Figure id chime in and possibly get flamed...
I owned an 04 rubi w/ 3'' bds lift and 33's. ABSOLUTELY loved it, went everywhere offroad (im not a big rock cralwer though), drove extremely well on road and all for less than 18g. Then one day i went for a tumble at 50mph, rolled bout 7-8 times. i came out without a scratch on me and the rubi was still runnin, although not driveable. Roll bar and seat belt saved my life. Then last year i bought an 01 xj. Put an 8'' RK lift, d44 f, fd9'' r, 5.13's, 35 bfg mt's, cage, and a nice high steer setup (from parts mike and dedenbear). Build cost inc. xj just under 10g. ABSOLUTELY hated it! Constant problems...tc cracked, DW, COG, bump steer etc. Drove like sh!t on road even with NEW bfg mt radials proper alignment, new shocks, shackles, blah blah blah. And i was not at all impressed with it offroad with all that potential. Point is, the rubi turned out to be safer, more reliable, drove better on road and even wheeled better (unless lots of lift was required), and all together much less of a PITA. That said, im looking for another xj, 96-99, auto, less than 100k, and hopefully ill have better luck with it, im a poor recently graduated college student, so im forced to go the cheap and hopefully reliable route. My vote would be 04 rubi low miles u can probably find for around 17g if u plan on keepin it a while and mostly for dd, and an xj if u wanna save money and help ur kid learn about vehicles and plan on wheelin a good amount. Good luck!
