DuncLJ's Big Bolt-On Bonanza

[JMT]

Thanks, I do love a good beer, lol. The stickers just kind of happened after years of buying parts for cars, Jeeps, trucks, skateboards, and snowboards.

As far as the doors: I didn't prep them with anything before sanding. I machine sanded with a palm sander at first since it was such a large area. I started with 100 grit, then 200, 300, and 400. I then cleaned them up with acetone.

I got all primer, factory matched paint, and clear coat from
https://www.automotivetouchup.com/

I did a couple coats of primer and then hand sanded with 400 grit. Repeated until smooth and even.
Then I started wet sanding going up to 800 grit.

Once I was satisfied (I'm no pro, I got it as good as I could) I let it dry and cleaned the doors of any remaining material like dust, fingerprints, etc.

I painted them with the spray cans, 3-4 coats. Let it dry, cleaned again, then did 2-3 coats of clear.

It came out very nice. Not perfect, but not bad for a rattlecan job in the garage.

I hope this helps.

absolutely helps, especially the additional details with the sanding. The rest follows exactly what I always do when painting a bumper or rock sliders or shock body. Thanks...

 

[DuncLJ]

Nice. I have a UCF front frame width set to be here Next Tuesday. I will get some primer at least, and try to smooth up the metal. I am not the best with paint work. I always painted my old Chevys with military paint on purpose. Cause I suck at painting and they were never nice enough to paint for real.

Bumpers are nice and forgiving. You figure your gonna cover the top with your winch, fairlead, hooks, etc.
The rest is gonna get chipped, dinged and scratched over time; so you just touch it up with a spray can.

Looking forward to seeing your new bumper. Should look great with that winch of yours.

 

[DuncLJ]

Had the day off to myself yesterday. Wife and kids all at work, just me, the dogs, and the Jeep.

I picked up a UCF aluminum Extra Clearance trans skid off of Craigslist for $100 bucks last week. Brand new, never installed.
The guy I bought it from didn't realize all the other supporting mods that go along with it. He bought it 2 years ago and it was just sitting in his garage. I gladly took it off his hands.

This will replace the UCF steel "No Body Lift" skid that I have now. My build has taken a totally different direction since I originally bought it. I kind of regretted it as soon as I installed it.
This new skid is less then half the weight and provides a lot more clearance.


UCF steel skid= 64.4 lbs

UCF aluminum skid= 27.4 lbs

The skid installed very easily. I had done all the supporting mods before when I installed the other skid (DC driveshaft, SYE, body lift, adj. control arms, etc).

The only additional work was to elongate the mount tabs for the fan shroud. Even with a MML, I still needed to lower the shroud about 1/4".
I also will need some exhaust work. Raising the skid brought the tailpipe right against the track bar and the shock.
For now, I removed the tailpipe and just have a turndown at the muffler.

I'm pleased with the install. It looks good, provides more clearance, and is a serious weight reduction.

Also, no new vibes! I didn't need to adjust the pinion any more than I already had. In fact it seems to be smoother now.

Perfect fit with my UCF engine skid. Drilled the mount holes and bolted right up.

I like it..... No it is not perfectly flat, but it is still pretty low profile.

 

[DuncLJ]

Finished the skidplate and it was only 1pm. I decided to reset my rear bumpstops since I had done some changes in the last few months and had never done a thorough clearance check.

Pulled the springs, unbolted the shocks and swaybar and started cycling.
No contact anywhere, up limit is the shocks. The Savvy gas tank skid gave me alot more room back there.

Bolted up the shock and installed a tire. Like I said my up limit it the shock. I have Rancho 256's, 9.6" of travel. I'm at 5.25" uptravel, and 4.25" of down.
I could go up an inch or more and down the same. Now I get why outboarding with a 12" shock is appealing to people.

While I had everything apart, I installed my Revolution CroMo axle shafts that had been sitting in the garage for a few weeks.
They came fully assembled and installed very easily.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Time to go smoke a turkey.

 

[Tldelaney]

I was under the assumption that the "extra clearance skid" did not need the SYE, CV and control arms that the "ultra clearance skid" would most likely need. I am looking at the UCF black friday tranny, engine/oil skid combo and am wondering if i should test my luck on the stock Sahara TJ that only has the 1.25 body lift. Nice find for that price. Crazy weight savings, i will probably swing the extra money for 1/4 aluminum along with the oil skid

 

[DuncLJ]

I was under the assumption that the "extra clearance skid" did not need the SYE, CV and control arms that the "ultra clearance skid" would most likely need. I am looking at the UCF black friday tranny, engine/oil skid combo and am wondering if i should test my luck on the stock Sahara TJ that only has the 1.25 body lift. Nice find for that price. Crazy weight savings, i will probably swing the extra money for 1/4 aluminum along with the oil skid

I have a 4" lift. That is why I already had the SYE , DC driveshaft, and control arms. I had vibes after the lift, and those parts fixed it. Adding the skid did not add any additional vibes.

If you put any suspension lift with this skid, you will most likely need all the supporting mods.

 

[DuncLJ]

Got my early Christmas present from Savvy Claus today.

Gotta figure out how I'm gonna prep and paint them (and what color).
It's gonna take a lot of work before they're properly installed.


They look great out of the box though!

 

[DuncLJ]

I have the week off and my wife has to work, so it's a perfect time to install the Savvy rock sliders.

First step was to remove the "Ebay special" EAG sliders. They have been on for almost 6 years. They are one of the first mods I ever did. Like many others, I just swore I needed a step for my wife to get in and out. Also, like many others, the step never got used. They also mounted directly to the body mounts. Apparently this is not the proper way for a functional slider to mount .
I am a bit dense and stubborn, but I did my research and found that Savvy was the way to go.


Unbolted the old sliders.

Body doesn't look to bad for 6 years of being covered by the old slider.

Say what you want about California. Most of it is deserved. If it has one redeeming factor though, it is that it is about a perfect environment for preserving automobiles. Rubbed things down with a wet washcloth and my tub is pristine. No rust and no deformation of the sheetmetal.

I had to trim a little over 3" off the front of the slider to make them fit ww2ww on my front fenders.
I know Poison Spyder fenders don't get a ton of love here, but it shows how far the rear wall of the wheel well is moved back when using them. I've never had a problem with contact at full stuff, full lock with them.

I looked up just about every resource on this forum on how to best install these sliders. I paid particular attention to what MrBlaine said (since he designed them). Getting everything fitted up is not that difficult. It helps that the main piece is aluminum. It's nice and light enough to easily remove and re-install while making adjustments.

When I got everything nice and snugged up against the tub I drilled my holes.

Even a victorious conquest has a casualty or two, this one was no different.

A brand new sharp drill bit got me. I earned my Purple Heart in this battle.
Applied a field dressing and got back to work...

That was it for today. I disassembled everything and started prepping for paint. I'll install the nutserts tomorrow and start the other side.


During all this, UPS pulls up and drops this off. Oh yeah, it's going to be a good week....

 

[Nickgsjeep]

I have the week off and my wife has to work, so it's a perfect time to install the Savvy rock sliders.

First step was to remove the "Ebay special" EAG sliders. They have been on for almost 6 years. They are one of the first mods I ever did. Like many others, I just swore I needed a step for my wife to get in and out. Also, like many others, the step never got used. They mount directly to the body mounts. Apparently this is not the proper way for a functional slider to mount .
I am a bit dense and stubborn, but I did my research and found that Savvy was the way to go.


Unbolted the old sliders.

View attachment 214251


Body doesn't look to bad for 6 years of being covered by the old slider.

View attachment 214252


Say what you want about California. Most of it is deserved. If it has one redeeming factor though, it is that it is about a perfect environment for preserving automobiles. Rubbed things down with a wet washcloth and my tub is pristine. No rust and no deformation of the sheetmetal.

View attachment 214253


I had to trim a little over 3" off the front of the slider to make them fit ww2ww on my front fenders.
I know Poison Spyder fenders don't get a ton of love here, but it shows how far the rear wall of the wheel well is moved back when using them. I've never had a problem with contact at full stuff, full lock with them.

View attachment 214257
View attachment 214258


I looked up just about every resource on this forum on how to best install these sliders. I paid particular attention to what MrBlaine said (since he designed them). Getting everything fitted up is not that difficult. It helps that the main piece is aluminum. It's nice and light to remove and re-install while fitting them up.

When I got everything nice and snugged up against the tub I drilled my holes.

View attachment 214261
View attachment 214262



Even a victorious conquest has a casualty or two, this one was no different.

A brand new sharp drill bit got me. I earned my Purple Heart in this battle.
Applied a field dressing and got back to work...

View attachment 214263

That was it for today. I disassembled everything and started prepping for paint. I'll install the nutserts tomorrow and start the other side.


During all this, UPS pulls up and drops this off. Oh yeah, it's going to be a good week....

View attachment 214265

Yeah baby!!! Gotta love when those parts piles start shrinking. Looking good

 

[DuncLJ]

Yeah baby!!! Gotta love when those parts piles start shrinking. Looking good

Yeah, it's nice to make the parts pile start shrinking, but just as nice to start a new pile.

 

[DuncLJ]

Worked on the other side of the sliders yesterday and today. Got both sides fitted, drilled, and all nutserts installed.

Both sides primed and and a couple coats of satin black on the aluminum pieces. Doing the steel pieces with spray on bedliner.

Just waiting on paint to cure at this point. Probably gonna give it a day or two till I start installing.

Meanwhile, I've got other things to do...

 

[Irun]

Worked on the other side of the sliders yesterday and today. Got both sides fitted, drilled, and all nutserts installed.

View attachment 214683

View attachment 214685

View attachment 214686



Both sides primed and and a couple coats of satin black on the aluminum pieces. Doing the steel pieces with spray on bedliner.

View attachment 214687


Just waiting on paint to cure at this point. Probably gonna give it a day or two till I start installing.

Meanwhile, I've got other things to do...

View attachment 214688

Nicely done! Did you run into any issues where the new holes overlapped the old? It doesn't look like it from the pictures.

 

[DuncLJ]

Nicely done! Did you run into any issues where the new holes overlapped the old? It doesn't look like it from the pictures.

Thanks, I had 1 hole on the aft end on each side that was close, but still had about 1/8" of meat between them. Other than that none of the others were even close.

 

[Cross-Threaded-06TJ]

Looks good as Usual! Savvy Sliders

 

[DuncLJ]

Looks good as Usual! Savvy Sliders

Thanks dude!

 

[DuncLJ]

@Nickgsjeep, I copied your idea on spraying bed liner on the rails. Hope you don't have a patent on that. I really can't afford a lawsuit right now.

 

[Nickgsjeep]

@Nickgsjeep, I copied your idea on spraying bed liner on the rails. Hope you don't have a patent on that. I really can't afford a lawsuit right now.

Ha ha not my idea! I copied it from someone who I’m sure copied it from someone else. Can’t wait to see everything installed

 

[seabass]

Love everything you've done so far. Tried to find where you may have answered it but couldn't.. have you been happy with the core 4x4 arms? Did you get the tier 4's?

 

[DuncLJ]

Love everything you've done so far. Tried to find where you may have answered it but couldn't.. have you been happy with the core 4x4 arms? Did you get the tier 4's?

Thanks, I've been very happy with the Core control arms. I have tier 4 uppers and tier 3 lowers.

 

[Clocktower07]

Worked on the other side of the sliders yesterday and today. Got both sides fitted, drilled, and all nutserts installed.

View attachment 214683

View attachment 214685

View attachment 214686



Both sides primed and and a couple coats of satin black on the aluminum pieces. Doing the steel pieces with spray on bedliner.

View attachment 214687


Just waiting on paint to cure at this point. Probably gonna give it a day or two till I start installing.

Meanwhile, I've got other things to do...

View attachment 214688

I'm really enjoying your build thread, especially your attention to detail!

Did you use the nut and bolt method for your rocker guard rivnuts, a fancy setting tool, or something else?