Janesy's 03' Rubicon Build

Picked up a rear bumper plate w/ a tow point off a club member for $20. Still need to drill a few more holes and add more bolts/nuts, but I'm happy to get rid of the ugly rear bumper...



Also decided to move the plate to the tailgate, now that I'm not running a spare back there and got rid of the 3rd brakelight, so I picked up one of these that I'll be installing soon to stay legal:

Off Road Only LiteDOT Plate Light



And my Monstaliner kit came in! Just doing the tub in black, nothing crazy, just need to find the time and have a good weekend to get it done...

Nice! I've been debating doing the floorliner on the YJ, but the carpets just yank out and go in the washing machine, so I've been delaying.

As soon as I get a garage and/or spare vehicle, I'm definitely doing the JK, though.

I've never actually seen that bumper/plate before. Seems like a cool idea, but I'd definitely want to secure it a bit more before putting any pressure on it.

Nice Monsta! I traded Eric my Wagner power painter for a kit. Can't wait to roll it.

Hey just a comment here, I wouldnt let those sway bars hang down like they are in the pictures, especially at MABell. If you ever have to back up and hook one on a ledge or rock its gonna look like a Pretzel !

BTW Nice looking Rig !!

Thanks man!

And yea I hear ya on the swaybar, I went thru a buttload of zipties, they just kept wanting to break, I guess they weren't beefy enough. The JKS discos were already on the rig when I bought it and the PO didn't install the mounts for when you disco them, so I may just make my own soon, in the meantime pick up some heavy duty zipties...

Brown Santa just dropped this off at my place:



A Tuffy Security Deck!

My girl got it for me as a early b-day present, as she didn't like how when the top was off/down, or really even with the soft top up, there was no safe felling to leave anything in the jeep that wouldn't fit in the console or glove box. I had been thinking off getting it, but didn't want to spend the coin myself...

I don't plan to run the rear seat ever, so this will be a nice addition and make me more secure and I can leave my tool box in there now, since I took it out ever since I switched to the soft top.

Photos to come upon install, hopefully this weekend!

Got the Tuffy security deck installed, not bad at all, since I already had the seat and brackets out. Feels solid and I wont worry about leaving anything in the Jeep now...

Looks good. One of these may be in my future. I will finally be able to leave the top down when I work in Boston.

That's awesome! As soon as I can sell my kids I'll have no need for a back seat and buy one too.

Some pics from the run I went on with WM4x4 at a place called the Summit. Not a bad place, really slick with decent sized rocks and a few fun rock gardens.

Also hit Mabell after that run, with another kid from the run, as it was 5 minutes down the road. Got some GoPro footage of that, but my comp sucks so it'll prob be a while before I get that footage.

On to the pics! Not the best of pics but got a step by step of of of the guys flop. Lost all oil, and from what he says, ended up hydrolocking his engine and had to get towed out.

Scored some Smittybilt corners off CL for $100. Brand spankin' new, still in the original packaging! I know they have a bit of an issue with their factory powdercoat, so I'll be stripping them down and finish them up myself, just for piece of mind.

Didn't come with the flares, but figure I'll just use my stockers as they use the same bolt holes on the corners as their flares do.

janesy wrote:Scored some Smittybilt corners off CL for $100. Brand spankin' new, still in the original packaging! I know they have a bit of an issue with their factory powdercoat, so I'll be stripping them down and finish them up myself, just for piece of mind.

Didn't come with the flares, but figure I'll just use my stockers as they use the same bolt holes on the corners as their flares do.

Awesome deal man. If I had seen those I would have scooped them too. My plans if/when I get them are to strip 'em as well. Are you going to be color matching them or re-doing them in black? Also... do the flare mounting holes have the nuts in them/are they threaded?

Not %100 sure yet on what I'll paint them, but most likely black. And I'll have to check on the flare mounting holes, I don't think they are threaded, but I'll check later.

Ended up replacing the inner axle seals over the weekend. Over the last week, one of the u-joint bearing caps decided to jump ship, so I had a good bit of play in the shaft and must have worn out the inner seal, letting some gear oil to drip out the end of the tube.

Decided to to do both seals while I was in there, I mean, might as well right. As I was pulling the shafts I noticed the other side had excesive play in the u-joint as well. So after replacing the seals, I decided it would be better to pull the inner shafts and stuff rags in the end of the tubes. This is just for the time being, since I decided this was a great time to upgrade! Can't wait to get these in, pics to come!

Overall not as bad of a job as I was thinking it would be, since I hadn't yet got into the diff yet. I was thinking pulling the axle shafts and carrier would be a lot more work than it turned out to be.

Also while I was under there, I also did the ZJ tie rod upgrade, since the last time I went out I tweaked the stocker a lil bit. Definitely a great way to get a beefier tie rod without breaking the bank! Will post up a pic of the difference later on.

Nice!

Yeah, axleshafts are a PITA, but not the horrible technical job that they seem like they'd be. Just a hard spot to work in, is all.

Yea, not at all. I was more worried about pulling the carrier replacing the inner seals, but even that was not bad.

Yeah, Geoff was hesitant too about pulling out his carrier when we did his seals as well. I was the same way. It's honestly one of the last things I ever want to screw up.

Pics of the ZJ tie rod:








And look what Brown Santa dropped of today!!! No more messing around with axle u-joints for me!



Decided since I blew the u-joints and the yoke ears are a little wallowed out, I might as well upgrade, and while doing that just go all out... I think I'll be happy in the long run.

Ughh... So yesterday after work I take a ride to my parents house to install the RCV's, so I can use my dads air tools. Everything is going well. Ground down the knuckles, slid in the shafts, buttoned everything back up.

Now I go for a test ride and as soon as I'm trying to back out of the driveway, it feels as if I'm locked up front, but I'm in 2wd so theres no reason it should be. After some research. I'm lead to believe when I pulled the carrier last weekend to replace the inner axles seals, I fubbar'd the install of the locker and the plunger in stuck letting the locker stayed locked, but since I had pulled my stock shafts as well (blew u-joints and waiting on RCV's) to drive, I hadn't noticed it.

So I ended up having to pull the RCV's so I could drive home and go to work today, since I ran out of daylight. And now I need to pull the carrier again and make sure I get the locker actuator set up properly and reinstall the RCV's again...

At least I'm getting quick with pulling axle shafts now, haha. Rant over.

Jeep is no longer the daily driver! Just was handed the keys to a company F150, which I'll be driving for work and long trips that I don't want to take the Jeep on, as they pay for all gas...

But I can't pass up driving the Jeep after work/ weekends when we have a nice day. And now I wont have to worry as much about any down time with it, if I need to make any repairs after taking it offroad!

Awesome rubi!

AngryTJ wrote:Awesome rubi!

Thanks man, appreciate it.

Figured out the front locker, with help from a bit of searching on JF, and that it happens often when reinstalling the Rubi carrier back in.

Didn't take too much time, just had to pull the carrier again, and make sure the sensor/plunger in the housing was on the correct side of the actuator plate.

Once that was all back in place, I put the RCV's back in again and too for a spin. Back to normal! And now I got some BA axle shafts to test out soon!

Plasti Dipped the grille, to change up the look a bit. At least if I get sick of it, I can just peel it off.

B-day $$ bought me a winch!

9k Engo w/ cable. Wanted to get a winch on the cheaper side, so when I decide I want synthetic, I'll just replace it. But this will do the job. Paired up with a Smittybilt raised winch plate. Also have some RE 3/4" spacers to make up for the weight.









And all packed up, spare tire on top the Tuffy box for some night wheelin' tomorrow night, with WM4x4 at Gremlin Graveyard. Will try to get some pics, not sure how they will turn out...