mountain roads- no problem
Moderate boulders - depends on the driver
etc - yeah it can handle that too
it was built to "handle" the rubicon so it will do fine.

 

It's already higher than a TJ and comes stock with 32" tires. Granted they are the P series rather than the LT series (difference is in the sidewall plies). The stock wheels would have been 18", so you may want to check on that. It would have come with P255/70R18 tires. If the old 2001 Sport is still around you might check the ground clearance on it and then check the Sahara and might be surprised.

 

Just as capable as a Sport. Not as capable as a Rubicon.

Heck, any Wrangler made today is pretty off-road-worthy right off the showroom floor as long as you aren't talking extreme rock crawling.

I'd bet you'd have a tough time getting it stuck on mountain road excursions unless you are in bigger than melon size boulders and are punching the skinny pedal too hard.

 

It'll probably go anywhere you are comfortable driving it through. A better set of off-road tires would be a huge and cheap improvement, find a set of Rubicon take offs and you're set!

 

Best way to figure that out is to go out and see. Pack some recovery gear and find a offroading friend. If you get stuck then you knkw where your rigs limit is, other factor is driving skills. Your jeep will become more capable, as you gain experience wheeling


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Gotta watch out at the mall

 

From your description, the Sahara will take everything you throw at it... Well capable of straight forward rock crawling, desert sand and mountain roads.

Enjoy...

 

Your main limitation is the tires if you are talking "basic" trails. Even a Sahara has a pucker zone that far far exceeds the limits of most drivers here on WF.

You will want to add some manual swaybar disconnects to Offroad.

Where the strong point isn't for either a Sahara or Sport: anything that requires slow crawling, like Rock crawling. They just aren't geared deep enough and do not have the bonus from the 4:1 you get with Rubicon. Then again, on stock tires, you really don't have enough clearance to crawl anything "big" anyhow. But if you could get where you wanted to go in a TJ on 32s, you will be just fine in a Sahara.

Two doors don't need huge lifts to crawl stuff - it's four doors that are limited sometimes because of the breakover angle with the long wheelbase so they tend to go a little higher to try to compensate for the wheelbase shortcoming. On a two door, so long as your tires clear the fenders/body/frame/suspension at full flex and your tires are big enough to have diff clearance over what you want to drive - you are golden. I run 37 inch tires on a 2.5 lift and can crawl things that would induce serious pucker.

 

Throw some BF Goodrich Mud Terrains on that bad boy, or some Goodyear Duratracs and you will be good to go.

 

Only thing I miss are the lockers.

 

Good point. This is another major limitation on a stock Sahara - no lockers. But all depends what you are wheeling. A good driver and a little skinny pedal judiciously applied can conquer some surprising stuff with an open or limited slip differential. But when lockers are required, a Sahara just won't fit the bill - take a winch and good recovery strap.