The Moose Knuckle Build

[spyder6]

well, ive been debating with myself for a while if i should do a buildup thread. im sure a handful of you are interested, but i e wondered if i have even made enough changes to my jeep to warrant this thread. but with that, here it goes from start till present date. if anyone has any questions about something feel free to ask. you wont be hijacking.

well, the family had just gotten the jeep, with a delivery date of march 23 2006

Several days have passed and i decided i wanted to go topless. so the hard top came off and i pulled the soft top off too (no idea how to work it)




then i saw this jeep on here and i nearly busted a nut. i thought it was epic. dont get me wrong its a great looking jeep - but man it looked big when i first saw this picture. i decided that mine was going to look just like this.


that didnt last.

my first wheeling trip!


i shortly there after placed an order with Quadratec (miserable idea in hindsight)





because i was the ambitious man i was, i started working immediately. everything was a synch for the most part... till i got to the rear bumper. let me tell you something. Warn has by far THE WORST instructions for putting crap together. the day i spent trying to get that bumper mounted is one of those days you just want to forget. i vowed to never let someone else go through the stress and pain of that installation without talking to me first. so far ive helped 2 people, and i am a god for it.

[spyder6]

so now with those mounted. im feelin pretty good. everything is coming in line for me.

I then decided to get a CAI from AFE (Advance Flow Engineering) who is famous for building high performance filter sets for desert racing. for all you nit pickers who hate CAI's and swear they dont do anything and let dirt through - Im still running it. though i have switched to dry filters over oiled. i will agree they dont help MPG, but thats not what i bought it for.




then there was some time in here where i upgraded my headlights to IPF HF lenses and Fatboy bulbs. best discussion ever.

then came the time frame where i really thought my jeep was the ****. so happened we had a large mound of dirt in the back yard by the barn so i took some flexing poser shots



i pretty much dominated that pile'o'dirt right there.

it was time to get this rolling so i ordered 5 315x75x16 BFGoodrich Mud Terrains from Jegs for $180 a piece with free shipping. I dont know if any of you recall a post i made way back when about my dealings with Fed Ex...

I hate FedEx

so i wake up this morning and check my email, shipping confermation from FedEx saying that my tires have been shipped from Delaware OH with a expected arival date of tomorrow. so i come home from class a few hours ago and there is a message on my machine from the lady up the street with the black barn in the red roof saying that 5 tires were delivered there today for me and they were under the auning on their house for me to stop by and pick up.

bastard FedEx

so, my dads big Dodge isnt available to me to go up and pick them up in the frigid 15 degrees and flurries it is today, and certainly 5 315x75x16 tires are not going to fit in my jeep. so i walk up the driveway to the barn, start up the ol' Polaris hook the trailer up to it and drive 2 miles up the street to pick up my tires. i get there nock on the ladies door and her husband answers, i say thanks, and his words:

"yeah they got here at about 2:30 today, didnt have any idea what i orderd so i pulled one of the slips taped to it and saw it was for you guys, my daughter called your house and left a message. this isnt the first time ive had bad luck with FedEx, so i called them and yelled at them"

already long story shorter, took me 3 trips to get all of the tires back to my house, needless to say they're all the right size (thanks Jeg's) they're in good condition, i got same day ground shipping, and they look awesome! bad news is... i cant mount them yet. hopefully after my wallet can fill itself back up with Benjamin's i can order my RE 4.5 RESA SF lift and TW's driveshaft.

I usually order everything with UPS which has for the past 6 years here givin me absolutely flawless shipping. Never again FedEx... Never again...

man those 35's look gargantuan...

[spyder6]

then came winter wheeling with my friends




then it was time for the lift.


Finnally ordered, thanks Jason

Well, tonight i was finnally able to order a few things through Red Rock 4x4, and despite the troubles on my end of the line, working with Jason was a pleasure. I was having some issues with my bank over a amount limit set as a security measure, and after a total of 3 times trying to place the order, Jason had my order nearly memorized. it finnally went through tonight, and im to say the least really frickin exited. i'll be installing the kit on a week i have off the second week of april (not that i need all that time to install it, haha) anyway, this is what i all ordered

RE 7000 SuperFlex 4.5"
-CV shaft bracket
-TW Rubicon CV driveshaft
-Adjustable rear trackbar
-Adjustable front and rear lower control arms
-RE Monotube shocks
-Rear shock relocater brackets
-Rear extended brake lines

Jeeperman Diamond skids
Jeeperman grips

might not be much, but im exited and looking forward to the challenge. And a big thanks to Jason at RedRock if he gets to reading this, thanks for your patience, if i ever need anything else i know who to go to.

as far as anyone else, give Redrock4x4 a call and talk to Jason, he'll work for you.

it actually took 5 days to do this - but i have a valid excuse. it was 20 degrees out in our barn that dosnt have heat. talk about a drive to do something. Under Armor cold-gear was definitely an excellent choice for working in this condition. from the top!

[spyder6]

The lift went well but there were some hard spots. some blood shed, and some anger. i would post more picture of the installation but some of them are just pictures of myself and my brother with the jeep changing in the background. so those will be left out.

so shortly there after the jeep was taken to Big O for the new BFG's to be mounted and a quick alignment.




as time passed the season changed into summer and the weather warmed and the flowers bloomed and the leaves sprouted and the doors came off and more modification continued.

bestop seat covers


silver center bezel

[spyder6]

I also wired in a pair of KC Flood backup lights. i found that the factory lights now being so far from the ground were really very inadequate for the job. even though they LOOK unprotected and prone to damage, i havnt had any problem with them and ive dragged the rear end several times entering and leaving creek beds and they havent been touched. they sit in the little nook between the tank and the bumper.



during the lull in my summer i bought Precision Gear 4.88's for the front and rear diff's and Superior axle seals for the front end. my friend who is a mechanic at the local Jeep dealer installed them for me after hours for $250 an axle. im very pleased with the performance that the 4.88's helped me regain. i highly recommend Precision Gear to anyone looking to regear - the quality is second to none. i dont have any pictures of this.

then mid summer came. i got a "go prepared" sticker from Warn and slapped it on the windshield and took the clear turn lenses out and replaced them with my amber ones again. clear looks silly now that i look back at it


my pile of dirt is no where near big enough!


then i went on a group trip down to the river with a couple of my friends, and a couple people i didnt know. this is the only picture i have of the trip. it was a blast though. i was the savior of 2 jeeps



Yesterdays offroading

yesterday was the first major 'expedition' ive taken in my Rubi since i put the lift on at the end of May. I know, way too long, but there have been many complications in my life that kept me from doing much of anything at all without being glued to my house or my grandparents house, and the lovely, traveling back and forth between Lexington on a regular basis.

we all met at a truckstop/gas station just off I-71 in Pendelton and we took off to Sean's farm about 10 miles away, when we got there his dad was there scopeing the place for some people who'd been illegally hunting on his property. he offered to be our trail guide for about an hour while he looked for any dead deer from a shot he had previously heard. the first leg was creek beds, unfortunately its been about a month since the last time it rained so most of the water was dried up and it was like driving through a gravel pit with ledges and silt. driving along, having a good time.

i was the second in line of the 5 of us, (it was me, a 98 TJ with 33's on it, a 94 YJ that had what looked like 29" offbrand all terrains, and a 84 bronco that has been to hell and probebly several riots considering its condition, but it had 33" supers on it)

we eventually get to the end of the creek where the now dried up waterfall is and we're unable to go any further this direction, and we cant crawl out because we're in a boxed canyon so we turn around and go back the way we came. there were several small little water pits the size of a volkswagon that were probebly about 2 feet deep with ledges that were another 6 feet in the air on a grade that was probebly about 45 to 50 degrees. nothing bad, it was easy enough stuff that a stock YJ could get through it without losing traction too bad.

then we come to the first accident of the day, somwere in there, the YJ got infront of the pack and found some water. the guy being overly confident drove straight in it without even bothing to figure out how deep it was. it ended up being about 4 feet deep. the worst part of the whole thing was that he didnt even bother to shut his engine off, he just left it running while cup after cup of water filled his airbox. so i drive around behind of where the kid is, get my tow strap out and hook up, slowly backed up, put it in 4-low and put my lockers on and gave it hell. that was the hardest pull ive ever done. trying to pull someone out when they are STUCK and being on shattered limestone creek bed is ****ing hard. took me little over 20 minutes to get him out.

so eventually his engine died from water intake and this could very well be the funny part.

i walk over to the jeep where the kids dad had pulled the airbox hose off and was looking down the throttle body, he asked me if i had any paper towel and jesus christ i did, so i gave it to him and he told the kid to crank the motor. i said

"are you serious?! you cant crank a motor when its hydro locked! you need to pull the spark plugs first so you dont blow a gasket or break something"

"no no, its all right, theres probebly just water in the carburator"

"im sorry sir, but there isnt a carburator on this motor, its EFI"

"dont be a dip**** kid, its right there (pointing at the throttle body)"

so i backed off, my pride bruised (not) and watched after they took sheet after sheet of paper towel, shove it down the throttle body and pull it back out soaked in water. not to mention they kept cranking it and the starter motor sounded like it was breaking its teeth clean off

long story short i offered the 2 kids that were riding in the YJ a ride and they hopped in the back of my jeep, so now ive got close to 800 pounds of people sitting in there. went through all the trails, helped my buddy with the Bronco get his tires back on the ground when he was going down a ledge, go through the mud pit to get to the rock crawling and did some of that.

we came back to the start of the trails via the road and i was going to go back to the YJ to get some of my stuff. i go get it and while im sitting there talking to the kid about his YJ i hear a crunch and a ****!, i take off running to where i hear it and the kid in the TJ was "blindly" driving through 4 foot tall grass and drove off a ledge into a little ravine and burried his front end, broke his tie rod and his rear left tire was 3 feet in the air and he was on the verge of flipping over. so i run back to the rubi drive up around tow here he is, strap up and pull him out in one fell swoop.

I am all that is man.

thanks for your time

for those with rubicons, the locker mod is fantastic. i used my lockers more than once trying to get out of a hairy situation.

time progressed and i decided to get some Light Force Striker 170's. i wired them up with a factory fog light switch.

[spyder6]

then i pulled the trigger and ordered a Warn 9.5Ti



then winter came and one of my stupid friends went wheeling illegally and got stuck so i took the chance and went and got him out of the muck where he was stuck. i got $75 out of it too! i wasnt able to take any pictures of the progress because i was trying to get the situation handled as quickly as possible


i then went on a trip to Virginia to SnowShoe mountain to do some snowboarding



then i jumped on some Riddler diff covers, which you can see in this picture. i know i completely butchered the RTV...


i then went and decided that i wanted to upgrade my sound system. as far as the subwoofer and amp. they are all going to be changed soon as i have a slim 10" sub that i'll be building one of SirGCal's in seat boxes. and im going to put the amp inside of the center console

[spyder6]

i went and ordered an AEV 3rd brake light


shortly after a "blizzard" came through the area where i was forced to trek 20 miles outside of town through 8 inches of snow on streets that hadnt been plowed so we could get my dads truck from the Gooseneck hitch installation people.




since then spring has sprung and ive gone on several more wheeling trips. i unfortunately do not have any pictures of those though.

now its summer. and ive started pulling things together for a 4.7L Stroker build
12 CounterWeight Crankshaft



Main and rod bearings



and a custom aluminum damper spacer for the long snout on the 12CW shaft

[spyder6]

this was my last night in Louisville before i moved back to lexington for my classes. i had a maintenance done and i decided to get my white letters flipped inside because they were so hard to keep clean.


as she sits now, at my new place. with her hard top on so everything is safe.

[tjtank99]

Damn dude, that is my dream Jeep. If I have ever envisioned my perfect jeep, well you have it. Silver Rubicon, Warn everything, BFG's, etc...

And you're right about the clear lenses, they look kind of...eh...the stock ambers make it look so much better.

How about some Bushwacker flares?

Keep up the progress, best build-up I've seen yet!

[spyder6]

thanks!

the future so far is going with flat fenders in the front and jump up to 37's. and get some alloy shafts. im also going to ditch the front bumper at some point for a 52" hanson. but we'll see what happens

[Jeep4L1fe]

Nice Rubicon!

[tjtank99]

Originally Posted by spyder6

thanks!

the future so far is going with flat fenders in the front and jump up to 37's. and get some alloy shafts. im also going to ditch the front bumper at some point for a 52" hanson. but we'll see what happens

Not bad, the Hanson bumpers look awesome too. Just make sure you keep posting the large pictures with any updates. Thank goodness for cable!

[04RedTJ]

Nice looking Rubicon. Definitely stands out in the crowd.

[mg2000xj]

One of my favorite Rubicon builds on the site. Very clean and tastefully done, nothing but high quality. If I had a wrangler I would want the exact one you have been building.

[spyder6]

Originally Posted by tjtank99

Not bad, the Hanson bumpers look awesome too. Just make sure you keep posting the large pictures with any updates. Thank goodness for cable!

they're all sized down :P if you want super big pictures i can post those too - but they're upwards of 15mb a piece

Originally Posted by 04jeepg_va

Nice looking Rubicon. Definitely stands out in the crowd.

thanks!

Originally Posted by mg2000xj

One of my favorite Rubicon builds on the site. Very clean and tastefully done, nothing but high quality. If I had a wrangler I would want the exact one you have been building.

thanks! i hope everyone will have the same opinion when i can say im finally done with it