That Jeep Project Is Starting to Unfold

[TJGladeRaider]

I am making progress on that Rubicon Project vehicle, but those of you who recall the fantastic job Pug did showing how the Jeep would look with those American Racing Teflon Mojave Wheels will note that I didn't use them -- if Pugs pics had wobbled as bad as those wheels did, I would never have bought them.

As an aside, that's an interesting story. I bought the Teflon Mojave wheels thru an authorized American Racing dealer on EBAY - and I am sure he must have been as the wheels were sent direct from American Racing. Since it is a Jeep where the spare is on the back, like most Jeepers, I wanted them all to look the same so I bought five wheels, and since these are a very unique looking wheel with this Teflon finish, I bought six so I would have an extra one if something happened - offroad excursions tend to be hard on wheels and if that Teflon scraped off, it would look nasty.

I took them to a shop I have done biz with for twenty years to mount my tires and balance them - $130 later, the Jeep looked exactly as Pug's pics, but had a terrible shimmy between about 42-50MPH. By this time, I had invested an entire day in this project with packing up wheels, tires, delivering them all to the tire dealer in my Suburban, picking up the finished set of five, installing them on my Jeep and test driving it.

Back to Shop#1 (I guess that's a clue that this is gonna be a story!) to re-balance them. The guy said he would rebalanced them and put the wheels with the least weight in the front - later that day, he called me to come get my Jeep that was "much better."

[censored]. With your hands on the steering wheel at 45MPH, you could not possibly read your watch with your arms shaking so bad. Even more BS, when I crawled under the Jeep, the wheel with the MOST weight was on the right front, and it had nearly a pound of lead. I switched it for the spare but the end result was no better.

Being self employed, I can't spend all day every day driving to Marco Island (where Shop #1 is) so I remounted my prior set of wheels and tires (also large oversize tires so not the problem) and delivered the Mojave/Tire combinations to another shop close by. My plan was to make Shop#1 reimburse me for my expenses at Shop#2. I told the owner about my trouble and he took me out to his shop so we could balance them together - I ran a machine shop many years ago so I know a little about mechanical issues.

The first few wheels/tires were all off, but close enough. When we hit wheel four, I realized for certain that Shop#1 must hire the handicapped. That clown must have been blind as the wobble was apparent to anyone standing near the machine. We took the wheel/tire assembly off the cone and re-set it just in case something had gotten cocked out of whack -- same thing. That wheel was badly out of round.

No problemo -- good thing I got six. Went home and returned with wheel six, new in the box with protective rings just like the others and, bummer . . . it was even worse.

I contacted the guy I bought them thru and he was shocked. He said, "That just doesn't happen with American Racing wheels." Now, one might expect that from him, but the owner of Shop#2 does not sell American Racing wheels, and he had said precisely the same thing. As far as that goes, I have had good experiences with them too.

Later that day, he called me back and reported that the fine folks at American Racing blamed the balancing machines. Specifically, they said these wheels were "lug centric" rather than "hole centric" so they must be balanced on a machine that puts the wheels/tires on a "finger device" that simulates the lugs rather than the cone that centers the wheel by the center hole.

"OK, fine boss." I'm an easy going kind of guy, but I couldn't help wondering why American Racing would not include a note with these wheels if they required some kind of VooDoo to balance. Essentially, they are telling me that the $130 I spent was destined to be wasted from the get-go. Still, I am not in the wheel/tire biz, so what do I know, I did a quick Google while we talked and sure enough, there is such a thing as a "lug centric" wheel.

I called Shop #1, and they said - "Huh?" Tires and wheels is what they do - for twenty years that I know of - and they were an American racing distributor because they still have an American racing display. They had no idea what these people were talking about.

I called Shop #2, and they said - "Sounds like BS to me." They are also a wheel and tire shop in biz for a long time.

So I called Tire Kingdom - I know the manager there and recently bought new tires for about the tenth vehicle from them, so I figured I'd get the straight scoop. They had no idea what American racing was telling me either, and like she said, they could do a sign like McDonalds and tic off how many million sold.

So, one thing is for damn sure. Either American Racing is completely full of crap, blowing smoke up my patootie rather than honor their warranty, OR they are irresponsibly selling perfectly good wheels that their customers will not possibly get properly balanced without jumping thru hoops they don't warn them about. I know what I think, but that's all I can say for sure.

Anyway, back to the Jeep I have been talking about on here.

It's coming along pretty good. When I bought it a couple of months ago, I had the dealer send it out for their leather conversion. They have a company that does this when they have a new vehicle that came with cloth and the customer wants leather - they had it done for me on one of my prior Suburbans years ago, and the seats looked better thyan factory and wore better too.

I also bought the same overhead console that I have used in every Jeep I have ever built - the one by Tuffy Security Products. I get bent over things that don't fit, screws that don't line up . . . you know how that goes. Their stuff has no such issues and never has had.

I installed a suitably tweaked and tuned Cobra 29 CB in the box, and mated it to the venerable K-40 that will handle about 6000 watts of juice. Those who know radios know I am not kidding when I say I run mine barefoot (no juice) because you cannot run a tweaked and tuned radio with a Texas Star. The CB must be detuned first or it will burn the linear up.

I have nothing against the hi-power cowboys, I just don't need it and a 1000 watt linear requires a LOT of juice (remember the Amps = watts/volts formula from high school) and I don't want anything drawing 80+ amps that I don't need, especially since I have been known to put the Jeep snorkel to good use and putting that kind of juice underwater could give you a permanent erection (if you're lucky).

This is a pic of my previous Jeep when my son and I used to go mudding in the Glades.

As for the outside of the Jeep, my first call when I get a new Jeep is to Ron Garvin - Garvin Industries. I have gotten to know him over the years, and I always call him to see if any of the specs have changed - everyone has a right to make changes, but I don't want to order a rack from him and $1000 worth of lights from someone else and then find out they won't fit due to some production change.

The rack systems, tire carriers and rear bumper assemblies have not changed; the only new thing was they now make a side step/nerf bar combination that was not available before. I got all the part numbers and went back to my Jeep dealer - they can buy anything for a lot less than we can, and shipping is MUCH cheaper for them too. Bob Taylor Jeep takes very good care of me, and they have since I bought my first vehicle from them ages ago.

I suspect that the people at Garvin are as anal as I am. Their stuff comes packed like they expect it to be run over by the truck that carries it, the hardware for each step is individually bagged and labeled, the instructions are perfectly understandable by a child of twelve (or nine) - when I do this write up on my web site I'll be including the pics of the kids outting everything together. Did I mention that the hardware for each step is individually bagged and labeled . . . The kids were able to handle this just fine, but I'd love to see anyone try and assemble this entire package if it was not bagged and tagged the way they do.

Underneath, I have tried lots of things from the extended shackle sets we made in the old days, thru the various suspension sets offered by virtually everyone under the sun these days. On the TJ Jeeps, I use the Rancho Rock Crawler 6505 kit with 9000 series shocks. Jeeps ride better with this kit than they do stock, it lifts the Jeep significantly (they say 2.5 inches which happens to be my dealer's limit for warranty so I ain't sayin nuthin else) so I can add up to 35" shoes with no rubbing. My dealer's limit is 33" on the Rubicon (which comes with 31's) but some dealers try very hard to blame anything they can on any mods you make - I read on a Jeep forum that a dealer tried to bail on an AC problem due to a lift kit.

What can mutts like that be thinking. With the internet and these groups, screwing someone like that gets out and it has got to cost them more than they could hope to save.

Anyway, back to the Project. Another mod I have come to love is the Safari Snorkel marketed by ARB.

Cutting that huge hole in the fender is enough to rattle anyone's nerves - can you imagine cutting a 3 inch hole in a brand new fender and finding out you measured wrong?! What a bummer that would be.

Installation is easy enough, and they really do work every bit as well as advertised (unlike the really popular open filter under hood mod). Y'Know, things haven't changed a bit in the 30+ years I have been doing things like this - clowns are still selling whatever they can make sound good, and they are selling this trash mostly to young people who cannot afford to be buying garbage, but believe what they read.

Have you seen the ad where they have this enormous, open filter sitting in the engine compartment touting lack of "restriction?" "Yo Dude, lemme hold your head against this engine, lower the hood on you and let you enjoy all that free breathing!" The operative word is "COOL" and every engine in the world benefits by using "COOLER" air, hence the factory design (that also helps when driving thru water). It's so incredibly hot under the hood of modern engines with their higher op temps that drawing intake air from there is just plain ridiculous.

The snorkel is still the best way to go in my view - it doesn't get any cooler than that.

I think it's a pretty cool ride for a cranky old fart like me, and the kids love this stuff!

Bill

[Pugwash]

Excellent story, shame about those smart-looking wheels

I installed a suitably tweaked and tuned Cobra 29 CB in the box, and mated it to the venerable K-40 that will handle about 6000 watts of juice. Those who know radios know I am not kidding when I say I run mine barefoot (no juice) because you cannot run a tweaked and tuned radio with a Texas Star. The CB must be detuned first or it will burn the linear up.

Is your burner expecting the standard 4 watts coming out of the back of your Cobra? I remember as a kid back in the 80s slapping "1969 Power Transistors" in Cobras and Rotels to take them from the legal UK limit of 4 watts up to 12-20 watts. Is this still common practice?

[TJGladeRaider]

Excellent story, shame about those smart-looking wheels

Is your burner expecting the standard 4 watts coming out of the back of your Cobra? I remember as a kid back in the 80s slapping "1969 Power Transistors" in Cobras and Rotels to take them from the legal UK limit of 4 watts up to 12-20 watts. Is this still common practice?

Odd, I just replied and it disappeared.

Anyway - yep, that seems to be the trick. Mine dead keys 5 watts and modulates to 20.

I'd like to see Galaxy or one of their competitors build a hi-power "export only" radio that fits a DIN case, but they won't fit in my overhead console the way they are made now. Some of those things have some serious juice as they come.

Bill

[eddhead]

Wow Bill I do not know much about what you posted, but that is a hot looking jeep, and the pics (especially of you and your son 'mudding') are terrific. Let us know how you do with American Racer.

[Pugwash]

Wow Bill I do not know much about what you posted,

Basically, it's my fault.

Actually, looking at my pictures, I bet you didn't install them like I suggested:

See how mine are pictured installed off-centre?

:Jumpy: :Jumpy:

[ubiquitous]

Bill-

If the wheels are lug centric, I believe you need a certain lug nut for those. If I recall correct, it's a conical shaped lug, vs. the sperical shaped (where the lug seats to the wheel). I'm used to dealing mostly with hub centric wheels, so I am not 100% sure on the lug shape...

Did AR not send you any lug nuts with the wheels?

[millwright]

Bill-

If the wheels are lug centric, I believe you need a certain lug nut for those. If I recall correct, it's a conical shaped lug, vs. the sperical shaped (where the lug seats to the wheel). I'm used to dealing mostly with hub centric wheels, so I am not 100% sure on the lug shape...

Did AR not send you any lug nuts with the wheels?

Ubiquitous is correct.

You're supposed to use a conical lugnut for these wheels.

I know, b/c I had the same problem with my AR Teflon Mojaves on my LC.

That, and you really need to have bigger tires Road-Force balanced, instead of the traditional way.

I always had that problem with 37" and larger Goodyear MT/R's AND IROK's (radials, not bias ply).

FORGET balancing ANYTHING with the words Interco, bias ply, or Super Swamper on it... although some Equal (the tire stuff, not the sugar) can help.

On a side note, might want to turn the snorkel head around and point it at your windshield.

TRUST me on this one... you still get plenty of air and don't believe that "ram air " BS that you hear.

Otherwise a branch will snag your snorkel one day and best case will just break the grill... worst case it'll rip the snorkel off your rig.

Good looking Rubi though.

Time to do some axle upgrades and make it a TRUE Dana 44 F/R. I'd also go w/ either an ARB or a Trail Ready bumper.

[sailboat641]

I think you might also want to check if there is a special adapter/spacer needed for your Jeep. If they are not settling on the correct angle, no matter how you balance/align your wheels your gonna get a shimmy.

[Pugwash]

TRUST me on this one... you still get plenty of air and don't believe that "ram air " BS that you hear.

Nice advice.

[TJGladeRaider]

Basically, it's my fault.

Actually, looking at my pictures, I bet you didn't install them like I suggested:

See how mine are pictured installed off-centre?

:Jumpy: :Jumpy:

OMG -- and I only used half as many lug nuts too!

LOL

Bill

[TJGladeRaider]

Bill-

If the wheels are lug centric, I believe you need a certain lug nut for those. If I recall correct, it's a conical shaped lug, vs. the sperical shaped (where the lug seats to the wheel). I'm used to dealing mostly with hub centric wheels, so I am not 100% sure on the lug shape...

Did AR not send you any lug nuts with the wheels?

Yep, and I used them - but they were identical to the factory lug nuts.

The deal is, American Racing says you cannot put these wheels on a spin balancer without some special gizmo that nobody I could find ever heard of. To me, it's just BS - but that's what comes of buying these things on the net.

Bill

[TJGladeRaider]

Ubiquitous is correct.

You're supposed to use a conical lugnut for these wheels.

I know, b/c I had the same problem with my AR Teflon Mojaves on my LC.

That, and you really need to have bigger tires Road-Force balanced, instead of the traditional way.

I always had that problem with 37" and larger Goodyear MT/R's AND IROK's (radials, not bias ply).

FORGET balancing ANYTHING with the words Interco, bias ply, or Super Swamper on it... although some Equal (the tire stuff, not the sugar) can help.

On a side note, might want to turn the snorkel head around and point it at your windshield.

TRUST me on this one... you still get plenty of air and don't believe that "ram air " BS that you hear.

Otherwise a branch will snag your snorkel one day and best case will just break the grill... worst case it'll rip the snorkel off your rig.

Good looking Rubi though.

Time to do some axle upgrades and make it a TRUE Dana 44 F/R. I'd also go w/ either an ARB or a Trail Ready bumper.

Ahhhhhhhhh -- I knew there'd be some serious Jeepers amongst us.

You ran 37's on a LC? That must have looked pretty sharp. I'd like to use 37's on this but I don't think they'd fit without further mods.

I know all about the snorkels - I have used them on all my Jeeps and you're quite right about turning them around if brush busting with them - or driving across Aligator Alley in the Summer. That is a bug vacuum system when the bugs are out in force. The K&N oiled filter is a nice thing to have. It's a great way to pipe cool air into the engine compartment, and they sure do work when the water gets deep.

Now that they upgraded the joints, I am not so concerned about the Dana 44 issues - I know what I have put mine thru, and it isn't worth the expense of the upgrade, plus losing the 100K mile factory warranty for the difference. To me, that's the attraction of the Rubi - factory parts and warranty.My dealer installs serious mods on Jeeps and honors the warranty unless it is something ridiculous.

I am shopping the ARB Bar/9.5ti combination now. I wouldn't buy a thing from TR - too many horror stories. They make a massive tough bumper, but their fit and quality control issues are as legendary as their lack of customer service.

You ever use synthetic winch rope? The idea of knocking 60 pounds of weight off the front of a TJ appeals to me.

I am also considering the Kenne Bell Supercharger. I'm not done researching it, but Kenne Bell has been doing superchargers forever and they are the ones that designed the Buick Grand National and GMC Cyclone. I can get it done as a dealer installed/warranteed option and that appeals to me.

You know anyone who has done one that way?

Bill

[millwright]

Ahhhhhhhhh -- I knew there'd be some serious Jeepers amongst us.

You ran 37's on a LC? That must have looked pretty sharp. I'd like to use 37's on this but I don't think they'd fit without further mods.

I know all about the snorkels - I have used them on all my Jeeps and you're quite right about turning them around if brush busting with them - or driving across Aligator Alley in the Summer. That is a bug vacuum system when the bugs are out in force. The K&N oiled filter is a nice thing to have. It's a great way to pipe cool air into the engine compartment, and they sure do work when the water gets deep.

Now that they upgraded the joints, I am not so concerned about the Dana 44 issues - I know what I have put mine thru, and it isn't worth the expense of the upgrade, plus losing the 100K mile factory warranty for the difference. To me, that's the attraction of the Rubi - factory parts and warranty.My dealer installs serious mods on Jeeps and honors the warranty unless it is something ridiculous.

I am shopping the ARB Bar/9.5ti combination now. I wouldn't buy a thing from TR - too many horror stories. They make a massive tough bumper, but their fit and quality control issues are as legendary as their lack of customer service.

You ever use synthetic winch rope? The idea of knocking 60 pounds of weight off the front of a TJ appeals to me.

I am also considering the Kenne Bell Supercharger. I'm not done researching it, but Kenne Bell has been doing superchargers forever and they are the ones that designed the Buick Grand National and GMC Cyclone. I can get it done as a dealer installed/warranteed option and that appeals to me.

You know anyone who has done one that way?

Bill

Put a KB on a Rubi last month. Impressive, but you really need to factor in the price of upgrading your fuel pump and injectors to take full advantage. The d-shafts and the axles also start to take more wear and abuse from the added torque.

I live about 10 miles from 5 different performance shops and I used to be a national competitor in rockcrawling competitions, so I've seen it all. I'll try and snap some pics of the Rubi that's getting the LS-1 408 motor put in. NASTY.

I ONLY use synthetic rope.... you can't beat it, even with my LC weighing in at close to 8k. Beats wire rope hands down, except for abrasion resistance.

Make sure you buy the protection sheath if you get it... it's worth it.

I've only seen good things from TR, but that's actually from their Road Armor division, and this was on Ford F-250's.

Since you're moggin' down that way, it seems that you aren't going to run into too many high-traction situations like I do when crawlin'.

Dual cases, 5.29's, and a 4-1 low range gear in both cases makes for a nasty crawl ratio... combine that w/ my TRD S/C on my 4.5 and it's pretty impressive.

FWIW, I am planning on tubbing the rear of my LC, and installing a small BL (I know, I know.. I HATE BL's) of about an inch to clear my 40" MT/R's sitting in the garage.

he he he

[TJGladeRaider]

Put a KB on a Rubi last month. Impressive, but you really need to factor in the price of upgrading your fuel pump and injectors to take full advantage. The d-shafts and the axles also start to take more wear and abuse from the added torque.

I live about 10 miles from 5 different performance shops and I used to be a national competitor in rockcrawling competitions, so I've seen it all. I'll try and snap some pics of the Rubi that's getting the LS-1 408 motor put in. NASTY.

I ONLY use synthetic rope.... you can't beat it, even with my LC weighing in at close to 8k. Beats wire rope hands down, except for abrasion resistance.

Make sure you buy the protection sheath if you get it... it's worth it.

I've only seen good things from TR, but that's actually from their Road Armor division, and this was on Ford F-250's.

Since you're moggin' down that way, it seems that you aren't going to run into too many high-traction situations like I do when crawlin'.

Dual cases, 5.29's, and a 4-1 low range gear in both cases makes for a nasty crawl ratio... combine that w/ my TRD S/C on my 4.5 and it's pretty impressive.

FWIW, I am planning on tubbing the rear of my LC, and installing a small BL (I know, I know.. I HATE BL's) of about an inch to clear my 40" MT/R's sitting in the garage.

he he he

A BL!!!! Arghhhhhhhhhh You cannot cure that with Penicillin

I'd sure love to see a Rubi with a 408 -- like the man says, you can never beat cubic inches.

Bad news from KB, I spoke with them at length today - there is no SC for a 2005 or 2006 TJ, there have been SERIOUS changes to the computer system for those years and the R&D would be financially prohibitive.

My ARB Bull Bar, Warn 9.5ti and Bushwacker Pocket Flares are on their way.

Which synthetic rope do you use - the warn, or that blue one? I just ordered 125' of 5/16 blue - I am assuming that I use the same length/diameter as the steel cable.

Bill

[millwright]

Which synthetic rope do you use - the warn, or that blue one? I just ordered 125' of 5/16 blue - I am assuming that I use the same length/diameter as the steel cable.

Bill

X-line from Off Road Only.

It has the HIGHEST temp. rating of any of the synthetic lines... and that's important b/c that's synthetic winch line's biggest weak point. Remember that when you're doing long pulls or pulls where you're REALLY stuck, the drum heats up... and FAST.

It's the best stuff out there.

MUCH better than Masterpull IMHO.

[KB]

Very interesting to see two serious jeepers at work, I haven't an f**king clue what you are talking about but it makes good reading

Ken

[millwright]

Very interesting to see two serious jeepers at work, I haven't an f**king clue what you are talking about but it makes good reading

Ken

My dream is to head to AU and drive through the Outback.

MAN... that'd be awesome!