Panoptic JKU

mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
Panoptic is defined as considering all parts or elements. The purpose of this build is to be an all-around rig for my family. We love to overland, rock crawl, snow wheel, camp, soccer mom, and daily drive our jeeps. We sold our 2007 JKU and built a set up with a TJ. We love the TJ but have been missing the room the JKU offered.

As we thought about the things that mattered to us in a rig we came up with a few things that it needed to be able to do for our family. We need to rig to be reliable, road worthy, be awesome in the rocks, and be able to travel long distances with little support. We will keep the things we liked about our last JKU and change the things we did not like.

Road worthy
Experience has taught what works for us on the road with a JKU.
Quality suspension, quality tires, better brakes(if needed), proper gearing for tire size.

Rock crawling
This jeep will be wheeled on some pretty hard trails like Pritchett canyon Moab, all over St. George, The Rubicon, and maybe even some competitions. I have a buggy for the really extreme stuff but this jeep needs to be able to handle serious trails.
LCG, 37” tire minimum, skid plates, body protection, beefy tie rod and drag link, hydro-assist steering, high clearance bumpers, stronger axles, low gearing, roll cage, stronger diff covers, lockers front and rear.

Overland
We spend a lot of time out and about, often far from civilization and help. An overlanding rig needs to be reliable and serviceable just about anywhere. It needs to be set up to hold gear for 4 people without reliance on hotels or fast food. Overlanding is car camping…plus.
Reliability, extra fuel capacity (5-10 gal), fridge, extra storage, rack, upgraded lighting, winch, water storage, dual batteries, tools, welder (ready welder), on board air, recovery gear (strap, snatch block, tree strap, winch anchor, winch extension, D-rings), jack, spare tire, shower/hot water, spares, fluids, drawer system, quality tires, good shocks, maintenance free bushings, comfortable interior,

We picked up a stock 2013 JKU Rubicon. It is commando green and doesn’t have a single scratch on the undercarriage. The build will be less built than my last JKU build which had CRD 60s front and rear and a 6” long arm. It will be difficult for me, but should end up being a better platform for our needs.
 

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mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
The suspension will be the first to go. I decided to go with the Teraflex ST/3 sport 3" short arm. I LOVE the teraflex long arm kits, but thought we would give a short arm a try.
o This lift is the bang for the buck champion. It comes with 6 control arms, coil springs, limit straps, coil spring retainers, speed bumps, shocks, exhaust spacers, sway bar end links, rear track bar bracket, and a beefy new front track bar. It is not a long arm, but we decided to give it a try since it was only 3 inches we hope the ride will be acceptable.
- Speed bumps front and rear
- Teraflex 9550 shocks until the falcons come out

https://teraflex.com/shop_items/564a12e656d70ed493132c1b
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mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
While the suspension was out it was a good time to upgrade the axles.
Axles
- Rear factory rubicon 44 Yukon 4.88 gears, Yukon 4340 chromoly shafts, and HD diff cover
- Front Tera 44 housing Yukon 4.88 gears, 35 spline ARB, and G2 35 spline placer gold 4340 shafts
o HD teraflex tie rod and drag link
o HD Teraflex Ball joints
o Teraflex axle seals to keep out the crud (this ended up not working because the yokes on the new shafts were WAY to big)
 

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mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
You can see in these pics the issue with the Teraflex seals and the bigger shafts.
 

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mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
We wanted to fit 37 inch maxxis trepadors without much cutting. We also wanted to keep plenty of fender coverage. We decided on some Mopar highline fenders. They offer 3 inch higher fenders that mount in the stock location. You can run 35s with zero lift if you have these fenders. They re-use the stock inner fenders that you cut down. The pictures show marking and cutting the inners and how much room we had in the rear with the stock tires and NO lift.
 

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mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
Lift installed and all buttoned up. It drives really nice. I am sure a long arm would be a little better, but we are happy with the ride.

Remember, those are 37s with only a 3" lift.
Tires/wheels
- 37” maxxis trepadors
- Procomp aluminum 17” wheels with 4.75” backspacing
- Full size spare tire
- Teraflex HD Tire carrier hinge


Now just need to decide on bumpers and sliders. :)
 

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scrogg

Enjoying the Drive
Location
West Jordan
Curious, you said you went with a full size spare. Those Treps are directional, did you go with the same tire for spare? If so, which side did you pick and why?
 

mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
Curious, you said you went with a full size spare. Those Treps are directional, did you go with the same tire for spare? If so, which side did you pick and why?

I matched the rim, but went with a used BFG all-terrain. Treps are directional and usually I have used a trep as my spare. I didn't care about the direction because I figured as a spare it would just be getting me home. I have run treps on MANY different rigs and never seen one go flat so I am not too worried, but thought I should have a spare just in case.
 
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