Orangepeel_JL Build Thread

[bshaw4377]

Regear, truss, and gusset install was finally done last Thursday, got the time to install the axles over the weekend. Overall, I'm very happy with choosing 5.13s over 4.88s. Defiantly make driving hills a bit easier with the slightly deeper gear rather than matching the stock ratio. The next post will have my theory behind going with 5.13s over 4.88s with 37s along with the math and website I used to determine what ratio will work best for my application and use of the Jeep.

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[bshaw4377]

So from my experience driving the JL in my area, I anticipated the hills were going to be an issue with gear selection. That being said, I've only used 6th a handful of times on the thruway, which leads me to the one problem I have with the Asin 6 speed FCA elected to use over the old NSG370 in the last 2 years of the TJ and the whole JK life cycle... there are 2 overdrive gears. The previous years had a tighter ratio spread making downshifting a bit better when selecting what RPM to be at. Essentially the Asin is a 4 speed with 2 overdrives as seen below.

Going by the fact that I never used 6th in stock form with the 33s, I wanted to gear the diffs down a bit more with the 37s, just to make gear selection a bit easier when pulling hills. Plus the added gear helps with the heavier tires and bumpers when added.
Below is a side by side of the stock gear ratio and stock tire size compared to 5.13s and 37s.

My whole thought process was when I regear, I wanted my 6th gear RPMs to match my 5th gear RPMs in stock form because I could leave the jeep in 5th on smaller grade hills. If I needed to downshift, I was making a bigger jump in RPM going from .81 to 1.00 vs 1.00 to 1.53, which was a little harsher on the transmission downshifting because of the bigger increase in RPM. Whether or not my theory is right is up in the air right now, I will know more once the gears are broken in and I go on more trips. I also went to 5.13s because I do plan on going to 40s down the road, which with 5.13s, will be very similar to driving the jeep as if it was stock with 4.10s and 33s. At that point, I'll be wheeling with the 40s and around town driving while having the 37s for longer distance trips.

The website is http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

 

[bshaw4377]

UPDATE: 250miles into the gear break-in period (500miles, nothing above 60mph). Current fuel mileage is at 16.8mpg which is what I was getting stock. As far as rpm, 2nd through 4th is a bit higher but it makes driving around town at 30-35mph a lot nicer and not lugging it around in 4th or revving a bit higher than I'd like in 3rd like when it was stock with 4.10s and 33s. Pretty much have been throwing it in 4th and still have the torque to speed up without having to drop into 3rd.

 

[bshaw4377]

Been chasing down a steering issue since July...factory tie rod ends and drag link ends were a bit sloppy, now upgraded to Rusty's steering system which eliminated the loose steering for a week or so. Found the track bar mount on the axle side was wallowed out, grabbed a teraflex track bar bracket for a temporary fix which ended up making the draglink and trackbar parallel with each other. Again, temporary fix. Gave in and purchased Synergy ball joints to replace the factory garbage. Looks like this was the winning fix since my driver-side lower ball joint had a bit of excess play. Thankfully I have alignment plates because I'd go broke with the number of times I've aligned this thing (5).
The only conclusion that makes sense for a ball joint to fail after 6k miles that I've come up with is that when I had my axles trussed and regeared, the company wanted them bare. I left the knuckles attached only because I didn't have time to bust ball joints loose at my house at 11pm the day before I transported the axles. They removed and reinstalled the knuckles, most likely not at the correct torque spec which (in my mind) could possibly break down the nylon insert in the factory ball joints. At least now every part of the steering besides the factory knuckles has been upgraded.

 

[FunWagon]

Nice rig. I can relate. I also have a manual transmission with a Clayton lift and 37s and black fenders and black wheels. I just didn’t re-gear… Central Jersey is flat.

Why didn’t you go with the 3.5” lift instead of the 2.5” if considering bigger tires, although I think Clayton suggests only up to 37” tires for the 3.5” lift.

 

[bshaw4377]

Nice rig. I can relate. I also have a manual transmission with a Clayton lift and 37s and black fenders and black wheels. I just didn’t re-gear… Central Jersey is flat.

Why didn’t you go with the 3.5” lift instead of the 2.5” if considering bigger tires, although I think Clayton suggests only up to 37” tires for the 3.5” lift.

Thanks man. I went with the 2.5 mainly because where I wheel the trails are tight mostly and have a fair amount of low branches so a bit lower helps me personally. Having the rubicon fender flares is also a plus for running bigger tires later since they can be disassembled (fender chop) or run a higher aftermarket fender flare. There's definitely room for 40s at 2.5, just gotta be creative with how you get there.

 

[bshaw4377]

2021 Photo Dump

 

[FunWagon]

Wow… I like that tent

1. Do you think it would work with a Jeep slightly higher than yours?
2. Is the tent opening to the Jeep closed well enough around the edges that bugs don’t come into the tent (eg ticks)?

 

[bshaw4377]

Wow… I like that tent

1. Do you think it would work with a Jeep slightly higher than yours?
2. Is the tent opening to the Jeep closed well enough around the edges that bugs don’t come into the tent (eg ticks)?

I think it would work, there's a bit more room to go up. the top of the tent is almost level with the top of my jeep, that would probably be the highest it could go but that's just a guess. Rightline uses an elastic band that secures the tunnel to the jeep that goes around the body. In my opinion, it's not bug-tight but it ultimately depends on how it's secured. I wish I had a pic of the inside but never thought to take one and all my gear is packed away for the winter. The tent can be used without being attached to anything which I think is how they intend on it being used, zippered up but I like sleeping in the back of the jeep so I left that partition unzippered.

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