It's time to start making some changes.....

[red mistress]

The sway bars are art !

 

[mysunnshine]

So here's the latest. Everything is out of the back to help with the weight loss program for this year. The Jeep was weighed beforehand too which was 5540lbs. I'm going to go back this week and weigh it again and hopefully it dripped about 900-1000lbs. The lights on the underside are done also. The list is short now. I just need to get some different coilover springs before I go. I put some 175/200 springs on the back and it rides really good but it tends to get the gangster lean because the spring rates are not enough to push it back flat. If I add any more preload, it'll go into coil bind when compressed. I also had a problem where the ID of the locking hub was a little small causing the hub to lock when driving. Into the lathe it went to fix that problem. Other than that, it's just about ready to go......Finally!

 

[bigwalton]

Hot damn. Which rock lights did you go with?

 

[jbeemer]

Interested to see the weight after diet. I just drove mine on the scale last weekend. 5500 lbs even That was the 37's, full 20 gallons gas, kid cage with both benches, a few tools, and me (210 lbs)

 

[mysunnshine]

Hot damn. Which rock lights did you go with?

I ended up using some of the Ebay special 9W cree LED's. They have the same exact mounting as the Rigid lights too. So far they seem to work pretty good. I have the last 4 to wire up today and the lights are done. Other than changing out the rear coil over springs again, the Jeep is pretty much ready to go. we will see how it turns out....
BTW, the weight loss turned out to be 920 lbs. I carry too much crap with me obviously. For some reason I have the feeling that I should put my tire carrier and tire back on. I carry Co2 and plugs so getting off the trail should not be an issue and I planned on bringing the spare with me to Moab anyhow. That's today's struggle.....

 

[bigwalton]

I hve a set of Rugged Ridge ones to go on and those look identical to me, that’s why I asked.

I have a TNT Customs spare tire rack waiting to go on for the same reason, just to get the spare where I’m going easily.

 

[mysunnshine]

I couldn't help myself today so I had to put the tire carrier back on along with the spare tire. I might regret it but my OCD kicked in and I just can't stand how it looks without it.

 

[wjtstudios]

Damn Your Scramblers are heavy! You're in built JK class, my JKU weights in at 5900 on 37s with 60s. That's Insane, good luck in Moab!

 

[mysunnshine]

I went from 5540lbs to 4620lbs. After putting the tire carrier and tore back on, the weight probably went back up 300lbs. I'm done as much as am willing to do so I'm done and burned out. I just have to work on some projects this week at work and it's off I go.

 

[barrys]

That's one WICKED Jeep.

 

[barrys]

Damn Your Scramblers are heavy! You're in built JK class, my JKU weights in at 5900 on 37s with 60s. That's Insane, good luck in Moab!

Not much plastic in a CJ. Not knocking JK's though.

 

[mysunnshine]

Not much plastic in a CJ. Not knocking JK's though.

About the only plastic on mine is the engine cover. I do have a lot of 1/4" plate for mounts and .250 wall tubing for links.

 

[red mistress]

So are U in Moab yet ? Pics !!!!

 

[mysunnshine]

So to update this thread, this thing wheels absolutely fantastic up here in Moab. The geometry is spot on allowing it to be extremely stable for the off-camber spots and the suspension transitions from compressed to extended is smooth as silk. All of the time and effort was absolutely worth it. Unfortunately after 4 long days on the trail, I developed an intermittent noise in the engine. At this point, I'm guessing that I have a bearing in the lifter going out causing the roller to seize up at times sliding the roller on the cam lobe. Needless to say, I gotta stop running the engine so I don't kill the lifter bores and running all of the metal thru the engine also. When I get the engine out, I'll know better how bad it is. It's all good though. I've had a large time up here for sure!

 

[Cmath]

Looks like a blast!Great pics. Glad to here all of the effort payed off. To bad about the engine . Good luck!

 

[wjtstudios]

Looks like an unbelievable trip, great pictures! Sorry to hear about the engine noise, better to be safe than sorry.

 

[xatu40]

That last pic is AWESOME! Obvious all your advanced planning paid off. An amazing 8!

 

[mysunnshine]

Yea... It's crazy how well the combination works now. You just point it up the steep ledges and it just goes right up now. There's no way that I could have done even half of the things that I have done out here this year with the leaf springs that were on it. To me, the funniest thing is when going down a trail, people look at it like it's just some typical old CJ. As soon as I get up to an obstacle and start crawling it or flexing thru it, the look on their face is priceless to say the least. It's obviously not anything that they expected to see. LOL I finally achieved the "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" look I was hunting for-

 

[mysunnshine]

Here's a video of the first trail that we did in Moab. There's nothing better than a trial by fire for the suspension change.

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[IAFFCJ]

looks like it worked pretty well to me.