ok i'm lookin at buying one of these. an 03.
what kind of servise do they require, other than oil change. do you have to adjust the auto tranny in anyway?
have you pulled or put 500+lb on the racks, i know they arnt rated for that but i am going to haul elk with mine.
is the warn 424 thing worth it? where to buy? how are the drum breaks? how often do you have to work on them? it's realy dusty where i live.
any info would be great.
i'm undecited between this 03 ruby,$4700 an 03&04 rancher. $3800 each or a new big bear.
i want to know how good the ruby is.
thank you.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

Go for the Rubicon, you will never regret it. With regular service it will go forever and will haul or pull almost anything you put on it. The Warn 424 is only of value if you ride roads. Tass

 

the 424 provides tones of fun, and i don't ride roads, guy above either doesn't own one, or has only seen it and not rode it, the bikes changes completly with the 424

 

Over 250 miles per month in the mountains of Eastern Oregon, never on roads, seldom on trails. I added the 424 to my 2004. The addition is of no use to my style of travel however may be of use to others. Tass

 

I have the 424 select and love it. It is fun just to have the option and I believe it save some on fuel when you dont need four wheel drive. I am also having the progressive shocks put on my rubi this week and cant wait to see what it will be like then, If you plan on hauling alot of wieght you may coinsider this option. Get the Rubicon, Hondas run forever, well almost.

 

One other thing, how many miles does that rubi have on it? and it may be worth a little drive to look in a few surrounding states. A guy that I work with sales his rubi every two years and last year he sold his for 5000, with 300 miles on it.

 

I am considering some changes soon on our two Rubicon's also. The first I am considering is the installation of 26" ITP XL tires which I believe will give me 1" additional ground clearance and excellent traction. The second is a 1 piece skid plate. Those I have found to this point run about $125 and are aluminum which will work but I believe I want steel fabrication. I also have considered aftermarket shockabsorbers but as my new machine has 1300 miles but only 156 hours a smoother ride is not really an issue. Traction and ground clearance are very important. Tass

 

One thing you might look into on the purchase of the machine is end of year specials. Honda had some incentives last year that allowed us to purchase two new Rubicons with Warn 2500 winches and GPS units for about $5400 apiece. Remember that all dealers need to move old stock to make room for the new.......Tass

 

To Tass,

I thought about getting 26 inch tires and after alot of thought and asking question's I decided to keep stock size 25, the machine was designed with this size of tire and a bigger diameter tire will just bogg your engine down and with 26's you are only gaining a half inch clearance (half on top, half on bottom). The after market socks arent meant to give you a better ride, they are stiffer than stock. They will give you to option to haul more wieght and they are about a inch longer than stock and may give you around 1-2 inch lift in the bike. Good luck. I went with the highlifter Outlaw MTS tire. They are a inch and a half wider in front and back. You can see them at Highlifter.com

 

Well i like those answers but not one of you said what or how often youhave to servise them? so does that mean that hardly ever.? sound good to me.
a friend has a 03 rancher i rode today and like it ALOT. has nice power and ok ride. is the ruby worth the extra grand? is the hondamatic that good?
these are things i need to know.
thank you again....
HR