Jeep My Overland Project, the RME JKU

[mbryson]

.....You what's really nice? Unlocking the diffs and locking the anti-sway bar right off the trail, then hitting the road without even stepping out of the Jeep!

That would be nice. I've been watching for a remote controlled swaybar but I'm not willing to pay the $ for one.

 

[Greg]

That would be nice. I've been watching for a remote controlled swaybar but I'm not willing to pay the $ for one.

I hear ya... I paid a LOT for it.

 

[mbryson]

I hear ya... I paid a LOT for it.

I bet we are pretty close in overall price, I've just had mine for two years. You have the 4:1 case and swaybar disco, I have the 2.72 case and Teraflex discos (that I leave undone until it's really time to hit the highway). I hook them up when I'm airing up my tires at a clean parking lot or similar.

 

[sixstringsteve]

JKs are great vehicles. Nothing comes close for a street-legal DD that can handle the tougher trails. And that long wheelbase is perfect for moab.

 

[Marsh99]

This is the kind of thread that makes me want to talk myself into one of these jku's

 

[BCGPER]

But what about the cool hood stickers?

I bet we are pretty close in overall price, I've just had mine for two years. You have the 4:1 case and swaybar disco, I have the 2.72 case and Teraflex discos (that I leave undone until it's really time to hit the highway). I hook them up when I'm airing up my tires at a clean parking lot or similar.

 

[Greg]

I bet we are pretty close in overall price, I've just had mine for two years. You have the 4:1 case and swaybar disco, I have the 2.72 case and Teraflex discos (that I leave undone until it's really time to hit the highway). I hook them up when I'm airing up my tires at a clean parking lot or similar.

Probably...

JKs are great vehicles. Nothing comes close for a street-legal DD that can handle the tougher trails. And that long wheelbase is perfect for moab.

I need a big road trip to test it out on a longer, easier offroad trip. We will see what I can come up with!

This is the kind of thread that makes me want to talk myself into one of these jku's

Nothing wrong with that!

But what about the cool hood stickers?

 

[mbryson]

But what about the cool hood stickers?

Solvable problem but but just haven't come up with anything clever/creative. Mbryson-con just doesn't roll off the tongue

 

[I Lean]

My kids have dubbed a few cool rigs "Ru-bacon". Because bacon!

 

[bryson]

Solvable problem but but just haven't come up with anything clever/creative. Mbryson-con just doesn't roll off the tongue

Baldicon isn't so bad is it?

 

[mbryson]

Baldicon isn't so bad is it?

Got Follicle?

 

[Greg]

I ordered a Warn Zeon 8 winch from our friends at AllJeep and it arrived so quick it made my head spin! The price was right too, the best deal I found. It looks great, I think it'll be a much better fit over the old Warn XD9000 I was going to use and it'll be nice to have a winch that's been updated and is Warn reliable. I do have to say, it's pretty big for a 8k# winch... bigger than I thought it would be. Just playing with it, I really like the new style control, the new clutch switch that is bigger & easier to throw, etc. The Zeon 8 is rated for 8000#'s single-line pull, has a 162 to 1 gear ratio and pulling at it's maximum rating of 8000#'s it pulls 6.2' per minute, drawing 413 amps.

I'm going to pull the steel cable off and use the MasterPull cable, aluminum fairlead and clevis that I had on the XD.

I set it on the bumper for a test fit, ordered a fairlead mount which I found at Barnes 4WD for around $20. Once the fairlead mount is here, I'll bolt it all together. - http://www.barnes4wd.com/Winch-Fairlead-Mount_p_11.html

 

[Skylinerider]

Looking good! Seeing that Teraflex lift in action has put it at the top of my list. Mine will have to be later this year, gotta take the kids to San Diego first.

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice looking JKU Greg. After reading your introduction explaining the build purpose and intent along with your parts list it looks almost identical to mine. With the exception that I ran the 35" KM2's but they are nearly warn out and I have a new set of 5 of the KO2's awaiting installation. I was going to install mine a couple of weeks ago but my wife and I just attended an RV/Jeep rally in Texas and I figured I would drag it a couple more thousand miles before installing my new shoes. Now that we are home I am getting anxious to install them and see how well they ride. However, I have another JKU to build axles on this week and won't have time to install them until at least next week. I am glad to hear you like them. My KM2's are getting a bit rough from a few chunks missing and they are starting to howl a bit. All in all though I have about 45k miles on them driving and about 8-9 thousand miles of being flat-towed behind our coach so I am not disappointed in the life I got out of such an aggressive tire.

Again, great job on your Jeep, turned out great.

Mike.

 

[Bart]

Baldicon isn't so bad is it?

That is baaaaad! Maybe Dome Plateau.

 

[mesha]

That Zeon looks much better than the old one.

This rig is coming along nicely!

 

[Greg]

Looking good! Seeing that Teraflex lift in action has put it at the top of my list. Mine will have to be later this year, gotta take the kids to San Diego first.

I think you'd be happy with it, the springs are a bit stiff but I like them. I'm planning on loading the Jeep up with the winch & recovery gear, freezer/fridge, a roof rack with other items (and possibly another RTT in the future) so I'm thinking the springs will be perfect with a load. As it is, they ride well on the road. The biggest improvement was their Monster Track Bar! I got a little death wobble before the lift and didn't change out anything but the track bar and it's gone.... the front end feels so much more solid.

Nothing wrong with having priorities.

Nice looking JKU Greg. After reading your introduction explaining the build purpose and intent along with your parts list it looks almost identical to mine. With the exception that I ran the 35" KM2's but they are nearly warn out and I have a new set of 5 of the KO2's awaiting installation. I was going to install mine a couple of weeks ago but my wife and I just attended an RV/Jeep rally in Texas and I figured I would drag it a couple more thousand miles before installing my new shoes. Now that we are home I am getting anxious to install them and see how well they ride. However, I have another JKU to build axles on this week and won't have time to install them until at least next week. I am glad to hear you like them. My KM2's are getting a bit rough from a few chunks missing and they are starting to howl a bit. All in all though I have about 45k miles on them driving and about 8-9 thousand miles of being flat-towed behind our coach so I am not disappointed in the life I got out of such an aggressive tire.

Again, great job on your Jeep, turned out great.

Mike.

Thanks Mike, I loved how you put together your JKU! I've had KM2's on a previous 4x4 and really liked them for challenging roads and deep snow. I have always liked the BFG A/T's and since this JKU will be seeing a lot of road time getting to the dirt, I thought the KO2 was a perfect fit. Time will tell!

45k is very impressive!

That Zeon looks much better than the old one.

This rig is coming along nicely!

I agree, it's a good looking winch! Thanks for the help!

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks Mike, I loved how you put together your JKU! I've had KM2's on a previous 4x4 and really liked them for challenging roads and deep snow. I have always liked the BFG A/T's and since this JKU will be seeing a lot of road time getting to the dirt, I thought the KO2 was a perfect fit. Time will tell!

45k is very impressive!

Thanks Greg. Actually it is closer to 55k miles on my KM2's, it just turned over 46k miles on the odometer and I have flat towed it close to 9k over the past three years.

I have had KO's on my two previous ZJ's and really liked them plus I am running them on my '06 Duramax and really like them as well. I too think the KO2's are more appropriately geared towards my driving too, mainly because I hate mud and try to avoid it so therefore why have a mud-terrain tire. But I do love the aggressive appearance of the KM2's.

Mike.

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

That would be nice. I've been watching for a remote controlled swaybar but I'm not willing to pay the $ for one.

Since I have a sport and didnt want to lay under the jeep to pull swaybar disconnects, I just sprung for an Anti-rock. It has a little more body roll now but still handles great and its a blast to drive on the fast dirt/sand trails in Moab.

That Zeon looks much better than the old one.

This rig is coming along nicely!

I sold my old HS900i in favor of a Zeon10k. I havent had to pull cable on it yet but knowing I have a new, reliable winch up front is nice. I was really happy to go to ditch the old solenoids.

 

[Greg]

It's been a little while since I had any time to work on the JKU, but I finally had a chance to get some very needed upgrades done! My next step was improving lighting, most everyone knows the factory Wrangler's lights are lacking in a big way. I decided on a pair of heated Truck-Lite LED headlights and Rigid Dually D2's in place of the fog lights. I got my lights from John Williams at Impulse Off Road, he knows his Jeeps very well and has been building them for a long time. John was great to work with, I gave him the part numbers I wanted and he got them on the way for a good price.

I added a yellow lens cover to my Dually D2's, but after testing them with and without the yellow cover, I decided to leave them off. It was pretty easy to install the headlights, the Dually's took more effort as I had to remove the bumper and solder in the new light plugs.

Some before and after pics, taken in the same location and same time of night. The new LED headlights are a good improvement over the stock lights, but the Dually D2's really brighten up the road and fill in the dark parts. I'm hoping that with these upgrades I won't need any additional lighting for offroad use, don't need any more objects blocking the grill and radiator.

Factory headlights and fog lights, low beams on, fog lights on;

Truck-Lite LED's, Dually D2's, low beams;

Once all that was done, I could now install and wire up the Warn Zeon 8! I added the Master Pull synthetic rope and fairlead after removing the stock steel cable.

And how it all came together, on the trail...