Nsg370

wrath · 02-26-2025, 07:04 PM

So, I've been looking at getting some kind of JK Rubicant. Probably all 100k+ miles because less costs too much.

The ones that are cheap have the NSG370 but they all come with 4.10s as far as I can tell.

I've driven a couple. The little 3.6L seems snappy until you get to 4th gear, even in a 4 door.

Getting into 6th is a slapstick comedy/riot, but doable.

It seems kind of clunky but still better than most "truck" transmissions.

All of them with the manual, 2 door or 4 door, seem to get cheap at the 150k mark. Is that an indicator that their life is doomed?

How well do they hold up?

MBood82 · 02-26-2025, 09:43 PM

No idea, but I plan to be in the same boat soon, so subscribed!

6DoF · 02-27-2025, 06:22 AM

they are EPA geared from the factory, nothing to do with the best functional ratio's. that motor should also never live under 3000 RPM unless you are sitting at an idle.

buy a cheap one, if the motor goes then you have an excuse to V8 swap it. bolt an LS right to that 6spd manual and send it.

wrath · 02-27-2025, 10:08 PM

6DoF · 02-28-2025, 06:31 AM

ooohh! you got the extra wind noise and low mpg package! rare options, most ppl aren't brave enough

MBood82 · 02-28-2025, 09:00 AM

Decision appears to have been made quickly!

Is it a real rubicon or just the Rubi wheels?

wrath · 03-01-2025, 08:16 AM

It's a 2014 Rubicon X. It spent its life in Washington and Colorado as far as I can tell. The stickers on the frame behind the rear tires still look new.

The PO pulled the factory navigation radio out and put a Kenwood head unit they seem to be still paying for Serius XM on and some kind of Rockford Fosgate amp. I didn't investigate it much. It shows 3 owners, but it appears it was the same dude the whole time, he just kept getting new titles wherever he lived. I'd really like the other key for it, I thought about contacting him but that might be creepy. It pays to have a relative that can look up service history.

I was looking for a 2 door hard top JKR, JKRX, JKHR, JK Recon... without rust... with the Mercedes slushbox... mostly unmolested unless molested properly...

and ended up with this.

Wednesday I spent all day driving all over tarnation looking at suitable options because I was tired of spending hours every day looking for Rubicants that were suitable. The best ones I could find under $20k usually were rusty or molested or had terrible engine noise. It got so irritating I started looking at JLs which I don't like. As a fat wide guy that is all torso and stumpy little legs, the JL feels tiny inside. On a JK I have to keep the seat pulled far enough my shoulder is in the door and not A-pillar which causes me to rest my kneecap on the dash which is a PITA with a manual. The manual JLs I tried were a hard no. I think the problem is the door and pillars are thicker.

There has been pressure (caused by me) to buy a JKR for a while. We are going to abandon the bumper pull camping lifestyle for a motorhome. The motorhome we want is difficult to find (GM powered, less than 5% of all Class Cs are GM powered). So is the Jeep. I wanted to make sure we had a Jeep to tow before spring birding season started. I didn't tell her I was buying the Jeep with my "mad money" I had sitting around (of which I have zero dollars now, makes me cry).

I only got moderately screamed at when I brought it home. "It is important to discuss large purchases like this with me". One of those times I struggle not to remind her that 90% of the money that comes into our bank account is mine so maybe she should think about asking me the next time she goes out to lunch with her friends... but I just blinked and said I was sorry.

I had been looking at this one for months sitting in the same wholesale lot up north and the price kept ticking down. It was one of the ones I went and looked at Wednesday (and the girl locked the keys in it so I had to show the old dude how to break in, and fix their stupid battery jump starter). I went back Thursday and I tried to negotiate and all they did is remove some fees and fill it up with gas. It was nearly all all day event (got there around 11:30am, got home about 4pm) because they normally don't let people leave without plates and all the other fun **** with regard to buying an "as-is" vehicle. Plus I showed up with a stack of benjamins.

All I found wrong with it so far was...

Brake pedal squeaks.
Headlights have water in them. And suck.
Sway bar disconnect doesn't always work.
Heater controls don't work fully, mixer never changes anything but everything else works. Blender or module.
Parking brake doesn't hold on hills.
Inner shifter boot seems to be broken or something because it's hard to get into 6th and reverse. All of them I drove had this same problem, design flaw?

I've been trying to find a motorhome to buy since last Summer. Yesterday (Friday) morning we drove down 500 miles to BFE Illinois to look at a 2024 new model that has been sitting since Summer and were ready to buy it after driving it but then we decided to sit down in the dinette (only seating except cockpit seats that rotate) and it was terribly uncomfortable. The prepademic model we have sat in were more comfortable. Post-pandemic RV seem to have severe quality issues, but significant feature creep. So you get a lot more shiny flash garbage, but the core quality has been going downhill. Since the whole driver's side slides out, you are limited with options to even replace the dinette. I really liked driving it, even in the 50mph wind. 6.6L, 8L90e, brakes that would put your teeth in the steering wheel. After sitting in the dinette we went for a walk with the dog and all we talked about was the dinette. In our camper, we spent about all of our time sitting in the giant dinette. It has a loveseat and two swivel recliners. Lots of comfortable seating available, which makes rainy days nice. Anyway, we were scheduled to buy it today but instead we drove home last night (16 hours between when we left and got home, 1000 miles, never even turned off the truck).

I think we're going to end up going with a 2020 or 2021 model of the floorplan we prefer (has a second seating area and they quit making it in Chevy in 2021) but it'll be a dog with a 6.0L/6L90e after driving a 6.6L/8L90e rocketship.

Unless I can convince the boss to let me get a Super C.

6DoF · 03-03-2025, 09:17 AM

good lord, don't ever tell the wife it's not "our money"

when the sway bar disco doesn't work ... do you need to shack the jeep for it to unload to work?

seams like a decent find though sir, just gotta make it your own now.

wrath · 03-03-2025, 02:53 PM

Haven't really had the chance to mess with the Jeep much. I got it halfway washed when the water started freezing last night and I started investigating the wizardry of the audio system that was installed. He seemed to have yanked a bunch of speakers out but left the crossovers and amps.

If she lets me buy a Super C, then we can call it "our money". Otherwise, her contribution each month to "our money" equal to less than our gasoline bill isn't really a qualifier.

I was looking at solving the shifter problem without diagnosing. It's fine when the vehicle is hot (which is easy to do with heater controls that don't work). So I'm thinking the inner shift boot is rock hard and the rubber bushings in the shifter are shot. I might just buy that Dorman shifter everyone talks about.

6DoF · 03-04-2025, 10:24 AM

CORE shifter! they are so far beyond anything else i've ever used, worth every last cent.

CORE shifter

wrath · 03-04-2025, 04:12 PM

Yeah, I was looking at them for the AX15 in the YJ.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Core Shifters

Everything we presently offer is listed; some shifters (e.g. Jeep NSG370 & Dodge G56) are beyond reach due to cost & complexity.

Dorman figured it out for $400 so I doubt they will ever make one since B&M also makes one but it's now $600 MAP.

6DoF · 03-05-2025, 06:36 AM

that's crazy ... i wonder why

edit: found a picture ... those look fawked up, no clue why that would be needed, rev lock-out maybe?

wrath · 03-05-2025, 10:28 AM

I think it's the combination of vibration isolation and detents that make it a bit ... odd.

285/70R17 rub both the sway bar and the brake hard lines. I'm really disappointed. I can move the hard lines, but the sway bar not so much.

Jeepin Jason · 03-06-2025, 11:58 AM

Nice! That's basically just a 2 year older version of my 2016 Rubicon Hard Rock. Same color and everything.

Mine goes into 6th fine, but Reverse can be tricky. I just chalked it up to being intentionally difficult to go into Reverse to keep people from doing it accidentally. The JL has a shifter interlock collar on the gear shift that you have to pull up to shift it into Reverse.

wrath · 03-07-2025, 09:17 PM

That interlock is a good idea. When driving it as is, I get twitchy when sliding it into 6th. Half the time I accidentally put it back in 4th.

Do you have a cheat sheet for me? I feel like this thing is a rabbit hole with a lot of honey badgers at the bottom when looking at basic modifications.

02-26-2025, 07:04 PM	#1
wrath Jeeper wannabe Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 3,130	Nsg370 So, I've been looking at getting some kind of JK Rubicant. Probably all 100k+ miles because less costs too much. The ones that are cheap have the NSG370 but they all come with 4.10s as far as I can tell. I've driven a couple. The little 3.6L seems snappy until you get to 4th gear, even in a 4 door. Getting into 6th is a slapstick comedy/riot, but doable. It seems kind of clunky but still better than most "truck" transmissions. All of them with the manual, 2 door or 4 door, seem to get cheap at the 150k mark. Is that an indicator that their life is doomed? How well do they hold up?

02-27-2025, 06:22 AM	#3
6DoF AKA: jeepnski Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 17,065	they are EPA geared from the factory, nothing to do with the best functional ratio's. that motor should also never live under 3000 RPM unless you are sitting at an idle. buy a cheap one, if the motor goes then you have an excuse to V8 swap it. bolt an LS right to that 6spd manual and send it. __________________ ...................................___ .................. ________\|\|___\____ ..;.;;.:;:;.,;..;\|/_(O)\______ /_(O)\|

02-28-2025, 06:31 AM	#5
6DoF AKA: jeepnski Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 17,065	ooohh! you got the extra wind noise and low mpg package! rare options, most ppl aren't brave enough __________________ ...................................___ .................. ________\|\|___\____ ..;.;;.:;:;.,;..;\|/_(O)\______ /_(O)\|

03-03-2025, 09:17 AM	#8
6DoF AKA: jeepnski Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 17,065	good lord, don't ever tell the wife it's not "our money" when the sway bar disco doesn't work ... do you need to shack the jeep for it to unload to work? seams like a decent find though sir, just gotta make it your own now. __________________ ...................................___ .................. ________\|\|___\____ ..;.;;.:;:;.,;..;\|/_(O)\______ /_(O)\|

03-04-2025, 10:24 AM	#10
6DoF AKA: jeepnski Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 17,065	CORE shifter! they are so far beyond anything else i've ever used, worth every last cent. CORE shifter __________________ ...................................___ .................. ________\|\|___\____ ..;.;;.:;:;.,;..;\|/_(O)\______ /_(O)\|

02-26-2025, 09:43 PM	#2
MBood82 Turd Ferguson Join Date: May 2004 Location: Almost Wisconsin Posts: 14,797	No idea, but I plan to be in the same boat soon, so subscribed!

02-27-2025, 10:08 PM	#4
wrath Jeeper wannabe Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 3,130

02-28-2025, 09:00 AM	#6
MBood82 Turd Ferguson Join Date: May 2004 Location: Almost Wisconsin Posts: 14,797	Decision appears to have been made quickly! Is it a real rubicon or just the Rubi wheels?

03-01-2025, 08:16 AM	#7
wrath Jeeper wannabe Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 3,130	It's a 2014 Rubicon X. It spent its life in Washington and Colorado as far as I can tell. The stickers on the frame behind the rear tires still look new. The PO pulled the factory navigation radio out and put a Kenwood head unit they seem to be still paying for Serius XM on and some kind of Rockford Fosgate amp. I didn't investigate it much. It shows 3 owners, but it appears it was the same dude the whole time, he just kept getting new titles wherever he lived. I'd really like the other key for it, I thought about contacting him but that might be creepy. It pays to have a relative that can look up service history. I was looking for a 2 door hard top JKR, JKRX, JKHR, JK Recon... without rust... with the Mercedes slushbox... mostly unmolested unless molested properly... and ended up with this. Wednesday I spent all day driving all over tarnation looking at suitable options because I was tired of spending hours every day looking for Rubicants that were suitable. The best ones I could find under $20k usually were rusty or molested or had terrible engine noise. It got so irritating I started looking at JLs which I don't like. As a fat wide guy that is all torso and stumpy little legs, the JL feels tiny inside. On a JK I have to keep the seat pulled far enough my shoulder is in the door and not A-pillar which causes me to rest my kneecap on the dash which is a PITA with a manual. The manual JLs I tried were a hard no. I think the problem is the door and pillars are thicker. There has been pressure (caused by me) to buy a JKR for a while. We are going to abandon the bumper pull camping lifestyle for a motorhome. The motorhome we want is difficult to find (GM powered, less than 5% of all Class Cs are GM powered). So is the Jeep. I wanted to make sure we had a Jeep to tow before spring birding season started. I didn't tell her I was buying the Jeep with my "mad money" I had sitting around (of which I have zero dollars now, makes me cry). I only got moderately screamed at when I brought it home. "It is important to discuss large purchases like this with me". One of those times I struggle not to remind her that 90% of the money that comes into our bank account is mine so maybe she should think about asking me the next time she goes out to lunch with her friends... but I just blinked and said I was sorry. I had been looking at this one for months sitting in the same wholesale lot up north and the price kept ticking down. It was one of the ones I went and looked at Wednesday (and the girl locked the keys in it so I had to show the old dude how to break in, and fix their stupid battery jump starter). I went back Thursday and I tried to negotiate and all they did is remove some fees and fill it up with gas. It was nearly all all day event (got there around 11:30am, got home about 4pm) because they normally don't let people leave without plates and all the other fun **** with regard to buying an "as-is" vehicle. Plus I showed up with a stack of benjamins. All I found wrong with it so far was... Brake pedal squeaks. Headlights have water in them. And suck. Sway bar disconnect doesn't always work. Heater controls don't work fully, mixer never changes anything but everything else works. Blender or module. Parking brake doesn't hold on hills. Inner shifter boot seems to be broken or something because it's hard to get into 6th and reverse. All of them I drove had this same problem, design flaw? I've been trying to find a motorhome to buy since last Summer. Yesterday (Friday) morning we drove down 500 miles to BFE Illinois to look at a 2024 new model that has been sitting since Summer and were ready to buy it after driving it but then we decided to sit down in the dinette (only seating except cockpit seats that rotate) and it was terribly uncomfortable. The prepademic model we have sat in were more comfortable. Post-pandemic RV seem to have severe quality issues, but significant feature creep. So you get a lot more shiny flash garbage, but the core quality has been going downhill. Since the whole driver's side slides out, you are limited with options to even replace the dinette. I really liked driving it, even in the 50mph wind. 6.6L, 8L90e, brakes that would put your teeth in the steering wheel. After sitting in the dinette we went for a walk with the dog and all we talked about was the dinette. In our camper, we spent about all of our time sitting in the giant dinette. It has a loveseat and two swivel recliners. Lots of comfortable seating available, which makes rainy days nice. Anyway, we were scheduled to buy it today but instead we drove home last night (16 hours between when we left and got home, 1000 miles, never even turned off the truck). I think we're going to end up going with a 2020 or 2021 model of the floorplan we prefer (has a second seating area and they quit making it in Chevy in 2021) but it'll be a dog with a 6.0L/6L90e after driving a 6.6L/8L90e rocketship. Unless I can convince the boss to let me get a Super C.

03-03-2025, 02:53 PM	#9
wrath Jeeper wannabe Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 3,130	Haven't really had the chance to mess with the Jeep much. I got it halfway washed when the water started freezing last night and I started investigating the wizardry of the audio system that was installed. He seemed to have yanked a bunch of speakers out but left the crossovers and amps. If she lets me buy a Super C, then we can call it "our money". Otherwise, her contribution each month to "our money" equal to less than our gasoline bill isn't really a qualifier. I was looking at solving the shifter problem without diagnosing. It's fine when the vehicle is hot (which is easy to do with heater controls that don't work). So I'm thinking the inner shift boot is rock hard and the rubber bushings in the shifter are shot. I might just buy that Dorman shifter everyone talks about.

03-05-2025, 06:36 AM	#12
6DoF AKA: jeepnski Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 17,065	that's crazy ... i wonder why edit: found a picture ... those look fawked up, no clue why that would be needed, rev lock-out maybe? __________________ ...................................___ .................. ________\|\|___\____ ..;.;;.:;:;.,;..;\|/_(O)\______ /_(O)\| Last edited by 6DoF; 03-05-2025 at 06:40 AM.

03-05-2025, 10:28 AM	#13
wrath Jeeper wannabe Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 3,130	I think it's the combination of vibration isolation and detents that make it a bit ... odd. 285/70R17 rub both the sway bar and the brake hard lines. I'm really disappointed. I can move the hard lines, but the sway bar not so much.

03-06-2025, 11:58 AM	#14
Jeepin Jason I run this joint Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 136,734	Nice! That's basically just a 2 year older version of my 2016 Rubicon Hard Rock. Same color and everything. Mine goes into 6th fine, but Reverse can be tricky. I just chalked it up to being intentionally difficult to go into Reverse to keep people from doing it accidentally. The JL has a shifter interlock collar on the gear shift that you have to pull up to shift it into Reverse.

03-07-2025, 09:17 PM	#15
wrath Jeeper wannabe Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 3,130	That interlock is a good idea. When driving it as is, I get twitchy when sliding it into 6th. Half the time I accidentally put it back in 4th. Do you have a cheat sheet for me? I feel like this thing is a rabbit hole with a lot of honey badgers at the bottom when looking at basic modifications.