2012 JKU Rubicon Build/Adventure Thread

[Septu]

Went for a drive... and almost ran out of gas. Filled it up... 77.4 litters later... But got some good pictures of a sunrise. I guess it's both good and bad that sunrise was at 10am. Good news is I could get up at a semi reasonable hour to get to the hill top (that was so thoughtfully plowed by my co-workers when we went up earlier in the week to replace some equipment). Bad news is it means daylight is kinda short for the next month or so...

 

[emkay]

Septu, what tires are you using in these winter conditions?


Sent via my bongo drums...

 

[Lord Al Sorna]

That is a mean looking JK, and I am loving the snow pics! Thanks for the writeups

 

[Septu]

I'm using my Irok MTs. If I had the money, I'd run Duratrac's as a winter tire and some MTs for the summer... but I don't... so I just make sure to go from my very aggressive self in the summer time, to driving like a granny in the winter time. They're kinda useless as a road tire... but due to the width, they do (at times) allow me to kinda get out in the winter - as long as I stick to skidoo trails that have been packed down.

 

[Stretch79]

Awesome pics and sounds like a nice build planned for it. Did you get that supercharger yet?

 

[Septu]

Awesome pics and sounds like a nice build planned for it. Did you get that supercharger yet?

Thanks!

Unfortunately, not even close. And honestly, with the high temp issues I'm having with this engine, I won't be super charging this engine. This one will either last until it blows up (hopefully within the next ~50 months or so - or ~80,000 km, while I'm still within warranty), or until I have enough scratch to put either an LS or a diesel in - and determine that spending a lump sum of 10-20k on my jeep (vs say another house) is the best way to use my funds. However as long as I'm under my warranty, I'm not really worried about it. But at some point it does need to be addressed.

 

[Stretch79]

How high of temps are you seeing?

 

[Septu]

How high of temps are you seeing?

Well last Saturday I got sucked into a small ditch and was on the downhill slop (so couldn't back up). I engaged my lockers and liberally used the skinny peddle, then just kind of moseyed along half in the ditch, half on the road until the ditched flattened out and I could get through the snow bank. I was in there for maybe a minute or two, and the temps went from ~210F to 243F (a hair under the 3/4 mark). Two summer ago I could red line it going up a mountain pass (and not pushing it fast/hard at all - under highway speeds). However after putting my fender liners back in, it's gotten slightly better... but any real load (such as snow or mud) and if I keep pushing it, it'll red line. Dodge pulled the rad around May this year and said the issue was that the back of my rad was caked in mud, and that's what the issue was... however I haven't been on any muddy trails since they cleaned out the rad, and I had the same issues now, and had them this summer going up some big passes while towing my little trailer. It's not red lining now... but it'll easily clear the 3/4 mark - and I'm sure if I found a big enough hill that I could again red line it.

My dealer has been great... but is unable to find any issues. And one of the dealers in Edmonton had it for a couple of days 2 summers ago and couldn't find any issues. So now I just keep them updated that it's still an issue... and will go from there.

 

[Septu]

New hinges

With the 35s.

 

[Comanche Scott]

Looking good! :beer:

Those tires fill in the fenders nicely.

 

[Septu]

Hmmm... glad to see I keep on top of the updates lol. Will post a new picture once I get the fenders on early next week.

Well, I installed the JW Speaker EVO 2 headlights and fog lights (that I've had for over a year). Also started painting the new fenders I picked up used. Steel PSC's on the front and aluminum Aries on the rear (can't believe the weight difference!! wow). The color will not be a perfect match (am painting them silver), but they'll be close - and honestly I'm okay if they're a little off. I just did not want more black. So a bright metallic silver should be pretty close and at the very least complement the jeep. If not I can always change it up Will keep adding coats over the weekend (work has a heated garage I'm using for this) and will get them installed next week.

As for the lights... The fogs are amazing - can't believe I waited this long to get them installed - although considering what a PITA it was (which I kinda expected), it's a little more believable. As for the headlights... The lowbeam is insane - and significantly better than the TLs. But I have to say... I'm not all that impressed with the highbeams. I did two runs with them (adjusting them inbetween) and while I think I have them dialed in as best as they'll get... for a light that's suppose to put out 45%-50% more light with the highbeams (as per JWS), I'm not sure I'm really seeing it on the road. Right now my thoughts have been... "you just spent how much on these?" And while I'll recoup half of it (or so) when I sell the TLs... I'm still not sure this was the right move.

Next step (tomorrow or Sunday) is installing the backup lights and running the wiring for that (will just run them off a switch), and touching up my rock rails (I just spray on some bedliner and it'll be good for another 6 months).

 

[Comanche Scott]

Pretty awesome news on the low beams. Hopefully you are among the majority of people who use low beam 90% of the time. :beer:
A good set of halogen driving lights may make up the difference, so you don't need the High beam of the LEDs. It would also help in heavy snow (if you even get that in your tropical paradise )

I set up the rear bumper lights off a switch too, and really like it Great for hooking up a trailer at night, or setting up camp. Went straight to battery with a fuse. Hope you're as happy with that as I am.

Looking forward to checking out how the fenders look on the Jeep. Personally I like a bit of contrast. It draws my eyes over the entire vehicle, without seeming too busy.

 

[Septu]

Pretty awesome news on the low beams. Hopefully you are among the majority of people who use low beam 90% of the time. :beer:
A good set of halogen driving lights may make up the difference, so you don't need the High beam of the LEDs. It would also help in heavy snow (if you even get that in your tropical paradise )

The JW's have a lot of upward glare that I wasn't expecting... More then the TL's anyway - so I'm not sure how they'll perform in snow. Had some light/fine blowing snow lastnight and they really lite it up. As for the highs - yeah heading on a long road trip in 2 weeks (one of the reasons I decided to pull the trigger on these now), and it will involve night driving. I mean I have other options to throw the light down the road - I was just hoping for better performance out of the headlights. If only the TLs and the JWS's could be combined... TLs for their highs (as I thought they were better - however it's been a while since I've run them when they were clean) and the JWS's for their lows... Oh well. But yeah, the vast majority of my usage with them will be with the lows.

I set up the rear bumper lights off a switch too, and really like it Great for hooking up a trailer at night, or setting up camp. Went straight to battery with a fuse. Hope you're as happy with that as I am.

Looking forward to checking out how the fenders look on the Jeep. Personally I like a bit of contrast. It draws my eyes over the entire vehicle, without seeming too busy.

Yeah running a SPOD, so will make some room on that for the reverse lights. As for the fenders... I have black running boards/rock rails, black bumpers and a black roof. But I've always liked the look of the painted fenders. I would have gotten those when I ordered the JK, however you could not (at least at the time) get a black roof and painted fenders - and I didn't like the idea of a painted roof. Although in hindsight I should have just sucked it up. Oh well.

In progress! I think this is two coats... still a bunch more to go. Haven't decided if I'll add a clear coat to them or not. On one hand it'll add another layer to help protect them... on the other it'll make it harder to touch up those eventual rock chips.

 

[Septu]

Well final coat is on... but I think they're too bright lol. I could have handled a darker silver that was close in color... but these are a pretty bright silver - and appear to be a brighter silver then my jeep - by a couple shades. So now I don't know - either leave them like this and just see how it turns out... or go get a couple more cans of something a little darker and hope that that turns out better. If I leave them like this odds are I won't have time to repaint them before my 2300 mile road trip. Mind you I'm also not entirely sure I'll have time to repaint them with a different color and still allow them time to completely dry and still get them installed early in the week.

Right now I'm inclined to just leave them as is and see how it turns out. If I do not like them, I'll just have to suck it up until I get home and deal with it then. I mean I can always pull them and repaint them. Maybe I'll fall in love with them?

Edit. Maybe it's not as bad as I thought. For some reason when looking at them on the floor under the lights they look crazy bright. But when looking at them on/near the jeep they look like an almost perfect match... So the plan is to leave them like this lol and just see how the paint holds up.

 

[Comanche Scott]

Wow! that looks excellent on my monitor. :beer: