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Jager's CoLoRaDo Crawler Build thread

12K views 76 replies 24 participants last post by  jagerhelix 
#1 ·
Figured it's time for a build thread. I've used many of others to help in the planning and building of mine so I figured I could pay it forward and share my jeep with you all. First off, I live in Colorado so I build my jeep for this environment. If I lived elsewhere I might do things differently.

2011 Black JKU Sport, manual windows, manual locks, hard top, A/C. That's about it. Here she is in all her glory. Bicycle tires and all.


In my opinion the sport tires are a joke, they do okay but are comically small for a JK. Found a sweet deal on craigslist and picked up a set of 5 33x13.50 Swampers mounted on 17" soft 8s.


I ran that setup for a long time while trying to decide what I wanted to do with the jeep, and what suspension setup I wanted to go with. I ended up going with the RK 3.5 Max Travel with Currie Antirock, and Fox remote res shocks. Reason being that it was the most complete kit I could find for the price. Full set of control arms, and high steer were big selling points for me. I am very pleased with the handling and performance of this setup, especially with the antirock I feel like I've got traction at times others were really struggling. And that is with open diffs.

Well to not drag this out any longer I'll just post the mod list and pics. No need to really explain my reasoning for every mod, although I'm more than happy to answer questions.

So, as she sits right now...
Armor/Skids
Gen-Right Boatside sliders
Poison Spyder BFH with Trail stinger
Rock Krawler prototype steel rear bumper cap
Trimmed fenders
Suspension
Rock Krawler 3.5" Max Travel
RK control arms
Currie Antirock Swaybar
Fox Remote res shocks 4"-6"
Wheels/Tires
16X8 Steel Black D window wheels with stock jeep center cap
315x75xR16 KM2s
Driveline
Stock 3:73s
EVO MFG sealed sleeves and c gussets
Electronics
Cobra 75 CB with 4ft Firestick
Other
ARB compressor
Smittybilt 10lb Co2 tank
In the garage waiting to be installed
Yukon 5:13 gears
ARB Rear locker
Aussie front locker





That Puts us up to date. I just snapped my sector shaft so I put the call into PSC. Hydro assist steering is in the mail along with Rock solid sector shaft brace. Hopefully I can install it this weekend.

Thanks all!
 
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#5 ·
I am running there high output pump with the cooler that mounts on the radiator. You are going to love it man. I dont have to turn my front locker off to turn if I dont want to. But I did have issues with the feed line leaking and ended up having a high pressure line made becouse I got tired of trying to make it stop leaking.
 
#6 ·
WatchThis! said:
I am running there high output pump with the cooler that mounts on the radiator. You are going to love it man. I dont have to turn my front locker off to turn if I dont want to. But I did have issues with the feed line leaking and ended up having a high pressure line made becouse I got tired of trying to make it stop leaking.
That sounds pretty cool to be able to turn your wheels while locked up. Locking and unlocking can be tedious and annoying.
 
#11 ·
jagerhelix said:
Correct, that was blanca peak. It is probably my favorite trail so far. I broke it on Saran wrap two days ago. Bumped an aspen tree with my driver side front tire and it snapped like nothing.
If you liked Blanca Peak you might really like Holy Cross (you may have already run it, but have you made it to the lake/top?)

Dang. You must have hit just right, or just wrong. How did you get out?
 
#14 ·
Holy cross is on my short list, I really want to run it. That and I want to take a crack at Indy this year too.

Who knows, It was such a small impact I'm wondering if it was already on its way. I ended up leaving it over night and borrowing a fellow jeepers steering box and fixing it on the trail the next morning.

 
#17 ·
Thanks man:wavey:


Just did some peeking around and noticed my tie rod has a nice bend to it. Kind of hard to see in the pics.


Figured I'd better get a straight one before I put the ram on there. Also noticed the nice peeling action under both of my diffs:eek: Poison Spyder bombshell diff covers on the way, figured I might as well protect my investment since I've got gears and lockers sitting in my garage I'm waiting to install.
 
#18 ·
Well I've gotten the jeep back on the road at least. My PSC Ram assist setup showed up two days ago and I've got most of it installed. I couldn't finish the ram yet because my tie rod has not shown up yet so I would be pointless. But I've gotten the Pump, Reservoir, and gear box in. Unfortunately I've got a small leak somewhere I can't quite pinpoint. I'm sure it's still somewhere either going in or coming out of the reservoir. I'll revisit it tomorrow and try to isolate and fix it before I add anymore confusion to the mix. It's less than one drop a minute but still very irritating.

I will say I was a bit worried about DW since I had to remove the steering stabilizer, and with the tie rod being bent. But It drives true, just a little "floaty" at the moment. Hopefully by tomorrow it'll be good to go again.

My ESP has completely given up on trying and now I've got the ESP and ABS light on and my Hill assist is also not working. Once I get the tie rod on tomorrow and recenter the steering wheel via the drag link I'm hoping the computer wants to play nice again. Pretty sure those three specific are all connected.

Reservoir

Gear Box

Ram mount and bent ass tie rod


I swear someday I will clean this jeep!
 
#19 ·
jagerhelix said:
Holy cross is on my short list, I really want to run it. That and I want to take a crack at Indy this year too.

Who knows, It was such a small impact I'm wondering if it was already on its way. I ended up leaving it over night and borrowing a fellow jeepers steering box and fixing it on the trail the next morning.
Nice about Holy Cross. Indy is pretty hard core. Always wanted to run that but it takes a serious rig to get through unscathed. Just the exit is intimidating.

That's how I got off a trail once too. Gotta love jeep folks. Some will let you pull parts off their truck to get yours out if a bind!
 
#22 ·
Finally had the time to tie up loose ends on my steering setup. I was throwing a left front wheel sensor code that illuminated my ESP, ABS lights, and disengaged my hill start assist. So I bought a replacement sensor and during install realized I had accidentally pinched the wiring in half during my steering setup:facepalm:. So my stock sensor was fine and it ended up being a wire cutter and electrical tape fix. But all lights are now off and everything works fine now:thumb:

I'll finally be testing out my steering setup on Chinaman Gulch (CO) on Saturday. I'll post pics:cool:
 
#29 ·
Thanks! I've been wanting to make the jump since I put my 35s on lol. Can't wait to actually use them on obstacles that gave me some trouble before to compare. I'll at least be happy with these for quite some time. They match my 3.5 lift much better IMO.
 
#32 ·
I see plenty of room for 40s!
 
#33 ·
Ha! Not yet. Now that I'm finally on my 37s, I can take my time and start piecing together my next set of axles. Doing a bunch of research and wanting to do a 60 front and 14B rear. Won't happen this summer, but I'm not in a big hurry. After that we can talk 40s:thumb:
 
#36 ·
Good news and bad news. Bad news is I have shoulder surgery and won't be able to drive my Jeep for a few Weeks since I'll be on pain killers. The good news is I'll have plenty of time to finally install all my parts that have been piling up! Gears, lockers, and diff covers.

What a beautiful sight!


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Jeep Bumper
 
#60 ·
Good news and bad news. Bad news is I have shoulder surgery and won't be able to drive my Jeep for a few Weeks since I'll be on pain killers. The good news is I'll have plenty of time to finally install all my parts that have been piling up! Gears, lockers, and diff covers.

What a beautiful sight!


View attachment 222641
I know this is a reply to an old post but, I Hope your shoulder surgery was less painful than mine. I had two torn rotator tendons and a bicep tendon. Most pain I've ever been in for the first week after the surgery. Had a second one 6 months later to free it all up. Was working on the JK the other day and shoulder did OK. Good luck with it.
 
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