Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

Big Yellow Brick Build Thread

11K views 31 replies 13 participants last post by  acorndiggity 
#1 ·
I drove my '06 Solar Yellow Rubicon Unlimited (a.k.a. -- the Big Yellow Brick) home a couple of months ago. Over the next year or so I plan to add a few things here and there; mainly skid plates and other protective measures but with a few other things thrown in as well. If all goes well I should have it paid for at about the 12-month mark and I can redirect the payments to the more expensive bits... Between now and then I'll be scouring JeepForum for all of the latest advice.

Welcome to my build, I hope you find it interesting.
 
#2 ·
Screening the wind...

I live in sunny GA and can most likely keep the top down ten months out of the year. I the fall, though, the mornings begin to cool off and the boy child in the back seat gets chilled on the way to school. It's no good dropping him of with blue lips so I thought some side screens might help out.

I have an old beat-up sewing machine from my caving days when we would routinely make packs and such to carry our gear. I dug it out of the closet an found some shade cloth at at nearby landscape supply company. A quick trip to Home Depot scored a large grommet set.

Each side is folded over about 2" and has a double-layer of duct-work support webbing. I had it laying around from the basement finishing project and it's quite a bit easier for the sewing machine to punch through than, say, seatbelt webbing. Having the webbing in there gives the grommets something tougher to hold onto than just the shade cloth.

I considered cutting the screen to fit inside the roll cage but opted to let it overlap instead. I can always make it smaller later if I want but making it bigger would have been a challenge. I think the larger size works good, though, so it'll probably stay as is.

Here is a shot of the driver's side screen:


This is with the driver's side screen removed but the passenger side installed. Compare the background through the front-door windows and the back.


And with the screen:


We've had a pile of rain from the recent hurricanes in the Gulf so the top is still up and that makes the screen a bit hard to see since there's no sunlight shining in from above. Still, you should be able to get an idea of what it looks like.

I originally mounted the screens on the outside of the rag-top mechanics. I think that actually looks and works much better but it means that I have to take the screens off to raise or lower the top and that's just no fun. With the screens inboard I can leave them in place all the time.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the way the screens worked out and I'm planning to get some more shade cloth to make the equivalent of a bikini top and a safari top. In part to offer relief from the afternoon sun and also to spoil the wind just a little bit more.
 
#5 ·
The grommet kit and 24 grommets was ~$13. The shade cloth was a bit expensive at ~$34 for a 6x8 piece -- I need to find a cheaper supply. The webbing I had laying around but I would say it's about $5. From all of that and with a couple evening's time I made the two screens and a bikini top. The bikini didn't work out the way I wanted so I'll redo that but I think I can reuse its cloth.

So I've probably got about $50 and 5 hours into it, maybe a bit more time since I was watching TV too and not paying attention to the clock. I could have probably bought something for about the cost I have in it (including my time) but it was a fun project and that's worth something too.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Locking the box

One of my primary motivations for getting the Unlimited was the extra space behind the rear seat. It's nice to be able to toss the laptop, baseball gear, rolled-up side windows and other misc junk back there. My boss would be unhappy, though, if the laptop walked away while we're in the batting cage so I needed to do something about that.

I checked online and couldn't find a good solution for the LJ. (That doesn't mean it isn't out there... just that I couldn't find it.) There seem to be plenty of options for the short wheel base, but not for me. I don't know how to weld either so that left me in a bit of a bind because I don't think my sewing machine can help me out here.

Fortunately, there's a fab shop just up the road from me and they didn't consider my project too small to tackle. Steve, the president, took a few measurements and gave me a rough estimate. I gave him the green light and a few days later I had my secure storage.

Here are a few shots of the box. The whole album has several different angles of the box out of the Jeep.

A good shot of the box:


Installed:


Close-ups of things:




Holding it down are a half-dozen self-tapping sheet-metal screws through the bottom of the tub. I coated them well with silicon before running them in and hopefully that will prevent rust in the tub though only time will tell.

The rough dimensions are 12" high, 22" deep and 35" wide. The 35" width makes it very tight but I plan to someday pull all of the carpet and line the tub interior so that's a minor issue.

The final result is exactly what I was looking for. Steve and his folks over at Flex Fab did a great job and I expect they'll be helping me out with skid plates soon...
 
#32 ·
One of my primary motivations for getting the Unlimited was the extra space behind the rear seat. It's nice to be able to toss the laptop, baseball gear, rolled-up side windows and other misc junk back there. My boss would be unhappy, though, if the laptop walked away while we're in the batting cage so I needed to do something about that.

I checked online and couldn't find a good solution for the LJ. (That doesn't mean it isn't out there... just that I couldn't find it.) There seem to be plenty of options for the short wheel base, but not for me. I don't know how to weld either so that left me in a bit of a bind because I don't think my sewing machine can help me out here.

Fortunately, there's a fab shop just up the road from me and they didn't consider my project too small to tackle. Steve, the president, took a few measurements and gave me a rough estimate. I gave him the green light and a few days later I had my secure storage.

Here are a few shots of the box. The whole album has several different angles of the box out of the Jeep.

A good shot of the box:


Installed:


Close-ups of things:




Holding it down are a half-dozen self-tapping sheet-metal screws through the bottom of the tub. I coated them well with silicon before running them in and hopefully that will prevent rust in the tub though only time will tell.

The rough dimensions are 12" high, 22" deep and 35" wide. The 35" width makes it very tight but I plan to someday pull all of the carpet and line the tub interior so that's a minor issue.

The final result is exactly what I was looking for. Steve and his folks over at Flex Fab did a great job and I expect they'll be helping me out with skid plates soon...
how much did this cost you? i'm interested in having a machine shop around me fabricate me one. Also how's it holding up?
 
#6 ·
That box is nice. I have one made sort of the same, but it is plywood. Very nice and roomy.
 
#7 ·
Hey Bigbob, thanks for the kind words! I'm sorry I missed your post, Life has been busy lately... Your rig looks like the big brother to my stock ride :)

I finally pulled off the milk jugs today so I could get some accurate measurements for the rear bumper I hope to have built. I'll post the sketch in a day or two for some feedback.
 
#9 ·
Hi Rugby_3, thanks for the compliment! I've tried to seal around the holes but I'm sure that they will eventually cause me grief even here in GA. The self-tapping screws aren't ideal anyway so I may do something different in the future. The front-most ones, though, are above the spring holders and I can only barely get to them from below

The way the box fits, the tie-down hooks behind the rear-seat are half-in the box and half-out. You can just barely see their yellow peeking out in the second shot. (I'll snap some closer pictures if there's interest.) You could use those to secure the front-edge of the box without any drilling. There are also tie-down spots in the back you could probably secure with if you ran a strip of some kind just inside the tailgate and secured it to the sides of the box.
 
#10 ·
Bumper Design

Inspired by Besrk & Gunkel here's the draft of my humble rear bumper design:



There are a few interesting features...

First up you'll notice three receivers instead of the usual one in the center. The two outer receivers give me a lot of flexibility in what I can put there. For recovery I can install a couple of shackles. For luggage, I can design or modify a typical receiver rack to secure on both sides rather than just the middle. Gas can holders, tent poles :) plenty of options.

The comment in the bottom right mentions a storage compartment between the bumper and the crossmember. This is right out of Gunkel's design. Every little bit of storage in a Jeep helps!

The final item is five bolts per side securing the beast to the frame. The tie-ins are designed to fit both inside and outside the frame rails for extra strength and the mounting plate tab is intended to fold under and catch the bolt on the bottom side. (My fabricator gets to decide if that is a bend or cut-and-weld operation.)

So, that's it my friends. I'm going to cross-post to Besrk's long-lived thread for advice and feedback but if you have a comment please feel free to post 'em here too!
 
#11 ·
Inspired by Besrk & Gunkel here's the draft of my humble rear bumper design:



There are a few interesting features...

First up you'll notice three receivers instead of the usual one in the center. The two outer receivers give me a lot of flexibility in what I can put there. For recovery I can install a couple of shackles. For luggage, I can design or modify a typical receiver rack to secure on both sides rather than just the middle. Gas can holders, tent poles :) plenty of options.

The comment in the bottom right mentions a storage compartment between the bumper and the crossmember. This is right out of Gunkel's design. Every little bit of storage in a Jeep helps!

The final item is five bolts per side securing the beast to the frame. The tie-ins are designed to fit both inside and outside the frame rails for extra strength and the mounting plate tab is intended to fold under and catch the bolt on the bottom side. (My fabricator gets to decide if that is a bend or cut-and-weld operation.)

So, that's it my friends. I'm going to cross-post to Besrk's long-lived thread for advice and feedback but if you have a comment please feel free to post 'em here too!
I really like your design, simple yet functional. I am curious to see it all come about. Good Luck !!!
:cheers::cheers:
 
#12 ·
Things that go "bump"

What is quite possibly the world's slowest build has finally taken another step forward. I was never able to find anyone local to build the bumper I sketched out above so I dropped Eddie / Besrk / Ground Pounder Fab an email. He set me up with some of his awesome product so now I've got some heavy stuff protecting the back end of the 'Brick.

Open:


Closed (don't miss Rudolph 3rd brake light):

I apologize for not giving reference to the inspiration for the center-cap brake light. I've got his link here somewhere but can't find it for some reason. It was an easy, quick job and the round trailer light (from Advanced Auto) fits perfectly where the "Jeep" stamped center cap was.

The primary use for the receiver:


And here are the pieces-parts during the rattle-can process:

The off-color bits (easily seen to the right of the latch) are due to bad painting technique by yours truly and questionable paint selection. I thought the wrinkle-finish (not the Hammered BTW) might give it some nice texture but I was wrong. That got itself sanded off and now we're sporting the flat black finish you see in the mounted pictures.

BTW: This is all "old news." Eddie built the bumper for me back in March and everything was mounted up by early April. Since then I had a friend weld a bracket to the left corner for my trailer light connector and I got its wiring done yesterday. With luck I should have pictures up before Christmas...
 
#13 ·
Here's what we did with the trailer light connector. I didn't want something that went through the bumper. That would cause a weak spot and introduce new opportunities for rust (not a big deal in GA but still worth avoiding). A quick trip to the local trailer store got me a universal bracket & my buddy glued it down on Saturday afternoon. It sits out of the way and out of harm's way. I need a bit longer pigtail on my utility trailer but that's an easy fix and I'll probably just wire up an extension cord of sorts for that so that I can pull anyone else's trailer as well.





 
#14 ·
KM2's go round & round ...

I'm still catching up on my photos and such...

Back around the end of May, Southern Offroad set me up with a stack of 32x11.5x15 KM2's on Cragar Soft 8's for my yellow ride.



They're just what I was looking for. You may be wondering, "what did he go with 32's." Well, BYB is a work in progress and this is one step along the way. The factory MTR's that were there before were impossible to balance and, though they had plenty of life left, it was just too uncomfortable anywhere above 55 MPH. So, now I'm rolling on some nice round tires that'll do everything I need for the immediate future. I'll start sinking money into other upgrades and when these tires wear down I'll look for some 34-35" rollers to replace 'em.

I'm leaning away from my original 4" long-arm plans and closer to an LCG setup. With the 32's I'm thinking of a 2" lift with a minimal body lift to clear a Savvy tummy tuck when I can afford it. That's clearly not LCG but it sets the stage for a future set of 34-45's (once everything else is upgraded appropriately for 36-37's -- can you say "overkill"?). That kinda' tire on that kinda' lift is just about the sweet-spot for LCG.

So, the 32's do what I need for now and put me on a good path for future plans. Sure, they rub at the moment but that's a short-term distraction until I have the funds to clear 'em right.
 
#19 ·
I love the build. I really like the bumper design with 3 receivers. We should get together since I live here in cumming and have a welder. I also have been buying metal from Steve at flex fab. Really nice to deal with and he said he could roll the meatal for my body armor. Hit me up.
 
#21 ·
Thanks Tick. I'm still disappointed that I wasn't able to have that one built. I tried a couple of places around town with no luck. I love the Besrk bumper, though, and if I decide to do anything that would have used the extra receivers I can always buy Jerry (jer494) a pizza, ask nicely & get out the grinder :)
 
#22 ·
Thanks for the compliment! Gotta love those yellow Jeeps! You'll see a little bit more soon. If all goes well I'm going to pickup a 2" BDS Monday. Hopefully we can get it installed on an upcoming weekend. After that I'm back to little things until Savvy's tummy tuck hits the market. The little things again until it's time for flat fenders & 35's.
 
#23 · (Edited)
A Growth Spurt

On MLK Day the fine folks for whom I work were closed but, as it turns out, Southern Offroad were on the job. After sleeping late & paying a few bills I headed their way and picked up the BDS 2" lift I've been saving my pennies for. It sat in my garage for the rest of the week but after my son's basketball game Saturday afternoon I headed over to Jerry's Garage & we broke out the tools.

Jerry was recovering from the flu or strep or something similarly evil so he wasn't in any good shape to be wielding power tools. Being two years my senior, therefore, he assumed a mentor role and proceeded to instruct me in the best course of action. Thus armed with tools, leadership and a good dose of common sense I dug into the lift.

I should point out now that this was my first excursion into this type of exercise. Those of you who are similarly new may recognize the anxiety I felt over pulling important parts off of my daily driver. While a healthy fear will (generally) keep you from doing anything stupid, it shouldn't stop you from taking on this particular job. There's little room for error & plenty of time to fix any mistakes along the way if you start early. I wouldn't, for instance, do it on a Sunday afternoon if you have to be at work early Monday. We started around 3PM and I got home about 11PM because we took a couple of detours early in the process and didn't get in a hurry anywhere along the way.

So... we started on the passenger front corner. That one took us about two hours. (I'll read this a few months from now and be embarrassed over that admission...) Here's a hint: place your coil spring compressors nuts up and shaft down with one in front & one in back as close to 180* apart as possible. We wasted most of the two hours trying different configurations until we realized this one was optimal. This is the formula we finally settled on as ideal:
- remove the shock
- disconnect the sway bar at the axle end to give yourself more room around the front spring compressor
- place your coil spring compressors nuts up and shaft down with one in front & one in back as close to 180* apart as possible
- have two sockets handy, one for each compressor, because one *will* get stuck
After that, just crank down on 'em until you can work the coil out. If you have help, have them push down on the axle a bit and that's a couple of inches you won't have to compress. Once you have enough compression pull the coil out over the brake line (carefully) and towards you.

Once the coil is out and before you remove the compressors, measure the height you have. That's your target for the new spring. Now move the compressors off of the old and onto the new. We were able get the the new ones in with a little less compression because, by now, we were getting better at forcing the axle down for clearance.

If you have a new steering stabilizer install it before you install the new coil. You'll have more room this way. If you have a pitman puller it will make the process easier.

Once the stabilizer is in place and the coil has been seated pull the compressors off. Lifting the axle to compress the coil will make this easier and you won't have to back the compressors off quite so much. When that's done you're ready to install the shock. Follow the instructions & all will be well. You can reconnect the sway bar anywhere between removing the compressors & installing the shock. Just be sure you have everything back in place before putting the wheel back on.

As I said, the first corner took us a couple of hours. From what we learned there we were able to blow through the driver's front corner in about a half-hour. Without the axle end of the trackbar in the way here we had a lot more room and didn't need to disconnect the swaybar. We also made better use of the floor jack to make the coil compression easier.
- remove shock
- compress & remove coil
- compress & install coil
- install shock

With the front wrapped up we moved on to the back where we spent 45 & 30 minutes respectively. We were already on the driver's side so we started there. You'll notice a notch in the front of the bottom coil bucket. This is where the shaft of the front compressor will go. Again, nuts up & shaft down... The back one will pretend the shaft is going to hit the bucket but if you catch the right pair of coils it will angle out just enough to clear. You can also use the floor jack creatively if it gets wedged. On the first corner we removed the sway bar for that extra bit of clearance but it really wasn't necessary. We skipped that on the last corner with no ill effects.

With everything buttoned back up and torqued to spec (and then some in a few cases) we took a quick shakedown drive around the block. Before starting we had both driven roughly the same route to get that last minute feel for things. The shakedown didn't introduce any new moans, groans, rattles, clanks or vibrations. To be honest, I was concerned about driveline vibes that I've heard others experience. I think the longer rear shaft on the LJ eliminates those headaches or, at least, it did in my case. Everything is nice & tight and it rides much better. Before the lift it was annoyingly bouncy in some situations on my daily drive. It still bounces but now it snaps back into place and settles down rather than going on about things. Now it feels like a Jeep *should* feel.

Some statistics for those who find such things interesting:
The front shocks range is 16.5" to 25.5" measured eye-to-top
The rear shocks are 13.625" to 21.75" eye-to-eye
I gained exactly 2.5" of clearance at all four corners putting the top of the stock bumper at 26.5" and the bottom of the rear corners at 24.625.

Now that I have the tires out of the flares I'm back to the small things I've been putting off. The next major surgery will likely be a tummy tuck and probably include a small body lift, upper (and maybe lower) control arms and perhaps new driveshafts. The "maybe" and "perhaps" depend on how tucked we can get. After that I plan to settle down again for a while and slowly upgrade things for the day the 32's are replaced with 35's. No worries & no hurries, there's plenty of life left in the 'Brick and I'm content to take my time and enjoy the journey.

I don't have a photo from immediately before but here's what he looked like just after getting the 32" KM2's:


and here's what he looks like now:


These aren't the greatest shots (an iPhone in a dimly lit garage) but they give you an idea of the difference between the old and new gear:

Front:


Rear:
 
#25 ·
I'll be happy to take some detailed measurements for you tomorrow. I think it would be fun to build & sell Jeep stuff but I don't have the tools, materials, talent or time. Maybe that'll be my retirement gig in another 20 or 30 years :)
 
#26 ·
A few minor things to update since the lift in January...

Finally got around to installing my Barnett cover on the front and Lube Locker gaskets front & rear. I'm glad to be done with RTV!


Stock on the left with RTV leftovers, new one on the right.


The view through the fill plug. Here you can see how tight things are with the stock Rubicon locker's air tube. I took a pile of measurements on the cover, the fill plug, the housing and the things sticking out. With the plug installed and torqued to spec you've got just about 1/8" or less between it and that tube. Do not overtighten!


Installed & ready to go to work!

Discovered that the breather tube on my transfer case was disconnected. Wha??? Also discovered that that strange noise coming from the drivetrain was the transfer case fussing at me because it was a half-quart low.

Installed a Cobra under the dash for trail rides. It's hard-wired to the battery with a 3A fuse under the hood. I used a two-conductor trailer wire connector on the CB end so that I can quickly unmount it and move it to lockable storage if necessary.

Whipped up some quick discos like this (Budget TJ Sway Bar Disconnects). It turns out that the clevis pins are exactly too large to go through the sleeve in the bushing. I opted to drill out the sleeve rather than grind the pin. That'll make it easier when / if I need to drop in the spare.

Also installed some 1" bumpstop extensions up front. With the discos in place I found that the front tires stuff just a bit too deeply into the fenders. That explains *that* particular noise... Oops.

And, last but not least, bought & installed a safari top. The soft top is now sitting in the garage where it will remain until the fall. I shoulda bought one of these last year!

BTW, the dimensions on the storage box are: 35" wide, 22" deep, 12" tall.
You could go taller or shorter as desired. If you're running without carpet on the fenders you could go an inch or more wider too. I still have that carpet but I have removed the bed carpet and pad. To avoid scratching the paint & making rust I sliced a piece of tubing and fit it over the leading edge where it rests on the raised areas of the bed. I also put a 1/4" strip of hardwood under the sides so that it doesn't slant towards the bumper. Alternatively, you could have the front edge cut to clear.
 
#27 ·
Another quick update...

There haven't been any serious mods lately. I'm waiting patiently for the folks at Savvy to produce some Under Armor that'll fit my rig before spending big money on other stuff. I'll do the gas tank skid at the same time and I suspect I'll need adjustable arms with the drive train tucked up that far.

What has been done:
- Installed a Cobra CB and Firestick antenna. It was a PITA to tune but I finally got it dialed in pretty good.
- Hacked up a Rugged Ridge velcro fire extinguisher mount so that it would handle my 10# extinguisher.
- Replaced the front calipers, rotors and pads after an unfortunate incident with some nasty mud. One of the calipers seized and ate itself between my son's school and my office so I had 'em the whole mess replaced. Went with the EBC greens and matching rotors. Yellows with Centrics were originally on the list but timing and funding have a way of changing ones plans.
- Replaced the front diff oil seals and added axle seals after leaking a fair amount of fluid out of the passenger side during my son's football practice. Though I have no proof, I blame the mud again :-/ BTW, the LubeLocker gasket looked good and is back in place for it's first reuse. I will monitor it for leaks. Also replaced the driver rear seal and bearing since it was oozing as well. That leaves the passenger rear for the future if it starts acting up.

Other than that it's been the usual maintenance. I have the OPDA on my list of things to inspect and attend to at some point. Right now, fingers crossed, it seems to be OK.
 
#29 ·
Hi Flyn,

They only rub when disco'd. I added some 1" bumpstops to the top and now they're fine. Keeping those bumpstops and adding a 1.25" body lift I think I'll have room for 35s when the 32s wear out. I *may* need a small spring spacer, we'll see... I've been very happy with the BDS kit.
 
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