Introduction by Francis Cebedo:
I took this Jeep to my daily grind of work and picking up the kids for a few days and it didn’t do so well. On the freeway it is a bit rough and darty. Keeping it in the lane was a bit of a challenge as the vehicle was easily persuaded to move to adjacent lanes when hitting bumps and imperfections at speeds over 70 mph.
Picking up the kids, they couldn’t get in the back seat as they couldn’t push the seats forward and the opening to get in back was tiny even for active youngsters. I took this vehicle mountain biking but there was hardly any space in the back to put my bike. So I took the heavy rear eats out and it was better space-wise but only slightly. Finally, I took the front roof off to get some sun but then all the cold wind seemed to descend in to the cabin at highway speeds. Even the mighty heater and heated seats had a hard time of keeping me warm.
Off-roading in Hollister Hills, CA
That’s when I decided to take this car off-roading. This is the Rubicon, 2-door so it should feel right at home on an off-road jamboree. It is 2-door so it is short wheelbase and ideal for keeping the tires in contact with the ground. The tires are massive 31 inch with meaty rubber. Other trail worthy features are:
- High ground clearance
- Heavy duty front and rear Dana axles
- Rock rails for true underside protection, skid plates all around the under side
- Electronic front sway bar disconnect – gives 20% more suspension articulation to keep the wheels on the ground.
- Electronic locking front and rear differentials.
- Removable roof, doors, rear seat to lighten up the vehicle
So all these features did not make sense for rushing down the 101 freeway or picking up the kids from school. But when we went to the off-road park, every feature started to make sense. The Jeep would get stuck, I would press a button and off I went. At first, I was intimidated as I was in a group of heavily modified jeeps and Toyotas. In addition, my experience level with off-roading was bascially zero. But every hour that went by, I uncovered the layers of the true off-roading prowess of the Jeep Rubicon. It had much more capability than what the trails offered today or what my courage could handle. It was an amazing taste of what the Jeep Rubicon could truly handle.
Models:Wrangler Sport – $22, 045
Wrangler Sport S – $24, 290
Wrangler Sahara – $27, 970
Wrangler Rubicon – $29, 995
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