The Big O JKUR build thread

[MTSN]

Took the dog for his first wheeling to Moab this last weekend with my wife. They were the best copilots ever! The KO2s did great, but they did get caked up pretty good with mud on one of the trails when it was raining and the mud turned soupy. They performed well on the freeway in ice, snow and dry pavement, and they were very sticky on the slickrock. I'm hoping one of the guys I met up with on another day of trails has some pics of the harder trails we did since the below ones were from the more tame day we went out solo.

 

[kojackJKU]

Ahhhh, a jeep in the wild in its natural habitat. Nothing better.

 

[Comanche Scott]

Looks like an awesome trip!
Which trails did you end up running?

Got to love Boxers. They are such a fun loving dog! :beer:

 

[MTSN]

Looks like an awesome trip!
Which trails did you end up running?

Got to love Boxers. They are such a fun loving dog! :beer:

Boxers are great, and we got "lucky" with this guy. He has a major heart condition, so he's only hyper for about 3 minutes of the day and sleeps and/or cuddles the rest which makes our lives easy!

Because it was raining and we were solo most of the trip, we did some easy scenic trails mostly. We ran Bull Canyon and Gemini Bridges then Metal Masher, Fins and Things and Hells Revenge. I also tried out baby Lion's Back or whatever it's called which was a blast. I really wish we could have stayed longer and had nicer weather, but any trip to Moab is a good one!

 

[Comanche Scott]

Cool thing about Moab is a person could go time and time again, and still have new adventures. :beer:
I'm looking forward to spending some quality time there.

A Boxer with a heart issue. Who'd a thought! He looks like a big sweetie, but I still wouldn't want to get on his bad side, bum ticker or not. lol
The group I train with work close with a Boxer club, so I've had the chance to see Boxers doing therapy work, advanced obedience, and even some top Schutzhund dogs. They are so versatile, smart and very clownish until it's time to work. Then they are all business. :beer:

So after your Moab trip, did it bring up any changes in plans, or things you want to add soon?

 

[MTSN]

Haha I know right? Who would have thought a Boxer would have a heart issue? I've always had long haired fluffy dogs like Collies and Shepherd's, but this guy was my wife's choice. I honestly fought it for quite a while, but now that he's part of the family I couldn't imagine us not having him. On our walks if he gets scared he will literally hide behind me, but if my wife is walking him alone he becomes just about the most protective dog I've ever seen (not in a bad way - just becomes very vigilant and alert). I have a feeling when he passes we will get another one - probably black and white/reverse brindle like him too!

So I was hoping to find the "weakness" in my setup on this trip to Moab. I had booked a trailer to haul the Jeep down on a flatbed, but the trailer I picked up didn't have working breaks and my buddy and his wife bailed at the last minute too. We instead elected to ditch the trailer since it was only my wife and I with the dog and just drove the Jeep. I was honestly not looking forward to 6 hours in the Jeep over multiple high alpine passes with a huge snowstorm predicted, but it drove remarkably well and didn't miss a beat. When we hit the trails it crawled over everything so easily I actually never required a spotter, and the guy I met up with in a pretty nicely built TJ on 35" KM2s was very impressed with the JKUR. At this point, I cannot think of anything I would change on the Jeep which is quite shocking to me. I thought for sure I would want deeper gears, but the 4.10s were more than adequate for everything. I usually travel light though, so some who tend to pack a lot of heavy stuff might have a differing opinion. It's a nice feeling that I can hop in the Jeep, drive for hours on end, hit some trails, air up and drive home without any worries...that's kinda what my old Land Cruiser was like, but this JKUR can easily tackle much harder trails much more easily!

I actually have better pics of the dog than I do of the Jeep in action!

 

[Comanche Scott]

Awesome picture!

Yeah, these rigs are pretty great.
I think the 4:1 transfer case is a big part of getting away with 4.10 gears. That and the broad torque curve of the 3.6L.
I'd like a bit more protection underneath for the CA frame/axle brackets, and fuel tank. But overall very happy with it's performance on and off road.

 

[MTSN]

Awesome picture!

Yeah, these rigs are pretty great.
I think the 4:1 transfer case is a big part of getting away with 4.10 gears. That and the broad torque curve of the 3.6L.
I'd like a bit more protection underneath for the CA frame/axle brackets, and fuel tank. But overall very happy with it's performance on and off road.

I completely agree - the tcase is truly fantastic and still allows for very low gearing in low. I ran almost all of Fins and Things in 4 high actually because 4 low would have been too low! Now that you mention it, I could probably use a more robust fuel tank skid since mine has seen it's fair share of usage :sombrero: I also will need to add an oil pan skid in the near future, but so far I have found the stock skids adequate. I want to use whatever came stock to its full extent before replacing it to get "my money's worth" out of the OEM stuff before ditching it. After having and building Jeeps from the 70s, 80s and 90s, it still blows my mind you can essentially take a stock JKUR with 4.10s and throw a small lift and 37s and go wheeling with such fantastic results. The XJs I had in particular took quite a bit of work to run 33s effectively and took LOTS of work to get 35s working well.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

*Sorry, TAPA talk made it look like post #118 was the most recent. So I was replying to that. Didn't even see these awesome Moab pics!*

I had the 33% duty cycle version of it, the 400P. I stupidly sold it. Great compressor. Just spent a fortune replacing it with the arb twin.

Can you swap out the inflation fitting with one that clips on? If not, the ARB pump up kit comes with a nice hose and fitting for like $30.

 

[MTSN]

I had the 33% duty cycle version of it, the 400P. I stupidly sold it. Great compressor. Just spent a fortune replacing it with the arb twin.

Can you swap out the inflation fitting with one that clips on? If not, the ARB pump up kit comes with a nice hose and fitting for like $30.

I noticed that you had sold that one (for a great price too)! I've been super happy with the Viair products, and I think I will change it out for the other style of inflator. Although I won't lie - the hair tie/rubber band thing worked out far better than I expected The ARB pump up kit looks nice though, so I may look into that soon.

 

[Timgco]

Great pics and glad you had fun!

 

[MTSN]

As you may have seen, I had recently listed the JKUR for sale, and as of today the Jeep was picked up by the new owner. I wanted to update this thread if anyone is looking to do a similar build. There is nothing I would do differently if I was to start all over, except I would have jumped straight to the 37s instead of trying 35s first. IMO the 37" KO2 with 3.5" lift is the perfect combo for this platform for all around comfort, performance and looks. The factory Rubicon package with automatic and 4.10s seems perfectly tailored for this application too, and my gas mileage over the last couple of months driving mostly freeway to work (with a few spots of daily slowdowns/stop and go) yielded 17.3mpg. Coming from a Land Cruiser that had a hard time getting above 13mpg, I was ecstatic with the performance. I will also reiterate that IMO you should only use high quality parts like AEV, ARB, JW Speaker, etc. It is worth it to just buy once/cry once instead of buying something cheap, getting annoyed with it, dealing with the hassle of removing/selling it, then replacing with what you should have bought to begin with. It also pays to develop good relationship with a top notch shop (like High Country 4x4 here in Denver) who stands behind their work and remembers who you are. I had a great experience with my JKUR and will certainly jump into the fold again in the future - probably with the JL. The only problem I have right now with the Jeep is a lack of time to use it for what it's intended - work has been crazy with a new job I took, so it's been way underutilized. Since I spend most of my time behind the wheel on pavement, I'm going to play for a bit with a fun daily driver until I'm ready for an offroad rig again.

Here's a couple pics from Red Cone about a month ago - the last trip before I listed the Jeep for sale.

 

[Comanche Scott]

Glad you had the time you did to enjoy, and share the experience. :beer:
Hope to see you soon with something new.

-cs

 

[DailyJeep]

Can confirm, new owner is happy!

And to think I was about to pull the trigger on a X3 35i before driving the JKUR. I just can't seem to leave my Jeep roots.

Matt has put together a fantastic package and I hope to give it a good home.

 

[MTSN]

Can confirm, new owner is happy!

And to think I was about to pull the trigger on a X3 35i before driving the JKUR. I just can't seem to leave my Jeep roots.

Matt has put together a fantastic package and I hope to give it a good home.

I'm super happy for you guys, and I can't wait to see more pictures of the puppy enjoying the Jeep too!