I really like those sliders...I might have to figure out how to justify them.
James & The Sahara Build Thread
- Thread starter JamesAndTheSahara
- Start date
I think the 4” coils is a good choice. WOW again
Looks great! Im surprised to see the Savvy rails on the corner guards don't fit ideally and the bolt holes not lining up. I am seeing more and more of those small details from Savvy come up short on. Not sure why that is. Has something changed with them? Congrats on the armor, it really makes the Jeep pop. Are you going to paint them?
I don’t intend on it, but that can change if I change my mind. Rails were quite warped, I’ll take a picture before I mount the next one tomorrow, like significant bow.
I can say the quality is there in the hardware and equipment, small details can be overlooked. If it was something like a warped or severely dented corner, then I’d have an issue!
X2. Its also worth pointing out my Tj tub isn’t exactly “perfect”.
The other side! It rained hard all day, made for a very interesting install day in the good ole outdoors:
Yep rockers in the rain
Pre-loaded rocker in position:
All holes drilled:
I’ve entered hells gate by carelessly checking if the nutsert was set and overtorquing it causing it to spin. This was the definition of a setback:
If you look carefully in the photo, a trick I was taught with nutserts is to drill a 1/8” hole through the face and mushroom, this will give you the room to push it in.
Lucky for me this was one of the nutsert locations that had an access hole so I was able to fish it out:
Nutsert installation take 2:
Rockers mounted & bolted up:
My lovely hit and run still haunts me:
Test fitting the corner armor and marking holes:
The curve on this armor is much better, but again the holes are not even close:
Drilling all holes & setting nutserts:
Installing corner armor:
Curve is much closer on this side
See the tailgate hinge bolts and tail lamp bolts? Ugh.
Corner armor backing plate:
Corner armor and rockers installed!
I still had daylight and I was already soaked so I started the tire carrier install today:
Wait one photo? Oh yes, it was cut short on the last removal step of stock hardware
Sigh.
In conclusion, dang that armor/rockers came out better than expected. The tailgate armor and tire carrier will be rocking soon. I will never remove these though, they are staying on the rig!
Yep rockers in the rain
Pre-loaded rocker in position:
All holes drilled:
I’ve entered hells gate by carelessly checking if the nutsert was set and overtorquing it causing it to spin. This was the definition of a setback:
If you look carefully in the photo, a trick I was taught with nutserts is to drill a 1/8” hole through the face and mushroom, this will give you the room to push it in.
Lucky for me this was one of the nutsert locations that had an access hole so I was able to fish it out:
Nutsert installation take 2:
Rockers mounted & bolted up:
My lovely hit and run still haunts me:
Test fitting the corner armor and marking holes:
The curve on this armor is much better, but again the holes are not even close:
Drilling all holes & setting nutserts:
Installing corner armor:
Curve is much closer on this side
See the tailgate hinge bolts and tail lamp bolts? Ugh.
Corner armor backing plate:
Corner armor and rockers installed!
I still had daylight and I was already soaked so I started the tire carrier install today:
Wait one photo? Oh yes, it was cut short on the last removal step of stock hardware
Sigh.
In conclusion, dang that armor/rockers came out better than expected. The tailgate armor and tire carrier will be rocking soon. I will never remove these though, they are staying on the rig!
Dang dude! In the rain? You are hard core brother! Looks effing fantastic, but damn, a lot of work brah!
Gotta keep the rig DD’able during the week! I’m really happy with how it came out, got really good at nutserts by the end of things. Good thing I still have the tailgate and valance to do.
Well this would have taken a hell of a lot longer had a local jeep club member not helped me out!
Some hex heads are going on here. Dreading the day I have to pull the front torx bolts.
Tire carrier after lecture tomorrow!
Some hex heads are going on here. Dreading the day I have to pull the front torx bolts.
Tire carrier after lecture tomorrow!
Every time I go into my nice dry, warm shop to work on my Jeep, I'm very thankful I'm past working on vehicles in the Driveway. Good on ya James... I've been there, laying in the cold and wet, trying to get my vehicle ready to go for the Monday commute.
You gotta do what you gotta do! End product was well worth it!Dude, your hardcore. Soaking wet. Man, and I thought I was addicted...
Some day a garage is in the future, for now I’m young and healthy enough to get a little wet. Lots of memories made out here in this parking lot
.
ORFAB Tire Carrier Installation Day! Wow this was one of the harder things I’ve had to do to this TJ. Talk about a more than perfect outcome though. This thing worked like a well oiled machine with no sag. Perfectly center every time (Thanks to @Jerry Bransford’s mounting suggestion). Opens and closes with one finger.
Prep:
Couple brackets laid out:
Driver’s side reinforcement bracket installed:
Rub rail interference, both sides interfere:
Hinge plate mounting:
Interference:
Hinges and hinge plate mounted:
ORFAB Tire Carrier mounted:
See how much fun it was getting those copper washers into place?
Striker closed:
Side view finished product:
Rear view, WOW:
A couple gripes as always, DAMN is it hard to get those copper washers in there for the pivot point. I have to ratchet strap the bars together to get enough clearance for it. The mounting mounts are quite a bit bigger than anticipated. They interfere with the tub rails on both sides. I will need to do some trimming of the tub rails/mounting hardware to get them all working in harmony. The latch point for the tire carrier holes did not line up, at all. I had to drill my own holes through the bracket to get enough play to get the tire carrier to hit the striker just right.
The positives, this thing is worth its weight in gold. If I had another TJ and needed bigger tires, this would be a high priority. It works very well for the super heavy spare I have and confident it would hold larger tires with ease. Quality of the bolts were great and the countersunk allen bolts were a nice touch. All hardware was long enough to go through the 3/16” plating + 3/16” aluminum armor + the tub + the internal mounting braces. I used antiseize on everything and the amount of bolts and holes drilled is outstanding. Instructions were fantastic and easy to follow. The welds are near perfect and the addition of Highlift mounting holes are great. There are 2 different well thought out CB antenna locations, not 100% sure which one will be the best one but certainly will be using one of them! Seriously guys, I’ve seen a lot of tire carriers but this thing blows me the eff away. Its a damn shame such a well thought out product is discontinued and I can only hope someday this tire carrier is brought back into product. I will treat her well.
I think my Savvy tailgate armor/spacers shipped today but I will call tomorrow to confirm. Tomorrow will be a simple cleanup day cleaning up all the paint chips and using sharkhide on the metals.
Prep:
Couple brackets laid out:
Driver’s side reinforcement bracket installed:
Rub rail interference, both sides interfere:
Hinge plate mounting:
Interference:
Hinges and hinge plate mounted:
ORFAB Tire Carrier mounted:
See how much fun it was getting those copper washers into place?
Striker closed:
Side view finished product:
Rear view, WOW:
A couple gripes as always, DAMN is it hard to get those copper washers in there for the pivot point. I have to ratchet strap the bars together to get enough clearance for it. The mounting mounts are quite a bit bigger than anticipated. They interfere with the tub rails on both sides. I will need to do some trimming of the tub rails/mounting hardware to get them all working in harmony. The latch point for the tire carrier holes did not line up, at all. I had to drill my own holes through the bracket to get enough play to get the tire carrier to hit the striker just right.
The positives, this thing is worth its weight in gold. If I had another TJ and needed bigger tires, this would be a high priority. It works very well for the super heavy spare I have and confident it would hold larger tires with ease. Quality of the bolts were great and the countersunk allen bolts were a nice touch. All hardware was long enough to go through the 3/16” plating + 3/16” aluminum armor + the tub + the internal mounting braces. I used antiseize on everything and the amount of bolts and holes drilled is outstanding. Instructions were fantastic and easy to follow. The welds are near perfect and the addition of Highlift mounting holes are great. There are 2 different well thought out CB antenna locations, not 100% sure which one will be the best one but certainly will be using one of them! Seriously guys, I’ve seen a lot of tire carriers but this thing blows me the eff away. Its a damn shame such a well thought out product is discontinued and I can only hope someday this tire carrier is brought back into product. I will treat her well
.I think my Savvy tailgate armor/spacers shipped today but I will call tomorrow to confirm. Tomorrow will be a simple cleanup day cleaning up all the paint chips and using sharkhide on the metals.
No matter what the rub rails on the passenger side need to be trimmed. My room mate suggested I keep it symmetric and trim the left side as well. Keeping the cb antenna mount there would be a huge plus because its a really good ground. Going to give Savvy a call in a bit and find out if I will run into any functional issues no use the rear mount. Thinking two solid verticle cuts right past where the taper off starts. Just don’t want to compromise the rub rails. Going to break down and buy the HF angle grinder you reccomended and do the grinding on my porch. It should be relativey easy to get a clean cut. Whatcha think about cutting the rub rails?
I’ll hopefully cut’em on Friday. Gotta wait on payday! Just gonna touch up the paint and measure things today. Easy day
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