Lax22’s 03 TJ Rubicon - East Coast Trail Rig

slowly getting there. One thing I hate doing is painting. This is day two of paint. Should be able to install on Monday after the nutsert tool gets here.
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A couple notes for anyone considering this armor.

1. Buy the spot cutter/rotobroach tool for making holes. Align the armor and drill the holes through the armor holes with the rotobroach tip.
2. Rear corner guards need to be mocked up before the sliders with this setup.
3. Pay extra for powder coat on the sliders. Metalcloak sliders have a “busy” design and some areas are hard to reach with a standard spray nozzle. You can grab some Eastwood paint with a multi tipped nozzle or use a hand brush.
3. Fishing the nuts that run along the bottom of slider through the tub is difficult. Put painters tape around the nuts and press them into the closed end of a box wrench to hold them in place so you can start the bolts.
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Bought a pair of molded Metalcloak LED taillights. Overall happy with them and the price was pretty good. Install was pretty strait forward, side markers were a bit tough to get installed due to the screws and nuts being so small.

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Went to Rausch Creek with our club for our annual run. Had a lot of fun but it was wet. Hit some of the regular obstacles but stayed on the other property and played around on affliction and devils den. Pretty good two days, but my Patagonia super slickies made it difficult. Tried shoot the moon but was denied.

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Went to Rausch Creek with our club for our annual run. Had a lot of fun but it was wet. Hit some of the regular obstacles but stayed on the other property and played around on affliction and devils den. Pretty good two days, but my Patagonia super slickies made it difficult. Tried shoot the moon but was denied.

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The den and affliction are awesome. Did you guys get over to Talisman and trail F* by the entrance? Shot the moon changes every time I've seen it. Sweet photos!
 
The den and affliction are awesome. Did you guys get over to Talisman and trail F* by the entrance? Shot the moon changes every time I've seen it. Sweet photos!

Thanks! We did trail F did not make it over to talisman. Devils den took up most of our time with it being wet. I was a little harder on the Jeep than I would have liked, just could not get traction under the conditions we were in, Also it seemed mine my rear diff just found every rock it could could to get hung up on. Also my lower control arm brackets took a real beating.
 
Thanks! We did trail F did not make it over to talisman. Devils den took up most of our time with it being wet. I was a little harder on the Jeep than I would have liked, just could not get traction under the conditions we were in, Also it seemed mine my rear diff just found every rock it could could to get hung up on. Also my lower control arm brackets took a real beating.

I can imagine. I've only run it when it's been dry. I can see it being a nightmare in the wet. There are so many rocks you need to have traction on or you're stuck.
 
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I can imagine. I've only run it when it's been dry. I can see it being a nightmare in the wet. There are so many rocks you need to have traction on or you're stuck.

So true. In July we wheeler there and it was very dry, completely different experience. Two of us were running Patagonia tires and we couldn’t get over anything.
 
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So true. In July we wheeler there and it was very dry, completely different experience. Two of us were running Patagonia tires and we couldn’t get over anything.

I’ve heard the Pategonia’s aren’t great where we wheel. I’ve loved my Cooper SST Pro’s. They hook up wet or dry.
 
I’ve heard the Pategonia’s aren’t great where we wheel. I’ve loved my Cooper SST Pro’s. They hook up wet or dry.

They worked well for a little while, but last few wet trips I’ve really noticed a degradation in performance. Bought them because they were cheap, learned my lesson.
 
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Not much going on these days except working in the garage and spending time with family. Had to change the water pump on the TJ and swapped the radiator. Radiator was damaged from my own stupidity, but the water pump was starting to squeal. From what I can tell it was the original so I threw another mopar pump in and changed some idler pulleys while I was in there. Waiting on new hoses to finish the job.
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All back together and running fine. Plan to hit Rauch and AOAA in the upcoming months.

One thing I keep looking at is getting new tires, toying with the idea of getting JK/JL takeoffs so I can get some MTRs but I just do not like the look of any of them.
 
All back together and running fine. Plan to hit Rauch and AOAA in the upcoming months.

One thing I keep looking at is getting new tires, toying with the idea of getting JK/JL takeoffs so I can get some MTRs but I just do not like the look of any of them.
Congrats!


I like the base model gladiator wheels but are never paired with anything but street tires on marketplace. I think wider/taller tires may be an issue with backspacing on these particular ones too. Savvy just put some on their lj on their instagram.

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Congrats!


I like the base model gladiator wheels but are never paired with anything but street tires on marketplace. I think wider/taller tires may be an issue with backspacing on these particular ones too. Savvy just put some on their lj on their instagram.

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I picked up a set of those, 5 wheels, for $120. They are not a bad looking wheel. They fit nicely with a 1.25" adapter.
 
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