'22 JLR 2.0T build progress/wheeling thread

[Remorseless]

Damn, that winch cable costs quite a bit more than my winch lol, would suck to have someone spool it out and steal it
Nice job btw!

Thanks! Pretty sure the average NC meth tweaker would just steal my muffler thinking it's a cat lol. Not sure anyone outside of Jeepers would even know how to disengage the winch clutch around here, but either way, she's locked in my shop when I'm not in her, so low odds. Unless the field mice band up to do it lol.

And yeah, Bubba Rope is definitely proud of their stuff. What I will say to help me rationalize the bougieness, lol, is that the Warn M8-S (their synthetic version of the same winch) costs $300 more in MSRP than I paid for my steel rope version + the Bubba line. MSRP is always funky, since most places run under MSRP if they want to move product (especially these days), and so vs Northridge's last price I saw, the upgrade to the Bubba line cost a little over $100 over their price on the M8-S. And came in cheaper (and more importantly to me, lighter and smaller) than a Zeon 8-S from Northridge, but still almost all US made. And Bubba provides WLL and breaking strength for all their lines, which Warn doesn't for their synthetic stuff (which is super silly IMO).

Sponsored

 

[Gmanjeeper]

Thanks! Pretty sure the average NC meth tweaker would just steal my muffler thinking it's a cat lol. Not sure anyone outside of Jeepers would even know how to disengage the winch clutch around here, but either way, she's locked in my shop when I'm not in her, so low odds. Unless the field mice band up to do it lol.

And yeah, Bubba Rope is definitely proud of their stuff. What I will say to help me rationalize the bougieness, lol, is that the Warn M8-S (their synthetic version of the same winch) costs $300 more in MSRP than I paid for my steel rope version + the Bubba line. MSRP is always funky, since most places run under MSRP if they want to move product (especially these days), and so vs Northridge's last price I saw, the upgrade to the Bubba line cost a little over $100 over their price on the M8-S. And came in cheaper (and more importantly to me, lighter and smaller) than a Zeon 8-S from Northridge, but still almost all US made. And Bubba provides WLL and breaking strength for all their lines, which Warn doesn't for their synthetic stuff (which is super silly IMO).

Very good thread! I am 90 percent sure that, at least for the foreseeable future, I want to leave my 2 door JLR stock. We do light to moderate trails in Colorado once a year or so and this next fall we are also probably going to Moab for easy to moderate trails. Given this, I am thinking about adding an oil pan skid and either the Rancho diff skids or aftermarket diff covers. As I understand from your thread you went with the diff skids vs new covers. On your stock set up, I guess the loss of ground clearance with the skid was not a problem, correct? Also , I am looking at the MORE oil pan skid, probably aluminum. How did your install go and how does it affect oil changes.
Are there any other skids (like rear LCA ) that you recommend for occasional easy To moderate trails? Thanks.

 

[Gmanjeeper]

Thanks! Pretty sure the average NC meth tweaker would just steal my muffler thinking it's a cat lol. Not sure anyone outside of Jeepers would even know how to disengage the winch clutch around here, but either way, she's locked in my shop when I'm not in her, so low odds. Unless the field mice band up to do it lol.

And yeah, Bubba Rope is definitely proud of their stuff. What I will say to help me rationalize the bougieness, lol, is that the Warn M8-S (their synthetic version of the same winch) costs $300 more in MSRP than I paid for my steel rope version + the Bubba line. MSRP is always funky, since most places run under MSRP if they want to move product (especially these days), and so vs Northridge's last price I saw, the upgrade to the Bubba line cost a little over $100 over their price on the M8-S. And came in cheaper (and more importantly to me, lighter and smaller) than a Zeon 8-S from Northridge, but still almost all US made. And Bubba provides WLL and breaking strength for all their lines, which Warn doesn't for their synthetic stuff (which is super silly IMO).

One more thing. Any issues with either drive line clearance or ground clearance with the MORE oil pan skid on a stock JLR? Thanks again.

 

[blnewt]

Nice to hear you pay it forward @Remorseless w/ that Rubi suspension set going to @J.Ferreira things like this is what makes this the best Jeep site around, and restores some faith in mankind, lol

 

[Remorseless]

Very good thread! I am 90 percent sure that, at least for the foreseeable future, I want to leave my 2 door JLR stock. We do light to moderate trails in Colorado once a year or so and this next fall we are also probably going to Moab for easy to moderate trails. Given this, I am thinking about adding an oil pan skid and either the Rancho diff skids or aftermarket diff covers. As I understand from your thread you went with the diff skids vs new covers. On your stock set up, I guess the loss of ground clearance with the skid was not a problem, correct? Also , I am looking at the MORE oil pan skid, probably aluminum. How did your install go and how does it affect oil changes.
Are there any other skids (like rear LCA ) that you recommend for occasional easy To moderate trails? Thanks.

One more thing. Any issues with either drive line clearance or ground clearance with the MORE oil pan skid on a stock JLR? Thanks again.

Yep, no issues with loss of ground clearance - just whacked the skid when ground clearance ran out, nothing horrible. Did turtle out once or twice on wet days when I didn't have enough traction to keep the line I wanted to take, but no ill effects to Jeep or skids.

MORE oil pan skid install was straight forward, only hiccup was it being a pain in the ass to get the driver's side motor mount bracket installed due to lack of room (damn near everything on modern Jeeps is hard to reach lol) and the powder coat on the bracket being juuuuust thick enough that I had to thread the bolt through the powder coat and through the nut, both. Wasn't a big deal, just took a while with hand tools with limited space - like 3 or 4 clicks on the ratchet/ratcheting box wrench at a time kind of thing. But, that's for a 2.0 - not sure if the mounting is the same for a 3.6.

For oil changes, mine's the 2.0 so I've got a traditional oil filter down near the skid. Draining the oil from the engine oil pan is absolutely no problem, the hole they provide in the skid is excellent and the flow doesn't hit the skid for me. The oil filter, however, taking that out was a little tougher than stock - the skid is right where your hand/arm wants to be to unscrew the filter normally - and so I had to use a filter wrench (this one is the one I have Amazon.com: Lisle 63600 Oil Filter Tool,U.S.,2-1/2 - 3-1/8 : Automotive) on an extension. Once broke loose, it did spill oil into the skid - but they've got a v-shaped dam welded at the back of the drain hole for the oil pan access and this caught the oil flow and it drained into my bucket. With a 3.6 with the top-mount oil filter (if that's what you've got) this isn't an issue. Not even a big issue with the 2.0 - just takes a little bit of extra paper towels to wipe up the inside of the skid when done.

For what other skids I'd recommend - that really does depend on how "moderate" your definition of a moderate trail is. I can tell you that I've used every skid I've put on with what I consider a moderate trail. What I can give that may help with insight is that I think the most used skid I put on is my gas tank skid - it's so long, it's what you bottom out on most - followed by the back 4" of the oil pan skid and my diff skids (since you do lose some clearance with them). The shock tower skids and LCA skids I've hit less than I've expected, but I have still hit them.

Zero issues with driveline clearance with the MORE brackets for around 3,000 miles stock.

Nice to hear you pay it forward @Remorseless w/ that Rubi suspension set going to @J.Ferreira things like this is what makes this the best Jeep site around, and restores some faith in mankind, lol

Yeah man, happy to see the suspension go to a happy home, and happy it'll get used!

 

[Gmanjeeper]

Yep, no issues with loss of ground clearance - just whacked the skid when ground clearance ran out, nothing horrible. Did turtle out once or twice on wet days when I didn't have enough traction to keep the line I wanted to take, but no ill effects to Jeep or skids.

MORE oil pan skid install was straight forward, only hiccup was it being a pain in the ass to get the driver's side motor mount bracket installed due to lack of room (damn near everything on modern Jeeps is hard to reach lol) and the powder coat on the bracket being juuuuust thick enough that I had to thread the bolt through the powder coat and through the nut, both. Wasn't a big deal, just took a while with hand tools with limited space - like 3 or 4 clicks on the ratchet/ratcheting box wrench at a time kind of thing. But, that's for a 2.0 - not sure if the mounting is the same for a 3.6.

For oil changes, mine's the 2.0 so I've got a traditional oil filter down near the skid. Draining the oil from the engine oil pan is absolutely no problem, the hole they provide in the skid is excellent and the flow doesn't hit the skid for me. The oil filter, however, taking that out was a little tougher than stock - the skid is right where your hand/arm wants to be to unscrew the filter normally - and so I had to use a filter wrench (this one is the one I have Amazon.com: Lisle 63600 Oil Filter Tool,U.S.,2-1/2 - 3-1/8 : Automotive) on an extension. Once broke loose, it did spill oil into the skid - but they've got a v-shaped dam welded at the back of the drain hole for the oil pan access and this caught the oil flow and it drained into my bucket. With a 3.6 with the top-mount oil filter (if that's what you've got) this isn't an issue. Not even a big issue with the 2.0 - just takes a little bit of extra paper towels to wipe up the inside of the skid when done.

For what other skids I'd recommend - that really does depend on how "moderate" your definition of a moderate trail is. I can tell you that I've used every skid I've put on with what I consider a moderate trail. What I can give that may help with insight is that I think the most used skid I put on is my gas tank skid - it's so long, it's what you bottom out on most - followed by the back 4" of the oil pan skid and my diff skids (since you do lose some clearance with them). The shock tower skids and LCA skids I've hit less than I've expected, but I have still hit them.

Zero issues with driveline clearance with the MORE brackets for around 3,000 miles stock.



Yeah man, happy to see the suspension go to a happy home, and happy it'll get used!

Thanks for your response. I am definitely doing the oil pan skid and I also want to protect the diffs since they are pretty much the low hanging fruit. If you had it to do over, for a stock JLR, would you do diff skids (Rancho) or heavier duty diff covers? By the way, I also have the 2.0.

 

[Remorseless]

Thanks for your response. I am definitely doing the oil pan skid and I also want to protect the diffs since they are pretty much the low hanging fruit. If you had it to do over, for a stock JLR, would you do diff skids (Rancho) or heavier duty diff covers? By the way, I also have the 2.0.

I ran beefier diff covers on my JK and now the skids on the JL, so I have some experience with both - overall I prefer the diff skids. They do decrease clearance some, and if you hit them a large number of times, or hard enough a few times, you will have to replace them. However, if I'm going to slide on something I'd rather it be an easily replaceable skid vs my actual diff housing. Keeps the bolts from getting boogered up a little better and overall keeps the diff housing away from the rocks better - a tradeoff I'll take. All of that said, I never had any issues beyond the occasional boogered up bolt with HD diff covers.

 

[Gmanjeeper]

I ran beefier diff covers on my JK and now the skids on the JL, so I have some experience with both - overall I prefer the diff skids. They do decrease clearance some, and if you hit them a large number of times, or hard enough a few times, you will have to replace them. However, if I'm going to slide on something I'd rather it be an easily replaceable skid vs my actual diff housing. Keeps the bolts from getting boogered up a little better and overall keeps the diff housing away from the rocks better - a tradeoff I'll take. All of that said, I never had any issues beyond the occasional boogered up bolt with HD diff covers.

Thanks

 

[Remorseless]

Forgot to update the other day - winch went in, it's very nice and low profile:

Did have to do some very slight clearancing of the OE bumper around the control box, but nothing extreme. Rope isn't tensioned yet, but will get that done hopefully this weekend. I do have some lessons learned from this one, namely that I would go with the 80' SKU of the winch line from Bubba Rope instead of the 100' if I had to do it again. Laying out all 100' like that, I'd rather have a short line extension in the Jeep vs a ton of line on the winch. Also, the Mopar filler plate and winch plate openings are really close to the winch line, at least hand feeding it in. If those corners are looking to be in the way when tensioning, I may have to pull the fairlead and grind on them some in order to ensure the rope doesn't snag any corners.

Also, looking at the Jeep after getting the winch and winch plate on I think I may have lost my gamble on the standard duty coil springs being enough spring rate. I wanted to keep the lighter spring rate to keep the articulation easy and ride light, but it's looking like I'm sitting 1/2" to 1" lower depending on the corner. JKS does warn that you want the HD springs with aftermarket bumpers, winch, and full size spare, so it was a gamble on my part that the OE bumpers and a light winch would be light enough to avoid eating up the early rate. Unfortunately, seems like it might not be.

So, Northridge has front/rear HD coils for $150 a set ( Jeep JL JKS 25in Front Coil Spring Kit HD - Jeep Rubicon 2018-2021 | JSPEC1252|Northridge4x4 , Jeep JL JKS 25in HD Rear Coil Spring Kit - Jeep Rubicon 2018-2021 | JSPEC1258|Northridge4x4 ) that I will likely be picking up. Love the ride of the springs with the shocks, so hoping the HD springs aren't too HD.

Anyway, the winch was the last major project for which I have parts. This year I'll be wrapping up with the Metalcloak rails and the springs, but not sure on timing for those. For the time being, the only project that I have imminently lined up is a small project to try and make a flat version of the rear fender closeout panels out of ABS ( Amazon.com: Duco ABS Plastic Sheet 1/8 Inch Thick 24" x 24 - Two-Sided Rigid ABS Sheet (Textured Plastic Front & Smooth Back) - DIY Home Decor and Robotics Competitions Use - Black Plastic Sheet (Pack of1) : Industrial & Scientific ). Hopefully I can make something that doesn't look like complete ass and stops the rubbing back there.

 

[Remorseless]

Welp, know the timing on the Metalcloak rails - 3-5 weeks out, springs coming from Northridge as well. Wife caught me window shopping again and told me to just get it over with lol. Pretty sure that's definitely it for what I can sneak into the build for this year, but at least it'll square me away on this stage of the build.

 

[Remorseless]

Well, got the winch tensioned this weekend and found another issue. The Factor 55 fairlead I chose apparently has a roughly 1-1/8" to 1-1/4" tall rope slot and this doesn't jive with the OE bumper, Mopar winch plate, and Mopar fairlead filler plate - which are right around 1-1/3" tall for the rope slot height, leaving less than a tenth of an inch of space top and bottom between the fairlead slot and the filler plate, bumper, and winch plate slots. Under load the rope just lightly rubs across the top edges of the rope slot cutouts in the filler plate, bumper, and winch plate. Ground on the filler plate/bumper/winch plate slots a little to smooth them out, but not sold on this as a long term solution. So... on the hunt for a fairlead with a narrower opening. Always the little things that are a pain in the ass

 

[Roky]

Well, got the winch tensioned this weekend and found another issue. The Factor 55 fairlead I chose apparently has a roughly 1-1/8" to 1-1/4" tall rope slot and this doesn't jive with the OE bumper, Mopar winch plate, and Mopar fairlead filler plate - which are right around 1-1/3" tall for the rope slot height, leaving less than a tenth of an inch of space top and bottom between the fairlead slot and the filler plate, bumper, and winch plate slots. Under load the rope just lightly rubs across the top edges of the rope slot cutouts in the filler plate, bumper, and winch plate. Ground on the filler plate/bumper/winch plate slots a little to smooth them out, but not sold on this as a long term solution. So... on the hunt for a fairlead with a narrower opening. Always the little things that are a pain in the ass

It would help if I could ? it …….?

 

[Remorseless]

It would help if I could ? it …….?

lol, not much to look at. Looks visually like there should be more clearance, but there's not when the line's under tension. Besides, nobody wants to see the blurry mess of a pic I'll take trying to get my phone to focus on something that's both close to the camera and dark lol

 

[Krondor]

lol, not much to look at. Looks visually like there should be more clearance, but there's not when the line's under tension. Besides, nobody wants to see the blurry mess of a pic I'll take trying to get my phone to focus on something that's both close to the camera and dark lol

 

[Remorseless]

Sponsored