'22 JLR 2.0T build progress/wheeling thread

[Remorseless]

Steel knuckles showed up! Sometime after the holidays I think it'll be time for knuckles and ball joints.

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[Mikester86]

Steel knuckles showed up! Sometime after the holidays I think it'll be time for knuckles and ball joints.

Doesn’t sound like much fun, lol.

 

[Remorseless]

Doesn’t sound like much fun, lol.

Depends on what the weather feels like doing lol. This Saturday, where I'm at in NC, we're looking at a projected high of 29. Following Saturday we're looking at a projected high of 61. Just gotta wait for a day of suitable weather and get it done!

 

[Roky]

Steel knuckles showed up! Sometime after the holidays I think it'll be time for knuckles and ball joints.

Ah man….. you know your giving up 50 HP by not going with the orange right? …?

 

[Remorseless]

Ah man….. you know your giving up 50 HP by not going with the orange right? …?

I got a whole box of orange crayons just waiting to add some HP lmao

 

[Krondor]

Wait, no orange?

I'm out.

 

[Remorseless]

Whole bunch of @JKS Manufacturing goodies showed up today! Lift and shocks taking up bench space. Didn't do shit to the Jeep over the holidays, think I'm going to start working on ball joints this weekend if I can swing the quiet time. Anyway, enjoy some part porn:

 

[Krondor]

Sweet!

Can't wait for your impressions. The $400+ stabilizer worth it? Fixed control arms do the job well? etc

?

 

[Remorseless]

Sweet!

Can't wait for your impressions. The $400+ stabilizer worth it? Fixed control arms do the job well? etc

?

Ironically, despite trying to deliberately do things differently with this Jeep - this setup is very, very similar to the setup I ran on my JK - that had a fixed arm setup for front lowers, rear lowers, and rear uppers (stock front uppers), the LSC adjustable Fox 2.0 remote resis, and the ATS stabilizer.

Main difference with this Jeep is going to be dual rate, softer coils (on the JK I ran HD coils because I was an idiot and thought I was going to be loaded up enough to warrant HD coils - shocker, I'm not!) and DSC adjusters on the shocks. Rest of it is pretty similar, so I have some expectations.

My experience with the JK ATS was fantastic - an amazing unit. It was between the Fox and the Falcon stabilizers for this Jeep, but with the sale I got the Fox for less than the Falcon, so, easy choice. I expect it'll do great in the JL.

I expect that the fixed arms will do fine - with fixed arms it's just you can't readily mix and match suspension components as easily (mainly coils) because you can't compensate for changes in height - the arms are designed to correct caster and pinion angle for one lift height range and one height range only. Since I like the 2.5-3" height range, these will do the job just fine IMO. Only thing to really watch out for with them is bushing degradation. My fixed set on the JK I replaced the bushings once at 95k mi. Otherwise they were fine. Just won't flex like an arm with a heim joint, which you typically only get in adjustable arms.

Biggest benefit to me with fixed arms is that I'm a driveway installer and basically you just pop these in with the lift, center axle with your trackbar, set toe, and you're off to the trail. No need to worry about having the lengths exactly right side-to-side, no need to involve an alignment shop provided you use a good kit with well-built arms.

 

[Krondor]

Biggest benefit to me with fixed arms is that I'm a driveway installer and basically you just pop these in with the lift, center axle with your trackbar, set toe, and you're off to the trail. No need to worry about having the lengths exactly right side-to-side, no need to involve an alignment shop provided you use a good kit with well-built arms.

That's what I'm thinking.

I'm also thinking that my game changer lift might sell if I include the whole shibang. Though buying fixed control arms may negate any return on that investment. ?

Ah well, next Jeep. ?

 

[Remorseless]

Well, good/tough weekend with the Jeep. Got the stock ball joints and knuckles replaced. New ball joints are Dynatracs and the new knuckles are the Mopars. Was definitely not as smooth of an install as I would have preferred, but it's done and the Jeep's steering feels much less mushy. The mushiness comes down to the below, in my opinion:

These joints have only 3,000 miles on them under a stock Jeep, with only 4 or 5 decent wheeling trips. They should have WAY more resistance than this. The stock joints are pretty well garbage, in my opinion.

For the install, the first tip I have is to put the Jeep in 4 Hi. This causes the FAD to engage both the inner and outer shafts on the passenger side. This way, when you remove the outer axle shaft, the FAD collar is still coupled to the inner shaft and you don't have to open the FAD to realign things when reinstalling the outer axle shaft.

The second tip I would have is this - separating your ball joints from the knuckle is going to mar your knuckles. If you're wheeling enough to warrant new ball joints, I'd recommend replacing the knuckle with something stronger at the same time. You're going to want a pickle fork or ball joint separator as well to make the job much easier. The lighter weight of the aluminum knuckles makes it a hell of a lot harder to get it off the ball joint studs by just whacking the axle end forging with a hammer.

I spent a good two hours trying to whack the forging with a dead blow hammer and nada - too bad it took me that long to remember that I have a ball joint separator stuffed in a corner of the workshop lol, would have saved me some grief. At one point I ended up trying to see if I could use a breaker bar on the little 10mm hex end of the OEM ball joint stud on the driver's side lower ball joint to get the stud to twist loose from the knuckle and the stud just snapped in half. Fortunately, once I found my ball joint separator, this turned out to be necessary as the jaws didn't open wide enough without the stud being shortened (I ended up having to cut the stud down with a dremel on the passenger side).

Getting the knuckle off on the driver's side, where I started, is where I had my first goof - my dead blow hammer is a 3lb soft plastic hammer. It's always been enough to get ball joints to pop loose in the past in various other vehicles. Here, however, it wasn't. I'd been whacking the front of the end forging for a while per the Dynatrac instructions and missed once - ONCE - and caught the knuckle. The soft aluminum deformed a raised boss into which the brake shield bolts thread under a solid whack from a soft plastic hammer.

Once off, however, the ball joints pressed out easy. Putting in the lower ball joint on the driver's side, however, is where I had my second goof. I was too focused on making sure it seated straight that I failed to notice the jack screw for the ball joint press was biting into the bore for the upper ball joint. Pretty frustrated with myself for that - boogered up the bore a little on the upper ball joint bore, driver's side. Concentrated in one spot, so not horrible, and the ball joint seated fine (though the fit was tight enough it pushed up a splinter of steel). Fortunately the Dynatrac joints are tough enough it's not a big deal, just really frustrating. Solved this issue on the passenger side by creating a duct tape "bushing" around the jack screw for the part that was within the upper ball joint bore. That would be my last tip - keep an eye on your jack screw, make sure it ain't boogering anything up.

Anyway, everything else with the install was uneventful - unit bearings and axle shafts came out easy, Mopar steel knuckles just bolted right on, I didn't end up drowning in anti-seize, and the test drive went great. A lot of folks have reported having issues with the snap rings for the upper ball joint, but my snap ring pliers didn't seem to have any issues. This is the set I used: Astro Pneumatic Tool 94222 13" 4pc Large Internal/External Snap Ring Pliers , Black - - Amazon.com

Enjoy some shitty blurry pics of random parts of the install lol:

 

[Remorseless]

As a follow up to the above, I believe that steering will be on my list sooner rather than later. The JL steering links are definitely thick enough, but the rod ends are trash. There's nowhere near enough resistance to these joints to contribute to a solid steering feel. I don't even mind the crimped on ends - a crimp can be strong - but the joints really aren't great. Considering the Rusty's aluminum kit when the time comes: Rusty's Aluminum HD Steering System - JL Wrangler / JT Gladiator – Rusty's Off-Road Products (rustysoffroad.com)

 

[Remorseless]

That's what I'm thinking.

I'm also thinking that my game changer lift might sell if I include the whole shibang. Though buying fixed control arms may negate any return on that investment. ?

Ah well, next Jeep. ?

Totally missed this, but yeah, I wouldn't sell adjustable arms for fixed arms IMO. The ease of fixed arms is nice, but adjustable arms do the job well (better even, if the adjustability is important to you), are already adjusted in your case, and are a definite upgrade over stock.

 

[Remorseless]

Got the @RanchoShocks e-brake cable relocation bracket installed yesterday. Pretty straight forward install, only trouble I had was getting the driver's side cable hook back into the eyelet. Spent a solid 45 minutes trying to find the correct angle. Eventually I guess I cussed and yelled at it enough and it popped in. Passenger side was no issue, easy peasy.

Quick tip - a 1/2" box wrench fits over the barbed fitting that holds the cable to the axle bracket, no need for fancy pliers or tools:

All told, nice simple piece that positively locates the e-brake cables. Way better than just zip tying it after relocation like I did on my JK back in the day:

 

[RanchoShocks]

This right here!!!


All told, nice simple piece that positively locates the e-brake cables. Way better than just zip tying it after relocation like I did on my JK back in the day

Got the @RanchoShocks e-brake cable relocation bracket installed yesterday. Pretty straight forward install, only trouble I had was getting the driver's side cable hook back into the eyelet. Spent a solid 45 minutes trying to find the correct angle. Eventually I guess I cussed and yelled at it enough and it popped in. Passenger side was no issue, easy peasy.

Quick tip - a 1/2" box wrench fits over the barbed fitting that holds the cable to the axle bracket, no need for fancy pliers or tools:

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