Project Jeep Rubicon X

Project Build of a Rubicon X Unlimited

There’s no denying that the Jeep Rubicon is one of the most capable production vehicles ever to roll off the assembly line.  Powered by the 285-horsepower producing Pentastar V6, the Rubicon is equipped with an impressive list of offroad engineering including: the Rock-Trac® transfer case with a 4:1 low gear ratio, brake controlled traction (brake lock differentials), electronic locking differentials front and rear (Tru-Lok®), heavy-duty solid axle Dana 44’s front and rear, standard 4.10 axle gear ratios allowing larger tire sizes and an electronic push button front sway bar disconnect. Add to that Hill Descent Control and Hill Start Assist and you have one of the most capable turnkey 4 wheel drives on the planet. So when Offroaders.com decided to build another project vehicle, it was a no-brainer that the Rubicon would be the base for our build.

Before we even had a Rubicon in our possession, we had come up with a wish list of modifications with the goal of making a Rubicon what we really wanted. After doing some math it didn’t take too long to realized that the Rubicon X was really the best place to start for several reasons.  Just to note that the Rubicon X was the current Rubicon Model when we were looking, which was outfitted the same as the previous year 10th Anniversary and the current Hard Rock Rubicon models.  The 10th Anniversary, Rubicon X and the Rubicon Hard Rock all had some great Mopar additions over the standard Rubicon.  Things that we really thought we would want to buy anyway like winch capable and very stylish steel bumpers, an awesome Mopar dual intake dome hood, heated leather-trimmed seats, and several other enhancements over a standard Rubicon.  We added up the cost of several of these X items and figured it made sense to make a start with the Rubicon X Unlimited rather than add these big price tag items later on.  We really liked the Mopar bumpers and the Mopar raised dome intake hood and these item alone would have cost us about what the Rubicon X model cost over the standard Rubicon.  So armed with a membership to Tread Lightly guaranteeing us a price 1% below factory invoice we brought home a brand new 2014 Rubicon X in stunning Anvil and highlighted with red accents.  Shortly after, the projects started.

Planning the Project

Our goal was to enhance the very capable Rubicon even more so but without getting too outrageous or compromising the factory geometry.  Like just about every family owned Jeep Wrangler out there most of the driving will be on the road, hauling our families, commuting to and from work, getting the groceries. We’ll see the occasional weekend event on the trails but primary goal was to take our factory Rubicon X and make it better.  We love the look of the Rubicon X.  Sophisticated, capable, sharp and stylish right down to the factory black wheels and we wanted to preserve the look our Anvil X nevertheless modify it into something bigger and better.