Suspension setup for Expedition travel in a 2005 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited

[leaffreux]

Very interesting thread
We here at Jeepexpeditions.org all 100 or so of us all have expedition jeeps set up with freezers, cooking, tents and all manner of things.
Just about as many different set ups as there are jeeps,
My jeep (l J Rubicon) has a long arm kit, 4" lift, Rancho 9000's XL and 35" tires, also microwave, fridge food storage, GPS and rear tire rack with 2- 5 gal fuel can holders.
Our expeditions have covered to Alaska to Central America and 4 and 5 day trips all over the west.Including The Rubicon Trail. We know they all work, Expeditions are our pleasure
dean

 

[MOAK]

We run long range, 1,000 miles plus.. So far I'm very pleased with stock suspension and spacers. Just put new shocks in, Monroe Sensa-tracs, and very pleased with them.. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on shocks, cause at around the 100,000 mile mark I'll upgrade everything to OME 2".. Currently, loaded with gear, and dragging our trailer we experience a very smooth ride.. With the OME kit, I'll definitley get the springs for heavy loads..

 

[BPage]

Glad to hear their are others like me out there. I will definitely visit your site and share some thoughts (and borrow some ideas).

 

[BPage]

Hey guys I have some considerable armor under my Jeep from rock crawling... however I would love to switch to aluminum over the steel plating I currently have to save some weight.
Anyone know of a company that makes light weight strong aluminum armor?

:ylsmoke:

 

[Calin.Macrinici]

Hey guys I have some considerable armor under my Jeep from rock crawling... however I would love to switch to aluminum over the steel plating I currently have to save some weight.
Anyone know of a company that makes light weight strong aluminum armor?

:ylsmoke:

I would definitely try the Savvy OffRoad site for aluminum stuff, not cheap but well made (don't have any, this is based on people commenting on them on forums and such). You have an 2005 LJ, so I would think this would fit: Under Armor 2003+ Manual or Auto, although not very straightforward to install (and some sacrifices would need to be made), it seems like a very nice armor that covers up most of your belly.

 

[nwoods]

I would definitely try the Savvy OffRoad site for aluminum stuff, not cheap but well made (don't have any, this is based on people commenting on them on forums and such). You have an 2005 LJ, so I would think this would fit: Under Armor 2003+ Manual or Auto, although not very straightforward to install (and some sacrifices would need to be made), it seems like a very nice armor that covers up most of your belly.

x100 on Savvy. Gerald is an awesome guy. He wheels the crap out of his products, and they stand up really well.

 

[-JD-]

Hey guys I have some considerable armor under my Jeep from rock crawling... however I would love to switch to aluminum over the steel plating I currently have to save some weight.
Anyone know of a company that makes light weight strong aluminum armor?

:ylsmoke:

I would definitely try the Savvy OffRoad site for aluminum stuff, not cheap but well made (don't have any, this is based on people commenting on them on forums and such). You have an 2005 LJ, so I would think this would fit: Under Armor 2003+ Manual or Auto, although not very straightforward to install (and some sacrifices would need to be made), it seems like a very nice armor that covers up most of your belly.

If you have a week to read it, JF has a Looong thread on it: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/savvy-under-armor-1046497/

I've got all the bracketry and precursor equipment installed for mine - I just need to bolt up the plates themselves once I finish up all of the other undercarriage work. One of the nice things is that you can drive the Jeep with NONE of the skids in place.

This is not a trivial undertaking. The Savvy UnderArmor System, absolutely requires a 1" Motor mount lift (which is part of their bracket system) and a 1.25" Body lift. You will almost certainly need adjustable control arms to reset the pinion angle and a double-cardan rear DS. While you're in there you might as well put in a Novak TCase cable shifter and you'll need to rig a new mounting for the locker-pump plate - or outright relocate them like I did.