2005 Rubicon; A Rubi Brother

[Mike_H]

I'm gonna see what it feels like when I'm properly geared, but when I move to the Pintlers and 33s, I currently plan on getting a 17" BMB kit in the front, just to be safe. I put this thing in 4LO and first gear the other night and I had to push the brake with all of my might to keep it from moving. The torque is insane and it'll be even more so with 5.13s.

Talk to Blaine before you buy the 17" bbk. That kit is designed for guys running 40's...he's mentioned before that with smallish tires its tough to keep the pads broken in on the 17" kit. The 33's won't generate enough heat and they'll glaze up. Just because you CAN fit the bigger kit, doesn't mean you should.

 

[starkey480]

Talk to Blaine before you buy the 17" bbk. That kit is designed for guys running 40's...he's mentioned before that with smallish tires its tough to keep the pads broken in on the 17" kit. The 33's won't generate enough heat and they'll glaze up. Just because you CAN fit the bigger kit, doesn't mean you should.

Was about to say the same. The 16” kit stops my 35s very easily. The 15/16” kit will have more than enough stoppy

 

[Jamison C]

Talk to Blaine before you buy the 17" bbk. That kit is designed for guys running 40's...he's mentioned before that with smallish tires its tough to keep the pads broken in on the 17" kit. The 33's won't generate enough heat and they'll glaze up. Just because you CAN fit the bigger kit, doesn't mean you should.

Was about to say the same. The 16” kit stops my 35s very easily. The 15/16” kit will more than enough stoppy

Good to know gentlemen. Thank you for directing me on where I should spend my money!

Also, I'm gonna use the word "stoppy" in my message to him. "My Jeep needs more stoppy." Or "MARK CANTRELL SUCKS" for my BMB certified Hello Kitty stickers.

 

[Jamison C]

And speaking of Mark at @Wranglerfix , I gave him a shoutout in the general discussion but forgot to mention him here.

My donor stuff did not come from a Rubicon and therefore my PCM did not have any of the Rubicon goodies programmed. I reached out to Mark and he assured me he could program the donor PCM for a Rubicon with my VIN. This was such a better option than having to buy a new one. Turnaround was quick and the PCM runs everything flawlessly. I won't disclose pricing because it varies from project to project, but what we agreed on was more than fair.

So thank you Mark for being a stand up guy and honest vendor! Your help was a vital step in the process of my project!

 

[Jamison C]

Well guys, I took the Jeep on it's first outing yesterday and it performed optimally. Some photos from said trip.

The trucks belong to my two younger brothers. They've spent the last few years off-roading with me and decided they wanted 4x4s of their own, so I will forgive them for owning trucks. It was a lot of fun getting to wheel around with them. I got to teach them tips on how to use their transfer cases and select gears, and how to pick optimal lines for the various washes we crossed. At
one point we got to a gnarly rock ledge and they were laughing at me saying "do it!" and I asked them "seriously?" Of course they laughed and said they were kidding, and then I laughed and did it while their eyes bugged out of their heads. Rubicon FTW.

We went up a cool little canyon that split off to two separate mesas. We took the southern mesa and caught a storm rolling through the valley.

As for the Jeep, everything performed flawlessly. I was able to shift through 1-2-D through the whole trip in 4L, and the transmission responded effortlessly and smoothly. Not trying to work a clutch or slamming through gears manually made this outing so much more enjoyable and reaffirms my decision to do this transmission swap. I should be running 4.88 gears at minimum, and even with the 4.10s my low range was ridiculous. I'm looking forward to when I get 5.13s in the axles. I also followed Blaine's advice and kept the rear locker on for most of the trip to prevent wear on the gear-driven limited slip. I didn't feel any issues in regards to maneuvering with it on.

Here's a little video of me going over a small rock ledge. This was 4L and 1st which definitely moved quick over something like this, so I had to get on the brakes a tad. But my brother wanted to film it and it was cool watching how the Jeep moved over the different angles. I especially liked watching the Antirock move.

 

[Wranglerfix]

@Jamison C Thank you. I am glad the pcm is working as it should. I apologize for the delay in responding as I have been moving warehouses.

 

[Jamison C]

Little update for today. I’ve put 300 miles on the transmission, with no issues so far.

I grabbed a buddy’s computer and did the quick learn procedure on the transmission. IMO this should be done any time you do an overhaul, and maybe even after fluid flushes. Quick learn uses the the clutches, solenoids, and fluid, to test the quality of all three components, and create shifts based off of the wear. Some say resetting the adaptive memory can do this, but that’s flat out wrong. The procedure it had me use was press the brake, and shift to N. I could feel the engine RPMs increase as well as feel the transmission move internally. Then it told me to shift to D. The transmission tried to “go” while I held the brake, probably testing the components. Then it told me to shift to P, and it was done. Took all of a minute, but extremely necessary with electronic Chrysler transmissions. So I have peace of mind knowing everything is where it should be.

As for the fun stuff, I retired the hard top for the next several months as the AZ weather I was trying to beat with the swap is here! Doors came off as well and made for an extremely pleasant commute to school and back today. My classmates even hopped in with me when we went to lunch. It’s a Jeep thing I guess! It looks good from every distance and angle.

Remember me saying I had nephews that love my Jeep, and that I felt the shift interlock was an absolute necessity for my swap? Well, I present exhibit A.

Overall, been a fun day in the Jeep life

 

[Wildman]

Little update for today. I’ve put 300 miles on the transmission, with no issues so far.

I grabbed a buddy’s computer and did the quick learn procedure on the transmission. IMO this should be done any time you do an overhaul, and maybe even after fluid flushes. Quick learn uses the the clutches, solenoids, and fluid, to test the quality of all three components, and create shifts based off of the wear. Some say resetting the adaptive memory can do this, but that’s flat out wrong. The procedure it had me use was press the brake, and shift to N. I could feel the engine RPMs increase as well as feel the transmission move internally. Then it told me to shift to D. The transmission tried to “go” while I held the brake, probably testing the components. Then it told me to shift to P, and it was done. Took all of a minute, but extremely necessary with electronic Chrysler transmissions. So I have peace of mind knowing everything is where it should be.

As for the fun stuff, I retired the hard top for the next several months as the AZ weather I was trying to beat with the swap is here! Doors came off as well and made for an extremely pleasant commute to school and back today. My classmates even hopped in with me when we went to lunch. It’s a Jeep thing I guess! It looks good from every distance and angle.

What computer was it? Does he work at a Jeep dealer or?

 

[Jamison C]

What computer was it? Does he work at a Jeep dealer or?

It was beyond your typical Bluetooth/wifi scanner. It was an actual android based scanner and I can’t remember the name of it. But it had the ability to run different diagnostics and tests. He just has it for fun.

You can get higher end plug in scanners that will do the transmission stuff too. I plan to get one.

 

[Wildman]

It was beyond your typical Bluetooth/wifi scanner. It was an actual android based scanner and I can’t remember the name of it. But it had the ability to run different diagnostics and tests. He just has it for fun.

You can get higher end plug in scanners that will do the transmission stuff too. I plan to get one.

I don't have that high end of one. If my tranny had this ability I'd be getting one but mine is too old.

 

[Jamison C]

Well, I already recouped the money spent on this project. I listed my transmission for sale and in two days someone came and bought it. But here’s the kicker. The guy wants to do an auto to manual swap, so he bought ALL of the donor parts; transmission, clutch, flywheel, starter, shifter, clutch master cylinder, ECM, all for $950. I’m pretty happy with that, and I still have the donor 4.0 to sell.

 

[RINC]

Well, I already recouped the money spent on this project. I listed my transmission for sale and in two days someone came and bought it. But here’s the kicker. The guy wants to do an auto to manual swap, so he bought ALL of the donor parts; transmission, clutch, flywheel, starter, shifter, clutch master cylinder, ECM, all for $950. I’m pretty happy with that, and I still have the donor 4.0 to sell.

 

[Jamison C]

I hereby nominate myself to the mismatched door club. I bought these last year (you guys don’t wanna know for how much) and got to test fit them for the first time today. The passenger hinges needed some adjusting but otherwise they fit well.

Cosmetically they’re in awful shape, but mechanically they’re in great shape, just need some paint.

Originally I wanted to color match these, but now I’m kind of thinking of getting some aluminum armor and leaving them raw on the outside, and getting the savvy sliders and leaving the rocker raw aluminum as well. I think it would be a good look with white, but we’ll see.

 

[Jamison C]

A bit of an update. I had mentioned in previous posts that I was phasing out of restaurant and hospitality and looking for a career, so Jeep funds would be on hold. Well, after careful consideration, today was my first day as a logistics manager with a well-established local company that does multimillion $$$ homes here in the Sedona area. While I'm excited about the prospect of a big boy job, this primarily means I'll have Jeep funds again. I even told them in the interviews that I needed to make enough to fund my crippling Jeep addiction

With that being said, I ordered a set of 5.13s and master install kits from G2. I've used them before, as have many, because I'm not waiting six months on Revolutions. I'll do the rear axle first, and set them up myself. The nice thing about the Rubi 44s is the bearings go on before the shims, so I don't have to create a bunch of dummy bearings, only a dummy inner pinion race. I think with the attention to detail and patience that was required to do the auto swap, I could definitely set up gears. Not sure when I'll get around to it, but I'll get there!

In the meantime, the Jeep will be stored for a couple weeks as I focus on work and finish up the semester. So here's a picture of it looking pretty and safe.

 

[PRNDL]

 

[Wildman]

Congrats on the new job.

 

[Jamison C]

View attachment 323723

 

[Jamison C]

Congrats on the new job.

Thank you! The people I work with are great. And the work I’m gonna do is right up my alley.

 

[RINC]

Thank you! The people I work with are great. And the work I’m gonna do is right up my alley.

Dude, it's getting hot down in these here parts. When will you be ready to host us Phoenix peeps for a weekend?

 

[deadbeat son]

The build is looking great overall!

Originally I wanted to color match these, but now I’m kind of thinking of getting some aluminum armor and leaving them raw on the outside, and getting the savvy sliders and leaving the rocker raw aluminum as well. I think it would be a good look with white, but we’ll see.

I'll leave this here for you...