Worried about getting too heavy

[VA72mlibu]

I’m not convinced about aluminum skids (concerned they don’t actually “slide” as well as steel and also concerned about turning my undercarriage into a razorblade factory). But now I’m definitely leaning towards aluminum rear bumper and carrying the tire on a strengthened tailgate rather than a steel tire carrier bumper, which is where I was heading.

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[digitalbliss]

I'd agree that I'm not sure about aluminum for something that will get beat on. Aluminum, while stronger than steel when considering weight, is also more brittle. Instead of putting a dent in the plate, you will end up with a hole or cracks/fissures.

 

[Pig-Pen]

My mechanic said my jeep is pre-diabetic so i need to put her on a low steel parts diet.

 

[Jeepdude101]

My mechanic said my jeep is pre-diabetic so i need to put her on a low steel parts diet.

I’m so sorry remember no matter how good that Cinnabon looks your Jeep can’t have it

 

[roaniecowpony]

Skidplates are sacrificial. Yes, aluminum is not as durable. It does bend. It was cold bent to form it, same as the steel skids. My thoughts are I'm either going to get full aluminum skids or strategic small steel skids and most of all, try not to hit shit. I've been driving thru piles of lava rock for a week and haven't hit anything under there....knock on wood.

 

[Goin2drt]

My doctor told me my Jeep is like the rest of the US, obese. Steel bumpers, steel skids, heaviest wheels on the market, oh and my fat a$$ driving it. Good thing I am not worried about weight, just MPG.

 

[entropy]

My mechanic said my jeep is pre-diabetic so i need to put her on a low steel parts diet.

Make sure you check the label of the oil can for sugar. they put sugar everywhere nowadays. Also try to use gas without ethanol.

 

[Bikini Zen]

This makes me feel better about adding custom steps. I was a little concerned about using old weightlifting 10# plates for steps. Wasn't sure about adding 40# of steps to the JLUR with a 2.5 lift. Apparently that's no big deal. Fullsend

 

[MCJA]

Wheels and tires are un-sprung weight, meaning they don't count against your GVWR. (Except the spare, of course.) That doesn't really change your overall concern about weight, which is certainly valid. But it does subtract from your total a bit.

Conversely, those heavier wheels and tires do contribute (significantly) to your stopping distance. That's a lot of rotational inertia, which hurts your acceleration and deceleration.

In my opinion, one of the most important and often overlooked upgrades is brakes. I share your concerns weight and safety, which is why I almost always upgrade brakes (depending on the build). Stopping a fully-built rig with 4 people and a bunch of gear in it, plus a set of heavy wheels and tires can be hazardous.

Teraflex makes a nice brake upgrade kit. A bit spendy, but it's less than a set of Wilwoods or Brembos. (The Brembo kit is more than twice as much, and it's only for the front!)

https://teraflex.com/shop_items/jl-jlu_jk-jku-delta-brake-kit-front-rear-5x5-bolt-pattern

And for what it's worth, compare your planned build against overlanding rigs. Those add a tremendous amount of weight for all of the gear they carry, and they seem to do just fine even with stock brakes.

One man's opinion. You can't go wrong with bigger brakes.​

 

[entropy]

Wheels and tires are un-sprung weight, meaning they don't count against your GVWR. (Except the spare, of course.) That doesn't really change your overall concern about weight, which is certainly valid. But it does subtract from your total a bit.

Conversely, those heavier wheels and tires do contribute (significantly) to your stopping distance. That's a lot of rotational inertia, which hurts your acceleration and deceleration.

In my opinion, one of the most important and often overlooked upgrades is brakes. I share your concerns weight and safety, which is why I almost always upgrade brakes (depending on the build). Stopping a fully-built rig with 4 people and a bunch of gear in it, plus a set of heavy wheels and tires can be hazardous.

Teraflex makes a nice brake upgrade kit. A bit spendy, but it's less than a set of Wilwoods or Brembos. (The Brembo kit is more than twice as much, and it's only for the front!)

https://teraflex.com/shop_items/jl-jlu_jk-jku-delta-brake-kit-front-rear-5x5-bolt-pattern

And for what it's worth, compare your planned build against overlanding rigs. Those add a tremendous amount of weight for all of the gear they carry, and they seem to do just fine even with stock brakes.

One man's opinion. You can't go wrong with bigger brakes.​

$2000!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've serviced brakes before (pads and rotors) and it was always around $200 in parts or so. Why are those so expensive? calipers? I never messed with replacing stock brakes had no idea they were so expensive. I always thought meh, bigger pads bigger rotors shouldn't be too much.

 

[Pig-Pen]

Make sure you check the label of the oil can for sugar. they put sugar everywhere nowadays. Also try to use gas without ethanol.

i used Mobil 1 synthetic. it uses Splenda instead of sugar

 

[Pig-Pen]

Teraflex makes a nice brake upgrade kit. A bit spendy, but it's less than a set of Wilwoods or Brembos. (The Brembo kit is more than twice as much, and it's only for the front!)

https://teraflex.com/shop_items/jl-jlu_jk-jku-delta-brake-kit-front-rear-5x5-bolt-pattern

And for what it's worth, compare your planned build against overlanding rigs. Those add a tremendous amount of weight for all of the gear they carry, and they seem to do just fine even with stock brakes.

One man's opinion. You can't go wrong with bigger brakes.​

not a bad price for what youre getting IF theyre made by a reputable brake manufacturer. im sure Teraflex is outsourcing production of those. could be a cheap Chinese brand; seems like it at that price, especially considering teraflex than slaps their profit/mark up on it. and they use proprietary brake pads which id never want. you can only source them from Teraflex. what happens if they stop making them or the company goes out of business? and you cant just go to pep boys and grab some pads. thats a reason im not a fan of wilwoods. i have brembos on my mustang. i can get pads from numerous suppliers made by numerous manufacturers.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Wilwood has been around for decades. I wouldn't worry about them. Terraflex? I dunno.

Brembo aftermarket is just too spendy for most folks. My SS Camaro had them OEM and they were reasonable for replacement pads and rotors. Over $4k for the Wrangler fronts and $3.6k for the rear.

 

[MCJA]

not a bad price for what youre getting IF theyre made by a reputable brake manufacturer. im sure Teraflex is outsourcing production of those. could be a cheap Chinese brand; seems like it at that price, especially considering teraflex than slaps their profit/mark up on it. and they use proprietary brake pads which id never want. you can only source them from Teraflex. what happens if they stop making them or the company goes out of business? and you cant just go to pep boys and grab some pads. thats a reason im not a fan of wilwoods. i have brembos on my mustang. i can get pads from numerous suppliers made by numerous manufacturers.

I recall reading somewhere that the Teraflex kit uses Ram pads, front and rear. But now I can't find it. It might be worth a call to Teraflex to find out. I agree with your sentiments that Teraflex is good at outsourcing and / or rebranding.

 

[XCPirate]

As I'm planning my build, I'm starting to get concerned about weight. I took my Jeep to the scales today to get an idea on baseline. For reference, this is a 2019 JLR, soft top, plastic bumper, no tow, full fuel with ~50 pounds of tools/misc. on board. My only weight changing mod thus far is wheels, which add MAYBE 35 pounds. It weighed in at 4450 without me in it. I already purchased a Motobilt Crusher stubby front bumper (+75 pounds), Smittybuilt X20 Synthetic line winch (+75), and ROAM sliders (+50). My plans include 37" tires (+100 for KO2s, +150 for Ridge Grapplers), tire carrier rear bumper (+100 minimum), lift/upgraded suspension bits (+~50), and assorted skids (+~150). By my math, with just me in the Jeep (I shop in the "husky" section of Sears), I'm at or over GVWR. As I look around at the many awesome builds on here, it seems like many folks must be busting GVWR. Is this a concern? Am I over-analyzing? I'm not terribly concerned about 0-60 times or fuel economy, but I am concerned about safety. Looking forward to anyone's perspective.

The curb weight spec on my Unlimited Sport is 4277 lbs. I added front and rear (steel) bumpers, winch, side steps, stereo (amp and sub are all that matter for this case), 18x9 wheels and went to 35" Ridge Grapplers. I have a lot of other mods too but for weight I don't think they matter. I weighed mine to make sure I was under my RV's tow capacity and it came in at 4640 lbs. I still have a lot of mods to do but I am not concerned at all about going over GVWR. I did upgrade the brakes to the American Power Brakes big brake kit but that was mostly because even at the stock weight, Sport brakes suck. remember, you always have to look at the weight difference between the part you're installing versus the one you are taking off.

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