"Bruce" the 2014 Jeep JKUR Build Thread

[Blue Baby Sound]

Great thread, Klaus. Long..... but great
The FRONT RUNNER rack has moved to the top of my list. Exactly what I've been trying (and failing) to build.
Good luck on your trip! :friday:

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Great ideas.
I've been re-thinking that whole process as well. Thinking of the Jeep like a backpack, instead of a camping trailer.
Low weight, comfortable gear, easy and quick to use.

Yup. I've slowly been swapping out big heavy Coleman gear for nicer smaller gear, while making sure everywhere has its place.

 

[madgsf]

Any feedback on the new suspension?

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

I'm waiting until I fix a few things. I'm installing the geo correction brackets, and my winch this weekend then getting it aligned. I may install a new set of airbags too because I'm installing a rear drawer. I'll report back after I doc 1500 miles and 200 off road miles with the full set up next weekend.

The 2.5" lift and stock 32" tires make me want to skip the 3.5 and 35s entirely and go to 4.5" lift and BFG AT KO2 37s. But that seems like over kill. Although it appears to be becoming a popular overland set up. Jake at NMBT and Andy's wife at Adventure Portal are running that set up (adventure portals has 35s).

 

[zigsrig]

for what it is worth... i think you can run the 37" o2's on the 3.5" AEV lift. Just swipe out to the 4.5" rear bump stops.

i should know for sure here shortly :sombrero:

 

[MTSN]

I agree - I think you could pretty easily get away with the 37s on the 3.5" kit. I have tons of room with 315/70/17 Duratracs, so maybe some fender trimming or aftermarket fender flares would do the trick. Everyone who rides in my Jeep comments/complains about how hard it is to get in and out of already (especially the back seat), so I would not want to go any taller than 3.5".

 

[Comanche Scott]

37"s may require some metal trimming

I think you'll need to do some trimming on the front of the rear wheel well, and rockers to clear 37" tires.

Below is a 35" tire at full stuff with the stock control arms (no lift).
It's just barely rubbing. Most 37" tires hold truer to size compared to the 315/70R 17 which normally run about a half inch smaller (i.e. 34.5" OAD). Soa 37" tire is going to be about 1-1/4" radius larger. For driving on the street or light trail use, this may not be noticed, but first time the vehicle has to really flex, it would spell trouble.

Blue Baby Sound is running 37" tires with the 3" Mopar lift. That kit comes with a slightly longer set of rear control arms. He did a beautiful job of trimming the body to make them fit.
Might be worth looking at his build thread on Wrangler Forum.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Great thread, Klaus. Long..... but great
The FRONT RUNNER rack has moved to the top of my list. Exactly what I've been trying (and failing) to build.
Good luck on your trip! :friday:

Thanks! I tried to build it too. Ended up getting a scratch and dent model for a bit more than I could have built it for. I found out it has the wrong hardware. The bolts stick out of the bottom instead of going up into the rack. I'll need to correct that with my new set up.

Yeah there is a lot of bull****ting in the middle of the thread. I may change the beginning to be mods to date so people don't have to wade through so much discussion.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

for what it is worth... i think you can run the 37" o2's on the 3.5" AEV lift. Just swipe out to the 4.5" rear bump stops.

i should know for sure here shortly :sombrero:

Yeah but that defeats some of the purpose.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

I think you'll need to do some trimming on the front of the rear wheel well, and rockers to clear 37" tires.

Below is a 35" tire at full stuff with the stock control arms (no lift).
It's just barely rubbing. Most 37" tires hold truer to size compared to the 315/70R 17 which normally run about a half inch smaller (i.e. 34.5" OAD). Soa 37" tire is going to be about 1-1/4" radius larger. For driving on the street or light trail use, this may not be noticed, but first time the vehicle has to really flex, it would spell trouble.

Blue Baby Sound is running 37" tires with the 3" Mopar lift. That kit comes with a slightly longer set of rear control arms. He did a beautiful job of trimming the body to make them fit.
Might be worth looking at his build thread on Wrangler Forum.

Why would you try to run 35s with no lift? 37s fit with the 4.5" lift especially BFG AT KO2s. You have to cut the rock sliders for 35s already. And the 37" BFGs weigh less than the 35s. I don't actually need 37s. I was just thinking about it today since 2.5 plus 32s doesn't look very extreme.

 

[Comanche Scott]

I think you just said it best "... 32s doesn't look very extreme."
Flat fenders and 35" tires gives a very good look to an otherwise stock Jeep.
.
Also there is a gain of an inch and a half under the fuel tank. For someone doing light trails, beach and road, they can just run a set of flat fenders 35" tires, have a very nice looking Jeep that is more effective.
Example in the picture below. Just the 35" tires kept the fuel tank off the dirt.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

I think you just said it best "... 32s doesn't look very extreme."
Flat fenders and 35" tires gives a very good look to an otherwise stock Jeep.
.
Also there is a gain of an inch and a half under the fuel tank. For someone doing light trails, beach and road, they can just run a set of flat fenders 35" tires, have a very nice looking Jeep that is more effective.
Example in the picture below. Just the 35" tires kept the fuel tank off the dirt.

Yeah yours is looking good. For folks who want a very stock but very capable JK, I'd run stock tires or BFG AT KO2 34x10.5r17 tires with wheel spacers (looks better and sway bar clearance) and a 2.5" lift. Gets your fuel tank 3-4" higher without affecting gearing or gas mileage much, and without throwing away perfectly good tires.

That'd be the perfect build for someone like my best friend who mostly wants a camping and climbing rig that can do overlanding trips, but doesn't want to overbuild for rock crawling. His Acura lease is almost up and he's sick of worrying about his '95 Discovery. So he's looking at a Willys Edition Wrangler Unlimited with a mild build like stated above.

My current configuration worked well on medium trails with enough leftover capability to handle unexpectedly bad weather. But I don't enjoy worrying a lot while wheeling, so I'm going to continue to build it. Top of the World trail next weekend will be a good test of the stock tires. A JKU on 37s is joining. So it'll be interesting to see how well I can keep up.

I wish I'd gone with the 3.5" lift, but I can buy some nice 35s with the $1250 I saved going with the 2.5 kit and installing it myself. If that set up ends up not being tall enough, I can always sell the 2.5" kit for what I paid for it and get the 3.5 or 4.5".

 

[Comanche Scott]

poor fuel tank design.

I think there is always going to be "that section", or "spot" No matter how tall the lift, or big of tires. I had an old K5 Blazer with 4" of lift and 36" tires, back in the days when the trails weren't so chewed up. It was a very tall rig, and there were spots I wished I was another inch or so higher. But for better than 90% of the wheeling I did it worked excellent, and more stable on off cambers than if it were any taller.
.
What I would rather have than lift on the JK is better ground clearance. Running twin fuel tanks, on each side of the driveshaft, to get rid of that stupid utter of a fuel tank would really help.
This is my first off road centric vehicle, that doesn't have a nice flat belly. That may change in "phase three". Rather than go up, increasing ground clearance underneath may be a viable alternative.
At 3" of lift and 37" tires, it will still fit in the garage, and parking structures. But add more lift and a J30 top, it definitely won't fit the garage, and not sure how well it would do in a parking garage.

 

[IndyRubicon]

Your mention of fitting into a garage is exactly why I'm going to be tame with my JKUR build. The last thing I want to do is park it in my driveway when I have a perfectly good 2-car garage that will keep me from scraping ice and snow off my Jeep in the winter mornings.

I may just go with a leveling kit, which will give me a few inches of clearance, and stick with stock tires until it's time to replace those, then go with 33's. That should keep it garageable, even if I were to later add a roof rack.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Your mention of fitting into a garage is exactly why I'm going to be tame with my JKUR build. The last thing I want to do is park it in my driveway when I have a perfectly good 2-car garage that will keep me from scraping ice and snow off my Jeep in the winter mornings.

I may just go with a leveling kit, which will give me a few inches of clearance, and stick with stock tires until it's time to replace those, then go with 33's. That should keep it garageable, even if I were to later add a roof rack.

I wouldn't bother with 33s. You're only gaining <0.5" of ground clearance.