Wilson - a Sting Gray touring and trail JLR w/half doors

[Kreepin1]

After Rausch Creek we beat feet down to the Uwharrie National Forest to meet up with a couple we've been wheeling with for, like, I dunno, 20 years? We spent the morning the first day getting his front axle disconnect to reconnect and then had a blast! This was much smoother wheeling than Moab or Pennsylvania. The Trail Grapplers seemed at home in the mud and the only time I locked the axles was pulling my buddy up a steep hill in the pouring rain the second day. It rained before we got there, held off the first day, and rained all day the second day. My most memorable moment was during the second day when clouds descended on us for about 10 minutes cutting visibility to about 1/2 mile, it was a first for me!

If you look close you can see my Trail Grapplers are clearing mud a little better than his STT Pro's.

The pups had a blast but we had to check them for ticks every night...

We ran every trail except Daniel over the course of a day and a half.

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[TMD78]

Very nice jeep! I am patiently waiting for my sting gray JLR with half doors. I have a random question, did they come packed in the back and did you have the factory soft top? I will be picking up my jeep a few states away. I’ve seen the half doors packed into the 2door rear with hard top, but wondering what I’m in for since I ordered the soft top. Seems like the boxes would push against the soft top so curious if the factory ships the same way as hard top etc. expecting a long 8 hours with zero leg room.

 

[Kreepin1]

Very nice jeep! I am patiently waiting for my sting gray JLR with half doors. I have a random question, did they come packed in the back and did you have the factory soft top? I will be picking up my jeep a few states away. I’ve seen the half doors packed into the 2door rear with hard top, but wondering what I’m in for since I ordered the soft top. Seems like the boxes would push against the soft top so curious if the factory ships the same way as hard top etc. expecting a long 8 hours with zero leg room.

I ordered a hard top but am very confident the boxes will not rub your soft top. You will have a touch more room behind the seats since you're not getting the bag for the freedom top. I would spend a few minutes checking behind the driver's seat and getting it adjusted as best you can. Don't think for a minute that you can gain some space by moving the boxes, they are locked in place by expanding foam to prevent the damage you are worried about.

Just tough it out, you will look back on it and laugh! Totally worth it. I get so many compliments on the color and the half doors...

 

[Kreepin1]

We had a nice little pick-up game at the Badlands last Sunday. Our club is pretty lucky to have that venue about an hour away. We saw a mix of sand, mud and rocks and mostly kept to shady trails with the temperature around 90...

 

[Kreepin1]

Hits and Misses
I've had my Jeep for five months now, have 2,400 miles on it and have run trails in Moab, Colorado, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Indiana. I haven't had it on sand dunes or in deep mud yet, but I've got a pretty good feel for it's capabilities. The hits FAR outweigh the misses. Here is my assessment so far:

Hits
This driveline is da bomb! I see lots of folks complaining about clutch feel, lack of power, need to re-gear, and so forth. I've fed her premium fuel from day one and it has plenty of pep went I want to scoot and cruises just fine at 1,200-2,000 rpm when I'm feeling relaxed. The transmission shifts beautiful and the clutch is smooth and effortless. In town I use up to 5th gear and I'm in 6th on the hi-way most of the time. It is amazing what this will idle over in first or second gear and low range. Would it be better with 4.56 or 4.88 gears? Sure. But I'd rather have a doubler with the option of 2.71, 4.0 or 10.84 low range...

Ergonomics are spot on. Everything is where I want it and nothing is in the way. It was tough to find a place to mount the GMRS/CB without messing anything up. Switchgear quality is very good. The materials feel great.

Half doors rock. No doors are better for the trail and full doors are better for the street, but these are a great compromise that gives me that open air feeling but lets me button up quick in case of foul weather. They are the perfect height for cruising, light weight, and look great.

This thing climbs like a mountain goat. I have not been stuck yet and have tugged several people out of spots I just walked through. I rarely need the lockers it flexes so good. The 35x11.5 Trail Grapplers are a great compromise between street and trail. I wish the rubber was a little softer but otherwise am thrilled. There is an obstacle in the Quarry at the Badlands that is a double hump. It has always been hard to climb but has gotten very steep and very smooth over the years. I locked up, tried to crawl it and the tires slipped so I got on it and spun all four till they smoked. No hop. No squat. Do you know how hard it is to set a suspension up like that? I let off the gas, stayed on the hill and walked up it. Amazing.

It drives fantastic on the road too. No wander. No drift. A small dead spot has developed that wasn't there brand new but I don't even notice it. Brakes are fantastic. Ride is great. Handling is good even with the front sway bar disconnected.

Turning radius. Amazing. Game changer off road. Fantastic in parking lots. Nuff said.

Misses
Compression braking. Seriously. How could FCA mess this up on a manual transmission? But they did. On steep descents the engine will randomly provide almost no compression braking or good compression braking. I'm sure it's some sort of emission thing. It makes it very hard to drive smooth.

Key fob from hell. Had to disable the panic alarm because it kept going off in my pocket. Whoever designed the release for the key owes me a new set of pants. At least with the push button start nobody sees the rubber bands wrapped around the key fob to keep the key from self deploying and ruining another pair of pants.

Floor mats. I've given up trying to get them to seal to the hole in the tub and just put the plug in the tub where it belongs.

Sirius SM has terrible reception. It cuts out multiple times on most songs. I'd have the dealer look into it except I will never pay for this service after the way they scammed my wife. So in another month or so, bye bye Sirius!

This Jeep is hard to keep clean. There is a lot of... detail to it. Little nooks and crannies and fancy bits inside and out. They look great but I would pay $1,000 more for a hose out interior, a plain hood and less flash.

Temperamental electronics. Carplay works great. Except when it doesn't. Which seems to be off-road when I need my GAIA GPS the most. Several times the outside temperature sensor gets stuck on 75 degrees and then the vents will blow hot air unless the A/C is on. Weird. Does not inspire confidence in the long term durability of this rig. It feels fragile.

Fuel economy. My buddy and I caravanned from and back to the trail in Uwharrie. Total of about 1-1/2 hours driving 40-60 mph on a gently winding hi-way. He is in a 1992 YJ with a 4.0 and 35x12.5 tires. I'm in a 2021 JL with a 3.6 and 35x11.5 tires. It took him 3.9 gallons and it took me 3.7 gallons. Granted, I've removed all the aero treatment from the front end, but regardless this is pretty sad.

Aluminum knuckles. It seems like every time FCA tries to save some weight using aluminum on a critical component it bites us in the ass. After Pennsylvania I noticed a clicking sound when turning the corner. Sure enough, the ball joints were loose. I re-torqued them and all is good for now. Did I mention it feels fragile?

 

[rubiRI77]

Hits and Misses
I've had my Jeep for five months now, have 2,400 miles on it and have run trails in Moab, Colorado, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Indiana. I haven't had it on sand dunes or in deep mud yet, but I've got a pretty good feel for it's capabilities. The hits FAR outweigh the misses. Here is my assessment so far:

Hits
This driveline is da bomb! I see lots of folks complaining about clutch feel, lack of power, need to re-gear, and so forth. I've fed her premium fuel from day one and it has plenty of pep went I want to scoot and cruises just fine at 1,200-2,000 rpm when I'm feeling relaxed. The transmission shifts beautiful and the clutch is smooth and effortless. In town I use up to 5th gear and I'm in 6th on the hi-way most of the time. It is amazing what this will idle over in first or second gear and low range. Would it be better with 4.56 or 4.88 gears? Sure. But I'd rather have a doubler with the option of 2.71, 4.0 or 10.84 low range...

Ergonomics are spot on. Everything is where I want it and nothing is in the way. It was tough to find a place to mount the GMRS/CB without messing anything up. Switchgear quality is very good. The materials feel great.

Half doors rock. No doors are better for the trail and full doors are better for the street, but these are a great compromise that gives me that open air feeling but lets me button up quick in case of foul weather. They are the perfect height for cruising, light weight, and look great.

This thing climbs like a mountain goat. I have not been stuck yet and have tugged several people out of spots I just walked through. I rarely need the lockers it flexes so good. The 35x11.5 Trail Grapplers are a great compromise between street and trail. I wish the rubber was a little softer but otherwise am thrilled. There is an obstacle in the Quarry at the Badlands that is a double hump. It has always been hard to climb but has gotten very steep and very smooth over the years. I locked up, tried to crawl it and the tires slipped so I got on it and spun all four till they smoked. No hop. No squat. Do you know how hard it is to set a suspension up like that? I let off the gas, stayed on the hill and walked up it. Amazing.

It drives fantastic on the road too. No wander. No drift. A small dead spot has developed that wasn't there brand new but I don't even notice it. Brakes are fantastic. Ride is great. Handling is good even with the front sway bar disconnected.

Turning radius. Amazing. Game changer off road. Fantastic in parking lots. Nuff said.

Misses
Compression braking. Seriously. How could FCA mess this up on a manual transmission? But they did. On steep descents the engine will randomly provide almost no compression braking or good compression braking. I'm sure it's some sort of emission thing. It makes it very hard to drive smooth.

Key fob from hell. Had to disable the panic alarm because it kept going off in my pocket. Whoever designed the release for the key owes me a new set of pants. At least with the push button start nobody sees the rubber bands wrapped around the key fob to keep the key from self deploying and ruining another pair of pants.

Floor mats. I've given up trying to get them to seal to the hole in the tub and just put the plug in the tub where it belongs.

Sirius SM has terrible reception. It cuts out multiple times on most songs. I'd have the dealer look into it except I will never pay for this service after the way they scammed my wife. So in another month or so, bye bye Sirius!

This Jeep is hard to keep clean. There is a lot of... detail to it. Little nooks and crannies and fancy bits inside and out. They look great but I would pay $1,000 more for a hose out interior, a plain hood and less flash.

Temperamental electronics. Carplay works great. Except when it doesn't. Which seems to be off-road when I need my GAIA GPS the most. Several times the outside temperature sensor gets stuck on 75 degrees and then the vents will blow hot air unless the A/C is on. Weird. Does not inspire confidence in the long term durability of this rig. It feels fragile.

Fuel economy. My buddy and I caravanned from and back to the trail in Uwharrie. Total of about 1-1/2 hours driving 40-60 mph on a gently winding hi-way. He is in a 1992 YJ with a 4.0 and 35x12.5 tires. I'm in a 2021 JL with a 3.6 and 35x11.5 tires. It took him 3.9 gallons and it took me 3.7 gallons. Granted, I've removed all the aero treatment from the front end, but regardless this is pretty sad.

Aluminum knuckles. It seems like every time FCA tries to save some weight using aluminum on a critical component it bites us in the ass. After Pennsylvania I noticed a clicking sound when turning the corner. Sure enough, the ball joints were loose. I re-torqued them and all is good for now. Did I mention it feels fragile?

Spot on! This is pretty much exactly how I feel about mine!
Fyi - I used black electrical tape on my key fob trimmed down to just cover the switchblade "emergency" key. Has not popped open again, and actually looks factory to look at it quick. And nice and smooth in the pocket. Is it still rediculously big? ....Yup. Anyway, thanks for sharing the pics and the well put summary of these Jeeps.

 

[Kreepin1]

I guess I'll leave this right here...

I was pleasantly surprised with the price of E85 here in the Midwest, $4.56 for 92 octane vs. $1.76 for 105 octane? Sign me up!

 

[Kreepin1]

I loaned my Jeep to the folks @Livernois Motorsports so they could develop a tune for the 2021's. It turns out there were major updates to the engine control software plus they had numerous requests to remove the "rev hang" FCA blessed these Jeeps with. Afterward they were nice enough to invite me to a get together they were having at Silver Lake dunes. Here I'm hangin' with the nice folks from Livernois, two Raptors, a 392 Wrangler, and an LS swapped LJ - all running E85 tunes. We had a blast plus it was great getting some insight as to what goes into one of their tunes. They take everything into consideration from optimal temperature for fans to kick in to effect on oil life. Drivability with this tune is much improved over factory.

I was running 9 psi in the sand...

 

[rubiRI77]

I loaned my Jeep to the folks @Livernois Motorsports so they could develop a tune for the 2021's. It turns out there were major updates to the engine control software plus they had numerous requests to remove the "rev hang" FCA blessed these Jeeps with. Afterward they were nice enough to invite me to a get together they were having at Silver Lake dunes. Here I'm hangin' with the nice folks from Livernois, two Raptors, a 392 Wrangler, and an LS swapped LJ - all running E85 tunes. We had a blast plus it was great getting some insight as to what goes into one of their tunes. They take everything into consideration from optimal temperature for fans to kick in to effect on oil life. Drivability with this tune is much improved over factory.

I was running 9 psi in the sand...

Very nice. I will have to look into the tune. We just back from the Maine Jeep Jamboree, and the lag in throttle response sometimes made for some interesting situations a few Times!
thanks for posting and once again thanks for being the inspiration for my build haha!

 

[Kreepin1]

Very nice. I will have to look into the tune. We just back from the Maine Jeep Jamboree, and the lag in throttle response sometimes made for some interesting situations a few Times!
thanks for posting and once again thanks for being the inspiration for my build haha!

Damn that's a nice looking Jeep! Sadly I think Livernois only does tunes on the 3.6 without eTorque. Were you experiencing turbo lag? Generally automatic transmissions don't provide a lot of engine braking which is the main reason I went with a manual transmission. OK, I'm lying, I just like to row the gears myself

 

[rubiRI77]

Damn that's a nice looking Jeep! Sadly I think Livernois only does tunes on the 3.6 without eTorque. Were you experiencing turbo lag? Generally automatic transmissions don't provide a lot of engine braking which is the main reason I went with a manual transmission. OK, I'm lying, I just like to row the gears myself

Yeah I do believe there was some turbo lag involved as well, but in a few situations there seemed to be kind of a "dead spot" in the throttle if that makes sense.
I would love to have a manual, that is what I grew up on, but unfortunately I have a bad left knee. It is ok most of the time, but it tries to go out on me at random, so I never know when I would not be able to drive the stick for a few days, so I am stuck with automatic.
The 2.0 turbo has been great in most situations, it really gets up and scoots! It does help if I double foot it when offroad to kind of spool it up sometimes.
Thanks for the compliment on myJeep. I kind of had this type of build in my head, and then I found your build and that really sealed the deal, so thank you again.

 

[Kreepin1]

I was cleaning out the truck the other day and came across the dyno sheet from Livernois. I do wish they took the time to label the runs but going by memory Red is stock with 91 octane, 211 ft-lb at 3,850 rpm and 228 HP at 6,100 rpm. Yellow is an intermediate run with about E70. Blue is tuned on E85, 250 ft-lb at 3,990 rpm and 260 HP at 6,580 rpm.

 

[SH556JL]

I guess I'll leave this right here...

I was pleasantly surprised with the price of E85 here in the Midwest, $4.56 for 92 octane vs. $1.76 for 105 octane? Sign me up!

I wasn’t aware the Jeep was rated for E85, interesting. I always loved your build, jealous of the half doors.

 

[Kreepin1]

I wasn’t aware the Jeep was rated for E85, interesting. I always loved your build, jealous of the half doors.

The bits and pieces of the fuel system are E85 compatible so they can export to markets like Brazil. However, the US market stock tune does not support E85, you need to go aftermarket tune like @Livernois Motorsports.

 

[Kreepin1]

Been a while since I've updated this. Wilson has been running great. Only irritant is the surge just off idle. That and I'm only getting about 12 mpg on E85, but the lack of fumes with the top off and the low-midrange response makes it totally worthwhile.

I don't think I posted Wilson's weight, 4,760 lbs ready to hit the trail.

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