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Tarantula_TJ Rubicon Build

464K views 4K replies 171 participants last post by  AngryTJ 
#1 ·
UPDATED 12/19/2013***

Story:
I purchased this Jeep back in 2011 with the intent of a mild build and enjoying some offroading on the East Coast. Through Jeepforum I met a small group of guys that invited me to go wheelin for my first time at Rausch Creek, PA. Little did I know how I would get so hooked!

As the obsession grew my game plan was always to have a weekend warrior that would be able to drive to the trails, take a beating, and drive home. With that in mind I started to dig into many projects I would have never imagined trying on my own. I also received help from some great guys out there to get the rig where is it today. Like all of you my jeep has become part of my life.

Back in June I had the opportunity to take a cross-country trip to Colorado and Moab. What made the trip so unique was being able to drive my jeep from CT over 2,200 miles out there and wheel with a bunch of other forum members for 7 straight days! It was one of the greatest experiences a jeeper could have and I'm extremely happy with how the jeep performed. I hope to make it an annual trip to wheel with so many of the great guys on this forum and explore different parts of the US and the wheelin terrain it offers.

I still have a few things to do to the rig but I'm almost at the point where I can just wheel, repair and repeat. If you have any questions about my rig feel free to ask. Thanks for looking!

Mods:
Engine:
• 4.0 I-6 w/ Brown Dog 1" MML & custom Hendrix hiline hood covering it up!
Transmission:
• 6 speed w/ Lopro mount
Transfer Case:
• NV241 w/ Novak shifter
Front axle:
• Dana 44 locked w/ Riddler cover, Superior Shafts, Synergy Ball joints, Alloy axle seals & lower CA skids
Rear axle:
• Dana 44 locked w/ Riddler cover, TnT Truss & Superior Shafts
Gear Ratio:
• 4:11
Suspension:
• Custom stretched rear 4-link 98" WB
• 1" Daystar BL
• OME 930/949 coils
• Front and Rear Antirock Swaybars
• Savvy Alum front upper and lower alum control arms
• 12" outboarded rear Bilsteins
Tires:
• 35x12.5r15 Goodyear MTR/Kevlars
Wheels:
• 15x8 Alum Raceline Monster Beadlocks
Recovery:
• Warn 9.5ti w/ Viking synthetic line. Poly Front half Rollcage w/ custom rear additions
Armor:
• UCF ultra high clearance tcase skid & engine skid, UCF Windshield armor
• Savvy Alum front bumper
• Warn Rear bumper w/ tire carrier
• Rokmen Sliders & Steering skid
• PSC 3" flare Defender Hilines w/ matching rear flares
• Genright Stretched corners & EXT tank
Accessories:
• JKS adj front track bar
• Tom Woods Driveshaft
• Currie Steering w/ Savvy tie rod
• 4pt harness'
• Balistic Fab Battery tie-down box
Awaiting install:
• Evo Front axle sleeve's
• Vanco Big Brake kit
• Front tie rod flip w/ raised sway bar brackets
• Gusset front axle C's
Final Mods list:
488 gears
Hydro assist
3 link front suspension
Yukon Zip or ARB lockers

The starting point:




Where she sits now




 
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6
#2,031 ·
Lots of very good pic in your flickr account Lu. No worries about the walker, the going joke at work is that we soon need walker parking at the gate and a shuttle bus to the shop:D. I might have a whole lot of aches and pains, but still get around pretty good for an old fart :rofl:
 
#2,033 ·
Day 4

Poison Spyder, Golden Spike, and Gold Bar Rim were very fun trails. Had a lot of hard obstacles with some fun highspeed sections that gave Mike an opportunity to let his tractor rip.

The following day the group had split up a bit and myself, Art and Mike were planning on Metal Masher and Rusty Nail...

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taking the bypass :D

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Maybe an hour into the trail there was a pretty dug out ledge with plenty of other parts scattered around. Mike lined up and gave it a shot and well...

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Art relaxing while we wait for Mike to remove his front DS
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So from this point on Mike was running in 2WD with no winch. He was giving it hell and made it up some pretty steep ledges which was pretty bada** and only needed to be winched up one section. Once we had gotten to a point where we could bypass widowmaker and head back to the parking lot we got some pretty sweet gopro action of us ripping through some dirt roads. I then got the opportunity to take a ride in Mikes rig which was a ridiculous amount of fun I swear we must have been going close to 50mph. Not many photos of day 4 since we had some breakage but we decided to head to town and get Mike fixed up.

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#2,037 ·
Day 5 was where the fun was truly had!



Area BFE was one of the most fun days of wheelin I've ever had...

Some pics playing around in the rocks









Art having fun trying different lines


The main reason for our visit was clearly Helldorado!!!


The Gatekeeper








Mike was next











made it through the first obstacle


Nates turn.










Im up! Nate and I dropped in straight on








 
#2,039 ·
Then came the "can opener" where you can try and straddle two big rocks but risk slipping off and destroying one side of your jeep or do an S turn around 2 huge boulders which is what Nate and I did.







Nate making moves














I pretty much did the same thing as Nate but was lined up pretty good where my passenger tire climbed and swung me around the rock pretty quickly. Mike was spotting and only got a pic as I made it through







Next came the "The Waterfall" :D







Time to winch




Mike lining up





Giving it hell


Time for a tug



Nate





Good time to stall right about here haha


Just winching up this wall was crazy

 
#2,043 ·
Day 6

Well the final day in Moab had arrived. With majority of the group leaving thursday and Mikes steering getting messed up running Helldorado it was just Art and I running Kane Creek Canyon to finish off the week with Mike riding shotgun.

airing down







Kane Creek Canyon doesnt have anything very difficult but its a fun trail nonetheless


one of many creek crossings





A fun climb with some good rocks









you can see the trail that runs alongside the mountain



It was a fun trail that we finished up relatively early, packed up and headed back towards Colorado.


until next time
 
#2,044 ·
Day 7

It was time for the trip to come to an end and one more trail in Colorado was a fun way to go out. I have several very scenic pictures on my phone Ill upload later from the drive from Moab to our next trail, Chinaman Gulch!
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Road to the trailhead
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metup with one of Mikes buddies Derek to wheel for the day
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First named obstacle was Rock pile. We had just watched a large group of fairly stock JKs struggle forever to get through this and now it was our turn to have some fun.
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One of my favorite pics of the trip
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Next up was Whales tail
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Mike wanted me to take the hardest line having confidence I can make it but being the last day and all I played it safe.
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Getting hung up
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I think this next area is called the chutes?
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Views on top were amazing
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#2,045 ·



Differenct angles but I like them all haha

It was a great last day of an amazing trip with great guys! 7 straight days of wheelin cant be topped.

Wheeling was over so we headed back to Denver where we would meetup with Mike (gspup) again and I'd be leaving my jeep to be shipped home! Hope you guys enjoyed the pics as much as I enjoyed sharing.


 
#2,058 ·
TURBevO8 said:
Damn that is one clean TJ. Not gonna lie...jealous!
Thanks man

gst95dsm said:
Gotta say Flickr is pretty badass! I just downloaded and printed out some photos at full resolution from your account Lu. I printed some 12x18's at Costco to hang in the garage with the rest of my collection. Mike's photo made the cut, haha. Thanks for Uploading all those. That must have taken a while.
I've been meaning to do the same. The one thing that confuses me on Flickr is creating albums otherwise it uploads fairly quick and offers alot of space.

brplatz said:
Not sure how I missed this one, but great build!
Appreciate it! Thanks for stopping by
 
#2,060 ·
Thanks man

I've been meaning to do the same. The one thing that confuses me on Flickr is creating albums otherwise it uploads fairly quick and offers alot of space.

Appreciate it! Thanks for stopping by
Instead of albums make sets works pretty good, lets you arrainge the sequence for a slide show, pretty cool
 
#2,059 ·
Just read the last 38 pages, well perused. I am doing a very similar stretch soon!

The awesome wheeling pics give me the motivation to dive in and build this thing! :cheers2:
 
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