Thinking about upgrading the Mouser

[Haggis]

I've been thinking about doing an upgrade on our LJ, the Grey Mouser. He’d been a bonny rig over the last four years, but I’d like to address a few nagging issues that have developed over the years. Bear in mind that this Jeep is not intended to be hardcore trail machine, but instead a motorized pair of hiking shoes to get us into the places where we can camp, hike, fish, paddle and hunt with minimal fuss. The Mouser has got to able to haul enough gear for two to do all those things separately (or at the same time) while still be capable enough to run some fun stuff with my Allegheny Ridgerunner buds here on the Portal. I’d thought I get some input from the ExPo jeepers to maybe stir some thoughts that I haven’t considered yet. Follow the link in my signature for the full skinny on the Mouser.

The First issue is to improve the suspension.

Currently it has a Full Traction 3” and is showing some signs of use as its leading towards more body roll as of late than I like and the rear springs are starting to sag a bit. I’m running 33s (285/75/16s) and they are more than tall enough for anything we run the Jeep through so I’m not looking to go any higher as far as lift or tires. This suspension has worked well for me as for as trail use, but from the time I first installed it the set-up seemed to be more for crawling and less for street manners. As we have no rock crawling or highly technical trails in this area (or within a couple day’s drive other than off road parks) this suspension is flexier (is that a word?) than what I really need. Most of our travels in the Mouser are two track forest roads, head sized rock strewn trails and the occasional strip mine run. Of course it spends most of its time driving to these places or just cruising around the goat paths that pass as roads here in the Pennsylvania foothills. What I need is a suspension system or some springs that will perform well for mild off-roading while still being able to handle a week’s worth of kit while cruising down a twisty blacktop on the way to the boonies. I’m leaning towards better springs right now, what’s your thoughts? Any particular brand or set-up I should reasearch?

Second thing of concern is my rear tire carrier.

I’m currently running a GenRight TJ bumper and carrier. I’ve been less than pleased with it. While I bought it for its low weight (it weighs in at 68 lbs. and I’m always conscious of how much weight I’m adding to the Mouser) the hinge mounting system is always loosing up no matter how much I grease it or what type of grease I try. Add to the fact that the powder coating didn’t even last a whole winter before flaking off and it just irks me every time I have to mess with it. Any suggestions on a low weight carrier that can stand a salt encrusted land come winter for more than just a month. Maybe I’ll just blast the GenRight, give it a coat of POR-15 and get it Line-Xed.

I guess that will do for now, though I’m bound to come up with some other areas that I’d like to improve on the Jeep. We were considering trading him off on a Rubi-JKU, but I really think the LJs are just the right size of Jeep for 2 travelers. And as the kids are getting older my wife and I find that it’s becoming more often than not just us. Thanks in advance for any input..:elkgrin:

 

[bob91yj]

Best advice I can give you on the suspension is to get the best shocks you can afford from a SHOCK company (Bilstein, Fox, King, etc). I've got Bilstein 7100's w/remotes on the LJ (probably over kill), and Fox 2.0's on my YJ. I had Rancho 9000's on the LJ, absolutely hated them. They would overheat/fade to nothing in 5 minutes of hard running in my experience. Bilstein's take 5 minutes just to get warm enough to work right. If lift height isn't an issue, who cares if the springs have sagged a bit. Swap them side to side and call it good (right side squats under acceleration, usually a little more sag in it)

If body roll is an issue look into upgrading your sway bars, especially the rear bar. The factory rear sway bar isn't much bigger than a pencil.

If good shocks and a sway bar don't improve the ride quality enough, then I'd start looking at suspension improvements. Shocks/sway bar can transition over to whatever lift you choose.

My tire rack is a custom job built by a friend, no help for you there.

We love our LJ, it's the perfect size for my wife and I, gets a little crowded when the dogs are along, but we make it work.

 

[BigAl]

Does your tire carrier hinge use bearings or a rubber/poly bushing?

 

[Haggis]

Best advice I can give you on the suspension is to get the best shocks you can afford from a SHOCK company (Bilstein, Fox, King, etc). I've got Bilstein 7100's w/remotes on the LJ (probably over kill), and Fox 2.0's on my YJ. I had Rancho 9000's on the LJ, absolutely hated them. They would overheat/fade to nothing in 5 minutes of hard running in my experience. Bilstein's take 5 minutes just to get warm enough to work right. If lift height isn't an issue, who cares if the springs have sagged a bit. Swap them side to side and call it good (right side squats under acceleration, usually a little more sag in it)

I installed Bilstien 5100s here this spring and it did improve on road driving. I hadn't thought of swapping the springs side to side, that's a clever idea. I think some of the problem is that the springs currently in it weren't LJ specific and I had considered swapping out the springs for the AEV LJ specific progressive springs or something equivalent.

If body roll is an issue look into upgrading your sway bars, especially the rear bar. The factory rear sway bar isn't much bigger than a pencil.

See, I hadn't considered upgrading the swaybars. That's a good thought.

We love our LJ, it's the perfect size for my wife and I, gets a little crowded when the dogs are along, but we make it work.

Yep, we love our LJ too and now that the kids are older and don't travel with us as much the Mouser will probably transform into a more dedicated exploration vehicle than the multi-use rig it is now. Thanks for your input!:elkgrin:

 

[Haggis]

Does your tire carrier hinge use bearings or a rubber/poly bushing?

Unfortunately no. There is a spindle bolt that interference fits through the tire carrier sleeve and threads into into threaded bung in the rear bumper. A spindle with bearings would be a big improvement. You feel like doing some welding?

 

[bob91yj]

I installed Bilstien 5100s here this spring and it did improve on road driving. I hadn't thought of swapping the springs side to side, that's a clever idea. I think some of the problem is that the springs currently in it weren't LJ specific and I had considered swapping out the springs for the AEV LJ specific progressive springs or something equivalent.



See, I hadn't considered upgrading the swaybars. That's a good thought.




Yep, we love our LJ too and now that the kids are older and don't travel with us as much the Mouser will probably transform into a more dedicated exploration vehicle than the multi-use rig it is now. Thanks for your input!:elkgrin:

I hope some of the ideas pan out for you.

 

[12husky]

Are you thinking of replacing the entire rear bumper or just upgrading the tire carrier portion? A stainless or aluminum powdercoated option would be neat.

I have been sketching ideas for mine, but haven't gotten past that stage.

 

[BigAl]

Unfortunately no. There is a spindle bolt that interference fits through the tire carrier sleeve and threads into into threaded bung in the rear bumper. A spindle with bearings would be a big improvement. You feel like doing some welding?

Sure, if you want to come down some weekend we could do it:bike_rider:. I bought a bearing style spindle from AtoZ Fabrication. A lot of people say these are not a good idea b/c they are not double shear so if they fail your tire/carrier falls off. My latch is so strong that I don't worry about it. If you find something you'd like to try let me know.

Do you have a picture of the current hinge?

 

[mtnbike28]

What are you doing?

Does your daughter know you are messing with her (next year?) Jeep?