2005 Rubicon LJ

[jscusmcvet]

Nice Jeep. I've lusted over that exact setup for many years but in Khaki/Khaki. I almost pulled the trigger but they wanted more for them then I paid for my JK Rubi with 8k miles! If anything ever happens to it though I'm getting me an LJ.

-Josh

Thanks! I could have gone the JK route, but this design is just more me, I suppose. I love the extra room compared the the TJ's I have had, and it drives almost like a car in compaison to the shorter wheelbase. Since I have had and modified TJ's before, I know the engine, suspension, etc... enough to be dangerous...

Looked at your company site. Best of luck with it! Nice trailers.
John

 

[arveetek]

View attachment 118648

Ordered lift...I know I am gonna take some hits over my choice of lifts... Just cannot bring my self to drop $800 - $900 for springs and shocks.

Instead I went with my old standby, Rough Country. I know they get crushed on by everyone on every forum, but my experience to dat ehas been overwhelmingly positive in regard to service and to the gear itself. So I am going with the RC 2.5" Progressive springs and shocks. Flame away but at 299 delivered, I can add the control arms, adj. trck bars, etc, when ready and still be less into it than with OME or AEV.

John

I put the RC 2.5" kit (plus their .75" spacers) on my '97 TJ over three years ago. I've been really happy with the springs. I was not happy with their Performance 2.2 shocks. I got their first generation shocks, and they were way too stiff. They have since updated the shock valving, and I understand they are much improved. Mine made the Jeep ride terribly rough. I sold the RC shocks and installed some Skyjacker Hydro shocks. I like them much better, but now they're almost too soft! Rides great with the top off in the summertime, but in the wintertime with the hard top installed and loaded with gear, she gets kind of bouncy on the roads. I really ought to spend a few dollars more and get some quality shocks....

Other than the original 2.2 shocks, I've been really happy with the RC lift. I have lots of flex with the front sway bar disconnected!

Casey

 

[jscusmcvet]

Getting ready to head out. Beautiful day here in NC. After months of heat and humidity a sweet 75 and no humidity outside. I said to Ann... "when we go to town, want to take jeep go to the game lands and ride? Her response (prepare to be jealous)...

"Hell yeah! I'll bring my shovel, no telling what we'll find this time of year!" She is a plan afficianado and digs samples wherever we go.

As stated previously. I. am. a. lucky. man.

Pics to follow this evening.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Sandhills Game Lands

Great little day trip today. Cruised and perused the Sandhills Gamelands. This is an area set aside by the state for game. You can do just about what you want here, except camp. Heavily used for hunting during deer season, and bordered by Camp McKall army base. This is where the SF selection school and several other schools happen.

Ann is a plant person so she loves to go and search out plants, dig up a few and bring them home to replant. Under the guise of this as a reason for the trip off we went. Here are some pics


Joe likes the open air!


A good example of the roads/trails. There are more improved roads that are marked on maps and GPS picks up. We like these better...


Ann really does like the jeep, even though she is wearing a land rover hat!


Ann out doing her thing... how lucky are we who have wives who like the woods?


Little Joe and his Jeep and Camper in the dirt... doing HIS thing

All afternoon, high 70's, sun, solitude...

Dig it.

John

 

[jscusmcvet]

Picked up a used Superwinch S9000 from a local forum posting. Mounted and all looks good. PO said he only winched twice with it. Examining the cable, I would say he is correct, it is clean and in good shape. Mounting took a bit of work with the grinder on the bumper... so that was just good plain fun. I have ordered a roller fairlead, should be here next week.

I called Superwinch and asked their tech department about this winch. They stood nothing to gain, since I was buying used. the tech asked how much and when I told him, he said, "If you don't buy it I will!" Anyway, he said it is one of their best solid, basic models, somewhere between the chinese lower end and the husky. Sounds just about right for me.




Now that I have it and have it mounted I can begin work on a brush guard for the bumper.

An added benefit that I completely did not expect... The front end dropped a hair with the weight of the winch and winch plate. I like the stance better. Also the jeep's handling stiffened up considerably, which is the opposite of previous experiences. I have no idea why, but assume it has to do with the progressive nature of the springs. I am far from an expert, but happy with the result anyway.

Also... a bit of bad news... stupid news really. I finally found a buyer for the hard top I have had listed since buying this jeep a few months ago. We agreed on a price and I offerend to deliver it to his uncle's house. I loaded the top up on my trailer and strapped it down. We were about 25 miles into our trip and stopped for a bite. As it turns out the top had been under too much pressure (I guess?) and the bottom edge of the fiberglass top cracked in two spots... I called buyer and sent him some pics and offered to refund, which he took me up on.

Damn. I think at this point I am going to either effect a repair myself or put it on ebay and just get rid of it. I believe it is completely servicable, just one 6" crack and one 1" crack. Both need to be repaired to be 100%, but it would work as is.

Damn. Did I say that yet? Roll with the punches...

John

 

[jscusmcvet]

Good day today. Used winch to pull down a dead tree that would have fallen across our road when it did fall, evenutally. I cut a wedge into it with the axe, hooked up a strap aroun the tree about 15 feet up. When i winched it down I had to brace the jeep agsainst another tree to hold it and then... the stinkin tree came up from the roots, rather that where I had chopped a wedge. Oh well... alls well that ends well. Sorry no pics. OH, I have added a rolelr fairlead to the winch mount since last pics.

Then Ann and I cleared a section of woods near our woodshed, with a combination of the axe and the tow strap. Jeep pulled several small trees up from the roots. She has gotten a few japanese persimmon trees and this will be the right spot according to her ( I am just the free labor) to makethem happy. Japanese persimmons are much bigger than the typical southeast US variety.

THEN... was able to add a new Warn diff skid to the front diff and begin planning for a rear rack in place of the bike rack. Not really in place of, but interchangeable.

Tomorrow headed to URE with Ann, Joe and my older son, Jonah, and his jeep. Will report on that.

John

 

[Yuman Desert Rat]

Not trying to sound like a jerk, but you might want to put a fairlead on that winch.....

I'm with you I LOVE my LJ!! Getting that thing changed my life!! It probably has more mods than a NASCAR but each one has bee worth it!

 

[jscusmcvet]

Another good build day... and some fun too.

I picked up a brish guard for a JK off fleabay for next to nuthin and today modified and welded it to my BDO from bumper. Welds not great, but getting better and with the grinder and some paint don't look too bad.


So... I like it. I left some of the attachment holes free and clear for some lights later on. I am going to circle back, with the grider and welder, I think. Not perfect, but neither am I so... by the way, the angled tube was welded to the flat plate as purchased. My welding was to weld the flat plate to the bumper. More work to do.

Also added a skid for the front diff... I have had good luck with Warn skids and found this for a good deal, also on flea bay. A quick stop at Lowes for some grade 8 bolts and...


Also finally got my Skid Row engine skid mounted. This is from my 2003 Rubi (RIP). Bolted on and bolted to my Rock Krawler xfer case skid. I know the picture is not good to show you, but it gives me a long, flat underbelly... good for sliding over rocks, etc...
From the side and from underneath... from the front looking back..

So I had a great time building this morning, then Jonah and I headed to Uwharrie in his 2000 TJ. It was wet, which makes the red clay at Uwharrie slick as snot. To add to that his ARB compressor would not come on. It was not getting power. I looked at the relay and I think it is bad. Regardless, we wheeled several trails. It was good experience for him because he has never had to wheel without lockers. Good learning about the power of keeping wheels on the ground and using a bit o' momentum to keep things moving. I tell you though, he has a better eye for lines than I do. Watching him work his way through rocks, clay and ups and downs was a joy. There have been many times he has embarrassed full grown men with his calm, deliberative driving style... and today he did the same, although there was nearly no one there to see.

Tough decision to leave my jeep at home so we could ride together, but so very much worth it. Time well spent.

Semper F'in Fi.

John

 

[jscusmcvet]

After adding and modifying the front bumper, the original stock fog lights would not fit anymore. Should have test fit. A friend dropped off this set of driving lights... a cheap no name brand, but small enough to fit next to the brush guard I had welded on to the bumper. I had left the base plate to the bumper guard in place and left one hole accessible for just this purpose of mounting lights, you can see it here:


The mounted lights


And here with them on. Makes a nice difference with the low beams in use:



Cheap and easy - perhaps I'll just get some Hella or IPF stickers for the jeep and call it good ;-)

Getting ready for some camping and wheeling this weekend. Heading to Uwharrie where the Land Rover folks from Old North State Land Rovers have been nice enough to welcome me to their event. Planning to wheel Friday, then go to Jonah's football game and head back out.

John

 

[UpTheCreek]

New here, John. Just bought an '06 LJ Rubicon myself last week. I like your style and what you've done so far! Hopefully I can get out there one of these days and I can follow you on a trail ride. Just east of you in New Bern. This is my 3rd Jeep but my first with a hardtop. Just love it. It'll come off in the springtime perhaps for the summer.......or I just may put it on if next summer is anything like the last! Yes, my 1st Jeep with a/c too!

Cheers!

Howard

 

[jscusmcvet]

New here, John. Just bought an '06 LJ Rubicon myself last week. I like your style and what you've done so far! Hopefully I can get out there one of these days and I can follow you on a trail ride. Just east of you in New Bern. This is my 3rd Jeep but my first with a hardtop. Just love it. It'll come off in the springtime perhaps for the summer.......or I just may put it on if next summer is anything like the last! Yes, my 1st Jeep with a/c too!

Cheers!

Howard

Congrats on the new Jeep Howard and welcome to expo. Thanks for your comments. My choices have not been perfect, but it is coming along. I swore I would not rock crawl this time around but the rubi is just so darn capable, even with a mild build like mine, that I spent last weekend trail riding and crashing around on the rocks. First body damage, but as my son said, "Now it is starting to look like YOUR jeep"

John

 

[jscusmcvet]

After the Old North State Rover Expedition at Uwharrie National Forest a few weeks ago, I knew (through body damage) that I needed to upgrade rocker protection. Funny, it was the last modification I did on my 2003 Rubi, I guess the wheelbase really makes a difference. I was a bit lazy and did not take pics during the process, but here are some almost finished pics. I say almost because I need to paint the bolt heads black.

I went with Big Daddy Off Road aluminum in an effort to 1) keep things light and 2) match my front and rear bumpers. They have limited underbody coverage and I am a little disappointed with that, but it is done so oh well.



I had a buddy with these rocker guards on his 2003 rubi and then his 2005 Unlimited Rubi and watched them hold up to serious abuse. (his may have been steel) so even without the underbody coverage I would have liked, I think it will be ok. Seems to look OK as well. I will be taking the stock Rubi rockers and modifying them to fit my son's 200 TJ. Not sure when that will come to pass.

Speaking of my son. His team lost their high school football playoff game on Friday. Likely to be the last game I ever watch him play. I am going to miss that. He carved the emblem off his helmet and gave it to me with thanks for everything throughout the years. Made me into a weeping wreck of a man. I am proud of him.

John

 

[jscusmcvet]

Made the jump to synthetic winchline. My last trip to Uwharrie with the Old North State Rovers, included a training session with Steve from Southeast Overland. After seeing the ease of working with this kind of line, I decided to do it. I called Steve that next week and ordered 85' 3/8 line, which is what Superwinch calls for on my
s9000. I also got one of his aluminum fairleads. I think my rollers would have been fine but did not want to trash the expensive rope with a cheap decision to not do it right.

I also took time to repaint the winch, which was showing some age wear on the paint,etc and the mix of grey paint and bare aluminum really did not go well on my jeep, which will eventually be blacked out.

The winch drum took the most time, I sanded it to clean and smooth it and boy it needed it. I then had to taper the end of the winchline to get it to fit through the superwinch. Lucky for me, I learned how to do that in the class by Steve. Used some painter tape on the end of the line and slid it into the hole, then tightened the set screw. Once that was done I did a modified version of the whip lock that Beowolf showed us here in the recovery section. Thanks Beowolf.

After that it was a matter of wrapping the rope. Ann helped by putting pressure on the line while I guided it onto the drum.

As usual, I did not take many pics, but here are a few.
Here you see the finished winch line all snug in it's bed, so to speak. Southeast Overland included the heat wrap for the drum and the abrasion wrap at this end. Also you might notice that I paitned over the logo on the fairlead. I am moving steadily towards a "blingless" jeep. Shiny objects need not apply.
Here you see the completed line along with the repainted winch. I am sure anyone of you could do a better job with the paint... or a four year old could for that matter, but... as popeye would say... "I am what I am". Still it looks good and clean and "blingless".

Off to the hardware store in search of a little red wagon for the youngest and a grain mill for Ann.

John

 

[Bigjerm]

Looks good. Got to love the weight savings of syn rope. It makes pulling cable up a hill a little easier! I never paid attention to weight but I know the total shipped package for 100' of line, aluminum fairlead and sling hook was a few pounds less than the shipped package weight when I shipped by roller failrlead to a friend.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Looks good. Got to love the weight savings of syn rope. It makes pulling cable up a hill a little easier! I never paid attention to weight but I know the total shipped package for 100' of line, aluminum fairlead and sling hook was a few pounds less than the shipped package weight when I shipped by roller failrlead to a friend.

For me it was more about the ease of use and potential safety factor. I have been pondering this for a while and was worried that the synth rope would not hold up to work around the property. On the other hand I was winching some trees a few weeks back and had to constantly make sure little Joe was not "fixing" the cable during set up, etc... of course I had him safely tucked away during the winch operation, but while the line was out and getting hooked up he was "helping" and him tearing his hands apart on some of the frayed sections was worrying me.

Once I took the class from Steve, it was a no brainer. I will have to be more careful with the rope, but that is the only trade off. Lighter, easy to repair, safer... spent a little more that I cared to, but have a high quality set up. I also think it is important to reward these small vendors who come out and sponsor our fun and games. Steve was a nice guy who taught the class even though I was the only person interested. So while I could have saved a few bucks going the ebay route I wanted to say thanks.

Tomorrow holds the joy of rotating tires.

John