Bear, our 2016 JKUR
- Thread starter AggieOE
- Start date
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
Even though this is the Jeep section, I'm still posting this here. In addition to the Jeep, we finally purchased another dependable vehicle, a CPO 2015 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4x4.
Our 2002 Ford Escape was becoming unreliable and I was unwilling to let me wife drive it unless she absolutely had to since the brakes weren't what they used to be, the transmission began shuddering more, fuel pump always screaming... yadda.
It finally died on me while driving in the middle of rush hour in the middle of a Texas summer. For over an hour I waited for the tow truck to arrive (thinking alternator went out (again)). So, we bought a replacement finally. Good economy CUV but just getting too old and not worth all the required maintenance to us.
So, my wife will take the 4Runner and I'll be back in the Jeep. Hopefully this is where the "building" starts.
Our 2002 Ford Escape was becoming unreliable and I was unwilling to let me wife drive it unless she absolutely had to since the brakes weren't what they used to be, the transmission began shuddering more, fuel pump always screaming... yadda.
It finally died on me while driving in the middle of rush hour in the middle of a Texas summer. For over an hour I waited for the tow truck to arrive (thinking alternator went out (again)). So, we bought a replacement finally. Good economy CUV but just getting too old and not worth all the required maintenance to us.
So, my wife will take the 4Runner and I'll be back in the Jeep. Hopefully this is where the "building" starts.
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
What ever you do, don't let your wife start watching the Expedition Overland videos, or you'll have two builds to work on! 
That 4 Runner will be a good peace of mind vehicle. Congrats on the great deal! :victory:
That 4 Runner will be a good peace of mind vehicle. Congrats on the great deal! :victory:
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
What ever you do, don't let your wife start watching the Expedition Overland videos, or you'll have two builds to work on!
That 4 Runner will be a good peace of mind vehicle. Congrats on the great deal! :victory:
Thanks! and that's the truth! I'm trying to keep myself off the 4Runner forums and section here...
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
Well it took me long enough but I waited until the tires were nearing replacement before doing anything else to the Jeep.
I got 48,000-miles out of the stock BFG KMs and although they still have tread left, they were getting noisy and hard.
So, since we just bought a house and funds aren't in abundance, I went with a nice simple boost:
2-in AEV Spring Spacer Lift Kit
1.5-in SpiderTrax Wheel Spacers
34-in (285/75-17) BFG KO2s
The following "Before" pictures are from after I installed the lift and spacers but before new tires.
The "After" pictures are with lift, spacers, and tires all installed.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
I went with 34-in BFGs since they weigh ~10-lbs less than the 35x12.5s and since I'm running the stock swing gate hinges, I wanted to be mindful. Also, I wanted a skinnier tire (~11.5-in) for traveling.
I love the look and feel. The suspension still feels the exact same but with a hair more notable roll due to height. The tires are night and day different when it comes to sound. I can finally have a conversation again while driving on the highway. The lift is just enough that I need to use the grab bars (5'-9") and it finally looks more normal, almost as it should have looked off the showroom.
Next is a new swing gate hinge and ARB front bumper. When the shocks wear out, I'll replace them with the long travel OME ones without the extensions anymore. I don't see a need for replacing the springs any time soon though.
I got 48,000-miles out of the stock BFG KMs and although they still have tread left, they were getting noisy and hard.
So, since we just bought a house and funds aren't in abundance, I went with a nice simple boost:
2-in AEV Spring Spacer Lift Kit
1.5-in SpiderTrax Wheel Spacers
34-in (285/75-17) BFG KO2s
The following "Before" pictures are from after I installed the lift and spacers but before new tires.
The "After" pictures are with lift, spacers, and tires all installed.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
I went with 34-in BFGs since they weigh ~10-lbs less than the 35x12.5s and since I'm running the stock swing gate hinges, I wanted to be mindful. Also, I wanted a skinnier tire (~11.5-in) for traveling.
I love the look and feel. The suspension still feels the exact same but with a hair more notable roll due to height. The tires are night and day different when it comes to sound. I can finally have a conversation again while driving on the highway. The lift is just enough that I need to use the grab bars (5'-9") and it finally looks more normal, almost as it should have looked off the showroom.
Next is a new swing gate hinge and ARB front bumper. When the shocks wear out, I'll replace them with the long travel OME ones without the extensions anymore. I don't see a need for replacing the springs any time soon though.
Last edited:
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
And finally scored an ARB bumper for 1/5 of the original price. Now don't get me wrong, with a lot of scratches, aging paint, it's maybe 1/5 of the condition of a new one as well. I'm also pretty sure it did take a hit to the driver-side front as it doesn't fit like the passenger side. I may have to bend it out a bit at some point but oh well. It's better than stock so I'm happy! All I need now are the fog light brackets.
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
Thanks!
Yeah, I lost 1/4" of height in the front and I can definitely feel the extra weight over bumpers and such. I can't imagine how much more a winch would do to the handling characteristics though. Do you think the OME Heavy springs were what you needed or would the Sport ones have sufficed? I'll end up adding the OME springs and shocks when the stock shocks go out. A winch is a good ways off but is in the future for sure.
shays4me
Willing Wanderer
I used the ome 2619 springs up front and the 2618 in the rear. I installed the same setup in my new jku and I am definitely a fan. They are the springs that come with the medium heavy lift. The stock rubicon front shocks are the same extended length as the ome fronts, so I’d definitely run the rubicon shocks until they need replacement. The only reason I swapped mine out recently is for more axle drop and I used the old man emu 60066m shocks that are a couple inches longer. This setup works well with the added weight of the bull bar and winch. I got 2.75” of lift up front over stock height with mine.
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
I finally obtained the foglight brackets for the bumper and got everything installed and wired up. While taking pictures though, I realized I may have used too high of a wattage on the marker bulb as the amber lens is starting to melt away. One more thing to fix. You can definitely see the scaring from the previous owner on the driver side. I don't know how I'm going to go about getting the fixed too.
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
Before the bumper, the week after Christmas, my wife and I took the Jeep to Moab again to finally hit up Hells Revenge, more of the White Rim Trail and to go for the Top of the World trail.... we couldn't do any of it. The first day we got there, it snowed, heavy!
We stayed in a little townhome condo just outside of Moab and spent a lot more time here than we expected.
Since all of our trails were closed, impassable, or just a little too dangerous for solo travel, we spent most of our time trekking through knee-deep snow in Arches and Canyonlands. We did find a couple roads though that didn't look too bad.
We stayed in a little townhome condo just outside of Moab and spent a lot more time here than we expected.
Since all of our trails were closed, impassable, or just a little too dangerous for solo travel, we spent most of our time trekking through knee-deep snow in Arches and Canyonlands. We did find a couple roads though that didn't look too bad.
Last edited:
X-plorenow
Adventurer
Love the Moab area in the snow, beautiful.
AggieOE
Trying to escape the city
Finally got around to buying the Warn M8000 winch I had sitting in my Amazon Cart for the last 3-years.
Also! My buddy just got a Bronco Black Diamond with the Sasquatch package.
Next to each other, you can really see the size difference. Note, the Jeep is on 285/75/17s (34") tires with a 2" spring spacer lift and the Sasquatch package gives the Bronco a 1.5" lift with 315/70/17s (35") tires.
Also! My buddy just got a Bronco Black Diamond with the Sasquatch package.
Next to each other, you can really see the size difference. Note, the Jeep is on 285/75/17s (34") tires with a 2" spring spacer lift and the Sasquatch package gives the Bronco a 1.5" lift with 315/70/17s (35") tires.
shays4me
Willing Wanderer
That's a good choice for a winch. The M8 is still made in the USA and you have the updated controller which uses semiconductors instead of solenoids. I'm jealous since I have the older one! That winch is only 55 pounds without wire rope on it. It's always good to save a little weight on a Jeep!