Project_pa_jk: Ruby
10-21-2013, 07:03 PM
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Project_pa_jk: Ruby
UPDATE: **personally I skim through build threads and dont read much of them, so for my build thread i will include a "cliffsnotes" version at the end of each post that goes along with what all took place. figure that will be a little more helpful to most.
***If you have questions about anything, or would like me to go more in depth for a certain part please ask and i will, i also have several pictures of my jeep along its journey and would be more then happy to post them need be
Ive been tossing the idea around about making a build thread, at first i asked myself why? but then i thought about it, even though its not the biggest baddest thing thats ever crawled the earth there are some people that would like to know whats gone into it so they can base parts of their jeep off of it.
So first off, obviously my jeeps already to a certain point in its life so a lot of this build is going to be back tracking, i will go in-depth with a lot of the build and try to be as thorough as i can. Ill split the build along several posts and it may take me a while to complete so here we go....
It all started back in 2009.....
At the time i owned a 98' sahara and couldn't be happier, that is, till it came to its reliability....
The first owner beat the snot out of the jeep and by the time i got it it was practically falling apart. i spent my junior and senior year of highschool working several hours a week to get this jeep back up and running and somewhat road worthy, little did i know at the time how much of a pain in the ass that was...
So several arguments later with the parental figures, i was forced to sell my beloved tj, ditch my losses and start over new. I did a lot to that little jeep, warn winch, front and rear bumpers, 4.5" lift, control arms, slip yoke... etc. and to watch it all go away was the worst feeling ever.
Later in my senior year, after my old jeep was long gone, about a month or so before my high school career was over i had a decision to make, did i really want to go to a private college at 40K a semester, OR, go to the state college and get another jeep! the choice was simple.
Fast forward to may 28th, 2011. The day she walked into my life.
after tons of research and debating different years vs different models i knew what i wanted. I found this 2008 jeep wrangler rubicon unlimited at a honda dealership 2 hours away. The previous owner traded it in at 22,000 miles. It was everything i wanted, manual transmission, red rock crystal exterior, khaki interior, hardtop. It was a sweet little jeep, most importantly, because of my amazing parents it was MINE.
I know, I know, what a brat.... parents buy him a rubicon. trust me, i am most grateful for everything i have, do i deserve it? by no means does anyone "deserve" to get something like that for free, but it just happened to work out that way and i am so grateful.
My 2008 Rubicon unlimited in Red rock crystal came home on 5/28/2011
(More to come.)
***If you have questions about anything, or would like me to go more in depth for a certain part please ask and i will, i also have several pictures of my jeep along its journey and would be more then happy to post them need be
Ive been tossing the idea around about making a build thread, at first i asked myself why? but then i thought about it, even though its not the biggest baddest thing thats ever crawled the earth there are some people that would like to know whats gone into it so they can base parts of their jeep off of it.
So first off, obviously my jeeps already to a certain point in its life so a lot of this build is going to be back tracking, i will go in-depth with a lot of the build and try to be as thorough as i can. Ill split the build along several posts and it may take me a while to complete so here we go....
It all started back in 2009.....
At the time i owned a 98' sahara and couldn't be happier, that is, till it came to its reliability....
The first owner beat the snot out of the jeep and by the time i got it it was practically falling apart. i spent my junior and senior year of highschool working several hours a week to get this jeep back up and running and somewhat road worthy, little did i know at the time how much of a pain in the ass that was...
So several arguments later with the parental figures, i was forced to sell my beloved tj, ditch my losses and start over new. I did a lot to that little jeep, warn winch, front and rear bumpers, 4.5" lift, control arms, slip yoke... etc. and to watch it all go away was the worst feeling ever.
Later in my senior year, after my old jeep was long gone, about a month or so before my high school career was over i had a decision to make, did i really want to go to a private college at 40K a semester, OR, go to the state college and get another jeep! the choice was simple.
Fast forward to may 28th, 2011. The day she walked into my life.
after tons of research and debating different years vs different models i knew what i wanted. I found this 2008 jeep wrangler rubicon unlimited at a honda dealership 2 hours away. The previous owner traded it in at 22,000 miles. It was everything i wanted, manual transmission, red rock crystal exterior, khaki interior, hardtop. It was a sweet little jeep, most importantly, because of my amazing parents it was MINE.
I know, I know, what a brat.... parents buy him a rubicon. trust me, i am most grateful for everything i have, do i deserve it? by no means does anyone "deserve" to get something like that for free, but it just happened to work out that way and i am so grateful.
My 2008 Rubicon unlimited in Red rock crystal came home on 5/28/2011
(More to come.)
Last edited by J3rs3yd3vil; 10-22-2013 at 01:37 PM.
10-21-2013, 07:23 PM
#2
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Excited to see this thread, I was exactly in your shoes when I was in high school( now a second year at ucr) starting out with a beaten up yj and now have a jk Sahara that has everything but the shoes and lockers in place to be a serious off-roader, best of luck!
10-21-2013, 07:49 PM
#3
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Ive always loved the look of the four doors, even when i owned my tj, and trust me i was die hard against jku back then for some reason, but having said that there is one flaw to them and thats their length. Its a double edged sword, better handling, stability, more room, but you sacrifice the maneuverability of the two door and the break-over angle.
Now as a jeep it was already capable, i took it to rausch creek for the first time and i took the 101 course they offered and was completely blown away by what was achievable by a stock vehicle. Overall, there was some scraping of rocks and high centering on some of the obstacles but it did amazing. But like any other person in the world there is always room for improvement.
My first purchase for this jeep was the delta headlights and fog lights. looking back on it i wouldn't do it again, i didn't notice much of an improvement over the factory lights.
3 months later i installed a 2.5" Budget boost lift kit by rough country.
The install was simple enough, pretty self explanatory. the kit included a 2" metal coil spacer for the rear with a retaining bolt, and a 2.5" metal coil spacers up front. The front and rear also had shock extenders to accommodate for the lift height, i also installed brake line brackets.
within a week of having the lift on i installed front and rear JKS adjustable trackbars at the same time to recenter the axles and to do things rite the first time.
The ride quality remained the same with the lift, no noticeable difference except for a slight increase in body roll (which i was already used to from my old tj) but besides that it was perfect.
Another trip to rausch creek completley justified my need to lift it those 2.5" and i was satisfied. (hahahahahaha "satisfied" you'll never hear that out of a jeeper).
Next purchase was a soft top that i found on craigslist off of a brand new 2011, i paid $600 for a brand new in box top from mopar, i couldn't be happier!
4 months after the install of the lift i was determined to get some bigger tires under her, i did a lot of research and really wanted an aggressive look, but didn't want to lose to much drivability. I finally decided on a set of 315/75r16 goodyear wrangler Mtr kevlars. The wheels they wopuld be mounted on were 16x8 procomp 7069s.
i dropped the jeep off later that week and came home with what looked like a completely different jeep!
A smittybilt oversized tire carrier was added to the tailgate to hold the new 35" spare tire. Looking back, it actually did quite a good job.
Summary
Delta headlights and foglights replaced stock lights
2.5" rough country Budget Boost was added
JKS adjustable trackbars front/rear
315/75r16 goodyear mtr kevlars on procomp 7069's
smittbilt oversized tire carrier to accomodate the 35" spare
superchip was added
Now as a jeep it was already capable, i took it to rausch creek for the first time and i took the 101 course they offered and was completely blown away by what was achievable by a stock vehicle. Overall, there was some scraping of rocks and high centering on some of the obstacles but it did amazing. But like any other person in the world there is always room for improvement.
My first purchase for this jeep was the delta headlights and fog lights. looking back on it i wouldn't do it again, i didn't notice much of an improvement over the factory lights.
3 months later i installed a 2.5" Budget boost lift kit by rough country.
The install was simple enough, pretty self explanatory. the kit included a 2" metal coil spacer for the rear with a retaining bolt, and a 2.5" metal coil spacers up front. The front and rear also had shock extenders to accommodate for the lift height, i also installed brake line brackets.
within a week of having the lift on i installed front and rear JKS adjustable trackbars at the same time to recenter the axles and to do things rite the first time.
The ride quality remained the same with the lift, no noticeable difference except for a slight increase in body roll (which i was already used to from my old tj) but besides that it was perfect.
Another trip to rausch creek completley justified my need to lift it those 2.5" and i was satisfied. (hahahahahaha "satisfied" you'll never hear that out of a jeeper).
Next purchase was a soft top that i found on craigslist off of a brand new 2011, i paid $600 for a brand new in box top from mopar, i couldn't be happier!
4 months after the install of the lift i was determined to get some bigger tires under her, i did a lot of research and really wanted an aggressive look, but didn't want to lose to much drivability. I finally decided on a set of 315/75r16 goodyear wrangler Mtr kevlars. The wheels they wopuld be mounted on were 16x8 procomp 7069s.
i dropped the jeep off later that week and came home with what looked like a completely different jeep!
A smittybilt oversized tire carrier was added to the tailgate to hold the new 35" spare tire. Looking back, it actually did quite a good job.
Summary
Delta headlights and foglights replaced stock lights
2.5" rough country Budget Boost was added
JKS adjustable trackbars front/rear
315/75r16 goodyear mtr kevlars on procomp 7069's
smittbilt oversized tire carrier to accomodate the 35" spare
superchip was added
Last edited by J3rs3yd3vil; 10-22-2013 at 12:39 PM.
10-21-2013, 08:28 PM
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The jeep remained the same for a while, i sported the 2.5" lift and 35s for 30k miles and i loved it. it performed great on and offroad. I was doing blues at the most though at rausch creek and was completely fine with that.
Summer of 2012:
My more frequent trips to rausch creek left me wanting more, so i ordered up a rough country 4" x flex lift kit.
now before you say anything... yes, i know... rough country. BUT don't worry, i did my research and ended up changing my mind, i kept the coils and shocks for the time being and sold the rest of the kit off.
It took me a while to get around to installing the coils but when all was said and done it looked pretty darn good!
I did notice a major difference in ride quality though, and like everyone said, its rough country for a reason....
Now that the jeep was higher i chopped the front bumper into a stubby and ran just the cross member in the rear for a while.
I did run this setup for about a month or two while i decide what route i wanted to go with control arms. Finally i came to the decision to purchase the metalcloack midarms with their duroflex joints. I figured it was the best of both worlds, factory ride, with aftermarket articulation. I could not have been more satisfied with this purchase, by far the best thing I've done for this jeep yet!
Summary
rough country 4" lift coils and shocks
metalcloack duroflex midarms
stubby factory front bumper
removed rear bumper
Summer of 2012:
My more frequent trips to rausch creek left me wanting more, so i ordered up a rough country 4" x flex lift kit.
now before you say anything... yes, i know... rough country. BUT don't worry, i did my research and ended up changing my mind, i kept the coils and shocks for the time being and sold the rest of the kit off.
It took me a while to get around to installing the coils but when all was said and done it looked pretty darn good!
I did notice a major difference in ride quality though, and like everyone said, its rough country for a reason....
Now that the jeep was higher i chopped the front bumper into a stubby and ran just the cross member in the rear for a while.
I did run this setup for about a month or two while i decide what route i wanted to go with control arms. Finally i came to the decision to purchase the metalcloack midarms with their duroflex joints. I figured it was the best of both worlds, factory ride, with aftermarket articulation. I could not have been more satisfied with this purchase, by far the best thing I've done for this jeep yet!
Summary
rough country 4" lift coils and shocks
metalcloack duroflex midarms
stubby factory front bumper
removed rear bumper
Last edited by J3rs3yd3vil; 10-22-2013 at 12:38 PM.
10-22-2013, 01:12 PM
#6
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the jeep performed amazingly off road after all the upgrades that took place. the increased ground clearance with the added room for articulation of the 35" tires made a world of difference when it came to obstacles that required a little more clearance.
My next modification was the exhaust. the factory exhaust took a beating from rocks over the trips to rausch creek and was starting rust out. solution? i chopped of the stock muffler ordered the dynomax competition evolution exhaust and haven't looked back. The exhaust adds a deep not thats not loud at all, more of just a rumble. In the higher rpm range it develops a growl thats somewhat desirable ( lets be honest, its a v6, its never going to sound like a v8) but all in all its a great exhaust, its tucked up and away from the rocks and serves its purpose.
When i bought my jeep it was missing a few of the things that it came with from the factory, im suspecting the dealer sold them off to make money on the side or the previous owner got rid of them. One of those components was the factory nav. i ended up replacing it with another navigation unit (model number evades me at the moment) and am very pleased with it this far. Another thing missing that i soon replaced was the rubicon rails. I dont know if the previous owner bought it with the side steps or put them on afterwards but they served no purpose to me. I found a forum member that wanted a straight trade, in the end everyones a winner.
After several months of running no rear bumper i finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase a smittybilt xrc tire carrier. I know people aren't blown away with their products but i for one love the design of their rear bumper, i think it complements the jk in every way. While i did the instillation of the rear tire carrier i also ordered warrior products spare tire mounted license plate bracket. it has an integrated licensplate light and a 3rd brake light.
i also decided to chop my flares around the same time along with ordering a front stinger bumper from smittybilt, not because i liked it.... but because it was cheap and i was tired of the stock stubby bumper.
Next big purchase was a winch. i had my mind set on getting a warn powerplant winch but it just wasnt in the cards at the moment, so instead i bought warns new winch that they've been pushing hard, the warn zeon. personally i bought the 10k version because of my jeep being the unlimited i figured be safe and get the heavier weight rated winch.
Summary:
Dynomax competition exhaust
Touch screen Nav
Rubicon rails
Smittybilt XRC rear bumper/tirecarrier
Smittybilt front stinger
Warn zeon 10k
Trimmed factory flares
warrior products license plate bracket
license plate delete plug.
*** looking back this was probably the best setup as a daily driver, it rode well on the road, performed amazing off road, and it still did fine on the highway. i drove the jeep with this setup from where i live (easton, pa) down to hilton head ,sc. it was a hell of a trip and a long drive but the jeep took no effort what so ever to keep it on the road.***
My next modification was the exhaust. the factory exhaust took a beating from rocks over the trips to rausch creek and was starting rust out. solution? i chopped of the stock muffler ordered the dynomax competition evolution exhaust and haven't looked back. The exhaust adds a deep not thats not loud at all, more of just a rumble. In the higher rpm range it develops a growl thats somewhat desirable ( lets be honest, its a v6, its never going to sound like a v8) but all in all its a great exhaust, its tucked up and away from the rocks and serves its purpose.
When i bought my jeep it was missing a few of the things that it came with from the factory, im suspecting the dealer sold them off to make money on the side or the previous owner got rid of them. One of those components was the factory nav. i ended up replacing it with another navigation unit (model number evades me at the moment) and am very pleased with it this far. Another thing missing that i soon replaced was the rubicon rails. I dont know if the previous owner bought it with the side steps or put them on afterwards but they served no purpose to me. I found a forum member that wanted a straight trade, in the end everyones a winner.
After several months of running no rear bumper i finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase a smittybilt xrc tire carrier. I know people aren't blown away with their products but i for one love the design of their rear bumper, i think it complements the jk in every way. While i did the instillation of the rear tire carrier i also ordered warrior products spare tire mounted license plate bracket. it has an integrated licensplate light and a 3rd brake light.
i also decided to chop my flares around the same time along with ordering a front stinger bumper from smittybilt, not because i liked it.... but because it was cheap and i was tired of the stock stubby bumper.
Next big purchase was a winch. i had my mind set on getting a warn powerplant winch but it just wasnt in the cards at the moment, so instead i bought warns new winch that they've been pushing hard, the warn zeon. personally i bought the 10k version because of my jeep being the unlimited i figured be safe and get the heavier weight rated winch.
Summary:
Dynomax competition exhaust
Touch screen Nav
Rubicon rails
Smittybilt XRC rear bumper/tirecarrier
Smittybilt front stinger
Warn zeon 10k
Trimmed factory flares
warrior products license plate bracket
license plate delete plug.
*** looking back this was probably the best setup as a daily driver, it rode well on the road, performed amazing off road, and it still did fine on the highway. i drove the jeep with this setup from where i live (easton, pa) down to hilton head ,sc. it was a hell of a trip and a long drive but the jeep took no effort what so ever to keep it on the road.***
Last edited by J3rs3yd3vil; 10-22-2013 at 01:34 PM.
10-22-2013, 02:10 PM
#7
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this point in the story is where the mods start to slow down for two reasons.
1, im a college student who works full time to put every penny into his jeep and now im broke.
2, well..... actually just 1^^^ lol
Next upgrade was more of a impulse buy. my friend was running warns 7" HID lights and was selling them to purchase trucklight LED headlights, so i bought them
Ended up deciding that 35s were to small for me and quickly sold my 35s to a friend and bought 37x12.5x17 goodyear mtr kevlars off a forum member and had them mounted on the same style rim i had before. 3/4" spacers were added along with crown suspension extended brake lines to accommodate for the added tires and increased lift.
This is where things went south for a while. first trip to rausch creek with the 37s i snapped a u-joint on the passengers side front axle, replaced it with a oem dana spicer u-joint. Next trip out i bent my drivers side rear axle flange, replaced both rear axle shafts with G2 chromoly axles. Trip after that ended up finishing off my stock ball joints, just replaced them with synergy ball joints. heavier weight of the tires also wrecked all of my tierod ends, i ended up replacing the stock oem draglink and replaced the tierod with a synergy chromoly tierod.
Bilstein 5100s were added just last week to combat the increased body roll with the hard top on. so far the shocks are a major improvement over the crappy rough country shocks. offroad i notice a major difference, before the jeep would throw you around with every rock you went over but now it will ease you into the bumps.
And now we are pretty much caught up to where im at now.
ill continue to update things from time to time. Cheers!
Summary:
37x12.5x17 goodyear mtr kevlars
17" procomp 7069's
rear G2 chromoly axle shafts
bilstein 5100's
3/4" daystar isolators
crown suspension extended brake lines
1, im a college student who works full time to put every penny into his jeep and now im broke.
2, well..... actually just 1^^^ lol
Next upgrade was more of a impulse buy. my friend was running warns 7" HID lights and was selling them to purchase trucklight LED headlights, so i bought them
Ended up deciding that 35s were to small for me and quickly sold my 35s to a friend and bought 37x12.5x17 goodyear mtr kevlars off a forum member and had them mounted on the same style rim i had before. 3/4" spacers were added along with crown suspension extended brake lines to accommodate for the added tires and increased lift.
This is where things went south for a while. first trip to rausch creek with the 37s i snapped a u-joint on the passengers side front axle, replaced it with a oem dana spicer u-joint. Next trip out i bent my drivers side rear axle flange, replaced both rear axle shafts with G2 chromoly axles. Trip after that ended up finishing off my stock ball joints, just replaced them with synergy ball joints. heavier weight of the tires also wrecked all of my tierod ends, i ended up replacing the stock oem draglink and replaced the tierod with a synergy chromoly tierod.
Bilstein 5100s were added just last week to combat the increased body roll with the hard top on. so far the shocks are a major improvement over the crappy rough country shocks. offroad i notice a major difference, before the jeep would throw you around with every rock you went over but now it will ease you into the bumps.
And now we are pretty much caught up to where im at now.
ill continue to update things from time to time. Cheers!
Summary:
37x12.5x17 goodyear mtr kevlars
17" procomp 7069's
rear G2 chromoly axle shafts
bilstein 5100's
3/4" daystar isolators
crown suspension extended brake lines
Last edited by J3rs3yd3vil; 12-03-2014 at 06:51 PM.
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10-22-2013, 02:27 PM
#9
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At this point i am, i was in the process of buying aev 4.5" progressive rate coils off of a forum member but they decided to sell local instead of shipping. im thinking about ordering metalcloaks proggresive 3.5" lift coils and keeping my coil isolators on for a total of 4.25" of lift, we'll see. at the moment im perfectly happy with how it performs on and off road.
10-22-2013, 02:31 PM
#10
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At this point i am, i was in the process of buying aev 4.5" progressive rate coils off of a forum member but they decided to sell local instead of shipping. im thinking about ordering metalcloaks proggresive 3.5" lift coils and keeping my coil isolators on for a total of 4.25" of lift, we'll see. at the moment im perfectly happy with how it performs on and off road.