Arizona Rock Crawler

[starkey480]

I keep wanting to be done spending money on the Jeep but you can’t put a price on safety. That’s how I justified it to my wife anyways 16” BBK machined for the small hub kit coming soon. Thank you @mrblaine

 

[starkey480]

Finally started to install my bbk today. Been super busy with work since I got it in the mail.
With the manual locking hubs, the studs press through both the rotor and the flange of the hub. Blaine kindly machined the center bore of the rotor to fit as well as the stud holes to ensure

The knuckels

Yukon changes the size of their parts all the time for the hub kit so there is no way for Blaine to keep up with making the rotor perfectly centered in the saddle. I knew I would have to use spacers to either space the spindle out further or the saddle out further or maybe neither. Ended up having to space the saddle out with washers until it centered, measure the washers, and Blaine will send the correct thickness of spacer tomorrow morning.

Here is how tight the 16” brakes fit in my 15” wheel.

It seems my lower ball joints are pretty dang loose so I will take the opportunity to change those while the knuckles are out. I believe they are the oem ball joints and I’m at 90k miles, so it’s time.

 

[starkey480]

Hit some little projects today while I wait for the brake spacers and ball joint press to arrive.
Stock diff cover was leaking after taking a pretty hard hit and was fairly dented so I replaced with an alloy USA 5/16” diff cover. Sits a little further out than the stock cover but a pretty minor difference for the extra strength. With the high lines I no longer have to have my axle pushed forward for every fraction of an inch to keep the tire off the rear wall so it’s no big deal.

Painted my front ranchos black because the white should be left in the 90s. Scuffed them up with a maroon scotch brite and sprayed with some duplicolor gloss black wheel coating I had left over from painting my wife’s wheels a while ago.

 

[Plumber1]

I keep wanting to be done spending money on the Jeep but you can’t put a price on safety. That’s how I justified it to my wife anyways 16” BBK machined for the small hub kit coming soon. Thank you @mrblaine View attachment 261428

Your first line " I keep wanting to be done spending money on the Jeep " made me laugh You do Know it's never done
I do agree after I put on the BBK on mine it did stop much quicker

 

[starkey480]

Your first line " I keep wanting to be done spending money on the Jeep " made me laugh You do Know it's never done
I do agree after I put on the BBK on mine it did stop much quicker

It’s the damned 35s! I’m still catching up on the supporting mods

 

[tworley]

Stock diff cover was leaking after taking a pretty hard hit and was fairly dented so I replaced with an alloy USA 5/16” diff cover.

I really like mine, its taken quite a few hits but appears to be nothing more than scratches. I picked mine up secondhand and the person who owned it before beat the absolute shit out of it.

 

[JMT]

It’s the damned 35s! I’m still catching up on the supporting mods

My fear all along, easy to make the jump to 35's, but how long will I be catching up on supporting mods!? Not exactly what I want to do, but knowing myself, it's what I will do. Need to put all that money toward retirement and just build something ultimate on the other end of my timeline.

 

[starkey480]

My fear all along, easy to make the jump to 35's, but how long will I be catching up on supporting mods!? Not exactly what I want to do, but knowing myself, it's what I will do. Need to put all that money toward retirement and just build something ultimate on the other end of my timeline.

Yeah, the biggest things were the gearing and brakes. I swapped to the auto because it also put my gearing the way I wanted it for 35s which was a big project, and then once I had an auto my brakes started to suck in 4 low. Тhey were actually decent on road still. The bbk is still warranted with a manual but I think the need became much more apparent with an auto.

 

[Plumber1]

It’s the damned 35s! I’m still catching up on the supporting mods

So I guess you did not read this first https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/so-you-want-to-run-35-tires-on-your-tj.2428/
and even if you did you thought ah I can by w/o this or that upgrade.

Well you should know by now you are never really done. It's like I need to install new radio in my jeep easy $100.00 job, but oh no, now I need new speakers. Oh no, now I think I need a new amp and speaker pods and so on and so on and $500.00 + your new $100.00 radio is up an running.

I forgot to mention the guys you go jeeping with just switched from CB's to GMRS, so add another $300.00 +/- to your finished project

 

[starkey480]

So I guess you did not read this first https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/so-you-want-to-run-35-tires-on-your-tj.2428/
and even if you did you thought ah I can by w/o this or that upgrade.

Well you should know by now you are never really done. It's like I need to install new radio in my jeep easy $100.00 job, but oh no, now I need new speakers. Oh no, now I think I need a new amp and speaker pods and so on and so on and $500.00 + your new $100.00 radio is up an running.

I forgot to mention the guys you go jeeping with just switched from CB's to GMRS, so add another $300.00 +/- to your finished project

I did read that lol and for the most part I prepared really well. The only 2 things I didn’t do until after the 35s were the gearing and bbk which I wanted to test for myself and see how the changes felt. I knew I would end up doing them eventually when I took the plunge. The other things they don’t mention is how when you get 35s you start doing hard enough trails that require armor everywhere so then I needed armor lol. It’s a never ending process

 

[Plumber1]

I did read that lol and for the most part I prepared really well. The only 2 things I didn’t do until after the 35s were the gearing and bbk which I wanted to test for myself and see how the changes felt. I knew I would end up doing them eventually when I took the plunge. The other things they don’t mention is how when you get 35s you start doing hard enough trails that require armor everywhere so then I needed armor lol. It’s a never ending process

Yes they do get you doing harder trails.

It's like when guys talk to you about getting a winch for there jeep. You have to remind them the jeep will not preform any better with a winch. A winch just gives some the ability to now say ah what the hell let's try it, if we get stuck we can winch it out. So now you are trying tougher trails and harder obstacles and expecting the winch to save your butt. And now you may find you have put yourself in precarious situations, ie. Plan B

 

[Plumber1]

Done with today’s list:
Front Axle cycled
CB antenna mount installed
View attachment 244029

What CB antenna mount are you using ? It looks' very clean and does the cable go through the mount cover ?

 

[RINC]

What money pit from hell did I get into ?

 

[JMT]

What money pit from hell did I get into ?

One you can't get out of. Don't try leaving either. We won't let you.

 

[JMT]

It's like I need to install new radio in my jeep easy $100.00 job, but oh no, now I need new speakers. Oh no, now I think I need a new amp and speaker pods and so on and so on and $500.00 + your new $100.00 radio is up an running.

But it sounds much better. We're improvement nazi's

 

[Apparition]

One you can't get out of. Don't try leaving either. We won't let you.

View attachment 263717

It's a shitty situation to be in

 

[Plumber1]

Hellooooooooo Starky

 

[starkey480]

What CB antenna mount are you using ? It looks' very clean and does the cable go through the mount cover ?

Firestik MKM2 Molded Side Mount with 18 ft. Fire-Flex Coax -W-Lugs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007W7SGBY/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I really like it. It’s way cleaner looking than the piece of steel angle I typically see.

 

[starkey480]

Everyone remembers their first BJ job ❤

 

[tworley]

Everyone remembers their first BJ job ❤
View attachment 263983

Slap some paint on those or they'll quickly rust