Bills MOAB Edition Jeep build

Bill I don't want to come off as rude, but I think you need to relax! The numbers on that chart are great. The measurements of the C/As are done to the specs from Rock Krawler. If the Jeep drives straight, tracks well on the highway, isn't all over the place, and feels normal or even BETTER than stock, you've got nothing to worry about.

Seems to me like you're looking for a problem to throw money at, when there isn't one there.

Not every alignment sheet ends up perfect. But the Jeep would/will tell you if anything is wrong with it, moreso than a computer readout will.

I was pretty satisfied with the printout. My cousin nitpicked it which I expected. Others have brought up questions and with my lack of knowledge it concerns me is all. I am not trying to sound like a whiney b*$%ch. It drives great. Especially now with the front end aligned. I will just chill for now. I can have Town Fair check the align next time I bring it in for a rotation. I will be vigilant for a few days to make sure nothing feels out of place.

dongalonga wrote:I'm guessing with the crew you had they checked the pinion angle correct?

Also, what did you do for exhaust clearance on the front driveshaft?

With the extra length on the 4-door, these don't usually end up being problems, correct?

Supposedly I do not need to worry about drive shaft issues until going 3" to 3.5" or more. The front would be the first to see issues. I hope that's what you guys are talking about when discussing pinion?

nsjbill wrote: I hope that's what you guys are talking about when discussing pinion?

The pinion is the area on the axle housing where the driveshaft connects. The angle of it is relevant to your upper control arms, lower control arms, and driveshaft. At 2.5" you should have no problems whatsoever. You would become aware of problems by feeling a vibration/shimmy while driving, usually between 20-35mph, and 55-65mph. This shouldn't be a problem with your model because (as Geoff mentioned above) the length of your driveshafts. Their length allows the angle to the pinion to be less drastic, and therefore have an easier relationship at high RPMs with the axle and u-joints they share.

Also, it's historically been more of a problem on previous model jeeps because:

a) They had shorter wheelbases and therefore shorter/steeper driveshaft angles to start with

b) They used u-joints at the pinion, whereas the JK uses a constant-velocity joint, meaning it deals better with angles (up until a certain point).

Ignore everything i asked. He is good to go because its a 4 door. I'm not sure why I thought it was a 2 door.

Bill
Here is one to ease your mind. I have a Tundra and did a 3 inch front lift on it I only had to align the front end and it works fine as it has CV joints like your JK.
On the other hand my TJ with the 2.5 inch lift needs a transfer case lowering real bad as Ryan stated in a previous post I have the drive line vibration at 20 to 35 and 55 to 65 not nice. Those pesky pinion angles!. I feel it more at 20 to 35 so I have the drop down kit just need to install it. Any volunteers?
It will take a bit to get use to the handling of the lift but not too long. Just think of it as a new vehicle and you should be fine.
IF you go with the 35's realign it again. That is what I'm going to do when I get my 32's for the TJ.

George, I will volunteer if you need a hand but I am inexperienced as you know. I think I have set aside this Saturday to do my CB project but we can combine them perhaps? Up to you. Not sure when you wanted to get the drop down kit installed.

The project for this weekend is installing the CB in anticipation of GTD. Here is what I have so far:

Cobra 75WX ST
3' Firefly Firestick antenna
Rugged Ridge JK spare tire antenna mount
18' coax cable
Firestick antenna spring
Firestick connection stud
12 gauge wire for battery and grounds
in-line fuse for power wire

That's about it so far I think. Will most likely install the Cobra's head piece in the center console.

Sweet! I just got the shipping notice for my winch plate. That should be delivered Monday! I am not sure if I will have time to install the winch before GTD though. I am going to aim for the Friday before!

Smittybilt XRC-8 Pro
AEV Custom Winch Plate and Fairlead Roller

So the CB antenna is in. The remote box for the Cobra 75 is located behind my glove box, easily accessible if need be. The coax was run from the back tire carrier up behind there. The CB itself is powered by a wire to the battery and the ground is as well. The antenna mount is grounded to on the JK itself.

I definitely need some tuning but I was able to hear stuff on channel 9. The rest were a no go. The weather NOAA did work alright. I will do my best to get there early Saturday so I can get 'er tuned in. Hopefully my setup will be sufficient for the trails!

I'd be interested to know what you heard on Ch.9, as that's usually reserved for emergency communications with Police and LEO/safety organizations.

Glad to hear you got it installed!

Got my winch plate today yay! I am going to try my hardest to get installed Friday after work. I will need to take off the skid plate, bumper, grill and then install the plate and put stuff back together. It should be interesting. I may not attempt it Friday since I would be dealing with the bumper solo and I really do not predict myself needing it on any trail runs at GTD.

Oh I also picked up a Q Industries MV50 Superflow tire/air compressor! That came in as well.

Couple of pics of the CB antenna installed.

Antenna mounted to tire carrier:


Close-up of antenna:

BREAKER BREAKER !! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW ?

Lol. I am sure it is all screwed up but we definitely did a meticulous job of cabling and such. I just hope it works! Now I need a call sign...

nsjbill wrote:Lol. I am sure it is all screwed up but we definitely did a meticulous job of cabling and such. I just hope it works! Now I need a call sign...

Bill try Dark Shadow for a CB handle. I personally like that one but you already know mine. WB.
George

Bill, The MOAB looks great with the lift. Can't wait to check it out in person on Saturday.

Thanks! Yea I am pretty happy with it. I was worried the 33" tires wouldn't fit well but they look good. 35" can wait yahoo!

So I went over George's (WhiteBuffalo) and we tuned in my antenna. Well, that was the plan at least. It turned out it was pretty spot on already! On ch40 the meter read 1.2 and on ch1 it was 1.1. Not too shabby for a newbie I guess! Thanks WB!

nsjbill wrote:So I went over George's (WhiteBuffalo) and we tuned in my antenna. Well, that was the plan at least. It turned out it was pretty spot on already! On ch40 the meter read 1.2 and on ch1 it was 1.1. Not too shabby for a newbie I guess! Thanks WB!

I never saw a CB tune in that perfectly before. I toyed with mine and my antenna is pre-tuned and I still had to tune mine with my 3 footer. My 5 footer tuned just right but Bill's numbers of 1.1 on Channel 1 and 1.2 on channel 40 and 1.15 on channel 19 couldn't get any better than that and I've been tuning CB's since 1974.
Glad everything worked out OK for you bill and besides that The Lift looks fantastic.
See you at GTD!

Nice! Hopefully mine's not too bad either. It's pre tuned but we'll see how well that works out haha.

Have been thinking of adding a skid plate to protect the oil pan. It is definitely in need if I want to do anything offroad more serious than a bumpy trail. Does anyone have experience with Rock Hard plates? I am looking into this specifically:

Rock Hard JK Wrangler Oil Pan, Transmission & Dual Catalytic Converter Skid Plate

Seems a bit expensive to make a bad decision on.
Someone out there with a jk must have something to compare it to.
Ultimately it is up to you but look around for a bit first as there is alot of stuff out there for JKs.