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Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures.

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Motoristx

Motoristx

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Any mods planned like lift kit, 37's, winch, etc.?
Yes, planning on a 3 inch lift, and 38’s. Full skids, Warn 10s, and other things coming. Waiting on the Diesel rated lifts to start rolling out before I get started. Will be rolling stock most likely till these current events are over.
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Motoristx

Motoristx

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Friday 5/22/20 (4483 miles)I got my Lift done @ Jeep Slop Shop in Kemah Tx. This lift was a culmination of all the parts I've been accumulating as well as some things ordered through the shop. I wanted to try my hand at building my own links and installing them myself, but I needed help with things like installing the springs and centering the axles.

This lift is basically 3 1/2" Rock Krawler springs with the Diesel specific springs, Fox monotube shocks (I'll have to get the parts numbers later), and a basic box kit. Front trackbar is an EVO.

The Milestar's have turned out quite popular so I went with the 38's. Wheels are Edge off Road RF5C Beadlock wheels with a 3 1/2" back spacing, weighing in @ 32lbs each. Light for beadlocks. They are not made by Edge Off Road anymore, and it looks like Weld now has them.

Also Installed the Teraflex spare tire carrier, and it fits the 38" tire and wheel with the Mopar reinforcement and the steel bumpers. It is barely touching the steel bumper, so if/when I get 40's, one of those spacers will be needed to lift it up and out 1". One of the parking sensors is acting up now, and I'm not sure if its the tires size or just the senor going bad.

I built my links out of 7075 aluminum and Ballistic Joints. This is all the links but the front upper, which are Rock Krawler's. The rear trackbar is also 7075 aluminum but those joints are Krawler joints and it is straight. The front lowers are not installed yet because I ordered the wrong hole size in the Ballistic joints; ordered 9/16 but I needed 5/8. Those will be installed later...
The rear uppers have been adjusted to 17" and are 2" diameter.
Rear lowers 19 1/4" & 2 1/2" diameter.
track bar is 1 1/4" Diameter
Front Lowers are 2 1/2" Diameter

I've kept the 3.73 gears, since I figured the 442 ftlbs would be fine. Turns out, I gained 1 sec in my 0 - 60 time, from 8 secs stock to 9 secs with 38's.

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590407618166

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590407650962

I fitted the links on with the stock tires, and was surprised all the rears fit, the uppers had about 1/2" clearance.
Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590407697832

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590407718767

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590407742917

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590407765660

The rear track bar is straight, it comes close to the diff cover, but i don't think it will hit it. after a good shake down, I'll provide an Update.
Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590407790328

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590407850752
 
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Motoristx

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While driving over the weekend, I got some rubbing in the rear. This rubbing was happening, while pulling up in steep driveways and driving over road humps. It wasn't damaging anything, but it was making a lot of noise. This was making my Lovely Lady and the kids very uncomfortable.

I'm not sure of all the differences between the gas and diesel axles, but there are some. I know the breather tube on the diesel is in the way of the rear trackbar brace for the gas JL's. ALso, I know the exhaust is on the passenger side as the tank is on the driver's side. My diesel JL had a gas JL trackbar, and the bend was still in it for the exhaust being on the driver's side.

With these differences, I'm thinking maybe the control arm mounting brackets are different too? The numbers I got for the rear links were off, causing the tires to rub on the plastics to the rear of the wheel well. Even if i had removed them, it would have rubbed on that body corner under the plastic inner liner.


The stock numbers from what I assume are a Gas JL:
rear upper 17.42"
rear lower 19.77
(I still have my stock arms so I'll verify this soon)

The recommendation for a 4 door (JLU) 3.5" lift was :
rear upper 17.5"
rear lower 20"

I ended up with:
rear upper 17"
rear lower 19.25"
This ended up being almost completely collapsed with no room to go any shorter.

Here are the results: (yes I used the ramps as small flexers, they really helped dial it in! Use them in opposite corners.)
Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590413165153

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590411721175

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590411744126


The fronts have a lot of room so, once I was comfortable with the rears, I decided to go around the corner to a field, where a little dip is and flex it some and try to stuff the rear tire and see how it looked. Since it's a small dip (there was no way I could totally flex it out) I left the sway bar connected in the front to put more pressure on the rear wheels, to get a little more "stuff". Once I got a little flexed, I heard a loud pop from the front end, and it felt like the sway bar had disconnected. I got immediately and looked at the front, instead of the rear.

This is what I saw:
Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590411774264

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590411800323

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590411826610


The link extension plate used for the front sway bar couldn't resist the pressure of a "sway bar connected" flex and flipped forward. It has a single bolt through the center and is bolted to the rounded tab coming off the axle. This is a poor design in my opinion, as a bolt on, but it'd probably do better if it was welded on, or at least shaped to contour to the rounded tab or the rounded edge of the axle. I didn't have any tools on me, so i had to drive it home like this, further bending the tab on the axle. Once home, I pulled it apart and bent it back back using a big ass Cresent wrench.

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590412479097

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1590412502681

it’s drivable now, but I’m looking into replacing this piece.
 
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Motoristx

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Took The Jeep's first long road trip the week before the 4th of July. 2 of my brothers and I went to Moab UT, and then headed through Colorado. We went camping and through a few trails along the way. The path we took went by, Goose Necks State Park, Valley of the gods, Elephant hill, Newspaper rock, Moab and a few trails, San Juan Mountains Colorado and a few of the passes there, and then up to Viel and ended at Mountain of the Holy Cross Trail, before coming home. We all took pictures along the way, but these are what I got from the trip.

I had very few Issues with the EcoDiesel during the trip. I had 2 instances of a loss of power both on the highway. The first time was the first day of the trip, and I caught a service electronic throttle message. After I pulled over and turned the engine off and restarted, it went away and I had power again. The second time, I was on the entrance ramp to a highway on the last day of the trip, and it lost power, but no message popped up. After about 10-15 seconds of barley able to keep 45 mph, it came back and I haven't had the issues since. Took it to the dealership, and that could not replicate the problem.

Also had some issues with the sway bar links. They were jamming all up, and I realized they just aren't designed for the Rubicon's E-Disco sway bar, and I'm still looking into replacing them.

The fuel mileage dropped slightly below what I was expecting, driving at about 83 mph most of the time I got around 18.5 mpg. I guess I was just pushing a lot of wind, and the DEF drained quickly during the trip. DEF only lasted about 3500 miles, this time.

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Motoristx

Motoristx

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We are setup for 38’s and the gearing is still stock at 3.73 at a 3.5 inch lift. We tried 40’s today and drove it down the highway, to see how it would do. No good. I think the 38’s may be the maximum size for the EcoDiesel and the stock gears for me. As far as rubbing is concerned, of course they rubbed... rubbed on the stock rock rails in front, and pretty much all the stock plastics in the rear. Trimming those wouldn’t have been a big deal really, I just don’t want to regear yet. It basically drove fine, lost a little power as expected and lost a little braking... it just stayed in 7th gear on the highway.

so far now, I’ll be sticking with the 38’s.

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1600461456773

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1600461489460
 

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Motoristx

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Put the Rock Krawler “no limits” sway bar links on the front. Huge difference in flexibility while the sway bar is E-Disconnected. I’d recommend this one if you have a Rubicon JL.
Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1600461816547

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1600461842063

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1600461868098
 

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I’m curious are you are having rubbing issues with the 38’s and on the 40’s, is there any rubbing around the window washing fluid reservoir?
 
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So on the 38’s I have some rubbing issues with the plastic inner liners in the rear. Rear adjustable control arms really helped minimize the rubbing. I just need to trim them, but I’ve been lazy. In the front I rub on my Lower Control Arms, only because I built them myself, there is no bend, and I have a lot of backspacing. A 1/4 inch spacer might help.

On the 40’s, rubbing on lot of body parts. Front end on the rock rails, lots of plastic rubbing in the rear. After the plastic wears through, there are some pinch seams that will start damaging the tires. In the rear I’d need 2 more inches on bumpstop, currently 3, would need 5... no rubbing on the LCAs up front because the backspacing was so small on the different wheels.

40’s are not for me, for what I’m looking to do with my Jeep. The JL platform looks like 38’s are a great size on a 3.5 inch lift. For the EcoDiesel, 38’s don’t need regearing, but 40’s definitely will. 4.10s would probably be minimum for 40’s. Also, you have to figure the axles... I have a truss and RCV shafts in my front axle, and I’m a little more confident in the strength after those mods.
 

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So on the 38’s I have some rubbing issues with the plastic inner liners in the rear. Rear adjustable control arms really helped minimize the rubbing. I just need to trim them, but I’ve been lazy. In the front I rub on my Lower Control Arms, only because I built them myself, there is no bend, and I have a lot of backspacing. A 1/4 inch spacer might help.

On the 40’s, rubbing on lot of body parts. Front end on the rock rails, lots of plastic rubbing in the rear. After the plastic wears through, there are some pinch seams that will start damaging the tires. In the rear I’d need 2 more inches on bumpstop, currently 3, would need 5... no rubbing on the LCAs up front because the backspacing was so small on the different wheels.

40’s are not for me, for what I’m looking to do with my Jeep. The JL platform looks like 38’s are a great size on a 3.5 inch lift. For the EcoDiesel, 38’s don’t need regearing, but 40’s definitely will. 4.10s would probably be minimum for 40’s. Also, you have to figure the axles... I have a truss and RCV shafts in my front axle, and I’m a little more confident in the strength after those mods.
Thanks buddy I’m just curious since I just ordered a JLURD and I was looking at American Adventure Labs front fender liners for the EcoDiesel and he recomended not to run a larger tire larger then 37” with out relocating the window washer reservoir.
 
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Thanks buddy I’m just curious since I just ordered a JLURD and I was looking at American Adventure Labs front fender liners for the EcoDiesel and he recomended not to run a larger tire larger then 37” with out relocating the window washer reservoir.
Nothing has been close to that reservoir in my experience. In fact, I haven’t even been concerned about it.
 

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nice build!! Those 38's look awesome! 13k on my ecodiesel and loving it so far.
 

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Curious if the safetypackage
@ 210 miles on the odo, I heard a “snap”. A few mins later:
Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1600461868098

Jeep Wrangler JL Motoristx's Diesel Jeep White JLUR story with pictures. 1600461868098


It happened on the way home from work this morning. It’s the second rock I heard hitting the windshield. I have a feeling this is going to grow horizontally, and be very obnoxious.
Curious if the safety package(s) created any issues when they replaced your windshield?
 
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Motoristx

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Curious if the safety package(s) created any issues when they replaced your windshield?
Replaced? I still have the original windshield, cracks and all.
I actually had one of those windshield repair people “fix” it. The cracks are still visible, but it hasn’t gotten worse.
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