differences between sport and rubicon

TJ_Jeep

New member
I was wondering what the differnces is between the sport and the rubicon(axles, gears, etc..) i myself own a sport
 

I'm sure someone will correct me if I miss something, but here we go:

Rubicon has D44's front and rear. Sport has D30 front and D35 rear but can be optioned with a D44 rear. Rubicon had lockers available stock. Rubicon is geared a bit lower (I'm not positive but I believe my sport has 3.73 and IIRC the Rubi is 4.10) and has a different transfer case (I believe the factory called the Rubicon's "Rock Trak" while the Sport and all other models have "Command Trak"). Rubicon has CV driveshafts stock, non-Rubi's don't. Rubicon came with 16" wheels, Sport and all others came with 15" wheels. Rubicon came with MT-R tires, others came with GS-A's. (also non-Rubi models came with 29" tires stock with an option for 30" tires. Rubi came with 31" tires stock). Rubicon came with rocker guards and beefier protection (skids, etc) stock. Rubicon has slightly different springs that give it a 1/2" lift over non-Rubi's, but if you get the "off-road" package on your Sport it came with the Rubicon springs. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Again, if I missed something I'm sure others will fill me in.
 
The difference in transfer cases is all the non-Rubicon model jeeps came with a NP231 transfer case and from the get go all the Rubicons came with a NVG 241OR a.k.a. as the "Rock Track" The 241 came factory equipped with a 4:1 lowering gear for better crawl ratios.
Rubicon's also came with standard 5 speed manual transmission, NV3550, and later on the NSG370, you could also get it with a 4 speed automatic transmission with over drive, that has never been an option in non-Rubicon models.
The transmission tunnel or opening was increased in size to accept the larger automation transmission, thus all Rubicons have this feature.

The first Rubicons 2003-2006(?) came equipped with factory installed "air lockers". These lockers were a similar design of the famous ARB's, but activated on a lower air pressure , 5 psi. 2 small compressors were mounted to the transmission cross brace under the skid plate powered the air lockers. These low volume, high psi compressors had a low duty cycle and caused DC some problems as well.
DC changed these in 2006(?) to electric lockers due to the trouble of maintaining a air locker with customers who didn't engage them regulatory to maintain there internal parts.

As Jason said with the rest of the equipment changes there was also some interior changes to the Rubicon models.
 
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thanks for all ya'lls help i knew the rubicon was more tough but i didnt know how much. i am planning on getting the rubicon if i can find one
 
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