[ETOIMOS]

I also had to trim my pinch seam and cut down my Rubi Rails and ACE rock sliders...

The rear also got Synergy Upper and Lower adj control arms and the front got Uppers (lowers coming soon as it turns out)...

 

[ETOIMOS]

I also gave the front axle some love this spring...

Artec gussets and Nitro sleeves

 

[ETOIMOS]

All of that was done to stuff some 37" Toyo Open Country R/Ts unit it...

 

[fernando perez lavin]

cool rig and great photos, congrats!

 

[SBAmadeo]

subscribed. i love following your build. I noticed you are a commercial member. DO you have a marketplace or anything?

 

[ETOIMOS]

cool rig and great photos, congrats!

subscribed. i love following your build. I noticed you are a commercial member. DO you have a marketplace or anything?

Thanks guys! The link to my custom laser products is in my signature.

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[Sinister6]

What good is building a trail rig if you don't run it? These are from Chinaman's Gulch two weeks ago... Take a bow.. Warn gets a workout... Up the Whale's Tail... Warn gets another workout... Up the Rock Pile.... Undercarriage inspection...

I remember the days when you and you're wife cringed on China Wall (VERY EASY TRAIL) to the sound of a minor scraping and look at you now!! LOL. Our little Jeeper is growing up! :mooning: It's great to see you doing some of the harder trails! Gotta get you on Eagle Rock/Saran Wrap before the snow closes it for the season. Since your wife has a tow rig already, gotta look at a trailer for those harder trails...less worrying about breaking stuff and more enjoying the day. Great thread Keith! :thumb:

 

[ETOIMOS]

I remember the days when you and you're wife cringed on China Wall (VERY EASY TRAIL) to the sound of a minor scraping and look at you now!! LOL. Our little Jeeper is growing up! :mooning: It's great to see you doing some of the harder trails! Gotta get you on Eagle Rock/Saran Wrap before the snow closes it for the season. Since your wife has a tow rig already, gotta look at a trailer for those harder trails...less worrying about breaking stuff and more enjoying the day. Great thread Keith! :thumb:

The wife still cringes on all the trails. lol And yes, I'll have to do Eagle Rock/ Saran Wrap here soon. I need to work out a few more things from going to 37s and see if I can either figure out the "incorrect gear ratio" code or finally put it to bed since it's not happened since Ouray.

And are you referring to her Caddie as a tow rig???

 

[ETOIMOS]

After the 37s went on, I had some slight rubbing issues in the rear...

I replaced the 2" Rancho bump extensions...

With some 2.75" Teraflex ones...

I also had to install a set of upper and lower adjustable control arms to push the axle back so that it was centered in the wheel well. I went with Synergy again as I really like their stuff...

Pushing the axle back caused the rear springs to make contact on with the rear sway bar when compressed, so I had to add some Synergy spring wedges to correct some of the spring bow...

You can also see in those pictures some new Curry dual rate rear springs. I replaced the rear springs from the Rancho kit that came on the Jeep because they were sagging pretty bad on the passenger rear side. But, it looks like I'll be replacing these Curry springs very soon as well. When we load the back of the Jeep up, they just don't have enough spring rate to keep the ass end up

And by the looks of these pics, I need to get under there and clean up and rattle can some spots on the axle and frame. lol

 

[ETOIMOS]

I also have some rubbing issue in the front with the 37x13.5 Open Countries. My current wheels have 4.5" of back spacing which everyone says should be enough to clear the frame on the inside rear of the tires, but that has not been the case for me. I thought this might be an issue when I put the tires on, so I had already ordered a set of Synergy wheel spacers...

That brought my total backspacing to 3" and I'm still rubbing My next step will be to add some front lower adjustable control arms and see if I can push the axle forward some to solve this. I've already got adjustable arms in the other 3 locations, might as well make it a full set right?

 

[ETOIMOS]

Since the point of all this building is to run some trails....

 

[Blue Baby Sound]

Yep, 4.5" BS isn't enough for the 13.5" tires. Same thing I run and I rub frame and the shock reservoir (slightly). Using the Mopar lower control arm in front, factory upper.

 

[ETOIMOS]

Thanks BBS. That's the same spot I rub on the frame. I was hoping that lowering the backspacing to 3" with the spacers would have solved it.

 

[ETOIMOS]

I had been thinking about upgrading my stock tie rod over the winter, but the last trail I ran decided to force my hand...

I replaced it with a Steers Smart Yeti unit...

After those photos were taken I rotated those clamps so that they are less prone to getting hit on the bolt ends.

the ball joints in the stock tie rod were not shot, so I've not really noticed much difference in the way it feels driving on the street. It might feel a little tighter, but for me it was not a "night and day" difference.

 

[ETOIMOS]

It's been a while since I had something to update on this thread, but the winter season has not been ideal for the Jeep. To start the year off we had to replace the transmission... two months out of warranty of course. We followed that up with leaking intake manifold gasket about two weeks later. Then last week one of the injectors decided to crack.

I've also got some Rare Parts ball joints to replace the Synergy ball joints that failed just before the tranny went out.

The winter months were not all bad however, I've got a Gobi Stealth rack and several other mods sitting in the garage waiting for me to get time to install them. I also have a roof top tent showing up in the couple of weeks so the Gobi has some thing to carry.

I'll post up photos of all those goodies as they go on. For now I will leave you with set of comparison photos from when we bought it to what it looks like right now...

 

[jarheadf23]

Awesome build. I really like everything you did. I think the custom air cowls are a great mod looking into them now. I cant wait to hit some of the trails around that I have not been on since I was a kid. Thanks for the thread.

 

[SkipMid]

Awesome build, I like all the mods - the laser cutter you have allows you to play ad infinitum - which is cool. WHen you ever sell, put it on the Michigan State forums

 

[ETOIMOS]

Awesome build. I really like everything you did. I think the custom air cowls are a great mod looking into them now. I cant wait to hit some of the trails around that I have not been on since I was a kid. Thanks for the thread.

Thanks. You back in the Springs now? After I get the new ball joints in we will have to hit some near by trails.

Awesome build, I like all the mods - the laser cutter you have allows you to play ad infinitum - which is cool. WHen you ever sell, put it on the Michigan State forums

Thanks. Sell the JK? Nah. lol

 

[jarheadf23]

Thanks. You back in the Springs now? After I get the new ball joints in we will have to hit some near by trails.

Yep libning in the Springs. I have for a long time just a lot of life BS going on and just getting back into Jeepin. Yeah let me know I'm not built up at all but willing to hit some trails just to get out.