I remember seeing that lone Jeep section on this forum, so I thought I would share with you all what I have done with my 2 door Rubicon, to give you some variety.

When the JK first came out I had a 2004 TJ that was very well equipped. It had Currie axles, 4.88 gears, Detroit lockers, 6" suspension lift with long arms and coilover shocks, and 37" tires. It was my fifth TJ, and it worked very well off road, although it was not the most pleasant vehicle in the world to drive on road. I have always been able to build great off road performing Jeeps, but when I look back over the years, and analyse why I sell them, it is because I get tired of their lack of power and poor handling on road. I wanted to focus more on performance and handling if I bought a new vehicle, and less on pure capability. I didn't want another vehicle that followed the "bigger is better" philosophy, with 37" or bigger tires. I wanted a vehicle that would be great to drive every day, but still be capable enough to make it through most anything I might encounter while exploring the backcountry.

I looked around at every vehicle I could think of, trying to find the best base vehicle to set up for back country exploring. I had owned a 2009 Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4x4, and had used it for much more serious four wheeling than it was ever intended for. I looked at Toyota FJ Cruiser's, Toyota Tacoma's, Ford Ranger's, the Ford SVT Raptor, Chevy Colorado's, and even a Land Rover. The Jeep JK has a few minor shortcomings, but all of its shortcomings can be addressed, unlike the shortcomings of the other vehicles. The Rubicon was the best choice for me.

The two biggest weaknesses with the JK Wrangler are: 1) Pretty much the whole front axle was under engineered; the tubes are weak and can bend or even break, the c-gussets bend, and the axle shafts break easier than they should. The axle shafts themselves are fine, but the axle u-joints have a half circle style c-clip that keeps the u-joint cap on. The half circle clips tend to come off, which lets the cap come off the joint, then the joint binds in the axle and breaks the ears off the axle shaft. The ball joints also fail very easily, commonly failing within a few thousand miles. 2) The steering box is also under engineered, and even a stock JK can break the sector shaft.

Here is what I did to make my Rubicon work a little better.

Teraflex Elite LCG 2.5" long arm suspension
Dynatrac Pro Rock 44 front axle w/ Motive Gear chromolly shafts
5.38 gears
Tom Woods driveshafts
35" Goodyear MT/Rs
Rock Hard 4x4 Parts front bumper w/ Warn M8000
Expedition One rear bumper

By purchasing the chromolly axle shafts I now have the stock axle shafts that can be used for spares if I ever have an axle shaft problem on the trail. I have also obtained an OEM steering box and power steering pump from a friend that upgraded his JK's steering with a PSC hydraulic ram assist, so I have spare parts for the steering.


Here is the 2 door Rubicon we started with.


I had Impulse Off Road, in St. George, UT do the installation work for me. Everything was done with great attention to detail. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. Here are a few pictures from the build.

New suspension brackets welded on.


JB Conversions rear spring perches.


Checking the contact pattern on the new 5.38 gears.

 

Here is the front suspension nearing completion. This is at ride height with the weight of the vehicle on the suspension. Notice that the axle is right in the center of the "C" formed by the upper and lower control arms -- perfect suspension geometry.


Making sure the rear bump stop bottoms out before the shock bottoms out.


Completed rear suspension.


Completed front axle / suspension.


And here is the finished product.


After the first two thousand miles I'm completely satisfied. This Jeep is a lot of fun to drive, and is the best handling, best suspended Jeep I've ever owned. Thanks for listening.

MOPWR2U

 

Nice jeep man!!!