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Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread!

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Chocolate Thunder

Chocolate Thunder

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I’ll see what the wife says. Isn’t there a big event there that day?

Scott
Not that I know of. If she can’t come, come anyway. I’m leaving mine at home.
 
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UPS came today. These will be getting 37” tires. I’m still trying to decide which ones though. Anybody have suggestions? Certainly not a mall crawler but not hardcore either. No snow, limited mud, more rocks and dirt off-road. Many more miles on pavement than off it, but it’s not a daily driver.

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I ran Nitto Ridge Grapplers on my JK build and am running them on my JL. Both Jeeps are my daily drivers.

The new hybrid M/T's are a huge advancement. The R.G's run quiet, are great in the wet and I love them aired down(10psi/beadlocks) on the trail.


-Steven
 
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I ran Nitto Ridge Grapplers on my JK build and am running them on my JL. Both Jeeps are my daily drivers.

The new hybrid M/T's are a huge advancement. The R.G's run quiet, are great in the wet and I love them aired down(10psi/beadlocks) on the trail.


-Steven
Thanks. They’re on the short list of tires I’m considering. Can you compare them to others you’ve run on Jeeps; where are they better or where do they fall short of other tires?
 

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Today I installed MetalCloak front and rear differential covers along with skid plates for both. Before installing them I had the covers and plates powder coated gloss black.

The installation is fairly straightforward. There is a tight clearance between my SteerSmarts front track bar and the new front diff cover, about 1/4 or 3/8” at the closest point. I don’t know if this’ll cause interference when wheeling but I guess I’ll find out. I did have to remove the frame side track bar mounting bolt to be able to move it up and down to access some of the upper fasteners.

The rear went much quicker and easier, no interference from the track bar. The rear skid went on quickly and easily.

View attachment 386951

Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D

@Metalcloak, why is the logo upside down on the rear differential skid?

Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! C61C3A36-0841-45A0-8C67-AB42BD67396D
looks great. As for the M being upside down, I think the press brake guy fed the material in there upside down. As for not catching it, they’re human I guess.

I have a couple in the shop and need to see if they are upside too. Wonder how big of a product run it was in.

Jeeps looking good, I think you’re going to have clearance issues with the front Diff and track bar though. You know you two are always welcome to put it on the rti ramp to check it though.

we’ve been doing a bunch of Nitto trail grapplers. They have been awesome and very low road noise

brett
 

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Thanks. They’re on the short list of tires I’m considering. Can you compare them to others you’ve run on Jeeps; where are they better or where do they fall short of other tires?
Sure, here we go:
- BFG TA KM2 Not good in the rain, not particularly smooth riding as well.

- GoodYear Duratracs/315's Great in the wet and snow(well siped), pretty quiet, ok offroad(sidewalls are soft).

- Mastercraft Courser MXT/37x12.50 Great bang for the buck. This was a great all around M/T tire both on and off road. My experience with these has me always considering the Cooper STT Pro.

- Nitto Ridge Grappler Smoother/quieter than all the above. They balance well. I saw a small MPG increase over the Mastercraft. Steering ease of turn-in could be felt when switching from the Coursor MXT's. Made in USA. I run a 'D' rated tire.

The other two tires on my short list the were the Cooper STT Pro and BFG KM3. I never liked the fact that the KM's run smaller. The Nitto's are closer to the stated size. I think the 37 hits the sweet spot, at least for what I what to do with my build.


-Steven
 
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looks great. As for the M being upside down, I think the press brake guy fed the material in there upside down. As for not catching it, they’re human I guess.

I have a couple in the shop and need to see if they are upside too. Wonder how big of a product run it was in.

Jeeps looking good, I think you’re going to have clearance issues with the front Diff and track bar though. You know you two are always welcome to put it on the rti ramp to check it though.

we’ve been doing a bunch of Nitto trail grapplers. They have been awesome and very low road noise

brett
Thanks. There’s probably enough clearance to drive on the street just fine, but I’m afraid that you may be right and it’ll rub off-road. I’ll get the MC track bar soon though.

I think the Trail Grapplers will not be civilized enough for me in everyday driving. The original KO2 surprised me with how quiet they are and the ride wasn’t harsh. The Patagonias are doing well but they are starting to get noisier as they wear which is to be expected.
 

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Great work documenting your build. Thanks for posting.

I like the OEM stubby bumper too. My brother and I cut kydex to fit as backing plates for mine. I used a heat gun to form the pieces and create a small indentation to accommodate the fog light wiring clip. (I don’t know what your backing plates are made of, but if they’re plastic a heat gun works wonders to adjust contours. I had to be careful with the heat gun, as the difference between not enough heat to shape the material and too much was very small.)
 

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Thanks. There’s probably enough clearance to drive on the street just fine, but I’m afraid that you may be right and it’ll rub off-road. I’ll get the MC track bar soon though.

I think the Trail Grapplers will not be civilized enough for me in everyday driving. The original KO2 surprised me with how quiet they are and the ride wasn’t harsh. The Patagonias are doing well but they are starting to get noisier as they wear which is to be expected.
I was thinking ridge grapplers and wrote trail grapplers. They are the hybrid tire

brett
 

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I was thinking ridge grapplers and wrote trail grapplers. They are the hybrid tire

brett
Brett I think I’m probably going with the Nitto Ridge Grapplers that you suggested. At least that’s how I’m leaning right now.
 
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So I got a chance to wheel this past Saturday at Hidden Falls with @72Blazer and several others. Great to meet you and I enjoyed the day, even though I wasn’t quite ready for all the challenges you guys were up to. I also met @jeepingib as I was on my way out. Nice to see forum members out in the wild.

As to how my latest mods worked out. On FM TRO I encountered a couple of spots where I got to use the protection of the new belly and differential skids. Not much, but the Artec belly skid may have saved me from some exhaust crossover damage. I also found out that the SteerSmarts track bar and the MetalCloak front diff cover don’t have quite enough clearance, so if anyone is looking for a used SteerSmarts track bar there will be one available soon.

Videos soon.

Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! 62586B8E-97F4-4CD9-B596-84B86EA2C4BE


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! 3998DD0B-73AD-446B-BDC2-B36B2993670B


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! 83FEA65B-7159-400D-B8FF-7F9C75878C95


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! 1AF9058C-2901-4A7D-AEC4-E158CFC12B79


Jeep Wrangler JL Chocolate Thunder’s Most Excellent Build Thread! 543C291A-FF32-43CA-8C53-66C8612B336F
 
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Damn right, it was good time bud! Great to meet you and have you join us. Hope to do it again once you go to 37s :devil:

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I got a good deal on 6 almost new MetalCloak control arms from a forum member in the marketplace recently. MetalCloak started their Black Friday/Thanksgiving sale today so I ordered the rest of the parts to complete the 2.5” GameChanger lift. Going to powder coat the arms, brackets, and track bars gloss black. I’ll have a Dynatrac 2” lift and a SteerSmarts Yeti front track bar for sale soon; if you’re interested let me know. Both have been great but I’m trying something different now.

WooHoo! Can’t wait.
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