Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

Moabrubi's Rubicon

100K views 824 replies 38 participants last post by  Moabrubi 
#1 ·
Moabrubi's Rubicon Build

Figured I might as well start a build thread before the real building starts. Should be helpful in keeping track of stuff too. I got this jeep 2 years ago and never really took "build" pics so I will just start out with some of the wheeling pics. They might get out of order a bit, I don't have the exact dates written. Unfortunately i forget to take pictures a lot of the time!

How it sits today 5/18/13.


Current specs:

2005 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 6spd manual
35/12.50/15 MTR/K
15" Trailready Beadlocks
Currie Antirock
Rokmen Mercenary front bumper
Rokmen steering box skid
Rokmen TT
Warn 9.5TI with synthetic line
KC Daylighters 130w
Garvin Wilderness tire carrier
Savvy Ultimate steering
Line-X Fenders and mirrors
Dynatrac front diff cover
Ruffstuff rear diff cover
Midland 75-822 CB
3' firestik
Super ultra custom backup lights
Banks catback
Black Magic brake pads with Centric Premium rotors
Black Magic Delrin door bushings
Comet Tri Band Antenna with Kenwood TH-F6A
Polk DB521 speakers with Nalin MFG dash brackets
Savvy 1.25" Body Lift
Savvy 1" Motor Mount Lift
Novak Shifter
Savvy Step Rock Sliders
Savvy gas tank skid
Powertank 10# with rollbar clamps
Savvy Aluminum Adjustable CA's
Black magic brakes JJ washers
Currie 4" Springs
Fox 2.0 Smoothbodies
Currie TJJ Front Trackbar
Currie rear trackbar with housing bracket
Currie Bumpstops F/R
Goodridge Extended Brakelines
JJ housing kit
Currie mini skids
Daystar 3/8" spring isolators
Currie extended rear sway bar links
Ten Factory front chromoly axleshafts
G2 rear chromoly axleshafts
Warn 2.5CI suckdown winch mounted on coil bucket
Rokmen TT
Tom Woods 1310 CV driveshaft
Black Magic Brakes tie rod flip and raised sway bar brackets
Savvy Corner Armor
Savvy Tub Rails
 
See less See more
1
#218 ·
Well a 1310 U joint should fit , those are not as wide as a 1330 U joint. If all else carefully pull the cups off and take some grease out or try taking the grease fitting out so you can squeeze the grease out
 
#219 ·
I'll probably try that too. But I'm just not 100% sure if the width is the issue. Looks like it will clear just fine :confused:.

Tomorrow I'll take a closer look at it. Width of the joint, size of the caps etc. compared to the stock driveshaft. The stock driveshaft slips in with no problems at all.
 
#221 ·
Never mind.. got it! I took it off and got my biggest C clamp. Cranked down on it real good and it went in like butter. Looks like when they greased it the caps popped out a little.

Thanks for all the help Art. This whole Jeep has been a learning experience but I'm glad you are here to help me when I screw something up :rofl:.

So tomorrow when i get home I am working on this thing until it's driveable! I hope the exhaust shop is open late enough because I still need to get that redone.
 
#225 ·
So it drives pretty good. The exhaust shop did an excellent job and the exhaust clears everything with room to spare. They made it so I wouldn't smash the tip on rocks anymore either.Managed to get it to 75mph in the So.Cal traffic with no vibes or anything out of the ordinary. It's got a little less power with the 35's and 4.10s but it's manageable. I can live with these gears for a while.

Drove up to my little poser rock a couple minutes away from my house to get some pics. The front's not at full bump yet in these pics. I also was able to drive through a little wash with lots of rocks, whoops, and dips and was able to go pretty fast. The Fox shocks are really a step up from my old Bilsteins in the rough stuff!











For a mostly bolt on lift. The Savvy/Currie 4" is pretty dang hard to beat. I am very satisfied :thumbsup:.
 
#227 ·
Jeeps works great. Didn't really go wheeling, but went up to a little offroad park where they have a little obstacle course so it was perfect to test the rig out. I took it easy since I don't have an engine skid though. There is definetly some spots where I could have ripped the Fumoto drain right out of my oilpan.

It's hard to believe it's the same Jeep, it crawls so much better, isn't as tippy, and places I would have never even thought of going the Jeep just put puts right on through. Having all this clearance is AWESOME!

Also the Fox shocks are miles ahead of my old Bilsteins. In the rocks they are much more stable and in the high speed stuff they soak up the hits MUCH better. I was hitting some pretty rough areas pretty fast. It's amazing how much of a difference shocks make.










I slammed the new Savvy GTS really hard too coming off a big rock. Happy to report that I only took the paint off the skid. It really is amazing how strong this aluminum is. The old stock GTS dented from much lighter hits.

Possibly going out on the 25th to Gold Mtn and John Bull with a local forum. If my engine skid arrives by then then it's on. I hate worrying about that oil pan with no skid.
 
#238 ·
Trailering is the smarter way to go especially if it's a long distance trip.
I prefer my wheeling with a small group of friends, so we don't have to wait on people bashing their stuff sit somewhere bored to wait for a trail to clear or end up having to fix somebody's poorly built or prepared crap, just not my thing, but that's just me.
 
#239 ·
Went wheeling today at Cleghorn. Pretty moderate for the most part but still lots of fun. First off, the suckdown winch is the best mod ever. Suspension starts to unload and you lose traction and feel like you are about to flip, hit the button and just walk right up. :2thumbsup:. Also, I'm in love with the MTR's, they grip like so much better on the rocks then my old tires.

Only issue I'm having is that I have this awful rubbing noise when I hit a bump/dip moderately hard and the axle goes straight up. I don't see any rubbing, and when I cycled the suspension everything cleared just fine :confused:.

Anyways here the pics/video. I really thought I got better pics but oh well, I was having too much fun with my new and improved Jeep! :thumbsup:

Suckdown winch on the powerline hill. This video DOES NOT do it justice. That hill is super steep and really dug out at the bottom. Never seen a short wheelbase Jeep make it up this. I've seen a bunch of well built LJ's get denied because the suspension unloading. It was so awesome to crawl it :D.



Some random little hill:



Pics.







This little hill was fun.


 
#244 ·
Building was fun, but I prefer wheeling! :cool:

Nothing like a run to cleghorn. Looks like you had a good time, the jeep looks great, kind of a sleeper jeep I like the look.
Your right that first hill is very steep in person, I haven't gone back in a while but I tried that hill and couldn't go up because my tranny would slip and I would go backwards uncontrollably. Got my deep pan done so I wanna try it now with the deep pan, but a buddy of mine has made it up that hill stock wheelbase and a front locker. One thing I really hate is the wind at that hill, never gone with out it being like a tornado!
I tried the hill without the winch sucked down and the front just picked up like SWB Jeeps do. That's cool your buddy made it on stock wheelbase though. I was tempted to try the hill more to the right that is really steep and loose but decided not to.

jeeps lookin good! I like the front plate :D
Thanks, me too:D
Me having some fun on Cleggy

I need a tinkertoy Jeep like you Art.
 
#241 ·
Nothing like a run to cleghorn. Looks like you had a good time, the jeep looks great, kind of a sleeper jeep I like the look.
Your right that first hill is very steep in person, I haven't gone back in a while but I tried that hill and couldn't go up because my tranny would slip and I would go backwards uncontrollably. Got my deep pan done so I wanna try it now with the deep pan, but a buddy of mine has made it up that hill stock wheelbase and a front locker. One thing I really hate is the wind at that hill, never gone with out it being like a tornado!
 
#246 ·
I like it because it's close to my house and has good spots to get flexy and test everything out :cool:. I don't go there often though because there are so many better places.

So I found I only have 3 minor bugs to work out. Need to push the front axle towards the drivers side a tad, Rear spring perches need to be clearanced a little more as the shocks just barely kiss them. And the U-Joint ears on the front axle are rubbing on eachother at full lock. Not sure how I'm going to about this one yet.

Can't complain. I honestly thought I would have a lot more issues.
 
#248 ·
Plan was to go wheeling today but I didn't have time to clearance my shock perch some more. Everything else got fixed though.

So spent the day tinkering with the trailer. Welded some new D rings and ended up using some Grade 70 truckers chain and some chain binders. I just used the D rings on my bumpers to attach the chains since they are more then adequate to hold the Jeep. To tighten the front all you do is just hook it up and reverse the Jeep, Tighten the rear with the chain binders. Also I was going to tie the rear to the axle, but there was no way I could have done it without ripping the hard brakeline off the axle.







We took it up for a quick run up Cajon Pass and the Jeep was solid. None of the chains ever got loose like straps do either.
 
#250 ·
Well ran Heartbreak ridge and Hosethief flats yesterday. Heartbreak ridge was a bit of a heartbreak, this trail is rated difficult in the wells book but wasn't difficult at all. Horsethief was a neat little trail that goes down into a valley, the climb back out was pretty fun. Still had fun and enjoyed both trails.

I didn't get any pictures since the group I was with was driving pretty fast.



Th only carnage for the day was when the gas pump decided it didn't want to shut off on its own. I ended up having gas shooting (literally shooting) out of the filler. There was so much pressure in the tank that it was still shooting out for a couple seconds after I shut the pump off. Of course in the process I got covered in gas :umbrella: I guess the moral of the story is don't stand away from the pump.
 
#253 ·
The wheels on the third pic are sweet.

Where are those trails at ?
The Walker Evans are pretty sweet and I would like to find a set used. They cost more new then any other beadlock I like. Heck they cost more then the rock monsters that are double beadlocks. I really like those or the racelines. I will probably make a decision when I can actually afford them :rofl:.

Those trails are off of Hwy 38 pretty close to Big Bear. We started at I believe 2n01 off 38 and ended up on Hwy 18 a couple miles from BB. I tracked the whole route with my GPS so I can post that if you would like.

If you haven't done it I recommend you do Horsethief Flats. It's not a very long trail and it's a one way in/out kind of deal, but I really enjoyed it even though it's not difficult. I'm thinking of planning an 2 day trip in BB and spending a night at the bottom when it cools down a bit.
 
#258 ·
My G2 rear chromos arrived today. Mac at Transamerican (formerly Superior) along with many others said they are made in the exact same place as Ten Factory and all the other ones. I decided on these because they were $60 cheaper then the Ten's and come with the retaining plate.



Bearings, retainer plates and all the other stuff.



I wanted to pick up some spare U-Joints for my driveshaft and I got 2 for the price of 1. Not bad.



Blaine said he would press the bearings on for nothing since I couldn't find anyone who had a big enough press :thumbsup:
 
#261 ·
Rokmen skid arrived today. Slapped it on in no time. Seems to me that Rokmen has better quality control then most, this went on with no issues. I also like that they use carriage bolts on the bottom vs allens. Taking the old engine skid off was always a PITA due to the rocks stripping the allen heads.

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top