Introducing Miss Rubi, a 2012 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited

crawler#976

Expedition Leader
Update:

85000 miles on Miss Rubi now - hard to believe it... For the most part, the Jeep has been my wife's daily driver, but it does get some good trail time, especially now that we've sold the Power Wagon. Good Ol' Cactus Red took the majority of the beatings off road for the last few years. It was replaced by a MegaCab Cummin's powered truck.

We're on the second set of DuraTracs - they've been excellent tires. Rotating at 5K, we got 35K out of the first set, we're into the second year on the latest batch. I liked them well enough to use them on the new truck.

The JKUR has had it's share of problems over the years, most of them coolant related. The problems seem to be resolved now after having the oil to coolant chiller replaced. Prior to that we always had the odor of coolant, but found no leaks. It's also had two water pumps replaced.

Biggest problem to date was the AEV lift. I contacted AEV several times with questions about the springs (AEV XT2.5 w/ geo brackets), and they refused to acknowledge even the possibility of spring failure. They always said that it was shock related. So after installing a brand new set of Fox 2.0's (second set of those - they do a very nice job both on and off road) we still had serious handling problems. When cornering, we got this very odd seesaw rocking on opposite corners. Very disconcerting... My excellent mechanics at Jim's Alignment and Brakes went over the entire suspension system and assured me that all was good, all was tight. That left me with only one option, to pull the springs and replace them.

I found the AEV springs were toast. The tender coils were completely compressed, and the measured lift had dropped over an inch.

After doing some research on 2.5" lift springs, I chose Rock Krawker three stage springs as replacements. All is good again!

Mark
 

LongbowMick

New member
Thanks for your write-up, I am looking to replace my wife's '04 Sequoia with a '10-'14 4 door JKU. I haven't had a Jeep since a '98 Cherokee and a '95 Wrangler, so more tips to think about would be cool. Thanks
 

crawler#976

Expedition Leader
LongbowMick, I wouldn't consider anything older than a '13 - the older V6 was anemic at best, and the early '12 model w/ 3.6L had head problems. The 3.6L and 4.10 gears has plenty of power for the four door.
 

crawler#976

Expedition Leader
Not real happy with the Fox 2.0's we had on the Jeep. Having Sway-a-Way and Donahoe Racing (now Icon Vehicle Dynamics) in the past on Tacoma's ('98 and '05), it was no comparison in ride quality. So, we're going to see how the TeraFlex Falcon 3.3's compare. While not quite as large in Diameter, they are adjustable for compression. Still waiting for the skid plate mounts to arrive. Once on, I'll post a review on how they do. Also adding the steering stabilizer from Falcon.

Mark
 

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toddz69

Explorer
Sorry to hear the Foxes didn't work out well for you. I'll be curious of your impressions of the Falcons. There are several mall crawlers in the parking lot at work with them installed - none of them of course use their trucks like you do!

Todd Z.
 

crawler#976

Expedition Leader
This was the second set of Fox 2.0 - first ones were from Mr. Brady's excellent shock test. I chalked up their early failure to the testing abuse. This set is only a year old, roughly 13k on'm, and they have gone to mush... No leaks, but they wallow like the sway bar is disconnected. I actually thought it was a sway bar issue, but the stealership up here checked it out, and found no problems with the unit. The Fox 2.0 w/res did an excellent job on the old Power Wagon, but no luck on the Jeep units.
 
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crawler#976

Expedition Leader
Falcons are on, took about six hours to install shocks and steering stabilizer. My wife reports ride quality is excellent at 2.4 rear, 2.2 front. We'll trail test them this weekend. Been wrenching for four weekends in a row between Jeep diffs, truck diffs and oil change, Jeep shocks, and truck light bar install, so I'm ready for a putput...
 

crawler#976

Expedition Leader
Did roughly 60 miles of dirt on Saturday. Part of it was improved county dirt road from Jerome to the old narrow gauge RR to Chino Valley. The Falcons were set on soft, tires aired down to 18 PSI, and the ride was very nice. I'd say it was on par to the Donahoe/Icon Vehicle Dynamics Tacoma's we've had. Took the big hits fine, very smooth thru the rocks. Saw an absolutely gorgeous sunset!
 

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toddz69

Explorer
Did roughly 60 miles of dirt on Saturday. Part of it was improved county dirt road from Jerome to the old narrow gauge RR to Chino Valley. The Falcons were set on soft, tires aired down to 18 PSI, and the ride was very nice. I'd say it was on par to the Donahoe/Icon Vehicle Dynamics Tacoma's we've had. Took the big hits fine, very smooth thru the rocks. Saw an absolutely gorgeous sunset!

How do you adjust the shocks, Mark? Dials like the RS9000s?

Todd Z.
 

crawler#976

Expedition Leader
Three position switch, w/ Soft and Firm set, 2 is adjustable via a dial from 1 to 8.

Went out to the Parker 425 on the 25th of Jan - got a very good test into North Well and then out via Alamo Lake (the Wayside) to Hyw 93. That run reinforced my opinion, and my passenger Scott (who owned our '05 Taco with full Icon suspension) that these work very, very well. The La Paz County section is three lanes wide and gave us a chance at speeds over 70 MPH to see how they handled that type of driving, then the Yavapai County section shows how they take on the really bumpy stuff at 35 to 40 MPH. Rock solid handling in both conditions. They were set at the 2.5 mid point with tires at 24PSI - only had one really hard hit they didn't suck up perfectly. Caught a sneaky ledge drop off about 20" across and 4" deep at 40 MPH or so...

The 425 Vids are up! 2020 Parker 425
 

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