jknikos
Member
I run rubi rock rails for more than 2 years and have been just fine for me.
Essential Armor?
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Honestly, I really like the Rubicon rails. Back when I was running them on my Jeep, I found them to be surprisingly strong and I wouldn't hesitate to run them again especially the Mopar enhanced ones that come with the tube extension.
you really have to get some speed going when you hit those speed bumps at the mall to see what he's talking about Eddie...
In all fairness, I wasn't trying to be facetious, I've just never had anything like that happen to me. I really like aftermarket diff covers because they look cool but I've never felt the "need" to replace my factory covers and I wouldn't hesitate to run them now. But, that's just me.
Armydog
New member
I sold the Rubi rails off the pumpkin and put a set off rock sliders on right away. They are stronger and attach in more locations. The stock rails were just thin angle iron. I am sure they are better than nothing and they Sahara running boards are nothing. It all depends on how you are gonna use you jeep. If you bend the tub under your doors, it would be fairly catastrophic and hard to fix, so you are 100% better off with the rails on. IMHO
On a TJ like what you have, I would agree - what came on them was kind of a joke. However, on the JK, the factory rocker guards are surprisingly strong and I wouldn't think twice about running them on a trail like the Rubicon.
highoctane
Caught the Bug
+ 1 on what Eddie said. When I trimmed a few inches of the aft side of the stock rails on my '08 Rubicon, I was surprised to see how thick and stout they were. If I had to guess I'd say 3/16" thick. A downside is that on a hard hit, you can push the Rubi rails up and into the body hard enough to leave a small dent, but I ran the Offroad Evo rocker armor in conjunction with my Rubi rails and it worked great to prevent this, and looked great as well. I plan to do the same on my '15 Rubi.
Armydog
New member
I did not know that, the TJ rails were super wimpy. Tango, merry Christmas.
OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
I ran rubi rails for a while, year and a half. They bent some of the lower portions of my body but it isn't noticeable to the eye unless you are installing something there.
David1tontj
New member
I did't know you could run factory covers with prorock axles.
I'm shocked you haven't dented yours.. The first time I went on quack attack after my axle swap, I backed into a rock that pushed the cover into the ring gear, by the end of the day, the ring gear had cut through it and it was bleeding like a stuck pig. I bent it back and welded the hole until my new covers came.
The front was basically same story- I mis-judged a line, and boom, big dent in the cover that was rubbing the ring gear enough to get through.
Maybe the factory covers on jk's are thicker, or maybe it's the fact that I drive like an idiot.
LOL!! This right here is the biggest reason why I don't run factory diff covers. As shallow as it may sound, the other reason is that I don't like the way the look so plain jane. Aftermarket covers are cheap and I have no doubt that they add more strength, I've just not had any real problems with the factory covers I've run in the past.
Like I said and I'm not trying to be a smartass here but, maybe I just wasn't playing hard enough back when I was still running factory covers.
David1tontj
New member
I bet it was just that you actually stayed on your line! Haha. I only replaced mine because the stock ones failed me, an made for a stressful day on the trail.. That's all I'm saying.
Recurve
New member
I've had both my stock rubicon diff covers grind / peal off enough that I leaked diff fluid. It actually happened to both front an rear when I got hung up on some rocks.
Maybe it's cause I got 33s? Lol I'm always dragging, although I've got a set of 37s mud grapplers that might fix the problem, or just maybe I should pick better lines lol
Maybe it's cause I got 33s? Lol I'm always dragging, although I've got a set of 37s mud grapplers that might fix the problem, or just maybe I should pick better lines lol
Now that's something that does happen all the time with factory covers BUT, something you can help prevent simply by removing them and grinding down the bottom edge so that they sit ABOVE the bottom of your diff housing when installed.
Recurve
New member
Well that's good to know, cause its happened to me a couple times.
I did exactly what you said, I grinded the one side smooth an a little smaller so it wouldn't catch as much, before I re-sealed of course.
arturonueve
New member
Local shop tells me I should replace all the stock armor on my rubi. bah...
jmatta33
New member
as in all the skid plates? that sounds a bit extreme...
Are you saying that you've done this since you've had the covers peal back or, are you say that it still happened even with the modification?
Well of course they told you that. How else would they be able to sell you stuff that you don't need and make money off of you?
TheDuff
New member
They probably sell smitybilt stuff
arturonueve
New member
Can't complain though because they also told my wife to buy me some other really cool useful gear that was waiting for me under the tree this morning!
Recurve
New member
Well it happened a couple times BEFORE the modification , since then it hasn't happened . I've scraped it up a couple times an it seems the mod is working . :thumb:
What about the exhaust loop on the 2012+ models and the evap? Just bought a 15' Rubi 6-speed and am looking at skids as a first mod. If your saying that I can only run an oil pan skid and not have to worry about anything, well then you just saved me a good bit of money.