RandyLL

part 2

A warning, the automatics in these are flat out dogs. We were getting ours for my wife to drive and she wanted an auto, not knowing how to drive stick. We test drove a non-rubicon auto and even she could tell that the tranny sucked. We (meaning I) then drove a 6-speed and she could tell the difference and resolved to learn stick and I taught her on that Jeep. It is a handful in stop-and-go traffic though with a lot of clutch effort/throw, so if that's part of what you'll need to do, the auto may be the best option. Not an issue for us.

For your needs, I think a Rubicon would be the way to get where you want with little effort. Throw on a 3.5" lift and 33s and just go. Note that keeping the stock rims with larger tires almost always requires wheel spacers. I did 1" on mine to fit the 35s and had to slightly adjust one steering stop to eliminate a rub at full lock.

If you have more questions, use email please, it's a ton easier: bigwalton@gmail.com

I neglected your on-road comment, sorry. The selectable lockers in the Rubicon is ideal for this, especially living anywhere there's snow as a concern. I love them and don't think I'd ever want anything else. Hard to admit as a CJ fan, but having no selectable hubs to deal with along with the ability to engage the lockers from the seat is awesome.

Changing gears depends on what you have stock. I did not change gears in my axles to run my 35s on the Rubicon because the stock 4.10 gears are really low for the stock tires IMHO and made 1st gear next to unusable on the street. I LOVE where it is now with a usable first gear and I can run 80 down the highway all day with no worries and at a MUCH better RPM.

part 2 coming

Nothing special on the years. New, the Rubicon package was a no brainer for what you get, used it's all dependent on the price/miles/equipment, so there's no way to answer that question. Remember that the Rubicon has the slip yoke eliminator you need for 33s+, hidden cost/effort a lot of folks overlook until it's time to do the lift.