'22 JLR 2.0T build progress/wheeling thread

[Remorseless]

Another day trip in the books, was a good time. Followed the same trail path as last time but played around with some different lines on Dickey Bell and the back side of Daniel. Been wheeling at Uwharrie about a decade and noticed I've fallen into a routine with how I approach every trail and obstacle, so mixing it up some. When we arrived at Dickey Bell, there was an XJ who had busted his tie rod on one of the paths up to the obstacle and that afforded us the opportunity to stand around and BS for a bit before we ran the trail and my buddy decided to mix it up as well.

Below is my buddy taking his JKU up a line he hasn't tried before. Unfortunately it didn't work out and the big rock he's on top of ended up catching his side step halfway down when his front axle dropped down and his rear wasn't climbing yet. Tube step held up decent, big dent in the bottom, but no body contact and not overly deformed.

Better line was just to the inside of the rock and then he was up and through:

I ended up taking a slightly different line than him due to wheelbase and lockers. Overall though, fairly similar.

Of course, we have to cap off the day with that gorgeous view off the top of Daniel. More on Daniel in the following damage post...

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[Remorseless]

So, fairly light on the damage post except for what happened on Daniel - touched pretty much every skid underneath, plus the front driver's side LCA, LCA bracket, rear driver's side body mount just a touch (how, I have no clue), and the driver's front fender flare. But the big thing was the event on Daniel.

So, we'd had fairly light traffic on the trails all day and was going well coming up the back side of Daniel up until we hit the first fun area. We ran smack dab into a group of ~40 Broncos. We should have turned around but really wanted to go see the views from the top, with some of the trees just starting to turn. After waiting for a long time for them to get their procession up the trail, get their drone shots, and find places to park their vehicles, we proceeded up.

The back side of Daniel is nice in that there are a great number of paths you can take. Unfortunately, the path up that I like to take with the stock Jeep was partially blocked by a dude bro in his Bronco. So, in order to avoid causing a scene and in the interest of escaping the madness, I chose a hard-for-stock line that was easier to line up on. Start up and bottomed out, no problem, I'm armored up, back up and try again. Same result, sitting on the belly. Dude bro in his Bronco tells me it looks like I gotta bump it. So bump I do - right into a rock with the front diff skid, stopping the Jeep dead in its tracks. The hit was very hard.

Skid's pretty goobered up - twisted it pretty good so it no longer sits straight, u-bolt is twisted out of shape and stripped some threads. Pretty sure it's done for.

Mounting arms no longer in the same plane.

Twisted about a half inch to the driver's side

Very glad I had that skid for this trip. That hit would very likely have caved the stock diff cover in and ruined my day (and the R&P). Instead, axle is good to go and the event was a good reminder of why it's important to trust your spotter (and not listen to some random dude bro), not let yourself get flustered (failed miserably here, I just wanted away from that massive group), and to avoid too much throttle (obviously I failed here too). Basic stuff that I'd clearly gotten complacent about given the routineness of this trip, but thankfully that @RanchoShocks skid bailed me out.

 

[Roky]

So, fairly light on the damage post except for what happened on Daniel - touched pretty much every skid underneath, plus the front driver's side LCA, LCA bracket, rear driver's side body mount just a touch (how, I have no clue), and the driver's front fender flare. But the big thing was the event on Daniel.

So, we'd had fairly light traffic on the trails all day and was going well coming up the back side of Daniel up until we hit the first fun area. We ran smack dab into a group of ~40 Broncos. We should have turned around but really wanted to go see the views from the top, with some of the trees just starting to turn. After waiting for a long time for them to get their procession up the trail, get their drone shots, and find places to park their vehicles, we proceeded up.

The back side of Daniel is nice in that there are a great number of paths you can take. Unfortunately, the path up that I like to take with the stock Jeep was partially blocked by a dude bro in his Bronco. So, in order to avoid causing a scene and in the interest of escaping the madness, I chose a hard-for-stock line that was easier to line up on. Start up and bottomed out, no problem, I'm armored up, back up and try again. Same result, sitting on the belly. Dude bro in his Bronco tells me it looks like I gotta bump it. So bump I do - right into a rock with the front diff skid, stopping the Jeep dead in its tracks. The hit was very hard.

Skid's pretty goobered up - twisted it pretty good so it no longer sits straight, u-bolt is twisted out of shape and stripped some threads. Pretty sure it's done for.

Mounting arms no longer in the same plane.

Twister about a half inch to the driver's side

Very glad I had that skid for this trip. That hit would very likely have caved the stock diff cover in and ruined my day (and the R&P). Instead, axle is good to go and the event was a good reminder of why it's important to trust your spotter (and not listen to some random dude bro), not let yourself get flustered (failed miserably here, I just wanted away from that massive group), and to avoid too much throttle (obviously I failed here too). Basic stuff that I'd clearly gotten complacent about given the routineness of this trip, but thankfully that @RanchoShocks skid bailed me out.

Time to lift it, so you can cruise on by the brahs…..

 

[Remorseless]

Time to lift it, so you can cruise on by the brahs…..

Wife said "I don't know if you're capable of not breaking stuff if it's not lifted. You drove the other Jeep lifted too long. Maybe we should just lift this one sooner rather than later."

Sounded a hell of a lot like permission to me

 

[yokramer]

Watching your R&D out in URE is great lol. Ordered myself a 2 door Rubi in Sarge last week and following along here has put a few parts on my early order list that weren't there before. I avoid quite a few of those lines in my 02 Xterra with its IFS and open diffs so Im looking forward to getting mine and maybe tagging along with y'all out there and trying out a tougher line for once.

 

[Remorseless]

Watching your R&D out in URE is great lol. Ordered myself a 2 door Rubi in Sarge last week and following along here has put a few parts on my early order list that weren't there before. I avoid quite a few of those lines in my 02 Xterra with its IFS and open diffs so Im looking forward to getting mine and maybe tagging along with y'all out there and trying out a tougher line for once.

Glad to hear you're getting a kick out of it lol. Definitely check the NC roll call thread ( North Carolina Roll Call | Page 350 | Jeep Wrangler Forums (JL / JLU) - Rubicon, Sahara, Sport, 4xe, 392 - JLwranglerforums.com). One of the best spots for forum stuff in/around NC.

 

[Remorseless]

Well, trip report time, but no photos of actual wheeling - we didn't get to run Dickey Bell like we normally do due to a kerfuffle with some folks stuck on the obstacles which blocked traffic for 2+ hours, but it afforded an opportunity to run some trails I had gotten out of the habit of running. We ended up doing Wolf's Den > Falls Dam > Waiting in line on Dickey Bell for an hour before giving up > Lunch > Dutch John > Slab Pile > Saw Mill > Rocky Mountain Loop. None of these trails push even my stock JLR to the point of needing to get out and spot. Dutch John used to, but it's been filled in for many years in a bid to control erosion. I don't envy the Forest Service's position of having to maintain trails with some difficulty but also protect the forest.

Anyway, was a moderately slippery day out at Uwharrie, top layer of clay was about the consistency of peanut butter and so it ended being a big cleaning day on Sunday:

We've got one more trip in December and then the trails close down for maintenance and preservation. I think we've got enough trips under our belt though that I can make a few observations about the Jeep and thoughts about its future:

• The stock MTs do well, clear out mud well, and grip well when aired down, I'm glad I chose these on the order
• The Mopar rock rails aren't worth the money. The driver's side has made contact with the body at the front underneath the fender flare and removed paint. It has been hit 4 or 5 times, but never hard. I believe body mount rails move more on the JL than the JK (I ran body mounted rails for all 10 years I had it) due to the aluminum body allowing greater flex. These have to go, but will probably be deprioritized under the lift, knuckles, ball joints, and winch. I think Shrockworks rails will work best with my current setup, but LOD Destroyers look nice too. Decisions, decisions...
• I'm very pleased with the skid setup. The MORE and Rancho skids have all held up well. Only skid that's had an issue was the front diff skid deforming under a big hit, but that was my stupidity and not the skid's issue. It saved my front diff in October and I'm very thankful.
• I think the lift I've settled on is the @JKS Manufacturing J-Konnect 3" with Fox 2.5 DSCs. I love the way Fox shocks rode on my past Jeep and want coils that jive well with the shocks. Their fixed arms being .250 wall DOM is another plus. It also allows me to keep the stock front driveshaft for the time being. If/when that gets replaced, I can step up from the 2-3" shock to the 3.5-4.5" shock for further travel if I feel I need the extra travel up front. I'm honestly not anticipating that I will, most of my time off road is spent at Uwharrie and I expect this setup to be overkill for Uwharrie. Trips elsewhere will push it further than Uwharrie will, but that'll unfortunately only amount to one or two trips a year, and so even with limited flex from the 2-3" sized shocks I expect the system to be good enough for those limited trips that I can still do fun lines.
• I need wheels with a little poke. I've tagged the fender flares a number of times on stuff I didn't expect. Nothing beyond cosmetic damage to the flares. Between the exposed bolt heads and the lower offset I've rethought doing AEV Borahs for my wheels. KMC Riots in 0 offset, 17x8.5 will be what I likely go with, wrapped in Grabber X3s. Some poke, but less offset than the 17x9s. Trying to balance poke with the added strain on ball joints, steering, and wheel hub.
• I expected to have destroyed the stock steering stab and have not yet. Less concerned about relocating a replacement stabilizer, will probably stick the adjustable Falcon in the stock spot. Stock bumpers are holding up well too. Will reinforce the rear since it's a known thing that it flexes under impact (guess just bigger impacts than I've had), but happy to keep the OEMs since they're fairly light. Looking at making a cheapo closeout panel to protect the wiring in the front bumper. ABS sheets are cheap on Amazon, shouldn't take much to make a template and attach it to the existing bolt holes.
• Curious to see how the Mopar tailgate reinforcement holds up to the KMCs+37s. The Mopar reinforcement is lighter than the Teraflex unit that I would replace it with, so I'm hopeful the combo of the Teraflex adjustable carrier + Mopar reinforcement will meet my needs. If not, I'll do the Teraflex carrier + Teraflex reinforcement. Their carrier/reinforcement for the JK was amazing and I'm sure their JL unit is too.

Anyway, hoping this winter involves some install days before the trails open back up in April. Also hoping to have some of the upgrades done before a hopeful Windrock trip in April. We'll see how the trip in December goes before things close down, but I don't expect much will change between now and then. Looking forward to getting some height on the Jeep.

 

[ExpeditionBuilds]

I've been running the Mopar Tailgate Reinforcement with my 37's/Beadlocks(heavy) and it's been great so far.


-Steven

 

[Remorseless]

I've been running the Mopar Tailgate Reinforcement with my 37's/Beadlocks(heavy) and it's been great so far.


-Steven

Glad to hear, which carrier do you run with the Mopar reinforcement?

 

[ExpeditionBuilds]

Glad to hear, which carrier do you run with the Mopar reinforcement?

Sorry I left that out. The TeraFlex Alpha HD Adj. Spare Tire Mount Kit. Another great piece of gear.

-Steven

 

[Krondor]

Great build man!

I think I need to venture out and see what you all are up to more often. Going with the Rancho skid for my rear shocks, but you also went with a skid for the upper rear LCA mount?

 

[STW]

...

• The Mopar rock rails aren't worth the money. The driver's side has made contact with the body at the front underneath the fender flare and removed paint. It has been hit 4 or 5 times, but never hard. I believe body mount rails move more on the JL than the JK (I ran body mounted rails for all 10 years I had it) due to the aluminum body allowing greater flex. These have to go, but will probably be deprioritized under the lift, knuckles, ball joints, and winch. I think Shrockworks rails will work best with my current setup, but LOD Destroyers look nice too. Decisions, decisions...
• ...

The Mopar rock rails you mention are the ones that come on the Rubicon?
Just took my Rubi rock rails off this weekend and installed the Shrockworks sliders for 2door JL.
I was surprised by how much mud the OEM Rubi rock rails hold. The way they bolt onto the pinch seam and form a horizontal tray underneath doesn't have much of a way for the mud to be washed out or drain out. Mine on the new JLR was already packed with dried mud.

Hadn't considered that till removing them, but this is another advantage of the Shrockworks, or similar sliders--there is just no where for mud to be captured in the Shrockworks unless mud somehow gets into the tubes.

Installing the Shrockworks sliders went pretty much like other Shrockworks installs I've read about here, including before I ordered them, haha. In other words I spent some time running the die grinder to get things to fit or line up.

I'd read here about the need to modify a bit, but didn't really understand from the descriptions what or why. So I'll try again. The passenger side is just difficult for anything that mounts to the frame member since skids plates (including gas tank skid) bolt to the bottom of the frame member along most of it's length. (I don't know if only Rubicons have some of the skids or which ones are on all models.)
This is only an issue on the front passenger side frame mount where the Shrockwork's bolts to the bottom of the frame but the skid does too and is in the way. The instructions are not great but show enough to figure it out once you're under there looking and test fitting. IIRC, the instructions say to drop the skid and that would work because you can bolt it back after, even though part of the skid has to bend around the Shrockworks slider mount plate when you bolt it back on. I used a die grinder to remove a half circle of material from the edge of the skid right at the front underside bolt. A half circle 1" diameter or so. That way it bolted up without moving the skid but it turned out the back half of that front passenger side mount still had to fit under the skid--I got enough room by removing only one skid bolt and prying it open enough to fit the slider mount plate between it and the frame. Worked great.

There are finicky tricky bolt fits for this install. Only four bolts to place (each side) so you wouldn't think it should require patience but it does. I did the install single handedly and it's a pain to hold a 38 lb slider in place by yourself. I used a jack to hold it up, so think through that part. The 4door version slider will be heavier than 38 lb too.

After dealing with the passenger side skid, I thought the driver's side should be a piece of cake now that I knew how it all fits. But all Jeeps are built a little differently and mine had a little surprise...

.... the rear mount fit to the vertical bolt the Shrockworks uses in the rear body mount perch it fits up into. You don't use the huge body mount bolts, but there is a smaller bolt in the top of the perch used to hold the rear Shrockworks frame mount. The passenger side rear mount installed easily (it's the front mount that interferes with the skid). But that vertical bolt was drilled in a slightly different spot on the drivers side of my Jeep than on the passenger side, drilled a bit more toward the jeep's centerline so it didn't line up with the hole for it in the Shrockworks rear frame mount. Not Shrockworks fault probably, and they do use an elongated oblong hole to account for these build differences Jeep to Jeep. But mine was too far toward the midline even for that. Simple fix to use a die grinder to elongate the Shrokworks hole, but that is heavy duty thick steel. Afterward it lined right up and installed fine, but annoying after you expect it to work as easily as other side's rear mount did.

Anyway, I'm very happy with them, and recommend them. Just be prepared to need to modify a bit if there are surprises.

 

[Remorseless]

Great build man!

I think I need to venture out and see what you all are up to more often. Going with the Rancho skid for my rear shocks, but you also went with a skid for the upper rear LCA mount?

Yep, Rusty's frame-side rear LCA skid. Stout piece, but haven't touched it yet lol. I whacked that spot on the JK a fair number of times, but haven't touched it on the JL at all yet. Either it's due to the slightly different lines I've been running/obstacles I've been avoiding due to stockliness or it's some difference in location/wheelbase/etc between the JK and JL. Stout piece though, looked and felt high quality.

The Mopar rock rails you mention are the ones that come on the Rubicon?
Just took my Rubi rock rails off this weekend and installed the Shrockworks sliders for 2door JL.
I was surprised by how much mud the OEM Rubi rock rails hold. The way they bolt onto the pinch seam and form a horizontal tray underneath doesn't have much of a way for the mud to be washed out or drain out. Mine on the new JLR was already packed with dried mud.

Hadn't considered that till removing them, but this is another advantage of the Shrockworks, or similar sliders--there is just no where for mud to be captured in the Shrockworks unless mud somehow gets into the tubes.

Installing the Shrockworks sliders went pretty much like other Shrockworks installs I've read about here, including before I ordered them, haha. In other words I spent some time running the die grinder to get things to fit or line up.

I'd read here about the need to modify a bit, but didn't really understand from the descriptions what or why. So I'll try again. The passenger side is just difficult for anything that mounts to the frame member since skids plates (including gas tank skid) bolt to the bottom of the frame member along most of it's length. (I don't know if only Rubicons have some of the skids or which ones are on all models.)
This is only an issue on the front passenger side frame mount where the Shrockwork's bolts to the bottom of the frame but the skid does too and is in the way. The instructions are not great but show enough to figure it out once you're under there looking and test fitting. IIRC, the instructions say to drop the skid and that would work because you can bolt it back after, even though part of the skid has to bend around the Shrockworks slider mount plate when you bolt it back on. I used a die grinder to remove a half circle of material from the edge of the skid right at the front underside bolt. A half circle 1" diameter or so. That way it bolted up without moving the skid but it turned out the back half of that front passenger side mount still had to fit under the skid--I got enough room by removing only one skid bolt and prying it open enough to fit the slider mount plate between it and the frame. Worked great.

There are finicky tricky bolt fits for this install. Only four bolts to place (each side) so you wouldn't think it should require patience but it does. I did the install single handedly and it's a pain to hold a 38 lb slider in place by yourself. I used a jack to hold it up, so think through that part. The 4door version slider will be heavier than 38 lb too.

After dealing with the passenger side skid, I thought the driver's side should be a piece of cake now that I knew how it all fits. But all Jeeps are built a little differently and mine had a little surprise...

The second place I had to run the die grinder was the vertical bolt the Shrockworks uses in the rear body mount perch it fits up into. You don't use the huge body mount bolts, but there is a smaller bolt in the top of the perch us use to hold the rear Shrockworks frame mount. The passenger side rear mount installed easily (it's the passenger front mount that interferes with the skid). But that vertical bolt was drilled in a slightly different spot on the drivers side of my Jeep than on the passenger side, drilled a bit more toward the center so it didn't line up with the hole for it in the Shrockworks rear frame mount. Not Shrockworks fault probably, and they do use an elongated oblong hole to account for these build differences Jeep to Jeep. But mine was too far toward the midline even for that. Simple fix to use a die grinder to elongate the Shrokworks hole, but that is heavy duty thick steel. Afterward it lined right up and installed fine, but annoying after you expect it to work as easily as other side's rear mount did.

Anyway, I'm very happy with them, and recommend them. Just be prepared to need to modify a bit if there are surprises.

These Mopar rails are the optional ones - they stick out from the body some and can be used as a step if you got small feet. Was an attempt to meet the requirements of the missus to help her in/out, especially once it's taller.

And thanks for the heads up. I always keep the Dremel and a grinding kit handy for things like that. Would you happen to have any pictures of the area where the gas tank skid gave you trouble? I think I know where you're talking about, but wanted to be sure. I think my gas tank skid from MORE might interfere, which is a thing I knew I may run into with any of the popular bolt on rock rails.

 

[STW]

...

...Would you happen to have any pictures of the area where the gas tank skid gave you trouble? ...

The front passenger side shot shows the two bolts you place at the forward edge of the frame bracket. You can see the loosened skid plate below that. The dangling bolt (before getting snugged up) is the OEM skid plate bolt I loosened to pry the skid down a bit to slide the lower side of the Shrockworks front mount under there in between. This particular OEM skid ends right there at the left edge of the photo--you can see its rear corner.

you can see were I removed material from the skid to clear that lower bolt. But can also see why I had to pry the skid down a bit.

btw, I don't like that the lower bolt is so close to the edge of the front mount, enough to bend the washer a bit. These two Shrockworks bolts are attached to an L-shaped locater piece you slide inside a hole in the frame member behind that upper bolt. That makes it tricky to fit. The L-bracket is helpful in a blind placement like this; it locates the nut and bolt, which is good but you have to get the bolt in there.

The rear passenger side shot shows how the rear mount sort of determines how you place the front mount. It fits into this rear body mount housing and is located by an OEM nut/bolt in the upper part of that housing you can's see after install. So it's got to go there in that one spot and that locates where the front mount has to be. You just have to hope your Jeeps' frame holes were drilled close enough to standard to fit the model Shrockworks were using. This is the trouble they went to to make it frame mounted and not use the body mount bolts like many other sliders do. Stronger this way on the frame probably.

 

[Remorseless]

The front passenger side shot shows the two bolts you place at the forward edge of the frame bracket. You can see the loosened skid plate below that. The dangling bolt (before getting snugged up) is the OEM skid plate bolt I loosened to pry the skid down a bit to slide the lower side of the Shrockworks front mount under there in between. This particular OEM skid ends right there at the left edge of the photo--you can see its rear corner.

you can see were I removed material from the skid to clear that lower bolt. But can also see why I had to pry the skid down a bit.

btw, I don't like that the lower bolt is so close to the edge of the front mount, enough to bend the washer a bit. These two Shrockworks bolts are attached to an L-shaped locater piece you slide inside a hole in the frame member behind that upper bolt. That makes it tricky to fit. The L-bracket is helpful in a blind placement like this; it locates the nut and bolt, which is good but you have to get the bolt in there.

The rear passenger side shot shows how the rear mount sort of determines how you place the front mount. It fits into this rear body mount housing and is located by an OEM nut/bolt in the upper part of that housing you can's see after install. So it's got to go there in that one spot and that locates where the front mount has to be. You just have to hope your Jeeps' frame holes were drilled close enough to standard to fit the model Shrockworks were using. This is the trouble they went to to make it frame mounted and not use the body mount bolts like many other sliders do. Stronger this way on the frame probably.

Thanks for the pics! All that fishing through the frame looks frustrating, but should hold fairly secure. Looking at that, I might consider drilling a hole in the front passenger mount and seeing if I can get a bolt or self-tapping screw in there that isn't holding the mount via a slotted hole.

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