Deerhunter......you sound like me!! My wife just graduated from nursing(RN) school a few months ago, and she wanted me to get a Rubicon when she graduated. Of course, I was all over that idea
I just couldn't do it though. Not really because I didn't like it, I just didn't want to get under another payment with a baby coming.
What kept nagging me: I don't know how you drive......but a D44, as great of an axle as it is, isn't up to 4:1 low range gears and tires over 35" if you have any kind of decent power under the hood. I had a welding teacher in highschool that had a CJ7 with a 258,NP435,D300 and D44 axles. On 35" Swampers he could bust that rear D44 at will. If you do the math, the six speed Rubicon with the 4:1 gears has a lower compound gear than that NP435 and D300 Tcase......so it has more torque multiplication and will be even harder on the axles. An upgrade to a Super 44 kit can help but the ring gear still hasn't got the stamina to keep up. The front axle needs new shafts to make me feel comfortable with tires over 33", and you have the same gear and carrier weaknesses up front except now it's compounded by the fact that it's spinning in reverse because it's a standard rotation diff. The Tcase is STILL an aluminum NP, so take that how you will. Either way, it can't be that strong. I don't live in a rock-pile, a 4:1 Tcase is useless to me in most situations too. It's a great starting point, but don't expect the big tires and lift to be the only expenses needed to turn one into a trail boss.
You can't equip an "X" the same way for the same money, which is why so many Rubicons are leaving the lots. The Rubicons ARE really cool and I do still want one....but for ME, I think I came out better buying a well equipped used Sport and feeling better about cutting it up and doing it the way I want.