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2015 Black Willy's

9K views 51 replies 13 participants last post by  AZTrail 
#1 ·
I bought this 2015 Willy's a few weeks ago & finally getting around to adding a few bells & whistles & will be lifting it soon, so figured I'd share my journey.

It's my wife's daily, but we'll be getting it a little dirty for sure. Going to keep it mostly OEM, but with a few extra's to get a little more out of it.


Here's the plan:

-Bartacts' front & rear
-SpderTrax 1.5
-Matching Mopar tread cargo mat
-315/70/17's on the OEM wheels
-MetalCloak Fox True Dual 2.5
-Fox steering stabilizer
-Kicker Stage III system
-A spare carrier that'll fit a 35
-Maybe an exhaust & CAI
-Warn winch (eventually)

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#3 ·
A bit of a pain to get them on, but that's a good thing since it's a nice tight perfect fit.

I was thinking I'd pull out the headrest posts to avoid cutting the "X", but it's not worth it, so cut the X.

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#4 ·
Finally got the rear set & installed today. These went on much easier, but took a minute to figure out how to get the headrests off. My wife figured it out. Something about 2 release tabs inside the headrest near the posts that you can't see.

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#15 ·
Bfg ko2

I wound up going with the BFG KO2 34x10.50. With a $50 BFG rebate promo it comes out to $1305 for five tires with free shipping & no tax. Gotta love eBay!

I decided a 35x12.50 was overkill. The 34 will maintain MPG's better while filling out the wheelwell & gaining a little axle height. 35's are boarderline for re-gearing too & I'm not interested in that. I already have a monster truck & that's not the plan for this JKU.

A week or so out on the tires & 2 or 3 more weeks on the lift. Taking forever!
 

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#17 ·
Interior LEDs

I've been looking around for some decent interior LEDs & think I found them. Place called Diode Dynamics out of Missouri. 3 year warranty & satisfaction guaranteed, free returns with no stocking fees. They're off to a good start in my book.

These look like their brightest 118 lumen version. If this is the case then I'm thinking their 56 or 92 LEDs at most.

Diode Dynamics LED Kit for 2010-2016 Jeep Wrangler
 

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#21 ·
Can't wait to see a pic of those tires on. Looking good
Thanks, me too!!! All these delays are making me nuts!

The lift should finally be here tomorrow, but then I'm going to paint it & also waiting on a Synergy Grade 8 bolt kit to arrive.

It's going to be 118F in crazy Arizona this weekend anyway, so it better cool down by next weekend when I'm ready to get this JK jacked up already!
 
#22 ·
The lift will be worth the wait and yep, better wait out this weekend. Going to be toasty.
 
#23 ·
Finally got the lift, Synergy grade 8 kit, & tires & dropped it all off at 4 Wheeler's Supply in Phoenix. I was going to lift it myself but it's just too damn hot out here now to be rolling around in my driveway all weekend.

Had to check the OEM on their 23º RTI ramp.
 

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#24 ·
Lifted!!

Finally got'er lifted & it turned out awesome! Awesome work by 4 Wheeler's Supply, as always. Brought them a few CJ's & a couple trucks over the past 20 years & never had 1 complaint.

2.5 MetalCloak TrueDual with Fox shocks & I also bought the rear trackbar. Painted it all gloss black with POR-15, gave it a real nice hard coat.

The 34x10.50's are a tiny bit small, but I'm not going 35x12.50's. I don't need them & have no misconceptions about trying to turn this Willy's into the crawler that it isn't. It doesn't even have lockers. If I wanted all that I would've bought a Rubi. This is just my wife's daily that we'll be getting dirty on occasion with some light wheeling & AZ trails.

Fox ATS up next & probably some AMP Powersteps now that she can barley get in it, haha.

I'll post some more pix this weekend after it gets a bath.
 

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#27 ·
Quite a transformation with the MC lift right?
-Steven
Sure is! It really smoothed out the ride. A little firmer, but soft & forgiving at the same time. It should seat in nice in a couple weeks around the time it's ready for retorque.

Surprisingly, there was this fairly constant Jeep squeak that is totally gone now. It was coming from the interior, but no more! Quite the unexpected bonus.
 
#28 ·
Not Quite Death Wobble

... it's alllllways something!!! :mad:

Turns out, right after it was lifted (as in ~20 miles later when first got on the freeway), I'm getting the ol' wobble effect, but not to the point of death.

Took it back & they jumped right on the drag link ends. Ever the skeptic since my teenage autoshop working days, I wasn't ready to drop another $350 on a Moog replacement.

Took it to the dealer who was surprisingly willing to inspect. Said it wasn't the DRE's, adjusted the steering box & sent me on my way. Steering is super tight & amazing, but still wobbling & running out of options.
 
#29 ·
Still Wobble

Replaced the drag link today but it didn't fix the wobble :facepalm:

I didn't get my hopes up though & expecting to replace the tie rod next if that didn't work. Then, steering knuckle ball joints if I have to. It can't be the wheel bearings since it happened exactly at the moment it was lifted. Everything else has already been ruled out.
 

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#30 ·
Replaced the tie rod today too & also had it laser aligned, but STILL getting wobble!!!

To date, I had the steering box adjusted by the dealer, replaced the drag link ends & tie rod ends myself, had the tires rebalanced & got a fancy alignment test. Trackbar is tight & the whole lift is on tight, but I'm running out of options. I do still need to go back for retorque, but I seriously doubt that's the issue.

Going to call MetalCloak again tomorrow, but they weren't able to help much before beyond the basics, so the only other thing are the knuckle ball joints. I really doubt its the wheel bearings since the wobble happened the instant the lift was installed, but there's not much else left to rule out.

I'm going to get a Fox ATS stabilizer, which will probably help a bunch but it won't solve the root cause. Only other option is road force balance. Frustrating!
 
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