[BiGEN]

Well.. i've owned my jeep now almost a year.. so far i already have a 3" full traction lift and 35" bfg km2's and a rampage front recovery bumper..

for 09 i am going to be adding new mods and redoing my whole jeep as money allows...

here is my list for 09 and i will be checking these off and adding new pics of the mods as they get added...

1. LOD Rear Bumper with Gen2 Tire Carrier - installed

2. Regear 5.13's - installing 2/14/09

3. Teraflex 6" LA lift. - ordered 2/13/09

4. 37 BFG KM2's on Sidebiter Cast Wheel by Mickey Thompson

5. *NEW* Maybe get my lower doors Line-X'd

keep an eye out as i will be selling old parts off the jeep, such as lift, tires, wheel spacers, etc.

here is a current pic of the jeep now..

[Prot]

If you are going to 37's, then you should go with 5.13 gears. I also do not see a winch on your list.

[BiGEN]

yes prot.. no winch.. im just not a fan of paying over a grand on a winch i'll use maybe 3 times.. but it will be there..

on the gearing.. im not in it for the mpgs... the 4.88s will be the best for rocks.. i've been debating between the 4.88s and 5.13s.. reason im going with 4.88s is because there is more teeth touching which means less room for slipping.. the 5.13s just dont have enuff contact for me... plus i been reading in magz... for 37" tires u can either do 4.88s or 5.13s.. its whatever u want.. they also recommend 4.56 and 4.88s for 35's..

[scrogg]

I don't know, my opinion I guess, I have 37's, 5.13's and the manual tranny as well and I am way happy I didn't go with the 4.88's. I don't care what magazines you've been reading, I would be willing to bet that you would be unhappy with the final result if you went with 4.88's and 37" tires. The only reason I see to go with 4.88 is if you have plans to drop back down to a 35" tire in the future or as your winter tire size therefore you would be gearing for the 2 sizes.

Maybe I am mistaken but I would have thought that you would want as low a gearing as possible for the rocks. I believe my final crawl ratio with the 5.13's work out to be 92:1 or something like that. On the rocks it crawls what I consider to be awesomely slow. And with the 6 speed, on the rocks, the slower the better.

Here's a link that bricktop posted a while back giving ratios and a link to a calculator:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/calculator-speeds-gears-crawl-ratios-etc-663897/?highlight=ratio

Oh, and going with the 4.88, in theory, would be going for the MPG's.

(*edit)
I just wanted to add that one of the funnest parts about wheeling with my JK is the ability to put into 4lo and go down hils/obstacles and not have to touch the brake or clutch.

[Prot]

FWIW, I'm running 5.13's with 35's. I have an automatic. I think a lot of magazines are trying to apply conventional wisdom and experience from YJ's and TJ's to JK's and it doesn't work. The JK is very different. There are people running 5.38's (I think that is the number) even. All the hemi conversions from Burnsville feature 5.13's, so I doubt the gutless wonder 3.8L would put any more strain on the teeth than a hemi. Most of their hemi conversions have 35's and 37's. I saw some larger tires on their site too, but I think they went with d60's for use with 42's and maybe even 40's.

A winch doesn't have to be expensive. I use mine around the house for real world stuff. I had a shed fall down after a hurricane, so I latched onto it with my winch and pulled it away. Besides self recovery, it also gives you the ability to help somebody else out. Superwinch is good and performs on par with Warn and is lot less expensive. You can pick them up for $400 to $600.

http://www.quadratec.com/products/product_search.php?cn=Superwinch+Winches&mn=Superw inch&c=142

I just think it's inevitable that a person will eventually get stuck or get sideways or something where they need a winch. What if no one in the group has a winch because everybody decided it was just not worth it and somebody else will take care of them when something happens? I just like being more self sufficient myself.

How about posting a list of mods you made to your Jeep already, such as driveshafts, etc.

[scrogg]

Sorry, I just noticed that I didn't even comment about your build, I was just to consumed with trying to sway you away form the 4.88's and possible disappointment.

Anyways, I look forward to following your build as you go along. I am curious to see how your RK lift kit will turn out. I haven't seen or heard much about them. Is that going to be a long arm kit?

And those MT wheels should look pretty good as well.

I've heard good and bad about the LOD bumper but I think they look pretty good. Does the one you have ordered have lights in it? I've seen one in TeraFlex Plus' parking lot that had rectangular lights in it. Looked good

[BiGEN]

hey... well i guess i'll do the 5.13s after reading scroggs.. i thought most autos had the 5.13s... but i will go ahead and do that...

i also have 1310's front and rear driveshafts... i will need to replace the rear with a 1350 down the road.. maybe get that for xmas or something.. lol...

scrogg.. the rock krawler lift i am getting will be a Mid-arm lift.. 4-link... instead of there famous tri-link...

[Northsidejeepin]

What's the difference between the 1310 and the 1350 drive shafts?

[Patmack18]

You got anymore pictures of your rig?

[BiGEN]

1310 is rated for the 35's a 1350 is a bigger driveshaft rated for above 36" tires...

and yes.. i got some older ones.

[scrogg]

Originally Posted by BiGEN

scrogg.. the rock krawler lift i am getting will be a Mid-arm lift.. 4-link... instead of there famous tri-link...

Does it use the factory mounting points on the frame?

Originally Posted by Northsidejeepin

What's the difference between the 1310 and the 1350 drive shafts?

It a difference in size and strength of the joint. According Tom Woods, the 1350 has a little less flex but is about 37.5% stronger.

[scrogg]

I was just checking out the Rock Krawler website and looking over the lift kit. Some things that jump out are:


System Includes: (2) long travel linear front coil springs, double adjustable front track bar made from 1.5” solid alloy steel, precision welded front track bar relocation bracket, (2) high clearance- adjustable front lower control arms made of 1.625” solid alloy steel, (2) high misalignment – adjustable front upper control arms made from 1.25” solid alloy steel, adjustable front sway bar disconnects, drop pitman arm, (2) long travel linear rear coil springs, double adjustable rear track bar made from 1.5” solid alloy steel, precision welded rear track bar relocation bracket made from ¼” thick laser cut steel, (2) (2) high clearance-adjustable rear lower control arms made of 1.625” solid alloy steel, (2) high misalignment – double adjustable rear upper control arms made from 1.25” solid alloy steel, rear extended sway bar links, long travel stainless steel brakes front and rear, hardware and detailed instructions.

1. No shocks with lift - I am guessing with your current 3" FT kit that you have aftermarket shocks to accomodate it, but with the additional height of the RK kit (assuming you get at least the 1.5" more) you will need/want longer shocks or maybe even shock extensions pending budget. Otherwise the additional flex that this kit has to offer will be limited to the extended length of the shock.

2. Track bar relocation brackets - this kit appears to come with both front and rear relocation brackets for the track bars. Not necessarily a bad thing, but based on the picture (see above) the brackets only utilize the single factory bolt for mounting. Unless they have new redesigned brackets that haven't been updated into the picture yet, I'd say that opens the door for a possible failure. I am sure you have seen the many threads and discussions of the weak factory bracketry/welding for the JK track bars. If not, I am sure they will be easy to dig up. There have been many that have broken off due to the additional leverage applied by the aftermarket bracket with such a design. Now it's tuff to tell from the picture, but it kinda looks like they may extend back to the axle at either end which would be a great place to weld them up if that is the case. In turn strengthening the connection. Or maybe whatever brackets you may already have with the FT kit could work.

3. The combination of an adjustable front track bar, relocation bracket and a drop pitman arm. This should help keep the drag link and track bar parallel as well as bring them a little closer to horizontal. IMO, a high steer kit (flipped drag link at steering knuckle end) would be a better setup over a drop pitman arm. The high steer kit will put the drag back into parallel with the track bar but with the benefit of not adding any additional stresses that a longer pitman arm would. Don't get me wrong, the drop pitman arm will work and would be less expensive as well so there is a trade off there.

4. Bumpstops - the kit does not seem to address bumpstops or bumpstop landings. I did notice that they have them listed as one of the "Recommended Accessories" but for an additional cost. I am not sure what you may already have from the FT kit but you'll need to do something here since your also going up in tire size. Considerations here would be to look into a taller landing in combination as to what you already have and/or extensions as well.

5. I will preface this one as to being pure opinion/preference but I'll try to back it up a little. With that much height, I would seriously consider getting long arms. LA's aren't a necessity but they will make a big difference with this much lift. The additional flex you'll get goes with saying. With the "mid arms" you will have alot more of front to rear travel of the axle during suspension cycling, overworking the joints. As well as more side to side but not as bad as front to rear. Although it may be enough to create interference between the shock body and the frame which is now becoming a more common occurance with the more and more JK's that are being lifted to these heights. Me personally, I can't say enough good about the ride and capibility of my TF 6" LA kit. Dang glad I upgraded to the LA's for sure.

If you have already gone over these items and have them worked out, then great and please ignore my long winded post. I just thought I would share some concerns that I had when reviewing your lift choice.

[BiGEN]

first off.. i wanna thank you for being interested in my build..

after doing my taxes lastnite.. it looks like i have a little more money to play around with.. i would love to do the TF 6" LA.. only thing is i wanna install it... but i cant weld.. lol and its got a big price tag on it..

i knew the RK lift didnt come with shocks.. the RE shocks im running now are rated for 3.5 - 5.5 lift.. so i knew i would be good there.. but the trac bar brackets looked a little weak.. just like my old one with the TF lift that i just end up taking off and went to the adjustable trac bar..

i would like to get this lift right this time and not have any regerets..

i know i wanna run 37's but i dont wanna have a 4" lift either.. and i dont wanna go with FT.. thats one reason why i am upgrading my lift.. i wanna go 5 or 6" lift.. just arent many options out there... and if i knew a good welder near me it would help alot.. lol

but since i have a little more money to play with im gonna look at my options now and see what i can do.. i was planning on calling RK this week to get some more info on that lift and why they dont include alot of the stuff..

[BiGEN]

whats the price difference on the KM2's and the Toyo's?

[scrogg]

back when I was looking (march '08) they 37" toyo was just over $300 and the 37" KM2 was almost $400. I haven't priced them lately.