Help identify this jeep

A friend of mine has a really nice 04 Wrangler (could possibly be 03 but I am confident in saying 04). It has the I6 and 6 speed manual trans. My first thought was that it had to be a rubicon because of the trans, it doesn't have rubicon written anywhere on it. He has told me that" his axels are better than a regular jeep". He said that it was some kind of special edition jeep or something but I really have no idea. Were all rubicons labeled as such? Help me out if you can, my brain is stuck on this one.

A friend of mine has a really nice 04 Wrangler (could possibly be 03 but I am confident in saying 04). It has the I6 and 6 speed manual trans. My first thought was that it had to be a rubicon because of the trans, it doesn't have rubicon written anywhere on it. He has told me that" his axels are better than a regular jeep". He said that it was some kind of special edition jeep or something but I really have no idea. Were all rubicons labeled as such? Help me out if you can, my brain is stuck on this one.

All Rubicons came from the dealer with the hood stickers. Thats not to say someone didnt remove them. Other Rubicon clues would be the wheels like these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jeep-Wrangler-Rubicon-oem-wheels-set-of-5_W0QQitemZ260071742421QQihZ016QQcategoryZ43956QQr dZ1QQcmdZViewItem, black diamond plate rocker guards, wide shiny black fender flares, Dana 44 front and rear axles, switches on the dash for the air lockers.
The transmission in a Rubicon and other Wranglers is the same so you wouldnt be able to tell if its a Rubicon by the transmission alone.

Yeah I was afraid of something like that. Its a really nice jeep and he has it lifted and with really nice aftermarket wheels on it. It would be tough to tell I will take a look at the rest of it. How can you tell a Dana44 from the standard axels?

Yeah I was afraid of something like that. Its a really nice jeep and he has it lifted and with really nice aftermarket wheels on it. It would be tough to tell I will take a look at the rest of it. How can you tell a Dana44 from the standard axels?

Heres a chart that shows the D30, D35 and D44. http://www.coloradok5.com/axleguide.shtml
The standard axles for the TJ are the D30 in front and the D35 in the rear. If he has a Rubicon, it will have a D44 in front and rear. If he has a Sport or Sahara, it may have a D44 as an option in the rear. Another way to tell a Dana 35 from a Dana 44 is the fill plug. A 44 has a metal plug while a 35 has a rubber plug.
Next time you see the Jeep, just peek inside at the dash. Rubicons have locker switches on the lower part of the dash just in front of the center console. No switches = not Rubicon.

Thanks for that, I memorized how the 44 looked like from that picture and it does appear to have it in the rear but not the front. I drove it last night and it doesn't have any locker switches. Also the fender flares are the same color as the rest of the jeep. Thanks for the help.

Thanks for that, I memorized how the 44 looked like from that picture and it does appear to have it in the rear but not the front. I drove it last night and it doesn't have any locker switches. Also the fender flares are the same color as the rest of the jeep. Thanks for the help.

Its a Sahara if the flares are color matched to the Jeep (if they are stock). It should have a round Sahara badge on the side, just above the JEEP.

Thanks for that, I memorized how the 44 looked like from that picture and it does appear to have it in the rear but not the front. I drove it last night and it doesn't have any locker switches. Also the fender flares are the same color as the rest of the jeep. Thanks for the help.

If it has a 44 in the rear, is the body longer than a regular Jeep. The unlimited is 15" longer and cam with the 44 rear where the std, X and Sport all had D35 unless it was a special package. The Rubicon does have the same 6 speed but it has a different t-case as it has the rock 4:1