Little recap on the last wheeling trip-
Brakes- the big brake kit is a HUGE upgrade off-road. My Jeep never really struggled with braking off road until I put the automatic in it. With the auto it was really tough to control coming down steep ledges. The big brake kit made such light work of the task I’m very happy.
Wheels - boy do I regret getting steelies when I first got the Jeep. These will absolutely need to be replaced eventually. My plan is to run them until they can’t be balanced anymore
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The Jeep performs incredibly right now and I’m very happy. My plan is to wheel it the way it is for the rest of the season barring fixing stuff. I feel like I’ve been playing catch up with the 35s since I got them and I finally feel that I’ve got a good reliable basic 35s build. Once I get a house I’ll probably start messing with midarms and outboard shocks and such. Unpopular opinion nowadays but I’m really happy with the ranchos off road. I have 5.25” uptravel in the front and 5” uptravel in the rear with rockjock bumpstops and it works really well for me.
I’m learning and playing around with suspension geometry a little bit as well. A savvy midarm would provide the complete fix and I would eventually like one but for now I’m experimenting as an educational experience. I raised the frame side UCA mount 3/4” which reduces static antisquat by another 20% on the calculator. That changes my AS from roughly 120% to roughly 100% and I say roughly because CoG is an estimate. Need more seat time to see how this works still and whether it improves hopping.