So it begins...

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Tue May 05, 2009 8:39 am

I bought a 2008 2 door soft top Rubicon with a 6 speed almost 1 year ago to the day. When I bought it I promised myself I'd leave it stock for at least a year (except for some small stuff). I installed some heated seats and put some soft half doors on. But now my year is up, so it's time!

I'm ordering parts now. Things being ordered this week are...

Teraflex 3" lift kit with full flex arms
OME long travel shocks
Teraflex front track bar
Teraflex rear track bar
BFG 35"x12.50"x17" MT KM2 Tires
Eagle Alloy 140 Series 17x8 wheels
Rugged Ridge Front winch bumper
Rugged Ridge rear bumper with tire carrier
Superchips flashpaq programmer

Here she is stock. Hopefully in a couple weeks she'll be a completely different beast.

elephantrider · **Posted:** Tue May 05, 2009 8:45 am

looks good dood ! love the rubis..

JeepBumm68 · **Posted:** Tue May 05, 2009 8:50 am

looks good bro. you need to post some pics up when your done. hey also if you want alot of help and info on the jk go to rubiconownersforum

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Wed May 06, 2009 7:04 pm

Pics and tech info on all the work you do to it Please!?

Looks like a sweet LOST JEEP!

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Wed May 06, 2009 11:10 pm

Everything but the wheels and tires have been ordered. The guys at northridge4x4.com rock! They not only had all the lift components and superchips flashpaq in stock, he really cut me a great deal. The front bumper is back ordered everywhere. I ordered mine from www.jeephut.com who said they have a shipment coming in on the 12th. The rear bumper was in stock at www.4wd.com and that shipped out today. The tire carrier was back ordered and they said that would come to them on the 15th. www.4wd.com was also great. I mentioned that quadratec had a slightly better price on the bumper and they fell all over themselves discounting everything in my order to "screw quadra-junk". :lol:

I still have to figure out what I'm doing for wheels. I found this wrangler unlimited and I think I like this look. Mine is also black albeit a 2 door. So I'm thinking about these wheels.

I ran the numbers on the gears and with 35s and 4.10s I'll still be slightly better than the 3.73s and 32" tires the other wranglers come with. So it should be liveable until my budget recovers to drop some 4.56s or 4.88s in.

JeepBumm68 · **Posted:** Wed May 06, 2009 11:29 pm

Great buy and choices man

Also ya i have dealt with Dave at northridge4x4 for a while. He is an awesome guy

you should head over to ROF rubiconownersforum and check in their. Alot of Tech tips for TJ and JK owners. You well learn tons there.

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Mon May 11, 2009 10:23 pm

I ordered my wheels and tires today from discounttiredirect.com. I went with liquid metal gatlin wheels wrapped in 35x12.50x17 BFG KM2 Mud Terrain tires.

My lift should be here tomorrow or wednesday!

Here are the wheels

Here's another JK running this wheel and tire combo (although these are 18s and I went with 17s)...

callaway · **Posted:** Mon May 11, 2009 10:53 pm

Those are mean looking rims :twisted:

what is the whole wheel package costing you?

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Tue May 12, 2009 12:18 am

5 wheels, 5 tires, 5 TPMS sensors, black locking lug nuts, mounted, balanced and delivered to my door $2195. There is a $70 rebate on BFG's so that'll knock another $70 off.

I just got an email with a tracking number. They'll be here tomorrow! That's unbelievable considering i ordered them today!

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Tue May 12, 2009 1:07 pm

Wheels and tires just showed up. Shocks (OME long travel) just showed up as well. The lift should be here tomorrow. I'm thinking about tackling installing the lift this weekend. I'm still waiting on the bumpers (the back door is too weak to hold the spare) and I'm in the middle of redoing my bathroom (laying slate floors right now) so it might get pushed back a week. I actually got all the parts a lot quicker than I expected.

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Tue May 12, 2009 4:11 pm

I unpacked one of the tires and set it up just to see how she's going to look. Obviously no lift yet (it should be here tomorrow).

[/img]

2006 KJ · **Posted:** Tue May 12, 2009 6:00 pm

sweeeeeet

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Tue May 12, 2009 6:09 pm

those 35's will look great on the Jeep.

jeepmedic · **Posted:** Fri May 15, 2009 1:01 pm

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Fri May 15, 2009 6:31 pm

I started installing the lift today. It's a lot of work since I'm replacing all the control arms and the trackbars. I got the rear almost completely done and it started raining :evil:

After coming in from the rain I realized I made a mistake on the sway bar links so I'll have to pull those back off tomorrow and remount them. Then I just have to get the weight back on the wheels and torque everything up and then start tacking the front.

The teraflex kit seems to be top notch. The control arms and trackbars are SERIOUSLY beefy. Pictures cannot do them justice. Besides just being time consuming the install is going very smoothly.

I figure another 8 hours in the garage tomorrow and it should hopefully be done!

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 9:32 am

Well I underestimated the amount of work! Saturday was tough because it rained most of the day so I only got about 5 hours of work in. Sunday I had a lot of errands to run so I got about 6 hours in. Hopefully today after work I can get another 3 or 4 hours in on it.

The rear is done although I'll probably have to mess with the control arm and track bar lengths once I'm able to drive it. The front is probably 90% done. The kit came with quick disconnects but I already have an e-disconnect on the rubicon so I have to track down some grade 8 bolts today on lunch. I have to bolt up the sway bar links, bleed the front brakes, secure the new brake lines and wiring, put weight on the axles and torque all the fasteners and jam nuts. Once that's done I can get it on the tires and make final adjustments to all 10 control arms and trackbars to set pinion angles and caster. I'll also probably have to recenter the steering wheel as well

When all is said and done I'll probably have 25+ hours into it.

Tomorrow is shot as I have something I have to attend. Hopefully I'll have some pictures by wednesday.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 9:39 am

25 hours to do the lift....wow,
must be a lot more involved than any CJ/TJ/XJ/KJ/F150/etc etc that I ever did.
Didn't realize it would take that long :shock:

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 2:30 pm

tommudd wrote:

25 hours to do the lift....wow,
must be a lot more involved than any CJ/TJ/XJ/KJ/F150/etc etc that I ever did.
Didn't realize it would take that long :shock:

That or I'm just slow :lol:

I had 4 shocks, 4 springs, 8 adjustable control arms, 2 adjustable trackbars, 4 sway bar links to install. Then throw in new brake lines, bleeding the brakes, new trackbar bracket, greasing zerks, etc. I only use basic hand tools (no impacts or air wrenches).

The time consumer is all the adjustable arms and trackbars. They get put on and then I don't like the lengths and I pull them off and adjust them and back on they go. Then multiply that times the 10 adjustables (8 arms and 2 track bars) and it's not surprising it was 25 hours.

That 25 hours also includes alignment which I'll do myself and most guys farm out to a shop.

I just talked to another guy who did the same lift and he said he had 18 hours into it without doing the alignment.

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 3:11 pm

detroit_doc wrote:

tommudd wrote:

25 hours to do the lift....wow,
must be a lot more involved than any CJ/TJ/XJ/KJ/F150/etc etc that I ever did.
Didn't realize it would take that long :shock:

That or I'm just slow :lol:

I had 4 shocks, 4 springs, 8 adjustable control arms, 2 adjustable trackbars, 4 sway bar links to install. Then throw in new brake lines, bleeding the brakes, new trackbar bracket, greasing zerks, etc. I only use basic hand tools (no impacts or air wrenches).

The time consumer is all the adjustable arms and trackbars. They get put on and then I don't like the lengths and I pull them off and adjust them and back on they go. Then multiply that times the 10 adjustables (8 arms and 2 track bars) and it's not surprising it was 25 hours.

That 25 hours also includes alignment which I'll do myself and most guys farm out to a shop.

I just talked to another guy who did the same lift and he said he had 18 hours into it without doing the alignment.

Yes adjusting the arms takes a while sometimes, by then I am ready for a stiff drink! :wink:

I don't use air or power tools either, thats why I have a near perfect well built body! :lol:

Ok Comedy Hour is over :wink:

Good luck and waiting on pictures.
I tried to deal with 3 dealerships over the weekend, none are willing to meet my price yet on a 4 door!

detroit_doc · **Posted:** Mon May 18, 2009 9:20 pm

Well tonight I got the front finished up and the wheels and tires on. I took it for a quick spin around the block but the steering wheel was off center and causing the ESP to fire. So I didn't get to drive it much. I need to straighten out the steering wheel and lengthen the lower control arms to dial in some more caster. I measured it after I went around the block and I've only got about 1 degree.

I'm still waiting on the bumpers and tire carrier. That's the stock spare still on there. But I'm getting close.

New shoes...

And here it is next to the renegade for size reference.

So it begins...

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