rubicon-rangler

OK, so I just ordered everything.

The same wheels and lift kit I listed above, I also ordered a smittybilt 9500# winch, the gibson exhaust, and a front bumper, rear bumper, and tire bracket.

Anything else anyone think I will need to accomplish this? Total cost was $3590....

TheDirtman

Looks like you know what you want. I would warn about the smitybilt bumpers as they are crap. Made of thin material and welds and finish look terrible. As far as need, you don't need anything on your list list for what you are doing with it. Build what you want as you can bolt all kinds of stuff and drain your bank account with the JK.
Good luck with the build.

rubicon-rangler

Thanks, I actually dodn't get the smittybilt bumpers I got even cheaper ones than them, lol I got a set off of ebay it was $700 for the front, rear, and tire mount, I am sure in the case of bumpers you get what you pay for, but I am cheap when it comes to vehicles that lose value with age...

rubicon-rangler

So the company I was getting my wheels and tires from just changed the price on me, I either cancel the order or get 4 wheels instead of 5 for the quoted price!!!

SO I cancelled it and went with a different company all together, I called discount tire and they got me 5 black alloy wheels with the terra g2's in 295-70, lug nuts, mounted, balanced, shipped for $500 less than I was paying the other company!!!

A friend of mine also told me his brother had a 1.25 body lift kit from RC that he bought and never installed, doesn't even have the jeep anymore. His brother called me about an hour later and said I could have it for $20, I went over there and picked it up, the box is a little beat up but all the parts are there, so I guess I will throw that in there too. That will give me 3.75 total lift.

The only thing I am concerned about it I read that the body lift messes with the spare tire location? is that true, will I have an issue with my bumper mounted tire mount? thanks now that everything is on its way I am getting excited to get it done...

rubicon-rangler

Update, stuff started to arrive... Looks like wheels/tires and exhaust will be last things to arrive on Monday or Tuesday depending on weather, I should be able to find enough time to install it all before the weekend. Thanks for all the help and PM's.

My wife thinks I am crazy for being "excited" about a vehicle I have owned for 2 years already, she was surprised I only spent a few thousand dollars, she said with how I was looking stuff up she thought I would have spent $10-15K, lol, although when we bought the jeep the dealer wanted $8K to lift it and add wheels, I still have their proposal, it included a ready lift 69-6000 kit, rockstar 17" wheels with 33" atura tires, smittybilt rear bumper and tire carrier, and wheel spacer kit, $8000 installed seems high...

I told her I am not done, someday I will be adding a 6.4l hemi and if they ever make a 4 door truck bed it I will be adding one of them too.

Tooadvanced

Go look up the AEV double brute

rubicon-rangler

Thanks, I seen them before {didn't know they were in production}, I just seen the price of $60K and thought "thats not bad" until I seen that doesnt include the cost of the jeep, lol.. I was thinking a kit like the jk8, maybe $10K tops {a friend of a friend bought a jk8 for $5K off the dealer}...

Heres what I was thinking...
Loaded Rubicon JK unlimited $32500K {thats what I paid in 2012 for the 2013, painted roof/fenders, nav, tow, dual tops, leather, etc, they may be more now}...
Hemi Kit $20K
Brute kit $10K
Wheels, tires, bumpers, lift, etc $6K
Total $70K ish, but I already own the jeep and it will have wheels and tires so figured around $30K when mine is ready for a fresh engine, which at this rate will be a while since it only has 4K on it now, lol....

I may go for the hemi kit soon, I am waiting for a gentleman right now that is on his way down from Maine to buy the blue print 636, I pulled out of my 57 Chevy {bought it with that engine in it, way more than I wanted in the car, I went a different way, installed a fi 454 {400hp}, fuel injected, air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, etc}, I think I listed it too cheap because I got 4 phone calls on it the first day and took the first offer of $8K cash and the guy was excited to come down even with a blizzard coming!!!

Xodius

I have a 1" body lift on mine but my spare is still on the door and the only reason is because I wanted to be able to open the tailgate and tire as one. Yes, I know there are swings that connect to tailgate but I did not like those and didn't want to fab one up....yet. I went with a teraflex hinge and like it a lot. Anyway the body lift does raise your body, lol and in turn it will be a little bit higher than stock so you will see your rear vent....well, you won't see your vent but it will be higher than stock so it won't be in the center of the spare. Is that a big deal? No but to each their own. Chances are you will slap a tramp stamp on it anyway so it really doesn't matter.

The spacer lift, I am not a fan of but that is personal. My rig has OME HD and the not one that I buy for my rigs, this is my third now and I love the ride and height. With you wanting to stay nearly stock the spacer will be fine. Like the others said, cut your fenders or slap on some flats and you will be fine.

I didn't look to see where you are and that sometimes dictates what you do have where yoga with builds. I sit on 35's and think kit is low, lol but mine is more expo than anything as I do not rock climb.

Pet some pics, I am curious to see it. E biggest thing to remember is the rig is yours and you do what you want to it. I too have built a couple classics, I had a 1949 studebaker starlite coupe in holiday red when I was in high school. Had a blast with that car and wish I still had it on many occasions.

Lastly, the bump stops....I have the stock on mine still. If you want super cheap slap a couple hockey pucks on. Total cost will be what, $8? Lol. I popped some on my last rig and never had any issues and got the idea from a friend who did that same thing. He bolted his on, mine Erie epoxied.

rubicon-rangler

OK, so another update...

By chance, I met up with a gentleman that runs a shop specializing in off road vehicles, he came to my garage to look at a pair of AFR heads I had on clist{funny story there, he made me a very low borderline insulting offer and less than an hour after he left another guy called and said he wanted them, no bargaining he would give me what I wanted if I would meet him in worcester the next morning, theres a breakfast place I like up there so agreed, we met he paid and I left, that afternoon the first guy called me back and said he would buy the heads for what I wanted and I had to tell him they were sold... snooze you lose}... Anyway while guy number one was in my shop he seen the jeep and gave me a business card he actually specializes in lift kits and truck driveline work. So I showed him what I was doing and of course he said I should have just went with a long arm lift kit he does them for $3K with no wheels and tires, etc etc etc, and I explained I wanted to spend around $4K for everything. So he made a few recommendations on my build, he looked threw my parts and was familiar with the jeep {he said he has lifted at least 50 jk's}, said everything looked good, he would have went with 16" wheels, but besides that it was a good start. This sucked because it was all of my parts, lol..

He said I need a few more things
1- c gussets for the front, he said he does them everytime he lifts a jk and adds anything over a 33" tire, with our pot hole ridden roads it is a must a heavy oversized wheel
2-Control arm relocatation brackets, he said the how they drive with and without after even a 2.5" lift is night and day, told me to get the Rancho version
3-adjustable track bar for the front, he recommended JKS and showed me exactly what it will do to the jeep with centering the axle, he said my kit has a bracket for the rear but he would get the rear too but I didn't have to

So now I am thinking this is going to be a ton of money, its the first time I heard of any of these parts and I have been doing a good amount of research, but all the parts, teraflex c gusset, rancho brackets, and the front and rear JKS trac bars came to $500 total shipped, so I just ordered it, I have been swamped with work {I am retired but own rental property so need to do snow removal and make sure the roofs arent caving in on my properties}...

This guy also told me he would install everything, weld in the c gussets, and align everything afterwards for $1000 labor, I am obviously installing it all myself I have 3 welders in the shop and 2 lifts, but it was nice to know what I am saving by installing it all myself...

PS I am now over $4K into this build, I was originally figuring 3-4, I think I have it all though now, except for tint and decals which I will do in the summer...

TheDirtman

Sounds like the guy knows his stuff and gave you good advise. If you have read the stickies you would have learned everything he told you and stated in your post. JKS makes a big beefy track bar and I have run 3 different versions of them over the years and prefer the Senergy for the lighter weight and the joints they use over the clevite joints JKS uses. I had a problem with the joints pushing out of the housing but it may have been the amount of lift I was running that caused it.