[BlueBabySound]

Christian Crawlers 4X4 Club

Here's our Brutus, ordered and built for my wife
Ordered 01/23/14
Frame 02/24/14
Shipment 02/25/14
Home 03/27/14
9 weeks total.

Here's a chronological list of what we've installed (and links) .

November 2020: LINK

• 2005 Ford Super Duty D60 front axle. Artec truss & 5.38 gears
• 2001 Chevy 14 Bolt rear axle. Artec truss & 5.38 gears
• RPM Steering
• Core 4x4 arms
• MetalCloak coils
• Poison Spyder Armor
• VKS Rock Rails
• Warn winch
• Eaton e-locker/Grizzly locker

August 2019: LINK

• Broken front axle shaft (factory) 93,000 miles
• 100,000 mile service (water pump, belt, pullys, PCV, plugs)

November 2018:

• Teraflex ball joints

October 2018: LINK

• Poison Spyder rear corner armor

September 2018: LINK

• Rear Revolution axle shaft breaks- Warranty repair @85,000 miles
• 40" Cooper STT Pro

April 2018: LINK

• Rear pinion/gear break

October 2017: LINK

• 2018 JK arrives

April 2017: LINK

• Falcon Shocks

September 2016: LINK

• Adams Front drive shaft
• Smittybilt skid plate
• Artec track bar bracket

August 2016: LINK

• Therm housing, thermostat

June 2016: LINK

• ACE Inner Fender Liners
• FOX Stabilizer
• Rotopax

May 2016: LINK

• Broke down, moisture in connector (45,000 miles)
• Replaced Radiator, hoses LINK
• Factor 55 Thimble

April 2016: LINK

• Yeti Drag Link & Tie Rod
• Teraflex Rear Shelf

February 2016: LINK

• Teraflex 1.25" Body Lift

January 2016: LINK

• EVO Rear Bumper Delete & Facia
• ACE License relocate
• Rear main seal replacement- Warranty, 40,000 miles
• Steersmarts Griffin attenuator

December 2015: LINK

• Unit bearings replaced, 38,000 miles
• Wife bought 2016 Willys (LINK), Brutus becomes my ride (our ride according to her)

October 2015: LINK

• Teraflex accessory mount
• 42" Hi LIft
• Cobra 29LTD CB
• Firestik II antenna (2' & 4')
• 34,500 miles, drivers heated seat went out

July 2015: LINK

• 4.88 Gears
• Teraflex Diff Covers

May 2015: LINK

• Revolution 4340 Rear Axle Shafts (Broke one, but they replaced under warranty)

Apil 2015: LINK

• Trimmed pinch seams

March 2015: LINK

• Artec Truss Kit. Inner Cs, Truss and Lower CA Skids
• Portable Compressor
• Synergy Ball Joints- 20k miles (Crappy, replaced with Teraflex and they've been great)
• Teraflex Monster Track Bar

January 2015: LINK

• Floorboard LEDs
• Puddle lights

September 2014: LINK

• Cut factory fenders
• Superwinch 9500s (Broke at 5 years and 85,000 miles)

August 2014: LINK

• Relay Box (Did the Bussman box, the new Apollo Intech stuff is about the same $ and better)
• 20" light bar & Cube lights
• Rock lights

April 2014: LINK

• Mopar Stage3 lift/Teraflex S/T3 (has been great for 100,000 miles and counting)
• Toyo Open Country MT 37x13.5x17 (got 85,000 miles out of them)
• BMF Novakane Death Metal 17x9
• Teraflex Slotted big rotor kit
• Teraflex rear hinged tire carrier
• Spiderweb shade

March 2014: (Pictured below)

• Smittybilt XRC Front & Rear bumpers (Front bumpers been good, rear bent into the body)
• Smittybilt rock crawler side armor (Not good, bent into the body)
• Bestop security box (good stuff)
• AntennaX 5" shorty (not great reception, swapped for 12")

Here he is NEW

Installed antenna, side rails, front & rear bumper









Painted caliper brackets black w/copperhead lettering







Painted the rear muffler

 

[BlueBabySound]

Big day arrived for the wheels/tires/lift.
My Dad is 75 and offered his shop and his help. We hadn't worked on a car together in 25 years

 

[BlueBabySound]

:iamhappy:


Phase III will be Artec Truss, RCV Axle Shafts, winch (undecided) and Trek Armor

 

[BlueBabySound]

Looks great! What gears are you currently running?

Thanks!
Stock 4.10 for now, seems ok. Anxious to see how he does towing. Eventually we'll go to 4.88

 

[BlueBabySound]

Looks great! What gears did you go with for the 37's?

Thanks!

4.10s for now

 

[BlueBabySound]

I posted this in the waiting room thread, but it bares repeating.

In my humble opinion, your Jeep is worthy of of a Calendar Cover.
I'm normally not a fan of black wheels (just seems like it's been over done), but those wheels are really stunning! And the tires seem perfect for the rims (aggressive, but not over the top).
The stance, to me, is perfect!
With the body color and the mods, this is one beautiful JK! :thumb:
So what's next?

Very unique, Bravo!

Very cool. Awesome looking jeep.

Thanks guys, very kind words!!

 

[BlueBabySound]

How does it drive/handle? Did you notice quite a bit of extra pedal to get it to move?
That big brake kit work ok and did you upgrade your master cylinder as well?

Drive/handle was a little choppy first few miles, but it's great now. Accels surprisingly well, I expected it to be sluggish but it's not.


Brakes are great! I've run this kit before on our 2013 JKUS. We did the slotted rotors and caliper relocation kit. I'll go braided lines later, probably won't do the master.

 

[BlueBabySound]

Congratulations, BBS and SportyGirl! He is a BEAST! :drinks:

Thanks Star, hopefully we can wheel together sometime, you're not that far away. :beerdrinking:

 

[BlueBabySound]

Couple of pics from soccer today:

 

[BlueBabySound]

Overlooked a pic of the brake kit:





High temp black with copperhead pearl letters.

 

[BlueBabySound]

Do you have any pics of the exhaust since it has been painted? I'm looking into possibly doing the same thing. Just wanted to check it out prior to doing so.

Heres a few:

 

[BlueBabySound]

Yuummmmmmmmmmm :beerdrinking:

Thanks!!

 

[BlueBabySound]

Awesome!!

Awesome build, great job!

Thank you, guys!!

 

[BlueBabySound]

So it started off as a normal Friday night with an evening soccer game for one one the kids. Thought I would snap a few pics of Brutus topless:










Then we planned on meeting up with the Jeep club that evening.


Unfortunately we ended up here with a knee injury:



Not sure exactly what's going on yet, have to meet with an Orthopedic on Monday. BUT she did score a goal before she got hurt. 10 years of soccer and she's never gone down and stayed down, now she's out for the rest of the tournament.

Soccer is over soon then we'll be able to take him out and get dirty

 

[BlueBabySound]

Thanks, Star!

 

[BlueBabySound]

Just a week in, but so far, so good. They get a lot of compliments. No issues for wheel/tire balancing.

It will be June before we get to wheel. This month we have 1 kid graduating High School, 1 graduating College and 1 getting married. Gonna be a busy month... But I'll report in on the 1st adventure.

 

[BlueBabySound]

Hey BBS, I'm about to pull the trigger on a lift, wheels and tires but had a question about the TF Tire Carrier.

I like that one over the AEV mainly because it keeps the tire centered and you don't lose the passenger side tow hook; but do you have any trouble accessing the handle to open the tailgate?

I've read threads where people have installed the carrier without the hinged part but I'd be worried about damaging the tailgate over time.

She has no issues with handle clearance, tire is centered, handle is easily reached, hinges are stiff, the hinge is heavy duty and feels good. The bumpstops still aren't in though.

Are you keeping the X bumper?

I'll take a pic tonight that shows the space available to grab the handle. :beerdrinking:

 

[BlueBabySound]

We'll keep this Jeep forever, so a little extra up front was the right choice for us. No regrets on the purchase.

 

[BlueBabySound]

:beerme:

I'm the same way. Do it RIGHT and do it ONCE.

Guess I'll add it to the list. At least I sorted out my lift/wheel/tire decision, that was brutal. Lol

Do tell, what did you decide?

 

[BlueBabySound]

RK 1.5 X-Factor Kit (will net 2.5" lift w/ all 8 adjustable CAs and both adjustable TBs)

Rancho 9000xl shocks

Goodyear MT/R w/ Kevlar 35x12.5x17

You're already very familiar with the wheels.
(At least they are currently leading the race)

*just cleared my PM inbox too. lol*

Can't wait to see it!!


My wife opens/closes the tailgate 10 times a day, that's why we went with the Teraflex hinge instead of a bumper mounted one. Works exactly as we had hoped.

She just took a couple of shots to show the clearance with a 37 mounted. Let me know if you want any other angles.