Korra, a daily driven and trail ready Sahara

[Mike_H]

Johnny joints are pretty bullet proof, but if you expect to ever rebuild them, get the tools. Makes the job so much easier. I got a full set of Curries used and rebuilt the Johnny joints. It was easy with the right tools, royal PITA without.

That being said, I wouldn't hesitate to run Duroflex either. Your factory bushings are rubber and they last a LONG time.

 

[Justin Homan]

Johnny joints are pretty bullet proof, but if you expect to ever rebuild them, get the tools. Makes the job so much easier. I got a full set of Curries used and rebuilt the Johnny joints. It was easy with the right tools, royal PITA without.

I actually ended up ordering the Metal Cloak arms as theyre a local company to me so if i need any parts theyre an hour drive away. I may try out Johnny joints on the rear when i get new rear lower arms and see how they compare though, I appreciate the insight though!

 

[Justin Homan]

For a while ive been wanting to revert back to a shorter suspension setup, the RE 4.5 springs gave my Jeep 6 inches of lift over stock which is way too much and the jeep truly drove like sh*t. Ill be reinstalling my old 3 inch zone springs which gave me just under 4 inches of lift along eith these parts and a 1.25 body lift in preparation for 35s.

Here we have a set of Metalcloak aluminum arms to help me not rip off anymore lca mounts as well as Artec lca mounts with the skids. I have JKS ACOS to let me get the Jeep level enough to keep from annoying me and some 2 inch RE lower bump stops to get the bumps just right. I also have some rear shock mounts because when i did the 8.8 swap i welded them on too high which has limited my rear uptravel. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow ill have everything but the body lift which hasnt arrived on and back on the road and hopefully shell drive better again!

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

For a while ive been wanting to revert back to a shorter suspension setup, the RE 4.5 springs gave my Jeep 6 inches of lift over stock which is way too much and the jeep truly drove like sh*t. Ill be reinstalling my old 3 inch zone springs which gave me just under 4 inches of lift along eith these parts and a 1.25 body lift in preparation for 35s.View attachment 147243
Here we have a set of Metalcloak aluminum arms to help me not rip off anymore lca mounts as well as Artec lca mounts with the skids. I have JKS ACOS to let me get the Jeep level enough to keep from annoying me and some 2 inch RE lower bump stops to get the bumps just right. I also have some rear shock mounts because when i did the 8.8 swap i welded them on too high which has limited my rear uptravel. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow ill have everything but the body lift which hasnt arrived on and back on the road and hopefully shell drive better again!

Those acos spacers will add 2” to your 4” springs.

 

[Justin Homan]

Those acos spacers will add 2” to your 4” springs.

Yep, the front for whatever reason is always a little over 2 inches lower than the rear. Its been something thats puzzled me since i started modifying this thing. Its not disproportionately weighted and the 8.8 only adds about 1/2 of extra height to the rear.

 

[Justin Homan]

Made some good progress today, got the front end bump-stopped with the ACOS and new pucks then proceeded to pull the axle. Tomorrow morning will consist of finishing the front end although i may re-use the RE springs if time wont allow for me to do the rear as well. If thats the case next friday ill get that done and hopefully ill have a body lift to do then as well.

 

[Justin Homan]

Day 2 done, I didn't get as far as i wanted but got the new lca brackets burned in and the Metalcloak control arms in. Made it a good ways putting her back together but had to stop due to lack of light. Tomorrow night im hoping to get the front all the way back together and start on the rear.

 

[Justin Homan]

Got the front end together this evening, all all thats left to do up front is straightening the steering wheel. I will start on the rear Tuesday evening and hopefully be able to finish it Friday morning.

 

[Lonewolf]

Looks good

 

[Justin Homan]

Looks good

Thank you! Im excited to see the finished product after this round of changes. She should not only look better but she should have better road manners and lower cg for wheeling.

 

[Justin Homan]

The last week has been busy and hasnt left me with much time to wrench on the Jeep and post updates. It is very close to being finished all it needs is rear shocks which should arrive some time next week and i need to weld in the new shock mounts.

Got the rear end set down on the shorter springs earlier this week and took today to install my USA Standard 4340 chromoly axle shafts.

These were a simple and quick project that is quite necessary for a big change i have coming very soon.

 

[Justin Homan]

Still dont have the rear shocks on but these happened today.... All i can say is holy sh*t they are perfect. 35x12.50r15 Yokohama Geolandar G003 wrapped around a set of Raceline Defender 935m, specs on the wheel are 15x8 -24 offset (3.50bs). By the end of the week shell be back to being my daily driver.

 

[bobthetj03]

Natural progression. Knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. Looks sweet brah!

 

[Justin Homan]

Natural progression. Knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. Looks sweet brah!

Thank you! Gonna be interesting to see how it wheels on the bigger tires!

 

[bobthetj03]

Thank you! Gonna be interesting to see how it wheels on the bigger tires!

You'll walk over stuff, get bored, wish you would have stuck with 33's, sell it, and get a Subaru. Lol!

 

[Justin Homan]

Finally got her done and got a chance to do a nice drive as a bit of a test and all i can say is wow she drives good!

Before these recent changes she had some bump steer and wandered all over the road even at proper tire pressure. Im running these 35’s at 26psi and she runs straight as an arrow. Lowering the suspension seems to have done the trick as well as theres no more noticeable bump steer. Ive also noticed it seems a bit more comfortable than before, Im not sure what to attribute this too as it could either be the new rear shocks or the Metalcloak lca’s. The Yokohama’s are a nice tire too, they are very quiet although im sure they will start to make some noise as i wear them in. So far im extremely happy with these changes. Also enjoy this picture of how far this Jeeps come over the years, same spot just under 3 years apart.

 

[Lonewolf]

Looks good! Big difference in 3 years

 

[Justin Homan]

Looks good! Big difference in 3 years

Thanks! It really snowballed out of control fast

 

[Justin Homan]

Been a while since ive done anything to the Jeep but today was the day. Finally went about ordering the Maxbilt TrailTails ive been eyeing up for the last couple years and damn do they look good!

Heres a before picture for refrence, also note that my Jeep didn't have a 3rd brake light, another thing i changed today. The wiring was extremely simple and only took about an hour to get the tail lights changed over. Running wires for the license plate light was the most difficult part of the job.

Heres the final look! I will definitely want to do some sort of corner armor to cover the holes were the license plate was and also protect the corners since the bumper i ordered isnt full width. Next step for this Jeep will be a Barnes4wd rear bumper with the 2 inch receiver to make it easier/cleaner to haul around my mountain bike.

 

[BuildBreakRepeat]

Been a while since ive done anything to the Jeep but today was the day. Finally went about ordering the Maxbilt TrailTails ive been eyeing up for the last couple years and damn do they look good! View attachment 161379
Heres a before picture for refrence, also note that my Jeep didn't have a 3rd brake light, another thing i changed today. The wiring was extremely simple and only took about an hour to get the tail lights changed over. Running wires for the license plate light was the most difficult part of the job.
View attachment 161380
Heres the final look! I will definitely want to do some sort of corner armor to cover the holes were the license plate was and also protect the corners since the bumper i ordered isnt full width. Next step for this Jeep will be a Barnes4wd rear bumper with the 2 inch receiver to make it easier/cleaner to haul around my mountain bike.

I’ve got them as well, the back up lights are great at night!