This is very true, we went before the Jeep Jamborees right after the snow melted so there weren't really any stacked rocks. However, to your point (2) Rivian R1Ts and (1) R1S attempted the trail a day after the Jamboree and they managed to get the R1S through all of it. The R1Ts had to turn around because they kept breaking steering components. It just shows you how quickly the trail can change.

So you mean that "trail-rated" badge means "leave on a flatbed?"

So a funny story along these lines. Back in the spring of 2014 when my 2012 JKU Rubicon was pretty new, I successfully missed an undermined part of a washed out NF route here in Arizona and put my front end into the ditch. Was only going about 5 mph, but broke my front axle housing and messed up my lower control arms.

Long story short, damage was around $4000 to fix. Having (luckily) not had a claim with State Farm for a long while, I actually decided to take a risk and filed a collison claim to get it all fixed since putting up $4000 plus at the time was not going to be pleasant out of pocket.

Even more amazingly since they allow the work to be done by a shop of your choice, I was able to get a check for $3700 (basically appraised damage at $4700 minus my $1000 deductible) and rolled it all into getting a full Terraflex after market setup for my front axle and control arms from a dedicated offroad shop here in Arizona.

Of course the new axle housing didn't play well with my stock Rubicon shocks so then I needed an AEV lift... Before I knew it I had well north of $15K in a trail rig that I kept until my first 4Runner in 2017 .

Thanks for this post. It look like a cool and fun trip but also brutal. Glad you were able to complete and document that cool adventure as well as share it with us. Were there any vehicles there that looked like they did the trails "easily" in comparison to the 4runner?

Haha definitely turning lemons into lemonade with that one. Again I dont think most people really realize that a lot of these "trails" that we do are actually officially roads. So insurance coverage applies but I'm sure you'll be flagged going forward as a driver who is high risk.

Yes absolutely, the Jeep XJ and Jeep JLU made the trail look pretty easy. Funny enough the XJ on 33s with a 5" lift was the only one in the group that cleaned the entire trail without a winch pull. He was also completely open in the front and driving a manual transmission! Solid axle suspensions are just so much more effective in rock crawling scenarios.

Also, as much as Toyota fans like to dog on Jeeps they for the most part are superior in the really hard stuff. I know this first hand and prefer to use my Jeep TJ Rubicon as the weapon of choice for very technical trails. You can't beat the comfort of the 4runner though for the 95% of the other off-road driving people typically do.

Awesome trip report! Rubicon is on my bucket list but being in FL it's probably going to be an after retirement journey.

1 cv, 1 belt, 1 tie rod shows your confidence in the 4R going in!

Yep. In fairness - I think a factory Rubicon model would be ready to go off the show room floor to run through the Rubicon trail. Probably handle it pretty easily. In the case of the GC - I don't think most buyers would think this outcome is what they are really looking for.

I agree that a stock Rubicon on its 33s would have zero issues other than probably some beat up rock rails and skid plates. I have to admit the few times I got my 2012 JKU into rougher stuff (usually not intentionally) it always made things easier than they seemed like they should be.

As for the Grand in the picture, that's a pre-2022 Grand if not mistaken and doesn't look like a Trailhawk either.

The only Grands carrying the "Trail rated" badge now are actually the Trailhawk 4xe along with the Overland when equipped with the offroad package (which gives the full set of skid plates and offroad tires on top of the air suspension).

I've actually been thinking about grabbing a Trailhawk to replace our Rover (possibly leased due to the $7500 PHEV credit) and am waffling over just how capable it would actually be in mild to moderate offroading.

I think the story of that one was when Jeep did the trail in around 2011 or 2012 maybe to put the trail rated badge on the GC. I'm not entirely sure if it was a production or pre-production model. But it took a beating. I've noticed in most of the OEM vehicle trips there you see a lot if photos and videos from the first few miles and not many from the end of the trail.

The 4Runner that they did it in 2009 ended up with some body damage to one door IIRC and I've heard that it also may have left with a smaller fuel tank capacity due to a heavily dented fuel tank skid. You also never hear about how Toyota rolled the 4Runner in the Baja 1000. But I saw a video from a spectator back then of it on its roof and being rolled back onto its tires. I speculate that's why it lost 4x4 for the last part of the race and ended up getting passed at the end with only rwd. I bet there's a set of computer safety triggers that went off during a rollover and couldn't easily be reset during the race.

I almost think the smaller Cherokee might be better on a trail like the Rubicon than the GC. Something like a Samurai might zip through a bunch of spots that challenge bigger rigs, but then have issues with some of the ledges you have to climb. I drove part of it in a friend's FJ40 on 39's and it was just point and shoot. A lot like a short wheel base Wrangler would be.

Got it. Supposedly the current 4xe Trailhawk was able to run the whole trail on just it's PHEV battery. Those vehicles don't articulate as much as I'd like to see and it'd definitely take a bit of getting used to how often you'd have to put a wheel off the ground I think.

I actually remember when Toyota ran what I think was a Trail prototype through there (I actually think some of the Japanese development team was involved). I think they did mount up rock rails and it definitely had some minor trail dents at the end, but it made it through fine if I remember things correctly.

I actually don't know if a stock Cherokee (now discontinued also) Trailhawk ever made it through the Rubicon or not. I know I've seen video on them on trails like Hell's Revenge, but it's really not that bad if you end up doing most of the bypasses from what I understand (I honestly have never had the balls to run it as we've always been up there on our own). One of the biggest liabilities of all the Jeeps other than the Wrangler currently is smaller than optimal tire size. The Grand comes with 265/60R18 (30.5 inch) and from what I understand cannot really accept anything larger than perhaps a 31 without a lot of creativity.

Considering we all complain about how hard it is to get anything larger than 33 on the 4Runners, we really don't have it that bad .

How would a Bronco do on the Rubicon?

I'm assuming you're talking about the Broncos currently on sale, and not the little Bronco Sport CUV versions also currently on sale.

Considering the failures in the steering system I've seen them have on fairly easy obstacles, I'd say not well.

I think people are just driving broncos like you would a jeep. However, it's still an IFS so you can't just yeet an IFS everywhere. I'm sure the front locker doesn't help either (in regards to their steering failures). The only downside I see for the Bronco is how massive they are.

Id be willing to bet good money that there have been more 6th gen Broncos that have done the Rubicon Trail than 5th Gen 4runners. I see them pop up in the Rubicon FB group I'm a part of. They do just fine but are subject to the same IFS steering breakage risk that our trucks have. Also as @srsrogerissrs mentioned the front locker certainly doesn't make things easy for those tie rods.