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Rubiconrazorbac build thread

123K views 342 replies 67 participants last post by  365Jeep 
#1 · (Edited)
I love reading builds and figured I'd start one since I've got quite a few things to do to the Rubi. I've got an idea of where I'm going, but I'm sure it'll be a work-in-progress for quite some time. Plus, I'm sure I'll change my mind about what I'm going to do as it goes along (at least that's what everyone tells me).

The outline of the build will be on the next post and that's where I'll keep everything summarized.


:cheers::cheers2::cheers::cheers2::cheers:
 
#73 ·
Thanks! I need to wash it though...

The fenders next maybe? :drool: Happy Veterans Day! :salute:
Thank you. Kinda bittersweet since this'll be my last Veteran's Day on active duty:(

The fenders are next. Waiting for the brackets for the signal LEDs to come in. Once those are on, I'll trim the Savvy rockers to fit, & get them on too. I was planning on painting them--even got the primer on, but got a lead from CHI JPR on a powdercoating shop and I'm going that route on the rockers instead:2thumbsup:
 
#74 ·
OK, Jeep week has officially started here! Don't know how much I'll get done, but have plenty of time to mess around.:2thumbsup:

Started last night replacing the instrument cluster, HVAC, soundbar, and rocker switches with LED bulbs. Turned out great! Only hiccup was that for some reason the high-beam indicator keeps flashing on/off. The high-beams work fine, it's just the indicator light. So, I took the bulb out for now.:dunno:

While I had the dash apart, I took the cover off the steering column and put in the new LED flasher relay in preparation for later this week.

Washed the Jeep and will wax it today. Time to get it protected from the Illinois road salt that will be on the roads soon.

Also in store today is an oil/filter change and new air filter. Might flush the coolant too, but I'm putting off going to the stealership to get the HOAT.

Once the maintenance is done, the front fenders will come off! I'll be putting on the Metalcloak arched fenders with 6" flares. I also will install their new LED turn signals/markers with the new brackets as I have the "old style" fenders (no round cut-out below the "M").

Probably try to get the rear flares trimmed a bit in between the "bigger" projects.

Then, trimming the Savvy rocker guards to fit. The Savvy's are a perfect wheel well-to-wheel well fit, but with the new fenders, I need to trim a bit. Luckily it looks like I only have to trim the aluminum rocker guards and not the stainless steel sliders. Then I'll get these to the powdercoating shop so I can get them installed soon too.

I might be able to work on the Savvy corners (painting them) while the rockers are being powdercoated. Hopefull I'll have time. Once I get that done I can get them installed as well as the Savvy LED tail lights.

I bought a headlight wiring harness and ordered some IPF housings and Fatboy II bulbs. Those will be in around Wednesday.

I'm fabbing up an LED rear 3rd brake light sometime this week. Just need to get to the store to get the light and a piece of steel to bolt to the high-lift mount on the tire carrier.

I need to install the new rear rotors and EBC greenstuff pads.

I have some frame tie-ins for the rear crossmember from Groundpounder Fab that I need to install as well.

Spare tire cover coming this week also. My wife wanted to pick one out. She wants one and since the Jeep was originally hers, she makes 1/2 the money, and I've picked out the other mods, I have no problem giving up this one concession:D

I have some lower rear shock mount extenders I'll put on as well. Plenty of clearance now, but will be lifting more soon.

I almost have everything I need to put the new suspension on. The only holdup is shocks. I'll be ordering them in a couple of weeks, so maybe I'll be able to lift it a bit higher around Christmas/New Years.

That ought to do it for a now. I'll post pics of the new interior LEDs after it's dark. If anyone has an idea on the high-beam indicator, let me know!:cheers2:
 
#75 ·
Halfway through the install and thought I'd show some clearance pics. It was hard to hold the tape and camera at the same time so in the pic of the new fender I was a little off-center. You can still tell the difference.





The install is going very well. I ended up taking much more time than I thought mainly because as I tore the Jeep apart, I found myself cleaning and painting nuts, bolts, battery tray, etc. for the install. I'm glad I took the extra time to do this now. As I noted in my previous post, I've had some other small projects to take care of too:thumbsup:

The driver's side should be much quicker since I know what's involved now. Wiring the new lights was a lot easier than I thought. They look great too!

It looks like the I won't have to trim as much from the Savvy rockers as I thought. I'm just going to make a replica out of the rockers with some cardboard, then trim appropriately.

I'll post more pics when I'm done. Happy Thanksgiving!:cheers2:
 
#78 ·
OK, finally got a chance last night to snap a couple of pics of the new Metalcloaks! Install went very well. All in all, it took about 6-8 hours of actual working time per side to do. I took a little longer as I cleaned up and re-painted all the factory hardware that was re-used in the install. Takes awhile for paint to dry:laugh:

On the passenger's side, the install was 99% perfect. The only modification I had to make was with the stock battery tray. It wouldn't fit on the new bracket. So, I just "lengthened" the holes on the stock tray to fit the bracket. Not a big deal, just an extra 15 minutes and another coat of paint on the tray.

On the driver's side, the install went well, but I had to do a few little modifications to get all the OEM accessories to fit. First, the accessory tray was similar to the battery tray in that the holes didn't line up on the bracket. Easy fix. Next, the OEM brackets on the fender components weren't made for these fenders.:D
1. On the horn, just straightened out the little "pin" part of the bracket.
2. For the washer fluid reservoir, Metalcloak includes a "bent" bracket that works great! I trimmed off the plastic tab on the bottom of the reservoir as well so it fits flush.
3. Next was the Transmission Control Module. There was no way this was fitting on the fender. It's not mentioned in the instructions either so my guess is the Jeep they used for the design didn't have the 42RLE. Anyway, I just took a couple of crescent wrenches and bent the bracket to fit against the fender, then drilled a couple of holes for mounting. Of note, Metalcloak includes plenty of extra bolts, washers, & lock nuts in the hardware package. This was much appreciated!:2thumbsup:
4. Finally, the vacuum center. Same as the TCM, just had to bend the bracket and poke a couple new holes in the inner fender.

I'm extremely happy with the results. As the pics previously showed, plenty of new clearance under there. I used their new "low profile" LED lights and they work great. Also, very easy to install. I still need to loom-up the wires and tuck everything away, but I'll do that later this afternoon.

I would recommend having a buddy help, but this can easily be done by one guy in a home garage.



 
#81 ·
Looks nice! You plan on doing anything with the rear fenders?
Thanks! Yeah, there's not much room above the rear tires right now:laugh:

I have some 4" coils waiting to go in when I get the shocks. I also need to trim the flares an inch or so when I install the new aluminum corners:thumbsup:
 
#83 ·
Sorry to let you know, but they're not. This has been hashed out ad nauseum on multiple threads on this forum and others. All TJ springs are the same height. The only difference is the spring rate. Hardtop Rubi TJs, LJs, etc. were equipped with the stiffer springs. Sure, if I put my OEM Rubi springs on the '97 SE I used to have, it would have probably "lifted" it a good inch. But, that's NOT due to spring height. It's because that '97 had sagged like a cow's udder. Adding the Rubi springs would've simply restored the '97's original ride height.

Anyway, MOST of the time, DC equipped TJs with a specific spring rate due to weight. So a '97 SE with a 4cy softop would get lighter springs than an '06 TJ Unlimited (LJ) with a hardtop. All in all there were around 8 different combinations of springs. Apparently Rubis came with the stiffest springs as part of the Rubi ensemble, not simply due to weight.

Chew on this: Don't you think if Rubi springs were "1 inch taller than non-Rubi TJ springs", the vendors that make suspension components would have separate lifts for Rubis? Or at least say "lift will yield 1" less on Rubis because you're already higher?" No, because it simply isn't the case.

The bottom line is the RC 2.5" progressive lift with 2.2 shocks only lifted my STOCK TJ around 1.5" depending on the measured point as I posted before. Now, with all the "stuff" weighing it down, plus all the other "stuff" soon going on, necessitated the new lift with HD springs. I would be willing to bet that a great majority of people installing the RC lift DO NOT take the time to measure their Jeep at different points before and after the install to see how much lift the suspension actually yields. Instead they use the "eyeball" measure which ends up sounding like "wow it looks good, and I spent $300 on it, I MUST'VE gotten more than I paid for!":nono:
 
#84 ·
Had a little fun today in the garage. My wonderful Jeep-chick wife bought a new accessory. Originally I was going to put it on the back of the Jeep next to the tail light, but didn't want to wait until I have the corners on. So we found the perfect place for it:



Yes, I like Beck's...:shhh:

Also took a couple pics of the Jeep to compare one side with the flares and one side without:







I also got a spacer and new bolt to attach the bracket of the TCM to the inner fender:



Other than that, I spent a good hour cleaning up the wiring with some looms and zip-ties.

I think I found the problem with the high-beam indicator that was giving me fits after the LED install. Just one little blurb in the FSM. I'm going to try it tomorrow and if it works, I'll post it up.:2thumbsup:
 
#85 ·
Finished up switching out the Guages, HVAC, Rocker Switches, Shifter, & Dome lights with LEDs. My photography skills are crap! I had the garage completely dark. In retrospect, a little light would've cut down on the camera glare. Everything looks great though! I used the single LEDs in the HVAC, Rocker Switches, & Guages and the triple LED in the shifter. You can tell a difference (the shifter is very bright). I may go to triple LEDs all around later...

Dome light:


Guages:


HVAC & Rocker Switches:


Center Console:


Now I just need to get a new head unit to match!:2thumbsup:
 
#87 · (Edited)
Thanks! Yep, I just need to get them trimmed to fit with the fenders. Luckily I have tons of time off during the holidays. Just depends on the weather. If it's snowing, the garage belongs to the wife & kids. If it's fair weather, I get the space:D

Anyway, so far it looks like I'll just have to trim the aluminum rocker guard and NOT the SS slider. The only place the slider might have an interference is with the "ball" where the flare attaches to the fender. If it doesn't fit, I'll have to decide which one gets to meet the grinder:thumbsup:

I honestly thought I'd have more done by now, but little things come up and "next weekend" becomes "next month."

If all goes well by Spring I won't have any excuses NOT to have them on:cheers2:
 
#88 ·
I lost track of your build for awhile but I'm back.

Couple of question for you and if you've already answered them I apologize. I did not read back thru all the posts.

How bad are the 35's on 4.11's? I kinda wish I had gone with them but didn't want to mess with re-gearing. Probably would have been OK with the 6 speed that I have. The 285/75/16's didn't mess with the gearing hardly at all. Great choice on tires. I love mine.

The slight gap between the inner fenders and the top of the spring perch, is that a result of the body lift? It doesn't really bother me as I don't have a bodylift on my Jeep. Just curiosity really.

I'm looking at the metalcloaks also but would likely go with the flat tube ones that I fell in love with at the recent off road expo here in so cal.

Jeep looks great man.
 
#89 ·
Concerning gears, I NEED 5.13s as soon as I get to it. It's just fine running with the overdrive off, but I'd like to be able to use the OD and have the low-end power. For me it's tolerable. It may sound funny, but when it comes to the more "driver-input" type thing, I like to use the wife-test. Alot of times she doesn't know what I'm working on, just that I'm in the garage. I'll add something and see if she notices:D She loved the new tires, but I swear the first thing she said was "what did you do to the brakes?" Needless to say, I had the new front rotors and Yellows on quick. I've heard her mention a few times now that the Jeep doesn't have the same power as before. So, it's not only me...:thumbsup: Gears are rising on the priority list.

Actually it was due to her complaint that the Jeep rode rougher with the 35s that led me to check the air pressure. The tire shop had put 45 pounds of pressure in them! Now they're at 26 and everyone is happy.

Yes, the gap is due to the body lift. The fenders are 2-piece. The inners, while attached to the body, are made to conform perfectly to the frame & shock mounts. With the body lifted, you get the gap. I haven't decided if I'm going to worry about it or not. I still have the rubber fender liner from the OEM fenders that I'm thinking about trimming to fit. We'll see.

I like the Overlines as well. I think both really open things up to give you more room. The install should be about the same as from what I can tell only the outer fenders & flares are different.

Thanks for the compliment. Bunch of other stuff to do, just boils down to time. Once this one is "done", if there is such a thing, I'll be looking for another to try something different. Hopefully we'll have a his-n-hers someday:cheers2:
 
#92 ·
Actually it was due to her complaint that the Jeep rode rougher with the 35s that led me to check the air pressure. The tire shop had put 45 pounds of pressure in them! Now they're at 26 and everyone is happy.

Funny story. The kid that mounted my tires was new at America's tire and put 60 psi in mine.:nono: 26 psi is where mine are most happy. Seems to give the best tire patch at that pressure

Once this one is "done", if there is such a thing, I'll be looking for another to try something different. Hopefully we'll have a his-n-hers someday:cheers2:

Funny coincidence. With my rubi build complete I have begun looking for another jeep. I just looked at a 95 yj friday night. I have permission to build another but it won't be a rubicon. Late yj or early tj. 6 cyl/auto. Looking to go coilovers and 3 link/4 link setup. We'll see how that works out.
 
#97 ·
Once you install them about 1/2 won't work as they are polar-specific. All you have to do is take them out and turn 'em 180 degrees

You have me wanting to kick myself. I did the LEG cluster install on my rubi about a month ago and just accepted the fact that the right side of my speedo didn't light up. I've been trying to convince myself that it "looks cool" - "easier on the eyes", but I'm definitely spinning 'em around tomorrow. My packaging was totally different. Thanks for showing me that I'm not always right, I would have never figured it out =]
 
#98 ·
:rofl::rofl:I feel your pain. The high-beam indicator blinking drove me nuts until I realized what the problem was:brickwall

Got around to changing out the bulb on the "courtesy light" in the passenger side footwell. It IS the same type bulb as the auto shifter:thumbsup:

Took the Rough Country rock sliders off today to work on getting the Savvy sliders measured & trimmed. While the RC sliders are definitely strong and provide good protection, you lose clearance with them mounted to the frame. Actually I didn't realize HOW MUCH clearance I was giving up with them until I took them off!

I've got quite a bit of time off the next couple of weeks so I hope to make some more progress. Although things are moving much slower than I'd hoped, at least it's slow and steady...
 
#100 ·
Well, I'm anticipating my FedEx and UPS buddies to show up this week! Ordered some more Currie stuff from Gerald and some shocks from 4wd.com.

After changing my mind a dozen times on what to do with the corners, I took Gerald's advice and dropped them off at a body shop. The original shop I went to wanted over $500 to paint 2 corners! However, I found one that would do it for $204:thumbsup: I'm sure the gloss won't last forever, but hopefully rocks & trees will take care of that. And at $200, I can stomach taking them back every year or two after wheeling season to have them re-done.

Took a sawsall and grinder to the Savvy rocker guards and learned a bit about the differences between aluminum & steel. They're shaping up nice and I'll get some pics up soon:2thumbsup:

Happy New Year everyone!:cheers2:
 
#101 ·
Took a sawsall and grinder to the Savvy rocker guards and learned a bit about the differences between aluminum & steel. They're shaping up nice and I'll get some pics up soon:2thumbsup:

Happy New Year everyone!:cheers2:
Can't wait to see the Savvy Rockers and Metal Cloak fenders together! Still the way I'm thinking long term (unless Blaine and Gerald do something)
 
#107 ·
Not installed yet, but I've been doing a little trimming. Honestly at first I wasn't sure which way I was going to go on the cuts. At first I was going to have the front part of the rocker fit the contours of the flares on the fender. That took waaaay to many hours of cutting & grinding 1/8-1/4" at a time. I ended up with what I THOUGHT I wanted and it looked like total crap:thumbdown:

At that point I figured "what the heck" and just made a simple angle cut to make the leading edge of the rocker flush to the slider. It worked out great! I should've just taken the plunge and cut the damn thing to begin with.

I used the driver's side that I toyed around with as a template for the passenger side. This is a pic of how much you have to cut off:



I did NOT want to put the cut behind the top mounting hole, but there is really no other choice. I'm not too concerned about it as my tub is dead-straight, and the backing plate for the rockers should hold them on nice and secure. When I get them mounted I'll check for any gaps or flexion on the leading top edge and drill a new hole to secure with a nutsert if I have to. The leading hole for the slider will attach perfectly to the fender.

Here's two pics of how they turned out (mocked up):





The funny thing is I had debated earlier on painting the rockers-vs-powder coating and what color to use. CHI JPR gave me a good recommendation of a local powdercoater and I was getting things set up to go there. As luck would have it, my wife came out to the garage and saw the mock-up. I started discussing finishing options and she said "why don't you just leave them silver like that other red Jeep you showed me (Jerry Bransford)? Aren't they just going to get scratched up anyway?" WOW what a relief! I don't have to worry with that now. The main reason for the painting/powdercoating was for her to begin with. I guess I should just ask next time...:rofl::rofl:

The corners have been painted to match the Jeep. I definitely wanted to corners painted and I'm glad I did it. They look a bit darker sitting in the house, but I'll know more when I start to install them. Once that's done I can finally install my lights.

Anyway, that's where I am now. I have things all set up to install this weekend, but there isn't a 17/32" drill bit anywhere near here:brickwall So, I ordered one and it'll be here Tuesday.

So IF the drill bit comes in and IF it's not snowing next weekend, I should at least have the rockers installed.

I'll put some pics up and post any roadblocks along the way (I always seem to find a few).
 
#108 ·
So I finally got the rockers done. 3-day weekends are nice to use to catch-up!

Here's the completed pic:



I think it turned out great! There are more pics in a write-up I did which can be found here: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/savvy-offroad-rocker-guards-metalcloak-fenders-install-971817/

Next it's time for the corners. Yes, I still have the Currie suspension to put on, but my wife has made more than one comment about the "Jeep parts" (corners) that are sitting on the bedroom floor:D
 
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