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Goin2drt's Sting Gray JLUR build

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Goin2drt

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Well I figured I would do a little write up on all the mods so far that I did and my opinions. All of this being said that this is light wheeling and mostly on road manners. Haven't pushed it with anything crazy as I haven't found much yet in my new home state.

  1. Mileage after doing lift and bigger (and double the weight) wheels and tires - on the Jeep EVIC it shows 14.7-14.9 consistently. Same almost exact before. I might have made it to low 15's with a lot of highway before mods.
  2. I think my Jeep has to be the heaviest out there. I can feel the sluggishness off the line but only a little. Not sure if this is due to weight, bigger tires or both.
  3. Fit and finish on all the mods has been great however some of my findings on a few things.
    1. LOD rear bumper and tire carrier - built like a tank. With the new heavy 35 and wheel that I have weighing about 110lbs the tire carrier will rattle a bit. Not bad but it didn't with stock tire so maybe this is an adjustment.
    2. RSE slider/steps - by far my favorite mod. Just wish they weren't such a PITA with all the bugs. Right now they are working perfectly and when they do these things are the best, no doubt and look the best as well.
    3. Hutchinson wheels - holy cow. If they could get some weight out of them I guarantee the entire world would have these wheels. They are awesome. They truly look like (and are) true beadlocks and know these will be ready for anything. My installer found them to be a complete PITA to mount and balance. I don't know that is his opinion so can't say as I didn't do the work. They are heavy as hell. No way could I change a tire solo, that could be an issue for those that go out solo.
    4. With these new wheels and lift the TPMS doesn't work so that sucks. That is a Jeep issue in my mind. They made the transmitter too weak to capture and work properly when you lift and install these huge multi ply tires.
    5. Tazer JL - love it but it also has so many bugs it is annoying.
    6. No other mods jump out at me
Next up I think I really want to get my dash painted sting gray, just waiting for those parts to become available at a reasonable price used somewhere. People are still asking stupid numbers for those. Also finally got in our new house so the garage top lift project will be a winter project no doubt.
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Great looking Jeep - thanks for your write-up!

Some questions:
* Whose skid plates did you go with? I didn't see this mentioned (probably missed it in the 8 pages)
* I'm surprised your TPMS doesn't work. I haven't seen this issue with others running bigger tires. Do you know what the reason is? I wouldn't want to run a vehicle nowadays without it.
* How heavy are the Hutch wheels? Do you plan on using the beadlock feature or did you pick them for looks?
* RSE step/sliders - Are they designed to take a beating on rocks? Can they support the weight of (some of) the Jeep if you're get a rock under one side? (Can you use them as a jack/lift point like other sliders?

Thanks again
 
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Great looking Jeep - thanks for your write-up!

Some questions:
* Whose skid plates did you go with? I didn't see this mentioned (probably missed it in the 8 pages)Rock Hard. Very happy with them.
* I'm surprised your TPMS doesn't work. I haven't seen this issue with others running bigger tires. Do you know what the reason is? I wouldn't want to run a vehicle nowadays without it.Issues with Jeep best we can tell with location and weak transmitter able to read the TPMS strongly enough. They will get the tire pressure but will not be strong enough consistently enough to shut off the light.
* How heavy are the Hutch wheels? Do you plan on using the beadlock feature or did you pick them for looks? wheels and tires are 110 lbs or so. Very heavy. I will air down fairly low but Probably more safe than sorry I suppose. Also I do like the uniqueness of them and not many having these.
* RSE step/sliders - Are they designed to take a beating on rocks? Can they support the weight of (some of) the Jeep if you're get a rock under one side? (Can you use them as a jack/lift point like other sliders?Easy on all fronts. They are a tank.

Thanks again
 

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I like the wheels but don't love them. The bolts don't do it for me and they weigh a ton. If you're not going to use their beadlock capability then, IMO, they're the wrong wheels and the cost of them is worse than the weight. It's your money and I like 'em on your JEEP :like:
 
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I like the wheels but don't love them. The bolts don't do it for me and they weigh a ton. If you're not going to use their beadlock capability then, IMO, they're the wrong wheels and the cost of them is worse than the weight. It's your money and I like 'em on your JEEP :like:
I agree with you 1000% and if I didn’t get them for what I paid I would have never gotten them. Having said that I like them more and more each day as I never see them on other Jeeps and I like that.
 

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I agree with you 1000% and if I didn’t get them for what I paid I would have never gotten them. Having said that I like them more and more each day as I never see them on other Jeeps and I like that.
Glad to hear that (1) you got them for a great price and (2) you left Taxifornia (as did I)
 
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Well I hated the red dash from the start. I did do the plasti-dip in gray and it was a nice fix for a bit. They I saw the leather with red stitching to match the rest and went for it. I love the look. Should be the way they come when buying a Rubi.

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Well I hated the red dash from the start. I did do the plasti-dip in gray and it was a nice fix for a bit. They I saw the leather with red stitching to match the rest and went for it. I love the look. Should be the way they come when buying a Rubi.

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Where did you get those leather panels? Thanks.
 

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Goin2drt

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I had the recall done and that didn’t make a difference so I just went with the Fox as it looks cooler

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Here is my very simple review. It is slightly better than stock. At $100 (lightly used) it was well worth it as it matches the rest of my shocks. The only difference I feel is specifically at freeway speeds when you hit a dip, pothole etc it will soak that up better than the stock one. I have not taken it off road. I hope that helps others in wanting to purchase one.

BTW I have one of the JL's that has the wandering problem. It did NOTHING for that.
 

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Took some time off. While gone she went in for paint correction and PPF all over minus roof and tailgate. Added a little sticker and got a ton of parts ordered for the build. Also got a new phone mount. We will see how I like this set up. Should start moving quickly.

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A little cross post here but I added the PSC steering to finally fix the wandering.

My rig is 1000% fixed and drives better than my wife's 17 Jeep GC.

Not everyone is in my same situation so I know remedies will vary. I have over $60K in my rig and all my stock parts are sold or gone so Lemon law, buy back or whatever other solution that meant getting rid of my Jeep was not an option. Not to mention I absolutely love it minus the steering issue. Also I have only 2 dealers in my town and they both SUCK. They hate modded Jeeps and flat are horrible. I did try my best to fix this issue when the Jeep was new and stock. Back then I was in CA and after several visits it wasn't any better. I got tired of waiting and started modding my Jeep. I have no time or patience to wait for FCA to fix the issue plus I do not want to be the one to die before they actually fix the issue.

I 1000% believe this has nothing to do with all the changes everyone is doing like drag link, track bar, LCA's, steering stabilizer etc etc. If it was then everyone doing all these things it would fix 100% of the issues and it simply has not. I know I had all those things done minus the drag link. It is a band aid and/or masking the problem. The problem in in the two components that were removed, steering box and electronic/hydraulic/whatever it is that communicates to the steering box.

So my solution was to spend $3k and fix it once and for all and actually upgrade the steering to the PSC unit. This one -https://www.pscmotorsports.com/18-19-jeep-jl-big-bore-xd-overlander-steering-kit.html
I went with this one as recommended by PSC. I have a 2.5" lift with 35" tires and only do moderate off roading. They said it is more than capable. You can get this unit from them for $2K. My installer changed me $1K for the install. He charged me for 8 hrs but said it took a little longer. As you can imagine it was his first on a JL and a lot needs to be done to do this swap. No way I could have handled the job.
  • you also HAVE TO BUY, if you do not already have the Tazer JL module. I already had it.
From the start when you get in the steering is amazing. I can sit parked with 117 lb wheels and tires and turn my steering wheel lock to lock with literally my pinky. I then got today my alignment done. The steering wheel was not aligned. You do not HAVE TO get an alignment but I also think my alignment was off before that from doing the lift and the crappy alignment the shop did. I will post my specs. I did go to .4 on the toe but am running 4.5 caster and not the 6-7 that folks are doing based on recommendations.

Highway driving - I can set my cruise at 70 MPH and literally take my hands off the wheel. When the road surface changes a bit of a car/truck goes by it is ever so slight of an adjustment to keep the rig straight. Like I said on the highway it drives as nice if not better than my wife's GC.,

For me this was the best solution. I do not want to wait for whatever solution is coming. In my mind this will take a HUGE recall and VERY costly as this is a full replacement of two very expensive parts that FCA just simply isn't going to do. They will instead have folks fiddle around, spend trip after trip at the dealer and just deal with each case as an individual case by case. Maybe they will lemon a few, maybe they will buy back a few, maybe there will be a class action but nothing grand and all encompassing is going to come because it would be a huge cost to do what they know is right.

I wish you all a great fight to get yours fixed because WOW when they drive like they should, it is an amazing rig and experience.

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