"Bruce" the 2014 Jeep JKUR Build Thread
- Thread starter KlausVanWinkle
- Start date
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
Many more goodies are in transit.
My intended stage one build should be done by the end of November.
My intended stage one build should be done by the end of November.
Nuclear Redneck
Adventurer
How much room between the rear seat back and the front of the rack? I installed spacers to lean the seat back so my kids would be more comfortable. I'd like to put the rack in but don't know if there is enough room now.
Thanks, Tate
Thanks, Tate
Omar Brannstrom
Adventurer
Hi
Not from op
I have neopren cover on my rearseats and have a space about 1.96 inches between rearseat and front runner interior rack.
Nuclear Redneck
Adventurer
Thanks, then the Front Runner rack won't work for me. The seats lean back a bit more than 2".
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
I don't have kids and Cali the GSD doesn't mind the lack of recline.
I was surprised there was that much of a gap.
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
Good news: my Waeco cf50 fits exactly how I thought it would. Time to rig up the always-on interior fuse box.
I also completed my first exterior "mod." More like an accessory. The Thule spare me seems like the rack to get for wranglers. I picked this one up off of craigslist today. I'll need to get the Teraflex HDR carrier to feel safe fully loading this thing up. But a bunch of people at my office use them without issue. It should work fine for my 16lb track bike or my 30lb mt bike.
I also completed my first exterior "mod." More like an accessory. The Thule spare me seems like the rack to get for wranglers. I picked this one up off of craigslist today. I'll need to get the Teraflex HDR carrier to feel safe fully loading this thing up. But a bunch of people at my office use them without issue. It should work fine for my 16lb track bike or my 30lb mt bike.
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Yep, the teraflex hinge is a must, My gate is making all kinds of noise and it only has ever had the stock spare mounted. It has been rattled around alot from adventures however. I am doing this mod asap!
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
I finally "finished the dual battery install. Unlike my past dual battery installs, I didn't use giant fuses on the positive battery terminals. The cable runs are very short and well protected. Less connections and crimps mean less potential problems. The keys to battery installs are plenty of loom, adhesive marine heat shrink wrap, and solid crimps. Sorry for the crummy cell phone pics
The factory relays were moved to an unused M6x1.0 post near the fender. I mounted the Dual battery solenoid in it's place. I plan to fab a small aluminum bracket to lower the solenoid and give it a more secure mounting location.
The OEM battery was replaced with a smaller Die Hard Gold AGM 34R. The aux battery is a Die Hard Deep Cycle Marine AGM 34. All added wiring is 1/0 gauge with marine grade tinned copper lugs and marine grade adhesive heat shrink wrap, all protected with heat resistant braided loom.
I bought Quadratech's Extreme Duty battery terminal kit for the primary battery and Military battery terminals for the Aux, but didn't end up needing either. I'll save the Quadratech kit for when I wire up a winch. Use a socket and a rubber mallet to firmly seat the OEM terminals on the new battery. For the aux battery, I used the terminals that came with the T-maxx kit.
The T-Maxx Battery Controller comes with a cheap 3M style fuse holder. These always seem to fail in automotive uses. So I crimped a more heavy duty fuse holder into the green cable (now red at the solenoid end).
To solve the battery movement issue. I stuck a piece of 3/4" thick painted, wooden trim along the base of the tray. A heavy duty battery strap was added to each battery.
See white piece of wood.
The MORE Dual Battery Tray instructions say to grind these firewall bolts down. That wasn't necessary for me. I added 2x M6x1.0 nuts with a lock washer in between, and 1x nut with a lock washer to the lower two studs, then capped them with the provided rubber caps. The batteries fit fine and I didn't have to irreversibly alter the Jeep.
The battery controller wires run through the foam plugged hole in the wire wall and into the glove box. Bonus points for anyone on here young enough to recognize those songs on the sat nav.
I ran ARB's fridge wiring kit from the Aux battery through the firewall. It uses 8g wiring, which should be plenty to wire up my interior fuse box under the passenger seat. Right now, it has an inline fuse, but I'll eventually add a Blue Sea 30A or 50A circuit breaker so I can easily disable the always on power.
*I'll have to get some better landscape shots later.
We're taking "Bruce" up to the lower Sierras tomorrow. So I wanted to get the fridge working reliably.
The factory relays were moved to an unused M6x1.0 post near the fender. I mounted the Dual battery solenoid in it's place. I plan to fab a small aluminum bracket to lower the solenoid and give it a more secure mounting location.
The OEM battery was replaced with a smaller Die Hard Gold AGM 34R. The aux battery is a Die Hard Deep Cycle Marine AGM 34. All added wiring is 1/0 gauge with marine grade tinned copper lugs and marine grade adhesive heat shrink wrap, all protected with heat resistant braided loom.
I bought Quadratech's Extreme Duty battery terminal kit for the primary battery and Military battery terminals for the Aux, but didn't end up needing either. I'll save the Quadratech kit for when I wire up a winch. Use a socket and a rubber mallet to firmly seat the OEM terminals on the new battery. For the aux battery, I used the terminals that came with the T-maxx kit.
The T-Maxx Battery Controller comes with a cheap 3M style fuse holder. These always seem to fail in automotive uses. So I crimped a more heavy duty fuse holder into the green cable (now red at the solenoid end).
To solve the battery movement issue. I stuck a piece of 3/4" thick painted, wooden trim along the base of the tray. A heavy duty battery strap was added to each battery.
See white piece of wood.
The MORE Dual Battery Tray instructions say to grind these firewall bolts down. That wasn't necessary for me. I added 2x M6x1.0 nuts with a lock washer in between, and 1x nut with a lock washer to the lower two studs, then capped them with the provided rubber caps. The batteries fit fine and I didn't have to irreversibly alter the Jeep.
The battery controller wires run through the foam plugged hole in the wire wall and into the glove box. Bonus points for anyone on here young enough to recognize those songs on the sat nav.
I ran ARB's fridge wiring kit from the Aux battery through the firewall. It uses 8g wiring, which should be plenty to wire up my interior fuse box under the passenger seat. Right now, it has an inline fuse, but I'll eventually add a Blue Sea 30A or 50A circuit breaker so I can easily disable the always on power.
*I'll have to get some better landscape shots later.
We're taking "Bruce" up to the lower Sierras tomorrow. So I wanted to get the fridge working reliably.
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KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
Everyone on here was right. JK's do not like weight. The Old Man Emu suspensions on my Land Cruisers would just eat it up. But they also loved lifting wheels in the air. Just my camping gear lowered the back end of the Jeep. The only weight right now is the Front Runner Shelf (40lbs), dual battery tray (10lbs) and the second battery (35lbs?). I'm afraid to see what happens when I add a dog, wife, guns, ammo, fridge, water and gas.
Trasharoo and D-ring shackle are on. Engage full ExPo Mode.
Trasharoo and D-ring shackle are on. Engage full ExPo Mode.
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You can't have both. Either flex or carrying capacity. You have to pick one. However, if you run OME on your jeep you should find it much better. I load mine up really good with 2 teenagers weighing 180 each, plus all their hockey gear, my wife and I, our travel stuff and my fridge/cooler and I don't see a big difference in travel height. Is everyone elses that bad?
KlausVanWinkle
Explorer
We finally got Bruce a little dirty this weekend. We went up to Monache Meadows to catch the end of mountain season. It got a little cold at night.
The dual battery system worked flawlessly and gave me the confidence to play some Sirius XM dinner music. It's weird listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me hours after you lose cell and radio reception.
The shelf worked well to organize cargo and keep things in place. Also, We picked up a $35 aluminum coleman table that was a great cheap alternative to the $300 Tailgater table.
But everyone was right. The stock JKUR suspension suspension is too soft for Overlanding/car camping. The amount of crap we pack is about the same whether we're going to for a weekend or weeks. Only the amount of food and water changes. With a fairly light load, the rear end of the Jeep sagged lower than the front. I really had to slow down over the many whoops throughout the meadows. I have to figure out what to do about this.
I dont' want to switch tires until the stock KM1s wear out. More than 1.5" of lift would look silly with the stock tires. I wish I could just add stiffer stock height rear shocks like the Teraflex 1.5" lift rear coils. But I don't want that much rake when unloaded. There seem to only be 3 options and all have their downsides. Get the $400 Teraflex performance leveling kit, but I don't trust that they've but much thought into the geometry of that kit and I want to keep the OEM rake. I could run airbags, but I've never had much luck with them off road. I could just suck it up and play it safe until I add the AEV 2.5" lift kit. What about a 1" Teraflex spacer in the front and their 1.5" lift coils in the rear. Would that retain the factory rake, while giving me a little more load handling?
Another thing I noticed on the trip is that I hate setting up camp. Unpacking and packing sleeping pads, sleeping bags, bag liners, pillows, tarps and tent eat up a big chunk of the day. A roof top tent keeps seeming more appealing. I just don't have anywhere to store it. Anyone run a hard shell RTT on their JKU? If so, how much of a hwy mpg hit did you take and where does your dog sleep if you have one?
The dual battery system worked flawlessly and gave me the confidence to play some Sirius XM dinner music. It's weird listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me hours after you lose cell and radio reception.
The shelf worked well to organize cargo and keep things in place. Also, We picked up a $35 aluminum coleman table that was a great cheap alternative to the $300 Tailgater table.
But everyone was right. The stock JKUR suspension suspension is too soft for Overlanding/car camping. The amount of crap we pack is about the same whether we're going to for a weekend or weeks. Only the amount of food and water changes. With a fairly light load, the rear end of the Jeep sagged lower than the front. I really had to slow down over the many whoops throughout the meadows. I have to figure out what to do about this.
I dont' want to switch tires until the stock KM1s wear out. More than 1.5" of lift would look silly with the stock tires. I wish I could just add stiffer stock height rear shocks like the Teraflex 1.5" lift rear coils. But I don't want that much rake when unloaded. There seem to only be 3 options and all have their downsides. Get the $400 Teraflex performance leveling kit, but I don't trust that they've but much thought into the geometry of that kit and I want to keep the OEM rake. I could run airbags, but I've never had much luck with them off road. I could just suck it up and play it safe until I add the AEV 2.5" lift kit. What about a 1" Teraflex spacer in the front and their 1.5" lift coils in the rear. Would that retain the factory rake, while giving me a little more load handling?
Another thing I noticed on the trip is that I hate setting up camp. Unpacking and packing sleeping pads, sleeping bags, bag liners, pillows, tarps and tent eat up a big chunk of the day. A roof top tent keeps seeming more appealing. I just don't have anywhere to store it. Anyone run a hard shell RTT on their JKU? If so, how much of a hwy mpg hit did you take and where does your dog sleep if you have one?
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