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'10 S-Limited Build

114K views 245 replies 99 participants last post by  sheepdog918 
#1 ·
I noticed the build thread sticky at the top of the page and realized that I never started a build thread on this forum. Most of this has already been posted in a build thread on JU, but I thought it might be nice to have it here too. This build started almost a year ago when I purchased the WK, so the first few posts will just be to catch the thread up.

In March last year, I started modifying my newly purchased 2010 S-Limited WK.
The modifications thus far:

Suspension (25" hub to fender all around):
Gen. 1 Superlift 4" suspension
Rustys adjustable lower control arms
Rustys adjustable track bar
King coilovers (pre-production version)
Bilstein 5125 shocks
JBA upper A-arms
JBA front sway bar disconnects
JBA 6" rear coil springs
Raybestos replacement lower A-arms
Drivetrain:
Nitro 4.10 gear set
RCV Performance chromoly front CV axle shafts
Carolina Driveline front double cardan driveshaft
Wheels/Tires:
Mopar Performance Beadlocks 17x9.5 x5
Nitto Trail Grappler MT 37x12.5x17
Winch:
Custom hidden winch mount bracket
Quadratec Q11000S winch
Rubicon Express hawse fairlead
Factor-55 winch cable "hook"
Electronics/stereo:
Superchips Flashpaq programmed for 91 octane performance
AEV EGR module
Mygig lockpick V3.0
Mopar/Kicker audio upgrade
Mopar/Kicker single sub
Interior:
Weathertech floor mats all around
SRT-8 Pedals
Exterior:
ARB bull bar (shortened and modified to remove winch holes and added headlight fillers for the 08+ headlights)
SRT-8 grill in body color
Rebadge carbon-fiber emblems
Body color trim pieces
Performance:
K&N FIPK intake
Gibson cat-back exhaust
Armor:
4xGuard side guard rock rails
4XGuard Gen. 2 rear skid
4XGuard rear sliders
Lighting:
PIAA 530 LED fog lights
ARB Intensity spot beam lights
Misc:
Custom switch panels
Detours Knucklebone tire carrier
AEV license plate relocation kit
ARB dual air compressor and VIAIR 2.5gal tank
Cobra 75 CB and Firestik antenna on a 4xGaurd mount
Parts waiting to be installed:
Omelet style LED rock lights
Parts that have been removed:
AEV Savegre 17x8.5 wheels x5
Rustys 1/2" strut spacers up front
Superlift Gen. 2 lower control arms (replaced the Gen. 1 drop brackets)
Superlift rear shocks
Factory lower control arms and Superlift Gen. 1 drop brackets
Factory struts, shocks, track bar, upper A-arms, front driveshaft
Bilstein 5100 series struts
Goodyear Wrangler MT/R's with Kevlar (305/70/17)

Suspension v1.0 - stock:



Suspension v2.0 - Superlift, 285/75/17:



Suspension v2.1 - Superlift + Rustys spacer (offset weight of ARB), 285/75/17:



Suspension v2.2 - Superlift + Rustys spacer, 305/75/17:



Suspension v3.0 - Superlift + Bilstein 5100 (+1.5"), +2" spacer in rear, 305/75/17:



Suspension v3.1 - Superlift + Bilstein 5100 (+1.5"), JBA 6" rear springs, 305/75/17:



Suspension v4.0 - Superlift components, King coilovers, JBA 6" springs, 305/75/17:



Suspension v4.1 - Superlift components, King coilovers, JBA 6" springs w/ 3 isolators, 37x12.5x17:

 
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#2 ·
03-29-2010
I recently got rid of my black '08 Overland CRD in favor of a '10 Limited-S 5.7L. I know this sounds contrary to what most would do, but I was just fed up with multiple problems (most of which was the simple fact that I could not do my own maintenance) and questions arose about the longevity of the engine (especially with the warranty nearly up). I found a great deal on a '10 Limited S, and with the 5yr 100k mile powertrain warranty it was an easy choice. That and I can rebuild a hemi from the ground up with my eyes closed.

The Limited S is a strange combination of options. On one side, SRT8 side skirts, SRT8 seats (without the embroidery of course), and 18" wheels. Yet it also has QD-II with full skids, tow hooks, and tow package. I cant complain though... except for the side skirts (not like they will be there for long anyway). And the seats are, hands down, the most comfortable Jeep seats I've ever sat in!

Detailed it today so I could get some "before" pictures:









The amazing interior:









Box shot:



Now I'm off to get a rental car for the week, and get the x-member cut + welded...

03-31-2010

Now the drivers side tie rod end is another story. I ruptured the rubber boot... I would just reinstall it, but worry about moisture getting in. Just called the dealer, and its a $70 part :(





New tires are massive! Just waiting on wheels... Quadratec is being really slow with them. Ordered last thurs and they still haven't shipped (and yes, they are in stock)

 
#4 ·
04-04-2010
All done! Well not all done (wheels will be here Tuesday). Getting it aligned (sorry for the iphone pictures):





Then home to install the Kicker audio upgrade and SRT8 pedals (sub will be here soon hopefully):



front:



back:



amp:



done:



For the first time in years of installing sound systems I did not scratch the paint, break the door panel, or break a clip... All thanks to these super cheap plastic pry bars from harbor freight! Its nice to have the right tools for once!





By far, the easiest sound system I've ever installed! Just plug and play, couldn't be easier. And the sound quality (even without the sub) is amazing!

UPS came super late tonight for some reason... I'll have pictures tomorrow! Sneak peak:

 
#5 ·
04-07-2010
Well I finally got the wheels and tires mounted! I'll let the pictures do the talking (gloomy day here in south TX):











My all time favorite AEV wheels! They are JK backspacing as they do not make WK specific, but they don't stick out too bad. I do, however, get a slight rubbing on the pinch weld "bulge" plastic at near full lock on slightly uneven ground. But it has yet to go through the plastic (maybe a matter of time though). Its on the to-do list.





That's about it for the time being. Waiting for the 2nd gen rear 4xguard skid to come out to order protection (probably all 3 skids + rock rails) and disconnects. I thought I was really going to hate the side skirts and lower front valence, but they don't look too bad now that its lifted. At least I wont mind them being there till I get the skids. And once again I'd like to thank Russ for the awesome customer service and getting the lift to me quickly!
 
#6 ·
05-04-2010
Installed the sub, and it sounds amazing!:





Removed the slats in the grille. I decided I didn't really like it though, so I'm on the hunt for some Overland/SRT looking mesh:



Removed the SRT8 side skirts and the air dam. I'm afraid water will get inside the doors if I drive through a puddle... Oh well, it will survive until I get protection:









On a side note, I really love the color! in the shade and under cloud cover, it is a darker red. But under the sun, its a bright red... Also, I probably need a filter for my lens as the detail in the ground was washed out by how bright everything was.
 
#8 ·
02-20-2011
I haven't updated this thread in a while! Lets see, whats new since my last update? I added Weathertech floormats all around and couldn't be happier! Great product. I ended up blowing the 2 front kicker tweeters. After all the good I had to say about the Kicker system, I'm really disapointed. I don't listen to the stereo loud at all. It may have something to do with the fact that the uconnect phone only goes through the passenger side tweeter, but I'm still not happy. I'm probably going to replace the tweeters with something else a little more beefy.

I deleted most of the chrome:







The how to thread is here.

Painted door handles and a painted SRT grill are going to be ordered shortly. The trim I painted came out a little bit darker under certain light conditions. I can only contribute it to a difference in metallic content. Pieces that were painted right after the can was shaken up were the correct color. Pieces that were painted after a minute or so were a little darker. I'm undecided if I'm going to repaint a few of the trim pieces or not as I'm probably the only person who would ever notice.

My most recent project is installing an ARB bull bar. Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of ARB and their fine products. I had an ARB bull bar on one of my ZJ's and loved it. But I'm convinced that ARB did not put too much time into the design of the bumper for the WK. Sure it works great, but it just does not look clean. It sticks out too far and there is no option for non-winch or an 08-10 version. So I finally decided to take the plunge and modify an ARB.

The plan is to make it a non-winch bar (eventually I'm going to cut the unibody and build a winch cradle w/ a synthetic line and a hawse fairlead, so the winch mounting holes will not be needed regardless), and to take out 2" in the overall length. I'd love to take out 3 or 4" (the grand canyon II appears to have about 4" removed from their bumper), but there are multiple problems in taking out that much. The main problem is that the grill hoop will contact the headlights and the hood, thus it must be removed. I want to keep the hoop, so 2" is about the max.

It took a few beers to convince myself to cut into a $1300 bumper. First I cut a few pieces to fill in the winch openings. This is my first time welding... lets just say its been a learning experience!



Next (or shall I say during... as welding up the winch holes is taking a while), I started modifying the mounting bracket. I'm taking the 2" out of it instead of the bumper side of the bracket as this will cut down the work load of modifying parts drastically!

Stock:



2" marked with tape:'



Then with paint:



A little fun with the cutoff wheel:



A few atrocious welds later (hey, at least they are strong!):



Painted:



Test fitting the grill:



Other than making it non-winch and removing 2", I've also removed all 4 light brackets and filled in some misc holes. Tomorrow I plan on finnishing the welding, cutting the 2" out of the top and sides of the bumper itself, and making some scallops to fit under the headlights... All in all, this project is alot more involved than I planned it to be, but its coming along!
 
#9 ·
Very nice rig! I had a similar idea as you on the chrome delete. I haven't done it yet. I'm still not sure about how much chrome I want to delete.
 
#10 ·
AWESOME JEEP!! Man that thing is gorgeous. One question though, aren't the MTR's directional? The ones on the passenger side look backwards.
 
#14 ·
Nope, even though they are an asymmetric tread design, they are bidirectional

Sweet Ride! Love the moldings. Hell I love it all! Good work. Now do the Grill too!
I'm just going to order a SRT grill in body color. I was going to do a custom mesh grill but decided against it.

excellent write-up, the 2010 GC Limited-S has to be the ultimate Limited.

looking at all the pix of the transformation from stock to rock-crawler was like watching Robert Downey Jr. transform into Iron Man. nice work.
Just watched that movie last night! Haha, thanks

Todays update:
First I welded up the remaining holes in the bumper and fixed the section that warped. Next it was time to start trimming the 2" out of the actual bumper. I figured this would only take a half hour or so... Cutting through 1/8" steel takes longer than expected! Made a template out of tracing paper and transferred the line 2" forward. A side note here is that the 08-10 grill is a different shape and sticks out roughly a half inch farther... I'll address this later. For the time being I'm just transferring the exact profile.

Taped:



Painted:



(2 hours, 2 cutoff wheels, and 2 sawzall blades later) Cut:



Next I removed some unneeded brackets off of the bottom:



And made room for the fog lights:



Test fit:



Marked the aft cut:



A little contact with the fog light brackets. I'll have to cut a little away from the bumper bracket:



I then centered the grill and traced its shape for the 08+ correction:



And finally started on the 08+ headlight fillers:



Well that's it for today... I ran out of cutoff wheels! Next time I find time to work on it, I'm going to finnish all of the cuts, weld in the headlight trim, and weld up something for the fender liner to mount to. Then start in on the body work.
 
#13 ·
excellent write-up, the 2010 GC Limited-S has to be the ultimate Limited.

looking at all the pix of the transformation from stock to rock-crawler was like watching Robert Downey Jr. transform into Iron Man. nice work.
 
#21 ·
Nothing really new today due to work... Just did a little bit more cutting for the grill and wheel wells. Hopefully I'll get a lot more accomplished tomorrow with more pictures!



Nope, they are part of the frame bracket. I was sure that they were not disturbed even as much as I've cut away. Here you can see them even after I've cut off the bumper attaching points hanging down low:

 
#22 ·
amazing Jeep! very nice write up aswell!
 
#23 ·
Nice ******* rig dude!!! :drool: wish mine was that nice...

It looks almost too pretty to take it wheeling....


So you think you can rebuild a 10' Hemi with your eyes closed? with the VVT and all?..... talented..... what if I took all the main caps and turned em backwards?.....:laugh:
 
#24 ·
Nice ******* rig dude!!! :drool: wish mine was that nice...

It looks almost too pretty to take it wheeling....

So you think you can rebuild a 10' Hemi with your eyes closed? with the VVT and all?..... talented..... what if I took all the main caps and turned em backwards?.....:laugh:
Touche ;) Meh I could at least stumble my way through the rebuild... possibly
 
#27 ·
Not much to update in the last two days. Strangely work is taking up the majority of my time... I did, however, manage to get in a few hours.

I cut off the end caps:



And finnished the cut for the 08-10 grill:



I had to cut an inch out of the hoop brackets for grill clearance. I cut some pieces of 1/8" steel to blend into the metal.



And welded them up:



I made some templates for new end caps and decided to call it quits for the night. The new end caps are going to be recessed such that the fender liners can mount like the stock 08+ ones do (that's the best I can describe it for now) on the stock bumper.
 
#28 ·
Progress!

I figure I have almost 30 hours into this project at this point. Definitely more work than I had originally planned. I started today by mounting up the bumper to finalize the position of the 08+ headlight fillers. I also trimmed up the underbumper pieces:









Unfortunately the windshield washer resivour is partially exposed. I decided I'm not going to worry about it, as its not a very vital part.

I made some recessed bumper endcaps and trimmed the fender liners to fit:





I welded up the headlight fillers:



Test fit:



Done for the day. On to bodywork and hopefully paint tomorrow!

The removed metal:



I estimate it at 20 or 30 pounds!
 
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