Euro JLUR 2020 Punk'n - Vehicle / Build journal

[taram]

So after long-long 7 months the wait is over, and he is here with me finally!
I hope moderators will not move my thread as it could be interesting only for EMEA/GB JL owners, and posting it in main "Build / Rig Journal" section obviously makes no sense as it will be mostly bringing it to the US stock.
The aim is to show in one thread my personal experience with different mods of exactly European spec. Rubicon which could be possibly useful for some other owners as I'm planning to do the most common upgrades.

I'm not a big fan of car names, but I'm a first time JEEP owner so I decided to make it a bit special this time - please welcome: PERSIMON (this is a less common variant of the name of the fruit "persimmon" - this is exactly what reminds me the color actually . I don't know if I ever will use this name, or order decals with it, but let it just be - PERSIMON

Here are some photos from the dealership - I was collecting it late in the evening, so the photos are not the best ones. Anyway, you people definitely know what Punk'n orange JLUR looks like, and I better make some other nice photos after changing at least something.

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[taram]

So, in brief:
JLUR 2020 MY
2.2 MultiJet diesel, 8 AUTO
Black leather seats, heated front seats/steering wheel
Sky One-Touch Power Top
Alpine Premium Sound system
Technology group (LED premium lightning group, passive entry, blind spot detection w/rear cross path)
Rear/front park assist sensors, rear view camera
Class I Trailer Tow Package (includes Heavy Duty Electrical Group, goose-neck hitch and 13 pin wiring harness) - hitch and wiring harness were NOT SUPPLIED, in negotiation with FCA customer support on this issue.

In general I chose all available options excluding Trail Rail Management System as I'm used to rubber cargo area mats.
Regarding the trailer tow package - I haven't seen anybody who received it from the factory in Cyprus, so it's interesting what FCA will say.

 

[taram]

And here goes the very first upgrade - Rugged Ridge stubby antenna (13")

 

[taram]

I will post later the full list of suggested upgrades and what was ordered/delivered already, but for now I have some urgent and rather unpleasant news - I was planning to go to the tire shop tomorrow to change the stock 255/75R17 BFG KM2 mud tires to 315/70R17 Cooper ST MAXX A/T tires. I decided to change the fenders to the high line ones later as I was not going to off-road exactly the same day, so I can drive back home without issues with low fenders. But I decided to remove the plastic caps that are likely to be rubbed with 35" tires. Removing them was easy, but then I noticed something in the front suspension through the opening, so I decided to get under the Jeep, and OMG - there are a lot of parts with RUST (frame parts, driveshaft connection, trackbar and steering stabilizer joints, welds...). I don't know if it's connected somehow with the shipping of the Jeep by the sea, but IMO this just doesn't look right. Also I found an unused lug nut lying on the frame - hopefully it was an extra and I have no unscrewed parts there I'd appreciate your comments, but definitely will go tomorrow morning to the dealership before the tire shop...

 

[taram]

Already had a first car wash today (it's a quite rainy winter in Cyprus this year) - the soft top is not leaking neither the back windows do - I've read here some people had some issues with this too...

 

[Giersz]

Very nice ride
Interesting what will dealer say about this rusty parts.

 

[taram]

OK, gentlemen, here's another update.
These have been quite a busy couple of days, and considering St. Valentines Day - had to deliver some attention to my Missus too
Anyway, yesterday in the morning I visited the dealership regarding the rust issues - they confirmed that this is not a right thing and booked an appointment with the body workshop in Nicosia (capital of Cyprus - they have the main service area there) where all this must be cleaned and somehow treated. They said this can take more than 1 day, so probably will have to give away the Jeep for 2-3 days in total. At least they didn't try to assume that this is a "Jeep thing" and were quite confident on what to do with all this beauty - we'll see. I will update on this issue as soon as something is done.

After having these quite relaxing news I decided to go to the tire shop where I had my Cooper Discoverer ST MAXX tires waiting for my Jeep since middle of last December
I was quite nervous, as during the inspection of the Jeep's belly I noticed that even stock rear tires are quite close to the control arms - and these were 255/75R17! And the purchased tires are 315/70R17 So I decided to mount the new tire on the rim of the spare wheel first and try to fit it in rear and front axle before changing all 4 wheels
To make the long story short - everything fitted perfectly without any rubbing on pavement, I even decided not to change the fender flares to make the experiment more straightforward - only removed the filling caps between bumper and fender flares for now.
After all I can fully confirm that running 315/70R17 (Cooper ST MAXX is average for this tire size, so must work for the same size of most other brands) on Euro-Rubicon EVEN with low fenders is just FINE. Probably, the true 35" tire could rub a little on front inner fender at full lock - I don't know. Considering that our axles are a bit narrower - this is possible.
The only issue I have is that after bringing up the 3rd stop signal mount, the bigger spare tire pushes it forward to the rear window and the mount now touches the rear window wiper slightly. I will either try to change the idle position of the wiper , or putting something like 1-1.5 cm spacer on the spare tire mount just to bring it a little backwards which sounds better for me in order to less compress the bump stops with wider tire as well.
I was worried regarding the tailgate reinforcement due to the heavier spare tire , but for now I decided to leave it as it is. I will explain why:
1. Stock wheel weight (rim+tire) is about 32 kg (I took the scales that I use for the luggage, they are +-0.5 kg accurate)
2. Stock tire (BFG KM2 255/75R17) is about 21.5 kg (which means the stock rim is about 10.5-11 kg)
3. Cooper ST MAXX 315/70R17 tire only is about 29 kg
4. The fully assembled new wheel is about 40 kg.
IMHO, additional 8 kilos do not make a big difference to the hinges load. Especially considering that the tailgate in closed position is also supported by rubber bumper on the lock side - not only the hinges and lock - I wouldn't worry about that. After tightening the spare tire in place it all feels very solid and no free play or whatever.
In the end I've gained +3 cm of ground clearance from the ground to differential (27.5 cm instead of 24.5) and much beefier bad-ass look. Also the ride is a bit smoother now and personally I feel it handles a bit better. Currently running 2.3 bar (~33 psi), probably will go a bit lower to 2.1 bar cold (30.5-31 psi).
I have some other minor upgrades completed today as well, but will post them tomorrow. As well as I want to express my first impressions after 3 days of driving Jeep, but that's gonna be another huge post. Here I post some photos, not the best ones, but will take some better later. On one of the photos you can see the front wheel with the new tire already, and the rear wheel still with the old one.
Good night, folks, that's it for now, thanks for reading

 

[taram]

Before tire change:

 

[taram]

In process/after:

 

[taram]

OK, another one bites to dust
Today I had to take Persimon to the dealership on the recovery vehicle as yesterday afternoon I've heard this sound after starting the engine near my house:


First suggestion was some loose details/heat shield of the exhaust system, but after first inspection in the service zone the sound seems to come from the gearbox or somewhere in between engine and gearbox. The technician suggested that the flywheel could touch the starter or something like that... Anyway, only 300 km covered, so most probably it is a factory defect, and now I only can wait for the result of their investigation (which can involve the gearbox removal, as I was told ) and warranty repair/replacement that could take any time long...

Well, at least now I will have enough time to write my initial impressions and list of suggested upgrades, even I am really disappointed with the current issue

 

[pablo_max3045]

OK, another one bites to dust
Today I had to take Persimon to the dealership on the recovery vehicle as yesterday afternoon I've heard this sound after starting the engine near my house:


First suggestion was some loose details/heat shield of the exhaust system, but after first inspection in the service zone the sound seems to come from the gearbox or somewhere in between engine and gearbox. The technician suggested that the flywheel could touch the starter or something like that... Anyway, only 300 km covered, so most probably it is a factory defect, and now I only can wait for the result of their investigation (which can involve the gearbox removal, as I was told ) and warranty repair/replacement that could take any time long...

Well, at least now I will have enough time to write my initial impressions and list of suggested upgrades, even I am really disappointed with the current issue

yep, Jeep is not exactly known for quality control. Throw an Italian mother company on top and... well.. here we have it.
It will get sorted though, I'm sure. Bad luck to be sure.

 

[lohr500]

That's bad news Taram.
I hope they can get it sorted quickly for you.
It does sound like it is coming from the back of the engine/gearbox area, although engine noises do have a habit of travelling.
Fingers crossed it is an easy fix and not something more serious like a loose valve seat or cam follower problem.
Will they schedule the chassis rust treatment at the same time so you are not having to take it back twice?

 

[taram]

Yeah, I also hope for the easy fix, on the other hand if this is something serious - better they figure it out now and fully replace the faulty part(s). We'll see.

 

[taram]

Hey everyone, these have been some busy days, couldn't find enough time to post here, but in short:
1. I've got my Jeep back last Friday - they fixed the rattling noise saying it was something loose touching the flywheel that was found after removing the starter - I hope it was exactly the reason, on the other hand if they didn't fix it i have 5 more years of warranty to go.

2. I have installed high line fender flares. As many people mentioned installing just the fender flares will not look nicely with stock plastic bumper, so you either to change the bumper, just like I did, or order gap fillers and plastic pieces inside the wheel well from the US OEM bumper. I really gained some space from the tire to the fender - we'll see what it does on trails.

3. I've ordered 1 inch spacers... Yes, the wheel spacers were #2 on the list of things that I'd rather not do to the Jeep (right after lifting it), but as @Rudolph Hart reasonably warned me - EURO axles are a bit narrower, so I get some rubbing on the upper control arms in the front at full lock even on pavement. So I guess installing 25 mm spacers should almost compensate a wider tire (which is wider for 6 cm in total = 3 cm on each side compared to the stock one). And I think definitely I would need them off-road.

4. I've installed BOLT hood lock - a well-made piece with excellent quality and straightforward installation. The only special thing you need is the powerful rivet gun that supports 1/4 inch steel rivets - I have ordered it in advance thanks to this forum. The best thing I like about this lock is that it codes by your key, and the key may be pulled out in both positions - either locked or unlocked. Bravo, BOLT.

5. One of my favorite upgrades so far - DTE Systems PedalBox - these are the best 229 euro spent - the car is totally different, it makes the gas pedal more sensitive, I don't even engage the red "Sport+" mode as it downshifts the gearbox too often and keeps RPM's too high, but with 4 modes (including stock settings) and 6 adjustable levels inside each mode you'll definitely find your best option. Strongly recommend.

6. One of the most difficult upgrades by now - rear steel bumper. It took me couple of days to change the outer shell to the one with the holes for the parking sensors which I ordered separately - I had to fully disassemble the rear bumper kit, replace the new wiring with the old one with sensors, change the old socket for the reg.plate light on the old wiring with the new one. And after I have done all this I realized that I should have ordered special bezels/mounts that are holding the parking sensors in the US steel bumper and we don't have them in our plastic bumpers. If I'd even remove the inner mounts from the plastic bumper - i will still have special cut outs on the front of the steel bumper uncovered - no good looking... so ordered them from @AllMoparParts.com - 18$ parts + 70$ shipping... and I hope it won't take more than 2 weeks... For now I've put the rear bumper on the Jeep with the holes closed with black tape and sensors inside the bumper, so uConnect says to me "Wipe rear parking sensors" every time I start the engine. Not that annoying and I still have the reverse camera. I also lost the rear fog lights, still thinking on how this could be fixed - the best way is to find someone who could make (probably print on 3d printer???) a fog light that would fit into the opening for the stock reflector... sounds crazy, but who knows...

7. I fixed the rear wiper being pushed by the 3rd brake light bracket - you can change its idle position easily by removing the plastic cap, unscrewing the 1 lug nut, turning the arm of the wiper to the desired position and tightening back the lug nut - that's it. Now the 3rd brake light support doesn't touch it and I have a very solid tight installation of the larger spare tire without any issues. BTW there are just 2-3 mm gap from the spare tire to the steel bumper - so that was really close and probably even the same size tire of different brand could probably not fit or at least rub on the bumper.

I still don't have some good photos as the Jeep is mostly in the garage, but will post for now what I have and definitely will make some nice photos after finishing the major mods.

Still to go: front steel Mopar 3-piece bumper (which I started today already and seems to be much more challenging than the rear one due to cutting the sensors holes and so on), Rugged Ridge winch mount plate, Warn Zeon 8S winch, WARN power interrupt kit (not to have the winch live all the time but connected to Aux1 switch), MOPAR steel skid plate and if I am still alive after all this - RSE Power side steps, but this cherry on cake I will do definitely after everything else is done and taking some breake... Ah, yes, and still have to install Tazer Mini, but don't want to be on a rush with this - I want to run Jeep for some time to get sure I will not have to take it to the dealer again soon ))).

That was a lot of letters, thanks for reading, below are some photos. Better to come. Cheers!

 

[taram]

I also forgot to mention that I have a diesel engine, and it different from petrol on the following - the muffler is half size of the petrol and is painted black, on the other side I have an AdBlue tank which is not considered in any manual/installation instructions so I had to alter the fixing of the rear bumper. In general, having EU-spec Rubi and putting US-parts on it makes you very creative, lol.

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