ChattVol
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
*Updated 2/15/19
Per several requests, I’m doing a build thread to thank the great folks who have/are helping and pay it forward to help others who also have a fun/crazy case of “Jeepitis”. The journey began in late June 2018 when I purchased my first Jeep, a billet silver JL Sport S with tech package, hardtop, 6 speed and m186 front/m200 rear open differentials. This is a daily driver(20k miles/yr) and once/twice a month trail rider/adventure mobile and I work in a somewhat conservative workplace and don’t want anything too attention grabbing or inefficient.
Last month, I was not able to climb a moderate hill climb in 4wd low, bc I had open differentials with 2 tires spinning and the other 2 not pulling.(essentially 2wd) That's when I saw diff lockers in action for the first time and realized why/how they're a gamechanger. I then seriously considered trading for a rubicon to get 4.10 gearing/d44s/lockers/better brakes, but was being offered poor trade value considering mods already made, have to pay destination fee again and interest rates are higher....so it was more cost effective to have some fun building the sport.
To name a few, these folks have been unbelievably helpful:
@Sting_NC_USA
@TTEChris
@Sean K.
@deitrick1
@jeepfandotcom
@Swanny297
@Krondor
@rustyshakelford
Stock day 1:
Round 1: Added Sahara plastic steps, tinted front windows door sill protectors, K&N air filter, brighter Sylvia halogen headlights
Round 2: Added takeoff rubi wheels/tires/suspension(suspension provided 1.5” lift), black plasti-dipped front grill, Jeep logo and removed unlimited sticker, cut euro fender on front bumper, added Lange original manual lift in garage and bought power screw driver(can now be topless in 10 minutes without help), made door hangers from Ace Hardware 75lb ladder hangers with foam pool noodles padding & duct tape, fuel cap, rear seat recline kit, removed 1.5” of upholstery padding in driver seat and replaced with lower profile foam so I sat lower and head wasn’t touching roll bar. I'm 6'3" tall with longer torso and seat is still comfortable.
Round 3: Big upgrade to sound system- custom trimmed speaker holes to fit Hertz 5.25” components in front, Hertz 5.25” coaxials in rear, Alpine 4 channel AMP, JL Audio 8” sub with built in 250 watt amp with front console mounted bass knob, running everything through JL Fix 86 sound processor, removed interior trim/carpet and added 1 layer of 80 mil Noico sound deadener to tub, a little on doors, under hood, Hothead Headliner with sound deadener. Sound deadening work was time consuming and at 75 mph cruising on hwy, it dropped avg interior sound decibels from 75 DB to 70 DB.(was noticeable and helped sound quality a little, but prob wouldn’t do it again) The sound quality is legit...noticeably better than the Alpine system. (@Sting_NC_USA is a wizard with anything sound related)
8" Sub mounted to wheelwell;
Round 4: Sold rubi tires and Sahara side steps, added 315/70/17 ko2 tires on rubi wheels at 33 PSI,(rides just like the 285/70/17 ko2’s, 3.45 gearing struggles a bit and tires rub solidly on control arms when near full lock) bought tazer and calibrated speedometer with tires. Did a 40 mile hwy cruise and averaged 22.5mpg at 75mph on flat hwy with next to no wind. I then bought a air compressor that hooks up to the battery and smittybilt quick deflator, ordered Roam frame mounted steps/sliders.
Round 5: Ordered takeoff JLUR front and rear d44 axles/brakes/tie rod/drag link, RK 2.5" Adventure Stage 1 lift with RK TT shocks & LOD spare tire relocation kit. I was hoping 1.5” wider rubi axles will fix tire rub, use current sport drive shafts as the front driveshaft is .75” longer flange to flange compared with a JLUR with mopar lift. The sport’s rear driveshaft measured 1” longer which my local axle shop said would work fine. Installing RK Adventure 2.5” stage 1 lift with RK TT shocks and bump stops. Bought 4 button mopar aux switches to wire lockers in center cubby hole on lower portion of dash, ordered 2 mopar e-locker harnesses to wire lockers. @TTEChris has been an encyclopedia and unbelievably willing to help.
Round 6A: Install Day- JLUR D44 conversion & RK 2.5" lift.(took 12 hrs with 2 friends + me being the grunt helper) Axle conversion went pretty well...these jlur axles felt about 100lbs heavier than the m180 & m200 axles...prob 450 lbs for front and 350lbs for rear. The sport driveshaft lengths lined up nicely with the flanges matching. They had to do a little grinding on a tab on front rubi brakes to get them to fit. E-brake lines are tighter due to wider axles. Had to buy rubi tie rod and drag link bc the sport parts are too short. Had the lockers wired to aux switches. My tazer wouldnt stop a auto start/stop alert from triggering, so had to get the computer reflashed by jeep to reflect new 4.10 gearing. I love these gears...the 3.45 gearing was striggling with the 315/70/17 tires....it now pulls similiar to stock 31" tires with 3.45 gearing. Here are some install pics:
Round 6B: RK JLU Adventure 2.5" with TT shock install and LOD tire relocator during axle conversion. I bought this lift kit to install during the swap to save on labor. The RK RRD Twin Tube shocks are:
http://www.rockkrawler.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=JL25AS1-4TT
Marcus @River City Offroad was very helpful and expedited shipping to get the kit here on time. I went with RK over the Mopar kit bc of RK's reputation, longer shock travel, no reports of bowing coils, adjustable trackbar, lower control arms, greasable joints and proper coil pads. The twin tube shocks specs are:
RK advertises this lift providing a 2.5" lift to a jl rubicon and considering I had a takeoff rubi suspension, expectations were to gain around 2.5" and remove some of the rake. When we put it on the ground with lift installed, the rake was gone, but it didnt seem to have gained 2.5"...especially in the rear.
Before lift
After 2.5" lift with same tires:
I measured the height from top of axle to frame in front and rear and then measured 2 stock rubi's at a local dealer the same way. The rear on mine measured .5" taller and the front was 1.75" taller. I had my local jeep offroad installer check to see if we had installed something wrong causing the minimal height gain and he said everything looked good except he turned a front coil slightly to fully seat it...buy that didnt affect height. I called/emailed axle to frame measurement pics to RK several times clearly showing the lift was atleast and inch short and to see if the could have sent me a 1.5" coils and they claimed the coils were correct. They offered to ship 3.5" coils for free if I would pay return freight for these coils. Considering labor cost to swap coils and freight and the fact that I was concerned RK would send true 3.5" lift coils and that would be too tall considering I wanted 2.5", I was over RK at this point, so I went with another company's 2.5" coils.
The other confusing thing about RK coils is the coils had the same part # 04186(front coil) 00215(rear coils)as their coils used on JK's and even found it used on a TJ! You would think they would use different part #'s for different height lifts and also have different part #'s for the JK and JL. This leads me to believe they didnt customize coils for the JL and are selling previous model coils.
I also wish the lift didnt call for cutting the axle mount bracket to allow room for the LCA's to droop without bottoming out,(see pic)
In my opinion, RK should have shaped the front lower control arms to allow better tire clearance so the arms have a slight bend in towards the midline like stock arms and most other quality lift kits. The arms angle up, but are straight in terms of having no bend away from tires. (See pic)
Lastly, 2 of my installers each had one grease fittings break while greasing later and access to grease the LCA's fitting requires unbolting the LCA or making a bigger cut out of the axle mount bracket, which I didnt want to do. See instructions
The RK RRD TT front shocks that came with this lift also are not offset like the mopar lift fox shocks and are bending a bit when fully extended...see pic
In contrast, here is the mopar lift shocks with offset. Metalcloak has offset lower shock mount brackets to keep the shocks off the frame.
If I could redo the lift, I would go with Metalcloak.
Round 7: Added Roam steps, spray painted exhaust area black and talked with @TTEChris who was very helpful telling me about his wife's @TankGirl Roam 2.5" coils and how they liked them. He sent measurements and pics and made me a great deal on them. Compared to the RK lift, they lifted the front 1" higher and rear 1.5" and the ride softened and was very close to stock on 315/70/17 k02's class c at 32psi. Added RK sway bar quick disconnects(RK brackets didnt fit to allow bolt to fit through the holes...had to grind a bit), added 3 washers to steering bump stop to eliminated tire rub at full lock and did some flex testing.
Pics with Roam coils..
View attachment 125855
Round 8: Added Quadratec 41' 17×8.5 +10 offset wheels, Metalcloak stabilizer/relocation, takeoff rubi fenders and liners to allow room for articulation as the tires rubbed the lower sport fender lip with the lower offset wheels on my last trail ride. The wheels allowed full steering clearance...so I removed the washers from the steering stops. The tires look a bit small with the rubi fenders...I'll prob go to 37's when these wear out.
The stabilizer helped with reduce some bump steer and vibrations. I also like that it relocated it above the tie rod.
Bumper and winch are next..
Per several requests, I’m doing a build thread to thank the great folks who have/are helping and pay it forward to help others who also have a fun/crazy case of “Jeepitis”. The journey began in late June 2018 when I purchased my first Jeep, a billet silver JL Sport S with tech package, hardtop, 6 speed and m186 front/m200 rear open differentials. This is a daily driver(20k miles/yr) and once/twice a month trail rider/adventure mobile and I work in a somewhat conservative workplace and don’t want anything too attention grabbing or inefficient.
Last month, I was not able to climb a moderate hill climb in 4wd low, bc I had open differentials with 2 tires spinning and the other 2 not pulling.(essentially 2wd) That's when I saw diff lockers in action for the first time and realized why/how they're a gamechanger. I then seriously considered trading for a rubicon to get 4.10 gearing/d44s/lockers/better brakes, but was being offered poor trade value considering mods already made, have to pay destination fee again and interest rates are higher....so it was more cost effective to have some fun building the sport.
To name a few, these folks have been unbelievably helpful:
@Sting_NC_USA
@TTEChris
@Sean K.
@deitrick1
@jeepfandotcom
@Swanny297
@Krondor
@rustyshakelford
Stock day 1:
Round 1: Added Sahara plastic steps, tinted front windows door sill protectors, K&N air filter, brighter Sylvia halogen headlights
Round 2: Added takeoff rubi wheels/tires/suspension(suspension provided 1.5” lift), black plasti-dipped front grill, Jeep logo and removed unlimited sticker, cut euro fender on front bumper, added Lange original manual lift in garage and bought power screw driver(can now be topless in 10 minutes without help), made door hangers from Ace Hardware 75lb ladder hangers with foam pool noodles padding & duct tape, fuel cap, rear seat recline kit, removed 1.5” of upholstery padding in driver seat and replaced with lower profile foam so I sat lower and head wasn’t touching roll bar. I'm 6'3" tall with longer torso and seat is still comfortable.
Round 3: Big upgrade to sound system- custom trimmed speaker holes to fit Hertz 5.25” components in front, Hertz 5.25” coaxials in rear, Alpine 4 channel AMP, JL Audio 8” sub with built in 250 watt amp with front console mounted bass knob, running everything through JL Fix 86 sound processor, removed interior trim/carpet and added 1 layer of 80 mil Noico sound deadener to tub, a little on doors, under hood, Hothead Headliner with sound deadener. Sound deadening work was time consuming and at 75 mph cruising on hwy, it dropped avg interior sound decibels from 75 DB to 70 DB.(was noticeable and helped sound quality a little, but prob wouldn’t do it again) The sound quality is legit...noticeably better than the Alpine system. (@Sting_NC_USA is a wizard with anything sound related)
8" Sub mounted to wheelwell;
Round 4: Sold rubi tires and Sahara side steps, added 315/70/17 ko2 tires on rubi wheels at 33 PSI,(rides just like the 285/70/17 ko2’s, 3.45 gearing struggles a bit and tires rub solidly on control arms when near full lock) bought tazer and calibrated speedometer with tires. Did a 40 mile hwy cruise and averaged 22.5mpg at 75mph on flat hwy with next to no wind. I then bought a air compressor that hooks up to the battery and smittybilt quick deflator, ordered Roam frame mounted steps/sliders.
Round 5: Ordered takeoff JLUR front and rear d44 axles/brakes/tie rod/drag link, RK 2.5" Adventure Stage 1 lift with RK TT shocks & LOD spare tire relocation kit. I was hoping 1.5” wider rubi axles will fix tire rub, use current sport drive shafts as the front driveshaft is .75” longer flange to flange compared with a JLUR with mopar lift. The sport’s rear driveshaft measured 1” longer which my local axle shop said would work fine. Installing RK Adventure 2.5” stage 1 lift with RK TT shocks and bump stops. Bought 4 button mopar aux switches to wire lockers in center cubby hole on lower portion of dash, ordered 2 mopar e-locker harnesses to wire lockers. @TTEChris has been an encyclopedia and unbelievably willing to help.
Round 6A: Install Day- JLUR D44 conversion & RK 2.5" lift.(took 12 hrs with 2 friends + me being the grunt helper) Axle conversion went pretty well...these jlur axles felt about 100lbs heavier than the m180 & m200 axles...prob 450 lbs for front and 350lbs for rear. The sport driveshaft lengths lined up nicely with the flanges matching. They had to do a little grinding on a tab on front rubi brakes to get them to fit. E-brake lines are tighter due to wider axles. Had to buy rubi tie rod and drag link bc the sport parts are too short. Had the lockers wired to aux switches. My tazer wouldnt stop a auto start/stop alert from triggering, so had to get the computer reflashed by jeep to reflect new 4.10 gearing. I love these gears...the 3.45 gearing was striggling with the 315/70/17 tires....it now pulls similiar to stock 31" tires with 3.45 gearing. Here are some install pics:
Round 6B: RK JLU Adventure 2.5" with TT shock install and LOD tire relocator during axle conversion. I bought this lift kit to install during the swap to save on labor. The RK RRD Twin Tube shocks are:
http://www.rockkrawler.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=JL25AS1-4TT
Marcus @River City Offroad was very helpful and expedited shipping to get the kit here on time. I went with RK over the Mopar kit bc of RK's reputation, longer shock travel, no reports of bowing coils, adjustable trackbar, lower control arms, greasable joints and proper coil pads. The twin tube shocks specs are:
- (2) 11.8" Travel RRD Spec Twin Tube Front Shocks (Collapsed Length: 16.9") Extended 28.7"
- (2) 13.7" Travel RRD Spec Twin Tube Rear Shocks (Collapsed Length: 18.4") Extended 32.1"
RK advertises this lift providing a 2.5" lift to a jl rubicon and considering I had a takeoff rubi suspension, expectations were to gain around 2.5" and remove some of the rake. When we put it on the ground with lift installed, the rake was gone, but it didnt seem to have gained 2.5"...especially in the rear.
Before lift
After 2.5" lift with same tires:
I measured the height from top of axle to frame in front and rear and then measured 2 stock rubi's at a local dealer the same way. The rear on mine measured .5" taller and the front was 1.75" taller. I had my local jeep offroad installer check to see if we had installed something wrong causing the minimal height gain and he said everything looked good except he turned a front coil slightly to fully seat it...buy that didnt affect height. I called/emailed axle to frame measurement pics to RK several times clearly showing the lift was atleast and inch short and to see if the could have sent me a 1.5" coils and they claimed the coils were correct. They offered to ship 3.5" coils for free if I would pay return freight for these coils. Considering labor cost to swap coils and freight and the fact that I was concerned RK would send true 3.5" lift coils and that would be too tall considering I wanted 2.5", I was over RK at this point, so I went with another company's 2.5" coils.
The other confusing thing about RK coils is the coils had the same part # 04186(front coil) 00215(rear coils)as their coils used on JK's and even found it used on a TJ! You would think they would use different part #'s for different height lifts and also have different part #'s for the JK and JL. This leads me to believe they didnt customize coils for the JL and are selling previous model coils.
I also wish the lift didnt call for cutting the axle mount bracket to allow room for the LCA's to droop without bottoming out,(see pic)
In my opinion, RK should have shaped the front lower control arms to allow better tire clearance so the arms have a slight bend in towards the midline like stock arms and most other quality lift kits. The arms angle up, but are straight in terms of having no bend away from tires. (See pic)
Lastly, 2 of my installers each had one grease fittings break while greasing later and access to grease the LCA's fitting requires unbolting the LCA or making a bigger cut out of the axle mount bracket, which I didnt want to do. See instructions
The RK RRD TT front shocks that came with this lift also are not offset like the mopar lift fox shocks and are bending a bit when fully extended...see pic
In contrast, here is the mopar lift shocks with offset. Metalcloak has offset lower shock mount brackets to keep the shocks off the frame.
If I could redo the lift, I would go with Metalcloak.
Round 7: Added Roam steps, spray painted exhaust area black and talked with @TTEChris who was very helpful telling me about his wife's @TankGirl Roam 2.5" coils and how they liked them. He sent measurements and pics and made me a great deal on them. Compared to the RK lift, they lifted the front 1" higher and rear 1.5" and the ride softened and was very close to stock on 315/70/17 k02's class c at 32psi. Added RK sway bar quick disconnects(RK brackets didnt fit to allow bolt to fit through the holes...had to grind a bit), added 3 washers to steering bump stop to eliminated tire rub at full lock and did some flex testing.
Pics with Roam coils..
View attachment 125855
Round 8: Added Quadratec 41' 17×8.5 +10 offset wheels, Metalcloak stabilizer/relocation, takeoff rubi fenders and liners to allow room for articulation as the tires rubbed the lower sport fender lip with the lower offset wheels on my last trail ride. The wheels allowed full steering clearance...so I removed the washers from the steering stops. The tires look a bit small with the rubi fenders...I'll prob go to 37's when these wear out.
The stabilizer helped with reduce some bump steer and vibrations. I also like that it relocated it above the tie rod.
Bumper and winch are next..
Sponsored
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