Another newbie with a JK

[MichaelW]

Hey!

Just thought I'd say hi. I have lurked on this site on and off for some time and figured it was time to post up and say hello. So hello.

I have a 2007 Jeep JK Unlimited Rubicon. I purchased this vehicle to be a dual sport off road/ on road "enduro". I have a dedicated off road rock crawler but I wanted something to drive to trails comfortably plus tackle some fairly gnarly trails.

I think I have found the compromise in the Jeep JK.

Here is how it sits as of today.

I am having a trailer built for it that will be 4'x7' and have 24" of ground clearance while sporting 37" tires.

I am looking forward to several trips and can't wait to test out some longer camping/exploring and excursions around here in Northern Nevada and Utah.

Thanks everyone for the answers on the questions I will be asking and thanks to everyone for the things they have posted that helped get me going in the right direction!

I'm not sure what this is for but I like it. :gunt:

 

[Uticon]

Welcome Michael,
I have been following your build for a while on another forum.
You really need to go through and let people know on this forum what upgrades you have made to your JK.
Im in Ut, relocated from Reno so let me know if your heading out to the SLC area.:luxhello:

 

[Gear]

Hello Michael,
Welcome to the Portal. I too have enjoyed your posts on other boards. Thanks for stopping bye. Your JK is definetely an inspiration! Look forward to seeing your new trailer build up.

 

[MichaelW]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I am in SLC probably 4-5 times a year so you never know. The next scheduled visit will be a drive by on the way to Moab the 3rd week of May. Then a visit on the return trip. I have a good friend in that lives in West Jordan and Debbie is a survivor thanks to the good doctors of The Huntsman in SLC.

The JK has a suspension from Nth Degree Mobility. They are no longer in business but the designer and designs have been purchased by American Expeditionary Vehicles. So I would expect to see many more JK's with this suspension before too long.

BFG 37" MTR's
Staun internal bead locks
Riddler extra thick differential rock covers
Shrockworks sliders on the rocker panels
Shrockworks front winch bumper
LoD rear bumper and spare tire carrier
SkidRow oil pan/engine skid plate
Warn PowerPlant HD winch w/on board air
Warn 10 gallon air reserve tank
Winchline poly winch line with thimble
KC Xtrawide driving lamps for wide angle low level illumination
Marchal Ralley Racing lamps with Cibie-E Code style bulbs w/rock guards
KC Daylighter off road lamps
SuperBright LED undercarriage lamps (rock lights)
Garmin 276c GPS
RearView Systems back up camera/rear view mirror
Cobra 75wsx 40 channel CB
Icom 2720 100 watt 2 meter ham radio
Uniden digital multi-trunking scanner
Air Raid cold air intake
Hesco super charger
ScanGauge II OBD-II scanner reader & diagnostics
ProComp Speedometer calibrator
HellRoaring Systems multiple battery control/charging system
Ready Welder

That's what I can think of off the top of my head right now.

I'll steal a post I made on another forum about my trailer. I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to be on a road with open country in the wind screen and asphalt in the rear view mirror.

 

[MichaelW]

Here is my trailer info from another forum.

Here is the progress (finally) on my new 4x7 JK trailer. The lowest part of the frame is the torsion bar axles that are 24" off the ground.

The trailer will have almost the same track width as a TJ so a little more narrow than the JK. It is 7' long to accommodate a little quad or a boat load of goodies.

Here is what it looks like so far.... Not a lot to look at but the sides will be on soon and then its off to the powder coaters.

Can't wait to be dragging it behind on the trail.

 

[MichaelW]

Maybe I'll have it in time for the grand opening of the new Cabela's in Reno. :wings:

 

[MichaelW]

In response to some comments on another forum!

Expedition Portal That's where my search/quest started. I had since forgotten the link thanks for the reminder.

Yep, something like the Adventure Trailers but without the tent and a few dollars less.

I roughed up some cartoons for Rick at New Image Off Road Trailers and this helped with the whole concept. Here in Nevada the desert is famous for eating tires and from my experience in Mining and biogeochemistry sampling we ALWAYS carried at least two spare tires. So both the Jeep and the trailer will have spares, so I will be carrying 2 full sets of tires for the JK. I will be carrying 2 - 5 gallon reserve gas tanks plus 4 - 5 gallon water tanks. Rick has suggested the products from PU-Products and we are going with the 9x9 plastic cans. I have asked for a Hi-Lift and shovel mount up front and just behind the spare tire. Plus I have places for 2 large yellow top batteries. All this on the outside of the 4x7 internal storage space. Additionally the trailer will have electric brakes for control on the trail mostly plus the electric break-a-way switch. The electrical connection will be via an industry standard 7 wire plug and I'm modifying my LoD bumper to have the socket embedded in the bumper and out of harms way. I have the HellRoaring Technologies multiple battery management system awaiting installation for when I get time.

I think I have most of my bases covered but if you (or anyone else) wants to add their two bits, now is the time.

I'll see if I can upload my cartoons.
Elevation of Trailer cartoon in PDF
Plan of Trailer cartoon in PDF

There are some local guys around here that do the expedition thing around Nevada. I'm hoping to hook up with them and gain some experience. I think it so cool that Nevada still has so many "roads" that are still dirt and explorable. Not to mention the many ghost towns and mining camps.

It was the prospect of doing longer excursions that was one of my primary motivations for getting the 4-door.

 

[MichaelW]

Almost forgot...

I asked Rick for places to tie down stiff inside the trailer but I didn't want to be limited to a few points or by figureing out exactly where I wanted the tie downs right now. I pointed Rick to some flush styled tie down rails like you see in pick ups and such and Rick had a source for something called F-Track that was less money than what I found but fundamentally similar. So we are placing two tracks for tie downs, one along the bottom and the other along the top. This way I can really secure my load.

 

[MichaelW]

I had to modify this bumper one more time. This time it was so I could actually use it for towing.

The LoD bumper did not come with anyplace to attach the towing wiring harness. It would have been nice had LoD at least allowed the utilization of the factory 4-wire JK harness that many may have opted for as a factory option. However I went with a slightly more robust trailer harness with the industry standard 7-wire plug.

The plug I purchased plugs in the factory harness plus has the extra wires for electric brakes, battery charger/power supply from a dual battery system and an aux power wire that is often used for back up lamps on the trailer.

I found these pdf files of industry standard trailer wiring diagrams. I did not create these documents and these are presented in their original form.

4 pole wiring dia.pdf
Electric brake control wiring.pdf
Trailer Wiring Diagrams.pdf

I also added some quick link hooks so I can attach my trailer safety chains and the electric break-a-way controller wire.

Well here are some pictures of my modifications. - note I am not a welder. I have never been taught how to weld. I bought a welder and enjoy burning stuff with it. I need to add that I used my torch on this bumper to make the hole for the 7-way plug. I'm not a torch guy either, apparently. :laughing:

Here is a picture of my license plate relocation along with re-using the factory license plate light.

My CB antenna mount after I lost my CoolTech mount to a large tree on the Slick Rock trail which also took out my factory license plate mount. The CoolTech mount was the only thing holding my license plate on for quite a while until I actually relocated everything.

Also note how much better my steel corners from AEV-Conversions would have looked had they NOT had the license plate holes in it. Hello AEV.... Did you get this.

What the bumper looks like today.

And here is my most recent modification.

Note that this plug I bought at Napa utilizes the factory 4-wire harness that came with my JK and the towing package.

I have mentioned I like the "trunk" in my bumper.

Well that's my bumper/trailer update for today.

Now to go wire up my electric brake controller and my HellRoaring Technologies multiple battery system. Well ok the brake controller first. I still haven't decided on where I am putting the extra battery(s) yet.

I have a huge project in mind that has been postponed because I can't convince the guys at Gen-Right to make a big safari tank for the JK. They said something about DC asking them to not build a gas tank relocation kit with safari tank to remove the factory tank and install a nice larger capacity beefier protected gas tank back to the original TJ location. This way I could move my air storage tank to where the gas tank was and mount my batteries there too. So everyone call and email Gen-Right and tell them we want a bigger and more protected gas tank to be put back into the center of the vehicle and in between the rear frame rails! :grinpimp:

But since the gas tank isn't going to be moved in the near future maybe I should build an air tank to go where the JK "trunk" is after removing the trunk and put some batteries either under the rear seat or in the back area so they are still somewhat accessible for the Ready Welder.

Oh well decisions, decisions. Now I have more to think about while installing my electric brake controller.

 

[MossMan]

Hey man. Good to see ya over here to. I know you'll find lots of useful info for that trailer build. :Mechanic:

 

[ox4mag]

Michael, every time I look at your JK (whether it's here or on JKowners.com), it raises the hair on my head! That is one VERY cool rig you've got there, and I definitely hope to meet you at some point to see that baby on the trails. Take care, and welcome to ExPo!

-Frank

 

[kcowyo]

That JK is a brute!

Great build and welcome to Expo - :beer:

How are you liking the Staun internal bead locks? And what's the story on the Hesco SC?

 

[MichaelW]

Thanks! MossMan! I've read some things on here in the past which helped be the inspiration as well as helped in my concept of what I wanted out of the trailer.

Thanks Frank and you bet. If nothing else I'll have some stories for you to share. I have two trips that have been on my to do list one is a trip to Moab via dirt roads and the other is the White Rim Trail in Moab. I know Nevada has an awful lot of dirt roads still and there is lots of old ghost towns and mining camps to explore. About a month ago we camped out in Berlin Nevada toured the Icyathasaur (sp) fossil bed and the ghost town of Berlin. We headed out through Ione and traveled dirt roads back to the Shoe Tree on Highway 50. It was a fun little excursion and it isn't very far from our house.

Thanks kcowyo! The Stauns are really nice. It is good to have a bead lock that doesn't look like a bead lock, plus locks inner and outer bead. The Staun bead lock also can be moved from wheel to wheel which is good as I'm on my 3rd set of wheels so far. That would have been very expensive with a traditional bead lock. I haven't tested the run flat portion yet but I have deflated the tire fully and witness the claim that they do not allow the wheel to rest on the ground.

The Hesco super charger gives the 3.8l DC engine a few more ponies. Well ok a lot more ponies at near redline. The claims by Hesco are about 100 hp at 5800 rpm with near 100 ftlbs torque at the same. Where I've noticed it is at the 2-3k rpm mark and the 20-50 hp increase has made the daily stuff much more bearable in the heavy weight JK and its mini van engine. I can accelerate on on ramps, pass big trucks, climb hills without being in 1st gear etc etc etc. I can also if I feel the need, stomp the silly pedal and go from 65mph to 90mph in seconds. Not that I do that, much. I also run the Hesco programmed UniChip which adjusted the power curve and gives me some more low end torque and evened out the power band to match the hp curve. The Hesco super charger also works good on the trail. I'm not a throttle jockey and becuase the sc doesn't really aggressively kick in until the 3k mark I can run most obstacles slow and in control.

Thanks again for the warm welcome everyone!