newcomb

What's up JK Forum! First off I want to thank all of the folks who keep this site up and running as well as the community as a whole. It's awesome to have a resource like this, especially when you have limited experience working on Jeeps or really anything for that matter. Looking forward to any feedback, suggestions or whatever as I document my journey!

I bought my JK about 3 1/2 years ago after a family vacation out to Colorado. We saw some amazing Wranglers during our week in the Rockies and as you might suspect, weeks after our return I still couldn't shake the need to get back behind the wheel of one of my own. I had a '94 YJ throughout the majority of my 20's but when kiddie #2 came a knockin' I traded her in for an '05 GC. After 5 wrangler-less years and that one well placed vacation I pulled the trigger on a lightly used (9,500 miles) 2014 JKU Rubicon. My YJ was white with a white hard top so when this Rubi showed up on the lot of a local Jeep dealer I immediately knew she was the one for me. The icing on the cake was that the previous owner had purchased a Mopar Twill Soft Top in addition to the factory hard top (I always liked the look of a hard top better but I have to say there is nothing like the convenience of a soft top!). It's kind of amazing to have both!

Over the last couple of years I've done a handful of mods which I plan to start detailing in my next post but I'm choosing to make my build thread now because the "lift" portion of my overall build plan has worked its way near the top of the family priority list and somehow I talked my loving wife into letting me scratch that itch so after a month or so of research and planning and changing my mind and more research I started watching the Black Friday and holiday sales over the last few weeks and hemorrhaging cash. I now have a stockpile of parts sitting in my basement eagerly awaiting for me to start wrenching. My plan is to complete the entire install myself other than mounting/balancing the tires, paint & powder coat (no paint/powder in this phase) but unfortunately my garage is not heated so the plan for now is to start in the spring. I will definitely benefit from a few months of getting my "stuff" together (remember, this is a first for me).

So, it will be a little bit before I get started on this phase of the build but I am planning to post pics and maybe some reviews of the parts I have received so far to keep me occupied. While there is a ton of great info and reviews out there about most popular mods I guess I still felt somewhat apprehensive about what would be delivered. Hoping to help someone make a better informed decision. I have also worked with a few different vendors throughout this process so I'll try to describe my experiences there as well.

*updated 08/25/2018*
Below is a list of my currently installed mods as well as my current wish list. The top two pics are from early spring 2015 (pre-mods) and the bottom two are from June 2018 (lifted but pre-ball joints/tie rod). At the time of this edit I have mostly completed the lift portion of my build and I've got her dialed in pretty good now. The new TPMS sensors haven't yet synced so I need to run up to the dealership to get that looked at and I don't have a PC that I can load the Superchips software on but have a buddy who's going to help me out there so I can get the TD2 going. Other than that a few decals and what should be the most involved portion of my overall build will be complete.

Current Mods:
- Mopar 10th Anniversary Rubicon Hood
- J.W. Speaker 8700 Evolution J Series LED Headlight
- J.W. Speaker 6145 J Series LED Fog Lights
- Mickey Thompson Baja MTZP3 315/70R17
- AEV Pintler 17x8.5 - Black
- McGard 1/2"-20 Thread Regular Cone Seat Lug Nut Installation Kit with 3/4" Hex
- Rancho 4" Crawler Short Arm Lift Kit
- Rancho RS9000XL Shocks
- Rancho High-Steer Knuckles
- Rancho Flipped Drag Link
- Rancho RockGEAR Front Track Bar Bracket
- Rancho RS7000MT Steering Stabilizer
- Rancho Extended Length Brake Lines
- SteerSmarts Yeti XD 1½-Ton Tie Rod
- SteerSmarts Yeti XD Steering Damper Bracket
- Rare Parts Dual Load Carrying Ball Joints
- Spidertrax 1.5" Wheel Spacer Kit
- Teraflex HD Hinged Carrier & Adjustable Spare Tire Mounting Kit
- Superchips Trail Dash 2
- Tom Wood Front 1310 Drive Shaft
- Tom Wood Rear 1310 Drive Shaft
- AntennaX CB (24-inch) AM/FM Antenna
- GraBars Front Bar Set
- Bartact Paracord Front/Rear/Head Rest Roll Bar Grab Handles
- Quadratec Tail Light Guards
- SpiderWebShade SW1 JK-4D Top
- Mopar Twill Soft Top
- Mopar Slush Floor Mats
- Mopar Side Steps
- Mopar Red "Trail Rated 4x4" Badge
- Harken Hoister 45-145lb Load, 12'
- Lange Originals Door Hangers

Wish List:
- Wild Boar Products High Impact ABS Plastic Aggressive Flare Grill - (looks like these guys have gone out of business) :(
- Poison Spyder JK Brawler Lite Front Bumper
- Poison Spyder JK RockBrawler II Rear Bumper
- Poison Spyder JK Crusher Flares
- Poison Spyder JK Inner Fender Kit
- Poison Spyder JK 4-Dr Rocker Knockers - (between these and the LoD Signature Series Rock Sliders)
- Rancho RockGEAR Tubular Off-Road Doors
- SpiderWebShade ShadeSkins
- KC HiLights 50” C Series C50 LED Bar (maybe)
- KC HiLights 3” LZR LED Cubes
- Warn Zeon 10-S Platinum Winch
- Factor 55 Winch Line Loaded ProLink
- K&N 77 Series High Flow Air Intake
- Borla T-304 Stainless Steel Cat-Back Split Rear Exhaust
- Willwood Forged Narrow Superlite 4R Big Brake Brake Kit - (will need to upgrade the brakes but not sure I can justify these)
- Hothead JK 4 door Hard Top Headliner Kit - (needs more research)
- Tuffy Security Products Security Deck Enclosure
- Alpine i109-WRA Apple Carplay 9 Inch In-Dash - (needs more research)
- Focal Performance PS 130F - (needs more research)
- Focal Performance Sub P 20F - (needs more research)
- Focal FPX 4.400 SQ Amplifier - (needs more research)
- Diff Covers / Skid Plates - (needs more research)

jkubeast

That's definitely a list of things to do! Good luck and keep us posted on the build..Great looking Jeep!

resharp001

Y, looks like you have it thought out pretty good. The only thing I'd say is 4" lift is pretty high for having 35's......but that's all personal preference. Taller isn't necessarily better. Happy building!

jkubeast

I had a 4" lift with 315 / 70's and honestly I didn't like the look...it looked too small for a 4" lift. I know 315's are about 34.2 tall and not true 35's. If you go with true 35" tires then it may fill it out a bit more. However, when I went to 37's personally, it looked too big for a 4" lift...but again that's all personal preference.

newcomb

Thanks dude!

​​Yeah, I've had some of the same concerns guys. I did a good bit of research and Rancho lists the lift as being designed for 35's and it looked ok in the few pics I could find but I know that 4" might be a bit too much for 315/70's. It was a hard decision but ultimately I landed on a 4" as it would allow me to go up to 37's when this jeep is no longer my daily driver. The good news is I can always throw more $$ at it if I don't like it! Lol

Appreciate the feedback!

newcomb

This is the first of a few planned posts detailing the little bit of work I've done so far. For this first one I wanted to share what is still one of the most fun projects I've taken on and in my opinion the most important accessory if you have a hard top... the hoist! After years of relying on friends to come help remove/install the hard top on my YJ or what was more often the case, leaving it off for weeks at a time rain or shine, I budgeted for a hoist when buying my JK. I looked at a few but decided on the Lange Originals Hoist-a-Top and Door Hangers because of what I thought was a better design at the time. I have a buddy who had one of the manual strap/pulley hoists and didn't like it so honestly I didn't give them much consideration. What arrived was a very nice and well made piece of equipment, with good install instructions but I have two main complaints about this hoist. For whatever reason (I was probably being cheap) I chose the low-end come-along model which proved to be much harder than expected when raising/lowering the hard top (I'm not sure they even offer this option any longer). It would jam from time to time and one notch per cycle while lowering was always almost impossible to pass. My second complaint is that there are several exposed nuts/bolts on the hoist and door hangers which present a risk of scratched paint, especially with a body-color top and the fact that the freedom panels are placed on top of the hoist frame (which is also this hoist's best feature).

Overall the install went pretty smooth. I spent a good bit of time beefing up the garage joists since they were accessible in our old garage to eliminate any chance of catastrophic failure. I also used a 3/4" eye bolt, rather than using the supplied 1/2" lag eye bolt, which I ran vertically all the way through the center joist after bolting in some additional 2x6's. I mounted the door hangers to 2x's which I bolted into the exposed framing of the walls. After completing the install I then grabbed a few pool noodles from the local Walmart, cut them to the needed lengths and zip-tied each to the frame, covering all exposed bolts and the cable running from the pulley to the come-along. After hoisting the top a few times I also added some bungee cords to help keep it level and stationary. When it was all said and done I had a reliable means for removing and storing my top with no assistance required and I think I was in maybe $500 (which is pretty high but the extra lumber and hardware had a good bit to do with that). At my best (and I rarely get in a hurry) it would take maybe 10-15 minutes to remove and 15-20 to install. For anyone thinking about their first Jeep, if you plan to drive with the wind in your hair, get a hoist! They are the best!!!

Below is a pic of the original install which was less fun to uninstall when we moved over the summer and one of my current install of the door hangers and soft top storage. Overall I think the Lange Originals is a nice hoist but I will be replacing it in the spring with something different (I'm leaning towards the Harken 4-point Lift System).


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resharp001

Not to keep clogging your build thread, but since you mentioned possibly changing your hoist out.....I've got one that looks like this -



They used to be sold as "EZ Top Cap Lift" by an old man that made em to order. There's one listed on craigslist around me and I noticed the guys instruction paper now says "By JMS", but I've had a hard time finding these online when looking for others before. Anyhow, was just going to say that my top is on/off in under 10 mins with this lift...and it truly is a 1 person job. You can steer the top as you're lowering it. Freedom panels get put on top of the bars for easy storage. Granted....most the time I pop the top on it's for a short period of time and I only put two bolts in the rear and the two up front....so maybe it could take a couple more minutes. Lift was one of the first things I bought and money was well spent as my top is off the majority of the time.

newcomb

No worries at all.

That's a nice looking hoist! I like how the hand crank is attached to the hoist rather than the wall. I was always dodging the cable with my old one. My one concern with something like that is that I have 11'-12' ceilings in my garage. Thinking that might require a tall ladder each time to get it all the way up to the ceiling but maybe I'm missing something. What do you think?

Thanks again for the feedback and pic! I had no idea something like that even existed.

resharp001

Y, that ceiling height is an X factor. My old garage had a 10' ceiling. that hoist would lift it to the top, allowing me (6') walk underneath it with plenty of clearance which was really nice. My current garage is only 8'....ugh. I lift it enough to turn around and pull the hood of the jeep under it...right up to the windshield.....but there are at least a couple times a year I'll be cleaning the garage, not pay attention, and smack right in to my hard top hanging there. LOL. With my old 10" ceiling, I'd have to stand on a small stool of just a second to begin lowering it down, but again, I'm 6' tall. I guess if you were having to do that very often, it could get a little annoying.....although the ease of the lift after that small detail might offset it.

I'd imagine this guy's ceiling is similar to what you have. Man....wish I had that kinda vertical space

newcomb

I was in the same boat with the old garage, 8 ft to the joists and had to park the nose of one vehicle under the top. I didn't mind it but the extra space will be nice. My garage is pretty close to what you see in the video except my door opening is one door panel shorter. I never thought to mount the hoist over the door like that, gonna do that for sure! Thanks again for posting the pics and video. Definitely gives me another option to consider.