So that should help. I might look into getting a different roll cage as well. Mine is a custom steel cage. @jeepguy03
 
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daylee6003 said:
Good question. I honestly love how it looks. Main thing I don't like about it now is how hard it is for my friends to get in haha. One of my friends tried to climb up and hit her head on my roll cage when she boosted herself up. haha. Also would like to take my mom for a ride but she can't get in.
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If your friends can't get in, they shouldn't. Find friends with more leg strength. My short, old, overweight wife has no problems getting into my Jeep on 35s or walking.
 
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daylee6003 said:
Good question. I honestly love how it looks. Main thing I don't like about it now is how hard it is for my friends to get in haha. One of my friends tried to climb up and hit her head on my roll cage when she boosted herself up. haha. Also would like to take my mom for a ride but she can't get in. I should maybe get a miata to go with my Jeep haha

I recently installed grab handles though. So that should help. I might look into getting a different roll cage as well. Mine is a custom steel cage. @jeepguy03
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If you like how it looks and drives, its pretty rust free from the pictures (you won't find very many clean ones in WI) then look at removing the cage and going back to the factory sport bar set-up. That shouldn't be too hard to do, and I bet you can get the factory bar PLUS some $$ back by looking to trade with someone who wants that set-up.
 
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