A lesson learned—keep it light and nimble!

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This is a case of you don't know, until you know. Blaine has repeatedly mentioned Iron Rock lower control arm mounts. Here's why. The picture below shows a Artec (top) and Iron Rock (Bottom) mount side by side. The Iron Rock mount follows the same basic angle as the factory mount. The Artec version doesn't. What this means is the Artec mount much larger surface area and angle will get hung up on rocks, while the Iron Rock mount will allow the vehicle to slide across. The rest of the pictures tell the story better than me!

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Adding this as a reference for the HP30 build. The stock Dana 30 upper control arm bushings will be replaced with:

CE-9112M - MACHINED JOHNNY JOINT® FROM JOHNNY JOINT HOUSING KITS (7/16" BOLT)


https://www.rockjock4x4.com/CE-9112M-Machined-Johnny-Joint-from-CE-9102K-Kit-7-16-Bolt
These are the ones used in the RockJock axle housing kit, which replaces the stock passenger side mount. I'll be leaving the stock mount, so one will be pressed into the housing (diff side) and the other will be welded into the stock passenger side mount. The mount will also be reinforced, per the post below

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...y-joint-bushing—will-it-fit.31051/post-500756
 
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This is a case of you don't know, until you know. Blaine has repeatedly mentioned Iron Rock lower control arm mounts. Here's why. The picture below shows a Artec (top) and Iron Rock (Bottom) mount side by side. The Iron Rock mount follows the same basic angle as the factory mount. The Artec version doesn't. What this means is the Artec mount much larger surface area and angle will get hung up on rocks, while the Iron Rock mount will allow the vehicle to slide across. The rest of the pictures tell the story better than me!

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Those new mounts are nice and clean. I guess with Artec bigger with more angles is better.
 
That why I call them metal pukers. Everything they make they just puke metal all over it to impress the shit out of the folks who don't know what's up.
Are the slotted holes for when you don’t get them positioned correctly or when you get warpage from welding?
 
Are the slotted holes for when you don’t get them positioned correctly or when you get warpage from welding?
Like Blaine said, this particular bracket is for use with stock bolts. Besides the hole, the bracket is identical to the non-slotted version.

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When I originally setup the suspension the rear Black Max B8518 shocks were a near perfect fit. Up travel was at 4.5" and down at 4.37". Fast forward to today and the suspension has settled a little. This resulted in a 1/4" loss of up travel in the rear, because I'm now at 4.25" up and 4.62 down. Not perfect, but acceptable.
 
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The suspension settling has impacted the front a little worse, which necessitated a change. Originally, for the front, I bought two sets of shocks, Black Max B8516 and B8525. This was done because there was no "perfect" fit shock for my configuration, so I decided to just get both and try them out.

I originally started with the B8525, which yielded less than desirable travel split numbers. With them mounted there was only 4.25" up, while the down was at 5.53". As stated, not a good split! However, life got in the way and I left them on, knowing the Jeep wouldn't get wheeled until the following year.

Fast forward to today and I've finally fixed that issue. While under the Jeep doing a routine inspection I noticed something looked odd about the front shocks. To my surprise I discovered that the front suspension has settled a full 1/2". I knew this because my original 4.25" up travel was now reduced to 3.75". That was enough to make me remove the B8525 shocks and install the B8516s. Now, the numbers are much better, at 4.75" up and 4.46" down. :)

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In the process of swapping out the Black Max (BM) B8525 shocks and installing the B8516s, I learned something else. Since I also was pulling the Rubicon Express (RE), i.e. Bilstein, RXJ703B shocks off the LJ I decided to set them side by side for a comparison with BM. While the RE shocks were roughly the same extended length as the BM 8525, the BM shock had an additional 1.75" of travel. This intrigued me, so I also compared the BM 8516 shock to the RE and got an even better surprise. While the BM 8516 was considerably shorter than the RE RXJ703B, it had 1/4" more travel!

So what did I learn here? Basically that the design of the BM shocks does what they claim, i.e. yields more travel than a comparable gas shock. To be clear, I'm not saying it's better, but that what they state is true, given a properly set up vehicle.

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I picked up this bare bones Sport for a very good deal. It has has 180K on it, but is 100% rust free. After bringing it home, here's what I found wrong with it:

- front pinion seal is leaking badly and there's a growl coming from it (Needs a pinion bearing and seal)
- has a P0135 code (The OBDII connector wasn't working when I got it, but I cleaned the plug and was able to read the code)
- rear main seal is leaking (slightly)
- valve cover gasket is leaking
- rear pinion seal (Dana 35) is damp
- u-joints are all original
- jack and jack accessories are missing
- rear seat belt is broken
- both visors are missing
- washer bottle pump is inoperable
- battery tie down is missing (you can see where the + terminal contacted the fender a time or two!)
- driver seat is worn/torn
- bad blower motor resistor (Fan only works on high speed)
- soft top is done

Other than that, it runs and drives well. It looks like the cooling system was recently replaced, as well as the alternator. Also, the 42RLE appears to have been rebuilt back in 2012. Given how absurdly rust free it is, I'm going to build this one based on lessons I've learned from the past. Per the title, the theme will be keeping it light and nimble. Since I plan to drive this daily, tire size will be limited to 31".

I have the following parts already in the garage that will make their way onto the Jeep:

- Savvy gas tank skid
- KMC Black Enduro wheels
- Rubicon Dana 44 rear (4.10 gears)
- Dana 30 front with a Detroit TrueTrac (4.10 gears)
- Either a Savvy UA or UCF Extra Clearance aluminum skid system
- Tuffy full console
- Tuffy underseat storage box
- RoundEyes H4 headlights
- Either a 241OR or 231 with SYE
- 1/2 doors, they'll need to be painted first), with BullDawg uppers
- Barnes 4WD aluminum front bumper
- Hella Fog lights
- Misc other small parts

Things I'll need to make a decision on are springs, control arms, and shocks. For the springs, I already have a brand new set of Nth Degree 3" springs, but that will be more than I need, especially since I'll be doing a Savvy BL and a MML. If I don't use them, H&R 1" springs will be used. The steering will be a ZJ conversion and the control arms are pending the spring decision. The final decision will have to be whether I want to wrap the tub in full aluminum armor. Since I already have a set of Savvy TJ tub rails, it's highly likely I'll go that root.

As for the Jeep, here's what it looks like now. The only real options are A/C, full doors, and automatic transmission.

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Following!
 
In the process of swapping out the Black Max (BM) B8525 shocks and installing the B8516s, I learned something else. Since I also was pulling the Rubicon Express (RE), i.e. Bilstein, RXJ703B shocks off the LJ I decided to set them side by side for a comparison with BM. While the RE shocks were roughly the same extended length as the BM 8525, the BM shock had an additional 1.75" of travel. This intrigued me, so I also compared the BM 8516 shock to the RE and got an even better surprise. While the BM 8516 was considerably shorter than the RE RXJ703B, it had 1/4" more travel!

So what did I learn here? Basically that the design of the BM shocks does what they claim, i.e. yields more travel than a comparable gas shock. To be clear, I'm not saying it's better, but that what they state is true, given a properly set up vehicle.

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That's the difference in the floating piston and nitrogen charge. That stuff takes room in the body, which restricts available travel.
 
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Other items in the parts pile are on hold, so I'm going to start digging into this one.

Installation will include front and rear cameras, along with Insane TV. There certainly are a bunch of parts here!

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Do you know the compressed length of the 8516 (I know you take good notes)? They give a different travel number than the one you list and if it's shorter than the 13.54" spec that would be great for me.
 
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