2025 Wrangler

Build & maintenance goals

  1. Accommodate driver, one passenger, and moderate cargo space for short road-trips with off-roading
  2. Handle off-road recreation trails up to a difficulty level of 7 (out of 10 on Jeep BOH scale)
  3. Remain street-legal
  4. Remain safe and comfortable driving at at on-road speeds up to 80 MPH
  5. Facilitate frequent day-trips and occasional short road-trips (less than a week) for off-roading destinations

We purchased this 2025 Wrangler in May 2025. Our typical use case is trails within a day drive of northern Colorado, which includes trips to Moab. I am fairly mechanical and do a lot of my own work, but will have local shops do most of the major mechanical work for this build for practical considerations (partly do to my inexperience in some of the installation procedures, but mostly related to time, specialized tools, and work space). We also currently have a 1997 Wrangler (Sport trim, heavily modified) and 2025 4Runner (Off-Road Premium trim, stock). Each of our three off-road vehicle’s have different purposes, strengths and weaknesses – but provide overall flexibility. Our 4Runner is also used as a daily driver (along with a 2015 Mazda CX-5). The two Wranglers are intended primarily as off-road vehicles. However, we also drive them for fun, convenience, and to ensure they are not sitting too long.

I mirror parts of this page and provide comments to get feedback on JLWranglerForums.com here:
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/dirtwheeler-25-jlr-build-plan-status.150155/

Miles: 1,219 (June 2025)

1 – Current build

  • Model year: 2025 (Purchased in Colorado on May 16th, 2025)
  • Trim: Rubicon (front and rear Dana44s with lockers and a sway bar disconnect system)
  • Engine: 2.0L, 4-cylinder, turbo, ESS
  • Transmission: 8 speed automatic
  • Color: “41” (olive drab)
  • Included options/packages: Convenience package (heated seats), Technology package (front cam), capability package (steel bumpers and winch)
  • Tailgate: Teraflex hinge gate reinforcement and spare tire holder (in preparation for upgrading to 37s later), with hi-lift jack mount and tailgate limiter (PN: JKT11212) to prevent swinging hi-jack into brake light
  • Tail lights: Nilight LED Smoked (UPC: 840323912518). Passenger side tail light bracket replaced after trail damage

1.1 Accessory notes

  • GMRS radio: Midland (Model: MXT575J), 10′ NMO Antenna Cable, MXTA25 short/3dB antenna (UPC: 046014185258)
  • Third/center brake light: behind-spare style (UPC: 191869933339).
  • Dash cam: ROVE R2-4K PRO (UPC: 860008553447), polarized lens (UPC: 860008553423), 512GB SD card (UPC: 619659205003), and hardwire kit (UPC: 860008553492)
  • Screen protector (ASIN: B0D117CLXT)
  • Floor mats UPC: 782289613156
  • WeatherTech cargo trunk liner (UPC: 787765986083)
  • Roll Bar Fire Extinguisher Mount: PN: ‎JW-9311
  • Center Console Hanging Box: ASIN: B097BNDNRX
  • Seat covers UPC: 768904079484
  • Door Sill Guards UPC: 789513393518

2 – Planned modifications

2.1 – Planned professional shop work

2.2 – Planned DIY garage work

2.3 – Planned accessories

  • Hi-Lift Jack HL-425 42″ (UPC: 052767004258) – Replaces current jack that sets too high over top of vehicle when mounted on tail gate

The 3.5″ gamechanger lift seems to be widely used with a lot of positive feedback. I’m looking at Method Beadgrip wheels over beadlocks because they will be a little simpler to deal with, they will still have some advantages over normal wheels, and I don’t think I will “need” beadlocks for my intended purpose. From some research and discussions with people more experienced, I think that 37″ tires with 4.88 gearing will be the best overall combination for my purposes – for rock crawling on a 2-door wrangler that will remain freeway capable as well. From experience, I know I will benefit from the additional body armor. I’m just including things that I think are directly related to the vehicle’s capabilities. I’m not including things like additional recovery gear, radios, etc. in this list. I plan to have some things done by a professional shop (critical things beyond my experience/skill level and/or available time, garage space, and specialty tools). For fairly straightforward part installations, I’ll save a little money and do some DIY work.

3 – Other things to consider

I don’t consider the things in the list below critical, but they are things that I will consider based on my experience, observations, and research. These are things that will likely only be considered after I have made the more necessary upgrades in the previous list (unless there is opportunity presented in deals, or it makes sense to make some of these upgrades while making other modifications).

  • Replace 48″ mounted hi lift jack with 42″ version (needed to get into garage after anticipated increase in height after list)
  • Big brake kit (Teraflex, PowerStop Z36, or Dynatrac ProGrip)
  • Heavy-duty tie rod and drag link (e.g., Steer Smarts Yeti XD or Synergy HD)
  • Sector shaft brace (e.g., Synergy Manufacturing Front Track Bar & Sector Shaft Brace and the Steer Smarts YETI XD Sector Shaft Brace)
  • Axle Reinforcement (M210 front) – including Inner C gussets (e.g., Artec, Metalcloak), Lower control arm skids or weld-on reinforcement, and chromoly axle shafts
  • Adams or Tom Woods front driveshaft (1310 series) for driveshaft clearance
  • (Maybe) Cooling/Transmission
  • Snorkel
  • Doors-off mirrors
  • All weather floor mats and tub liner
  • Sound deadening upgrades – headliner (e.g., hothead products), insulation, acoustic glass, etc.
  • Soft top option
    https://www.bestop.com/products/supertop-glide/?vid=177460&sku=5472817

4 – Trail log

  • 2025-05-28: Top of the World, Moab, Utah, Chris & Lee
    • Stock configuration (before new lift, wheels/tires, regearing, aftermarket protection, etc.
    • Damaged passenger-side tail light and mounting bracket while climbing over optional rock obstacle (we didn’t realize there was a bypass at the time)
  • 2025-05-29: Hell’s Revenge, Moab, Utah, Chris & Lee
    • Stock configuration (before new lift, wheels/tires, regearing, aftermarket protection, etc.

5 – Detailed notes thoughts

The rest of this post provides more detailed notes that I collected while doing my research. I’m posting these here for later reference and for anyone that might wonder why I chose one option over another.

5.1 – Initial motivations

This vehicle purchase was planned before we purchased our 2025 4Runner for long road trips with light off-roading. As a benchmark, we took took the 4Runner on Fins ‘n Things in Moab and I consider that trail to be about its limit without additional modifications and/or risk of damage. I know others have taken this vehicle stock on Hell’s Revenge but it seems like a lot of risk for damage.

We could modify the 4Runner, but I would like to keep the geometry (lift, wheels/tires, etc.) close to stock to maintain on-road performance for long road trips. It is a very capable vehicle that is great for many off-roading scenarios, but it is not configured or intended as a more capable rock crawler. As a slightly more objective metric, I’m “comfortable” with our 4Runner on trails rated at a difficulty level of 4 (Moab ratings), and maybe getting into 5 a little. The trail ratings are highly subjective and I’ve noticed a 5 in Moab is much more challenging than a 5 in Colorado. I heard someone claim Kelly Flats was a 9 recently, but I’d rate Fins ‘n Things higher, and it is supposedly only a 4. To be fair, I’ve only done Fins ‘n Things in a stock 4Runner and I’ve only done Kelly Flats in a heavily modified 1997 Wrangler (with 3.5″ lift, 35s, front/rear lockers, swaybar disconnects, etc.). So I don’t have an apples-to-apples perspective yet.

In contrast, our 1997 Jeep wrangler has the clearance and additional “features” (e.g., front lockers) to tackle more difficult trails. I’ve also driven our ’97 Wrangler up to 80 mph on the freeway and it handles surprisingly well (for a 2-door Wrangler with a lift), but it is very loud in the cabin at speeds exceeding about 65 mph. It also lacks modern features like adaptive cruise control, which I really like for pavement trips lasting more than a couple hours. It also has over 200K miles on it, so the possibility of various things failing is always on my mind. It’s a great little rock-crawler, but I don’t want to spend much time with it on the freeway and I don’t want to get too far from home with it. We could update the TJ to the point where I feel more comfortable with it for longer trips, but that would be a tremendous amount of work (including rebuilding or replacing the engine) to still have something that is very old.

When I first started thinking about what I wanted, I thought it would be nice to have one vehicle that “did it all” (daily driver, road trip comfort, off-roading beast, etc.). I test drove several 4Runners (5th gen and 6th gen), one 4-door Bronco (Badlands/Sasquatch), and one 4-door Wrangler (Rubicon X). In the end, I decided there was not a single vehicle that would do everything I want. The 6th gen 4Runner (Off-Road Premium) was the most practical choice, covering daily driving, long road trips, pulling trailers (up to 6,000 pounds), decent passenger and cargo space, and off-road capable with some limits. So far, I’ve put over 4,000 miles on the 4Runner, including daily driving, some off-roading, road-trips, and trailer pulling. It has been a great vehicle.

For off-roading, our 1997 Wrangler is “perfect” accept for the limits in comfort and anticipated reliability going on longer road trips (lasting more than one day). So, we decided to get a similarly configured “newer” Wrangler.

5s and dents better, is highly visible for safety, reflects heat better than darker colors, and I just think it looks better). This is important to note if I go shopping for new Wranglers because I know that a net price greater than $49K includes “extras”. I would need to look at those extras and see if they are good extras (included in the list of my ideal build), or bad extras (extras that I’m paying for that I don’t care about or extras that might remove base configurations that I do care about).

5.2 – Rubicon versus Rubicon X trim

Must have: Part-time 4WD, Dana 44s, front and rear lockers, disconnectable sway bars, non-hybrid

The Rubicon trims have the upgraded Dana 44 axles, front lockers, and electronically disconnectable sway bars. The upgraded axles are better for handling the additional stress from running 35s off-roading. The front lockers provide added traction in specific situations (I use this feature a lot on my 1997 Wrangler). The disconnectable sway bars allow for greater front axle articulation while rock crawling (I have manually disconnectable sway bars on my 1997 Wrangler).

Rubicon X is a higher level “trim” (package) than Rubicon. The only difference between these two trims that I cared about is the reduced cabin noise in Rubicon X attributed to acoustic glass and various other modifications. I would have leaned toward a Rubicon X for this reason, however I have only seen them configured with a full-time 4WD system. Full-time 4WD (automatic) mode uses an electronically controlled clutch pack inside the transfer case to provide power to the front axle when it senses rear traction loss. Since all cutches wear down over time, this is an additional maintenance item that is not needed for my use case (in addition to extra components — actuators, sensors, and control modules). Also, tires with uneven wear or mismatched tire pressures (slight variations in geometry and performance) can be problematic with sensitive full-time 4WD systems.

On the other hand, the Rubicon’s part-time 4WD system does not have a clutch to wear down, is mechanically more simple, driver controlled, less sensitive to tire differences, and more time-tested. So, I looked for part-time 4WD when I was Jeep shopping.

There are other Rubicon “trims”, including the 4XE (hybrid) models and the 392 (4-door only, with a v8). I was not interested in the 4XE/hybrid models due to the additional mechanical complexity, weight, maintenance, and issues introduced by that system. The 392 is not offered in a 2-door, but it would be overkill for my needs, less fuel efficient, likely more difficult to control in certain situations, and I’ve read about some unique 392 issues attributed to its unique mechanical differences with other trims.

5.3 – Engine selection

Must have: 2.0L I4 engine

I’m not going to go into great detail here. I wanted to get the 2.0L inline 4-cyliner turbo engine. There are other engine choices I have considered, but I4 seems to have relatively few issues compared to other options, better fuel efficiency, ample power, and I expect the turbo to handle better at the high elevations I drive at (versus naturally aspirated engine options).

5.4 – Manual versus automatic transmission

Must have: Automatic transmission

I’ve owned vehicles with manual transmission in the past and I was originally leaning towards getting a manual transmission in this new Wrangler (there are advantages in simplicity and costs). However, there are comfort, performance, and capability concerns (e.g., for rock crawling control) that made me decide to get an automatic transmission.

5.5 – 2-door versus 4-door

Must have: 2-door

I went back and forth on this one. The advantages the 4-door has over the 2-door for my use case are more passenger and cargo space, better freeway stability, and better stability on steep off-road terrain (climbs and descents). However, the two door is lighter, easier to achieve greater break-over angle with less modifications, more nimble for most rock climbing situations, and better turning radius. When the additional passenger and cargo space is essential, I’ll use the 4-Runner. When I’m doing more serious off-roading, I’ll take the 2-door Wrangler. When I’m presented with extremely steep climbs and descents, I’ll skip the obstacle, or use more caution and employ spotters, winches, etc. as needed. I figure that ~95% of the time I will prefer to be in a 2-door on the trail over a 4-door for the types of trails I am usually on, and I am not trying to optimize this vehicle for long road trips and overlanding at the expense of overall off-road capability.

FWIW, when I considered getting a 4-door, I spec’d out everything I would need to do to go to 37s or 38s and a 3.5″+ lift to get a similar break-over angle to the 2-door. I would have been willing to go this route, but there were still compromises in overall capability and there would be more risk of mechanical failure. The mechanical concerns of running 35s on a 2-door Wrangler are significantly less than the mechanical concerns of running 37+ on a 4-door Wrangler. There are good reasons why many people go the 4-door route. It’s just not the best decision for my situation.

FWIW, I also just think the 2-door models look better and look more like what you expect a Jeep to look like. But that’s just my opinion and preference. The 4-door Jeeps can look pretty awesome too. On a final note, I recognize the stability and performance will not be as good in a 2-door on the freeway (getting to/from trails), and especially in bad weather. I will take this into consideration planning trips, and most of this vehicle’s use in Colorado will be during warmer times of the year – with some occasional “local” snow wheeling and trips to warmer lower latitudes.

5.6 – Color

I originally preferred white since it would hide scratches and dents better. It would also be good for visibility (safety) on the road and would not absorb as much heat in the summer sun. I liked the idea of getting a color-matched white hard top, but my wife and son think the black hard tops look better I think they’re right about the looks, but I would have still leaned toward the white hard top for the heat reflection alone. All this was somewhat moot because the color is a minor consideration to me if I’m just looking at options that are in dealership inventory (within a reasonable driving distance).

In the end we ended up getting a dark green (“41”) Jeep. It was my wife’s favorite color out of the available options, and both my son and I liked it as well. There was also a dark green one at a dealership that was relatively close by and it came with some options we were interested in.