Brought home the new-to-me Rubi today :-) - thanks all!

2748 Views 27 Replies 17 Participants Last post by johncanfield, Oct 23, 2010

johncanfield

Discussion Starter · Oct 17, 2010

This is the new addition to the family

The picture was taken by the dealer at their lot.

She's a 2006 dark blue Rubi Unlimited, 53,500 miles with auto tranny (and cruise control - yea!) It has a 3" Superlift and 285/75/16 Procomp XTerrain tires. Also has a Smittybuilt tube step that I think needs to go away.

The top needs to be replaced, I need a winch and an air compressor and a few other goodies.

Paid $18,500 which I thought was a pretty good deal - I didn't steal it, but I think it was a fair price for what I got. The Rubi was a one-owner vehicle, lived its entire life in Texas and the car dealer general manager (whom I was dealing with) has known the original owner most of his life (got the Rubi at a very small town in rural Texas.)

I drove the Rubi 115 miles from the dealer to our little ranch and had a chance to bond :cheesy: - there was quite a bit of wind noise (not unexpected), the engine is really thirsty (not unexpected), and you have to plan your passing due to a lack of engine power (not unexpected.)

I've heard about an electronic sway bar disconnect - is this a feature my Rubi has? I didn't see anything in the owner's manual about this.

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

JeepnBlake

· #2 · Oct 17, 2010

The electric sway bar is on the JK 07+ Jeeps, you can get a kit for an electric sway bar disconnect but its spendy.

Congrats

desertfox1

· #3 · Oct 17, 2010

Very nice.... CONGRATS!!

There's times where I wish I had an Unlimited.

kidmugg

· #4 · Oct 17, 2010

As mentioned earlier, electric disconnect appeared with the jK... Better to have an antirock design anyway (lots of posts on swaybars here).

Are you keeping the superlift?

Has the jeep been regeared from the stock 4.11s... If not, that'll add to the difficulty in the passing lane (not that the jeep has any real get up and go anyway :laugh

Congrats on your new baby. You're at the right place to learn about "goodies"!

KaiserJeep

· #5 · Oct 17, 2010

That color is called "Patriot Blue" and I like it a lot, it was the color of my '97 TJ SE. But like most paints with pearl in them, it can be hard to touch up. You may want some front end protection when towing.

The slow accelleration and a modest amount of gas mileage improvement will be cured by a change to 4.88 gears. 33's are the practical limit for the stock 4.11 gears, as you have already discovered. Depending upon the terrain you drive in, you may not get the torque converter lockup in high gear - watch for it on the tach, and when the RPMs drop at constant speed, that's lockup.

I used the stock front bumper for 6 years and only replaced it after it got tweaked in the rocks at Moab. It has the advantage of easily accepting tow brackets - but use backing plates inside the bumper. A good looking winch mounting plate for the TJ is made by Tomken - I used it for 6 years on the stock bumper and a year on my aftermarket bumper.

Now go get your Jeep dirty!

jeepsyco

· #6 · Oct 17, 2010

Congrats, I say you got a good to fair deal for 18,500. The LJ rubi's can be pricey and the price varies due to condition. If it truly is in goo dmechanical condition and only needs a top replacement.....you did good.

johncanfield

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 17, 2010

kidmugg said:
Are you keeping the superlift?

Congrats on your new baby. You're at the right place to learn about "goodies"!

Yeah - guess I'll keep the Superlift depending - depending on if I discover any issues with it. There are some 'links' (for want of a better word - need to study up on suspension terminology) that don't look correct. I'll take some pictures and let ya'll take a look. Thanks very much for the congrats.

KaiserJeep said:
The slow accelleration and a modest amount of gas mileage improvement will be cured by a change to 4.88 gears. 33's are the practical limit for the stock 4.11 gears, as you have already discovered. Depending upon the terrain you drive in, you may not get the torque converter lockup in high gear - watch for it on the tach, and when the RPMs drop at constant speed, that's lockup.

I tried out the lockers at the dealer's unpaved area (they work fine) and I thought the speed in 4-Low was a tad on the fast side, so maybe I do need to go to 4.88s (pretty sure we're stock on the rear end.)

We are in hilly terrain (Texas hill country) and when we hit a fairly level stretch of road, we do go into lockup.

I used the stock front bumper for 6 years and only replaced it after it got tweaked in the rocks at Moab. It has the advantage of easily accepting tow brackets - but use backing plates inside the bumper. A good looking winch mounting plate for the TJ is made by Tomken - I used it for 6 years on the stock bumper and a year on my aftermarket bumper.

Thanks for the winch plate recommendations - I'll start buying goodies for the Jeep early next month. Already checked on tow bar mounting plates - I use a Roadmaster tow bar for the motorhome (and the KJ) and I'll probably buy their kit for the LJ.

Now go get your Jeep dirty!

:spin: You betcha! Going to play in my quarry later today - not a huge area but some good grades to check her out.

I'll be making myself a bit of a pest on ROF while I go through my learning curve with the Rubi - sorry :cheesy:

Oh - from all appearances, the only problem with the Rubi is the top, but I'll take it to our local dealer and have them take a look. I feel pretty good about what I bought - I was looking in a 1,000 mile radius and delighted to find one 10 times closer.

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mac

· #8 · Oct 17, 2010

Congratts!!

luv the color and i agree...was a good price.

questions / concerns help others
ROF does not have pest....LOL
:wink:

KaiserJeep

· #9 · Oct 17, 2010

The best deal on a new top (fabric only) is probably the Bestop RAT (Replace A Top). Bestop was the OEM supplier for MOPAR during TJ/LJ production, so no worries about fit or zipper matchup. There is the option of tinted windows which I reccomend to keep the temperature down, even when Black is your top color. The only task is figuring out which Bestop dealer has the best deal.

gregert12

· #10 · Oct 17, 2010

Looking good.

johncanfield

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 17, 2010

KaiserJeep said:
The best deal on a new top (fabric only) is probably the Bestop RAT (Replace A Top). Bestop was the OEM supplier for MOPAR during TJ/LJ production, so no worries about fit or zipper matchup. There is the option of tinted windows which I reccomend to keep the temperature down, even when Black is your top color. The only task is figuring out which Bestop dealer has the best deal.

I thought Bestop's quality went into the toilet when they moved production out of the states to Mexico and China?

gregert12 said:
Looking good.

Thanks!

After church we took the Rubi to our little quarry (borrow pit as we say in Texas) and put her up a pretty steep but not too long of a climb out of the pit (maybe 30-40 degrees?) and it didn't even break a sweat in 4-low. DW and I were pretty amazed.

06moneypit

· #12 · Oct 17, 2010

mac said:
Congratts!!

luv the color and i agree...was a good price.

questions / concerns help others
ROF does not have pest....LOL
:wink:

Agreed! No pest, just ask if you can't find the answer. However we DO have a tendency to make each other broke haha

johncanfield

Discussion Starter · #13 · Oct 18, 2010

06moneypit said:
...However we DO have a tendency to make each other broke haha

Got a good start on that process - I just ordered a Bestop Replace-A-Top in Khaki Sailcloth from Morris 4x4. I hope the fit issues I read about don't apply to me (and I hope the Khaki top will look okay with Patriot Blue.)

kidmugg

· #14 · Oct 18, 2010

Just think, you can always sell your lift to someone else and put the cash toward better quality as you build her up!

0BX-J33P

· #15 · Oct 18, 2010

Congrats on the purchase! Just to clarify, I also have a 2006 dark blue Rubi unlimited and the color is actually Midnight Blue Metallic Clearcoat. It's a shade off from patriot blue. I bought half doors in patriot blue from a guy in my local club, and in most light situations, the doors look like a match. But in direct sunlight, there is a noticable difference.

Just wante to make sure you get the correct touch up paint. You have midnight blue metallic.

Congrats again!

johncanfield

Discussion Starter · #16 · Oct 18, 2010

0BX-J33P said:
... the color is actually Midnight Blue Metallic Clearcoat. It's a shade off from patriot blue...

Congrats again!

Ah-so! Thanks for the update! Gosh - Patriot Blue sounds so much better than Midnight Blue Metallic Clearcoat :wink:

Thanks so much!

gene p

· #17 · Oct 19, 2010

I like it looks like mine when it was new. As for the price I priced mine to a guy for 16,500.00 and he told me I was crazy. I have a 06 LJ Rubicon 6spd. 4.0 44,000 miles flat fender front,body armour rear,hard top,6'' full traction long arm. It has a r-title but I think it was still worth that money.

MPETE

· #18 · Oct 19, 2010

I paid 16,900 for my 05 16 months ago with 58k miles and a few extras. I felt I got it for a steal at that price because the few and far between LJ rubi's in my area were easily going for $2-3k more than that stock. non rubi LJ's were usually what I found in the $15-17k price range. I think you made out well.

johncanfield

Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 19, 2010

Thanks Pete (and Gene).

Pete - how do you like your Pro Comp Xtremes? I have Pro Comp Xterrain - they ride decently on the highway - quieter that our worn All Terrain TAs on the KJ. Don't know how well they do on the trail though.

Gustapo

· #20 · Oct 20, 2010

Love the color! But I'm a bit biased! LOL

Congrats pal!

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

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