I'm done!

[Irun]

The lj blanks say available on backorder bit we all know by now what that means when it comes to Savvy. Unless someone has had recent success ordering those and the order getting filled.

I tried that route a little while ago and my order was canceled. The frustrating part is all that's needed to build my LJ are the corners and the rub rails. The latter I could live without.

 

[sab]

The lj blanks say available on backorder bit we all know by now what that means when it comes to Savvy. Unless someone has had recent success ordering those and the order getting filled.

I ordered them on backorder in late February and received notice of a refund and order cancellation, with no explanation, minutes later.

 

[Irun]

Yes, I did spend some time getting the Genrights to be more like the Savvys for my LJ:

• I had to trim the bottom front edges to be parallel to the sliders/bottom of the tub (I believe that's a typical thing done, even with the Savvys)
• I added quite a few mounting points, copying Mr. Blaine's Savvy design as best I could. If I remember correctly, I added multiple holes at the rear on either side of the tailgate, holes at the rear of the sides where the tangent point of the tub corners is (top and bottom), holes about midway up on either side of the wheel cutout, and multiple holes at the front on the sides. I have a drill press, so getting the countersink square to the panel and setting depth correctly was easy (if someone looks closely, they can tell which one was the first one because it's a bit to deep and my speed was too fast - it chattered.) Doing that freehand would be tricky.
• Even though my tub has the stock wheel cutouts, and I ordered the Genrights for that, I ended up having to re-cut the entire wheel cutouts because they were too small. That may be done on purpose by Genright (to make up for the wide tolerances of used TJs), but it wasn't in the instructions.
• Some of the precut holes needed slight tweaking to line up. In particular, the gas tank hole and mounting screw holes were slightly off. As adjusted, it's un-noticeable unless you really, really look at it.
• I want to run the stock Rubicon flares, and none of the holes for the mounting bolts were drilled, so I had to mark those and drill them. Same for the two holes for the inner fender liner "darts." I actually just added those (after painting) because I had forgotten about them.
• As PNW_LJ noted, the hardware from Genright is not so good. They use Allen heads instead of the #4 Phillips that Mr. Blaine uses. They also use non-flanged nuts instead of Mr. Blaine's serrated flange-head nuts. I bought a bag of the #4 Phillips screws and serrated flange-head nuts from McMaster-Carr, which made mounting so much easier.
• Also as PNW_LJ noted, the Genright backer plates, for which they charge an extra $70, are horrible. They are 1" or 1.5" formed angles with three holes in them (one per side). I made my own aluminum backers (two per side), again as close to Mr. Blaine's design as I could surmise (I've never seen a set of Savvy corners in person, and detailed photos were hard to find.)

I had the corners off and on countless times lining everything up. I don't recall how many hours I spent fitting them, but it was on the order of 15-20, I think. It could have been more. I also spent an hour or two on the backer plates and an hour or two sourcing the aluminum for the plates and researching/ordering hardware and tooling. I know that getting corners from Savvy would have been considerably cheaper and saved a bunch of time, but that is a current impossibility. However, now that they are painted and installed, I am very happy with them.

Here's the two posts I made in the "What did you do to your TJ today?" thread about my corner project:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-tj-today.1784/post-1339332
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-tj-today.1784/post-1367485
I still have to figure out what to do about my sliders. I have the RockSlideEngineering step sliders (love them or hate them, I know), but I want to put full-length aluminum sliders beneath them to protect the tub. The Savvy's will work perfectly, but they're unobtainable. I'm pretty close to making some myself. I'll have to find a shop with a press big enough and the know-how to make the bend, though. I don't have such a press at my disposal.

This is what has kept me from ordering from Genright. After spending a premium, you are left with fitment issues and sub par H/W. Sounds like I'd also be better off to skip their backer plates and just make my own. Thanks for the excellent summary, and you made my rant constructive!

 

[mrblaine]

Is there any difference from the genright to the Savvy sides other than the bolt pattern

Height from top of rocker guard to tub radius is not the same.

 

[mrblaine]

Yes, I did spend some time getting the Genrights to be more like the Savvys for my LJ:

• I had to trim the bottom front edges to be parallel to the sliders/bottom of the tub (I believe that's a typical thing done, even with the Savvys)
• I added quite a few mounting points, copying Mr. Blaine's Savvy design as best I could. If I remember correctly, I added multiple holes at the rear on either side of the tailgate, holes at the rear of the sides where the tangent point of the tub corners is (top and bottom), holes about midway up on either side of the wheel cutout, and multiple holes at the front on the sides. I have a drill press, so getting the countersink square to the panel and setting depth correctly was easy (if someone looks closely, they can tell which one was the first one because it's a bit to deep and my speed was too fast - it chattered.) Doing that freehand would be tricky.
• Even though my tub has the stock wheel cutouts, and I ordered the Genrights for that, I ended up having to re-cut the entire wheel cutouts because they were too small. That may be done on purpose by Genright (to make up for the wide tolerances of used TJs), but it wasn't in the instructions.
• Some of the precut holes needed slight tweaking to line up. In particular, the gas tank hole and mounting screw holes were slightly off. As adjusted, it's un-noticeable unless you really, really look at it.
• I want to run the stock Rubicon flares, and none of the holes for the mounting bolts were drilled, so I had to mark those and drill them. Same for the two holes for the inner fender liner "darts." I actually just added those (after painting) because I had forgotten about them.
• As PNW_LJ noted, the hardware from Genright is not so good. They use Allen heads instead of the #4 Phillips that Mr. Blaine uses. They also use non-flanged nuts instead of Mr. Blaine's serrated flange-head nuts. I bought a bag of the #4 Phillips screws and serrated flange-head nuts from McMaster-Carr, which made mounting so much easier.
• Also as PNW_LJ noted, the Genright backer plates, for which they charge an extra $70, are horrible. They are 1" or 1.5" formed angles with three holes in them (one per side). I made my own aluminum backers (two per side), again as close to Mr. Blaine's design as I could surmise (I've never seen a set of Savvy corners in person, and detailed photos were hard to find.)

I had the corners off and on countless times lining everything up. I don't recall how many hours I spent fitting them, but it was on the order of 15-20, I think. It could have been more. I also spent an hour or two on the backer plates and an hour or two sourcing the aluminum for the plates and researching/ordering hardware and tooling. I know that getting corners from Savvy would have been considerably cheaper and saved a bunch of time, but that is a current impossibility. However, now that they are painted and installed, I am very happy with them.

Here's the two posts I made in the "What did you do to your TJ today?" thread about my corner project:

[URL]https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-tj-today.1784/post-1339332[/URL]

[URL]https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-tj-today.1784/post-1367485[/URL]

I still have to figure out what to do about my sliders. I have the RockSlideEngineering step sliders (love them or hate them, I know), but I want to put full-length aluminum sliders beneath them to protect the tub. The Savvy's will work perfectly, but they're unobtainable. I'm pretty close to making some myself. I'll have to find a shop with a press big enough and the know-how to make the bend, though. I don't have such a press at my disposal.

I have many pictures and know-how to build the internal backing plates. All you had to do was ask.

 

[mrblaine]

• As PNW_LJ noted, the hardware from Genright is not so good. They use Allen heads instead of the #4 Phillips that Mr. Blaine uses. They also use non-flanged nuts instead of Mr. Blaine's serrated flange-head nuts. I bought a bag of the #4 Phillips screws and serrated flange-head nuts from McMaster-Carr, which made mounting so much easier.

And had you asked, I would have directed you away from the plebeian #4 Phillips drive and turned you onto the elite Torx drive hardened SS self threading trailer deck screws in 5/16-18 that we use for custom installs due to the questionable at times strength of the generic flat head Phillips. We use those with the serrated flange nuts with 100% success. The strength of the hardened stainless is unquestionably better than the common stuff.

If you pay attention to the first pic, there is some goodness there.

 

[HornedToad]

And had you asked, I would have directed you away from the plebeian #4 Phillips drive and turned you onto the elite Torx drive hardened SS self threading trailer deck screws in 5/16-18 that we use for custom installs due to the questionable at times strength of the generic flat head Phillips. We use those with the serrated flange nuts with 100% success. The strength of the hardened stainless is unquestionably better than the common stuff.

Are these them?

https://fastenersinc.net/products/5...-steel-trailer-flooring-floorboard-screw-torx

 

[mrblaine]

Are these them?

https://fastenersinc.net/products/5...-steel-trailer-flooring-floorboard-screw-torx

Yes, typically referred to as a Type F.

 

[HornedToad]

Yes, typically referred to as a Type F.

Thanks for mentioning these again. I have uninstalled corner armor and two broken Phillips ss screws in my sliders that I overtightened so I’m going to order a bag.

 

[JpZombie]

I guess while we're (kind of) talking about it...what are people leaning towards for a front winch bumper+compatible w/ sway-loc?

 

[mrblaine]

Thanks for mentioning these again. I have uninstalled corner armor and two broken Phillips ss screws in my sliders that I overtightened so I’m going to order a bag.

I shop those pretty hard to find the best price and it varies. Sometimes the folks you linked have the best price on eBay, other times elsewhere does. Be very cautious and read the descriptions. It is easy to get into the search looking at the pictures and some of them make the normal black oxide alloy steel versions look like Stainless. Read the description or you'll wind up with a bag of very good but mostly useless screws.

 

[HornedToad]

I guess while we're (kind of) talking about it...what are people leaning towards for a front winch bumper+compatible w/ sway-loc?

I just installed this UCF bumper on my dad’s Jeep with a modified savvy winch hoop (since I had an extra, UCF makes a hoop too):

It’s the only other 6061 large bend radius bumper that I’m aware of. They are priced well but there are a few details that make it less desirable compared to the savvy.

1. There is no reinforcement on the bottom edge that rests against the round frame crossmember like the savvy bumper.

2. The top surface doesn’t go all the way back to the grill.

Overall though it’s a nice bumper and if the Savvy were to be gone forever it would be my next choice.

Edit--And yes, that jeep also has a sway-loc and there are no compatibility issues with the bumper.