Call it deperation if you like... whatever. I drove heavy equipment for years. Mostly, rough terrain forklifts. Lull 844C-42's to be specific. The reason that I bring this up is because we put those machines through hell on earth. The have axles which ar pinned to the frame in the center and the front axle has a hydraulic ram which can force the articulation by ten degrees to either side. People who have spent this sort of extensive time off road (42.5 hours a week for three years) can tell you that the holy grail of mud is tire pattern and the holy grail of obstacles is 4 wheels on the ground. There simply is no substitute for this and the only way to acheive it consistently is with straight axles. This fact has never failed me when off roading (and I have done a LOT of it in a variety of vehicles). Put the power to the ground. A ford f250 has straight axles, but it is abviously not the wheeler that a jeep is due to limitations of length, wheelbase, and clearance.
I am not trying to get anyone butt hurt over this but it is simply true that a Rubicon is the best out of the box off roader made in america period. I do not own one, and have no intentions of buying one.
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