Lax22’s 03 TJ Rubicon - East Coast Trail Rig

Yeah thought about moving this one and re-titling it. Didn’t think I would be doing much more to the Jeep but I guess that was not the case.
 
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Latest mods include an early 2000’s ram Dana 44 front diff cover, black magic pads and centric rotors, brake flush, and tie rod straitening. Getting ready for our anual club run at Rauch Creek in November. Hopefully the ram cover holds up.

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Picked up a slightly used Detroit to swap into the rear. Wondering if I should gear it lower, or stay with 4.88s.
 
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It would be ideal to re-gear, but not worth the cost, assuming you're re-using what you already have.
It’s true. I was reading your thread about gears being back ordered. Just something to think over.
 
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Went to Rauch Creek and had a good time wheeling but the weather was all over the place. It went from sunny and 60s to rain and snow, then back to sun.
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The trails were fun as always but slick from all the mud/rain/snow. My late model ram 1500 diff cover did the job but may need to be replaced.
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I also need to figure out a solution to reinforce the lips on my rims. They are steel and I’ve bent the lips on two rims, on two separate occasions, bad enough to crease the sidewall of the tire. The bead has always held, but it’s annoying to break the bead and bend it back after every trip. I saw some mentions of welding 1/4 round to the outside lip of the rim, just not sure how I would get it bent/rolled to fit the diameter of the rim.
 
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Jeep looks great. That last shot looks like Crawl Daddy. That trail is a mess when it's wet. Love the build. Question on your hydro assist. What kind of bracket do you have on the drag link?
 
Jeep looks great. That last shot looks like Crawl Daddy. That trail is a mess when it's wet. Love the build. Question on your hydro assist. What kind of bracket do you have on the drag link?
Thanks, yes that’s Crawl Daddy and it was a mess. I ended up bending my exhaust when I got frustrated and bumped it to get over the obstacle.

For the hydro assist, I am using the Black Magic Brakes kit that @mrblaine designed with the modified PSC ram and associated drag link bracket. Love the kit for its ease of installation and Blane answered any questions I had during the install. I am using a factory tapped steering box and hoses from West Texas Off-road and a PSC combination transmission and power steering fluid coolers. I am also running the factory steering pump with Wepco fluid. It works well for me currently and don’t have any complaints.
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Thanks, yes that’s Crawl Daddy and it was a mess. I ended up bending my exhaust when I got frustrated and bumped it to get over the obstacle.

For the hydro assist, I am using the Black Magic Brakes kit that @mrblaine designed with the modified PSC ram and associated drag link bracket. Love the kit for its ease of installation and Blane answered any questions I had during the install. I am using a factory tapped steering box and hoses from West Texas Off-road and a PSC combination transmission and power steering fluid coolers. I am also running the factory steering pump with Wepco fluid. It works well for me currently and don’t have any complaints.
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Got it, thanks for the info. I have yet to hit up the Cove, but I need to get out there. Rausch and AOAA are awesome, but just so far away.
 
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Got it, thanks for the info. I have yet to hit up the Cove, but I need to get out there. Rausch and AOAA are awesome, but just so far away.
I know the feeling. AOAA, Rauch, and The Cove are 3.5 to 4 hours away from me. Our club wheels the cove twice a year and it’s a great place to spend a weekend because you can camp there and they have decent facilities with showers. I wish we had parks closer and public lands to wheel on, just not the case for us here.
 
On my last outing, I managed to collapse the passenger side upper control arm bracket. I was able to get it straitened out with a crowbar but I figured it was a good time to finally install the Currie Johnny joint upper control arm brackets that have been sitting on the shelf. The tombstone needed a bit of trimming and grinding to fit correctly, but everything lined up after a few test fits. I’m just learning how to weld and on my first pass I didn’t have the voltage turned up enough, so I have a buddy with more experience take a second pass at it. Not pretty but not going anywhere.
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While I was doing the bracket and letting things cool between welds, I was in the process of swapping out the dented ram diff cover and found a shim that worked its way out of place. I loosened the bearing caps and rocked the carrier to get it back in place, I put a dab of RTV on it to hopefully prevent it from happening again. I have never seen that happen before any ideas what could have caused it?
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The only things left to do if reroute the exhaust and change all the fluids while it’s up on the lift. There is a trip to the cove in Gore Va planned for February, so just getting it ready for that.
 
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Front end is all buttoned up. Diff fluid and engine oil changed. Need to grab some atf-4 to do the t-case and work on adding the rock rings to the rims. Eventually I’d like to flip the tie rod.
 
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Looks like you may be a little on the light side of carrier pre load. I can’t imagine another way the shim could walk out without carrier movement. I don’t have a lot of experience with the TJ rubicon axles so hopefully some others will chime in. Nice Build!
 
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Thanks for the insight @Fluxor. The Jeep already had gears installed when I bought it, if I had more time I would have checked it but I had to get the Jeep off the lift for the next project. When I start work on the rear I’ll give the front a look. For now everything is buttoned up and back on it’s wheels. Took it for a drive and it drove very well. The Jeep feels more solid and responsive so I’m happy with the end result.

I still need to finish exhaust rerouting and work on the rock rings but for now the main issues are taken care of.
 
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