Tj Rubicon Unlimited

[The Raven]

Well I sold my headache of a VW Westfalia, it was a great concept but VWs suck. I'm taking the money instead and making my 06 LJ Rubicon more suited to overland travel and camping in spots that would scare the VW.

I have done the following;
-Rugged Ridge 8500# winch
Once they arrive;
-Gobi Recon Rack
-OME 2" heavy shocks with the sport shocks on the front

Will be doing;
-exorack for spare tire
-OME 2" heavys and sports for the back
-Ram components to mount the ipad
-rooftop tent

Need some help and thoughts on a few things;

After seeing too many decent jeeps turned into skyjackers with mud bogger tires I have really gotten turned off by those sorts of jeeps and away from people who own them. I don't want to turn this Rubicon into an Eco-killer. It need to be decent on the road, be able to travel bumpy roads without bottoming out, and be able to carry gear without any issues. It also has to look close to stock height and not look like it has a lift.

Any other overland suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

You pretty much nailed it, some OME goodies and a set of your favorite 33x10.50 tires and it will be perfect.

 

[Jim K in PA]

Same here. Mine is an '05. OME heavy/heavy, upgraded control arms with Ballistic flex joints, 255/85s on stock Moabs, 1.25 BL/MML, and some appropriate upgrades to the electrical system. Ditch the shovel if you have not already. I went with the Rokmen, but lots of others to choose from.

Custom rack is going on this fall/winter for our E-A RTT. MM hydraulic winch is waiting for me to finish the bumper. Genright Safari tank will be going in next Spring.

The LJ is just about perfect for a two person adventure/travel vehicle. This is from a while ago before the OME lift.

 

[WininUtah]

I set my '05 LJ up so that the wife and I could travel anywhere within reason without being too concerned. I went with a 4.5" lift after high centering a couple of times and scraping over ledges etc. I spent quite a bit of money but it rode and handled better than stock. I'm not a rock crawler, just an old guy that wants to be as safe as possible. I've got a new JKUR and will most likely do a similar build.

Mine had: Teraflex 4.5 Long Arm Lift - 1 1/2" Body Lift - Curry Front Track Bar
LT295/75R-16/8 (33") Hankook Mud Terrain on stock wheels.
Wilderness Bumper with Tire Rack, can rack, trail rack
Hanson Front Bumper with Warn 9.5 winch

I'm not sure how to beef up the rear trackbar but mine snapped off at the axle and it was an adventurous ride getting to a safe place! It was re-welded and held up fine, take a look at yours and see if it can be beefed up.

Win

 

[hamr26]

I second what Jim K stated in light mods. I have same tire/wheel combo (spacers added), BL, MML, and Tummy Tuck. Only a 1.5" spacer lift.
More than capable to get to remote places. Sometimes I'd like a more road friendly tire than the Bighorn MTs I have, but until that miracle 255/85 appears mine are good. No roof rack yet since barely camping.

 

[JChatary]

:Wow1: I imagine myself driving something looking exactly like this...with a HUGE smile on my face!

 

[Jim K in PA]

Not sure if Wininutah had a tummy tuck on his LJ, but that alone reduces the high center risk, and reduces the amount of lift you "need". I had the same experience with high centering on stupid stuff, and that damned shovel is aptly named. I can't believe Jeep put that thing on an off-road vehicle.

As for the rear track bar, you will break the stock part eventually if you flex it enough. The solution is to put flex joints in at least one end of the TB. I am redoing my front and rear TBs to address their shortcomings in range of movement.

 

[The Raven]

I spent about 210k before the frame broke on my old TJ SE. It had zero mods, stock suspension and I did things to that jeep that I don't want to admit. The Rubicon however is quite a bit heavier and has a similar suspension from what I can see. I actually got thinking about this when my nose dived when I installed a winch, my u-joint is hitting my exhaust and it's no longer level. I also loaded 1800# of bamboo flooring into the back and drove 12 miles home...that was fun

Not looking for reinforcements, tummy tucks as I never had a problem with my TJs skid...well until it fell off with the cracked frame and had to be wire back up.

Here is the rubicon in Northern Maine on the St John.

 

[Oman4x4]

If you're looking for a relatively stock height and avoiding the Skyjacker Sky-high look / impracticalities - American Expedition Vehicles has a great body modification to raise the fenders up - allowing you to fit a bigger tire.

A 2.5" OME lift and the AEV Highline Fender kit should be good for 35" tires. I have the Highline on 3.5" lift with 35" tire but may change up to 37s when they wear out.

http://www.aev-conversions.com/shop...r/tj-highline-body-kit-highline-body-kit.html

Says out of stock but give them a call - maybe there's a wait list.

 

[jscusmcvet]

I agree with most of what is said here. I think you will need the HD version on that OME suspension for the roof rack and RTT + extra gear, so good call. The value of some kind of tummy tuck, even if you do one that does not gain the most clearance, is invaluable. The stock skid, or shovel, is a killer in any jeep, but especially in an LJ. Keep us updated, would like to see the install of the Gobi rack if you can post a write up.

Good luck to you.

John

 

[The Raven]

I like the stock tire size. Probably gonna be putting smaller this winter for the snow/ice. Figure the 500-600 miles I drive in the winter the speedo error will be tolerable. Nothing kills a jeep here quicker than driving in salty maine roads during the winter.

Here is some more info to help:

Driving style
- 99.9% Gravel roads, occasional 200-300' to get to tough campsites. Deal with occasional mud in spring
- a big focus is fuel economy so mods need to minimize impact. I.e no big tires
- loads take precedence over ground clearance. I got caught once on a snow bank in 225k mi....not much would have freed me other than a $10 shovel. Ended up digging out with a scraper...I have learned to have a $10 shovel at all times.

Now folks I see a lot of land rovers without huge lifts, reasonable tires doing some cool things. I am looking at doing the landrover route with my jeep.

 

[Jim K in PA]

Based on that description then I would agree that you don't need to spend any $$ on anything. If you want to add load capacity that is variable, buy some cheap air bags to put in your stock springs and see how that works for you. If you are not really taking it off gravel forest roads, then you could do without the winch too. Heck, you could use a Subaru Forester and do everything you need and get 10 more MPG.

The 255/85 tires I put on are only a half inch wider and 1.5 inch taller than the original MTRs. They and the lift kit had minimal effect on mpg (6 speed trans). The RTT and rack will have the most impact on your mileage, not the lift and small tire size increase. The stock tire size with the 4.10 finals and the 4.43:1 first gear in the six speed was actually rather annoying around town. With the slightly taller tire I now have a usable first gear and lower RPMs on the highway. In low range the slight loss in crawl ratio is not noticeable. Heck, with your intended use you probably won't even use low range.

I am not sure if the earlier TJs (pre-2002) had the same belly pan as the later ones, but if you every took it off road, you would have learned quickly how it got named the shovel. The front and rear edges are formed into a DOWNWARD lip, catching rocks and dirt. I cleaned tremendous amounts of dirt and mud off the pan after almost every trip until I got the Rokmen.

 

[WininUtah]

I did have the tummy tuck, too, it did make a big difference. Good advise on the rear track bar!

Win

 

[AU_Guy]

New to jeeps... What's a tummy tuck? Shovel?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[The Raven]

The only reason for the winch was I needed to do some construction for my house and it was handy to have around. Was mounted to my broken jeep so said what the hell and switched it over to the rubicon. Might come in handy if I get stuck or need to get something unstuck

Now all the talk on the shovel.....I noticed with the lift I am supposed to lower it a bit with spacers. This seems counter intuitive for ground clearance? I do like the spacer route due to rust prevention....but what are folks thoughts?

Tires; price wise how do they compare to the stock tires. I'm due for a replacement. Problem is the PO never used the spare and I would like to bring it into rotation so may have to stick with stock for the time being.