Rocky Mountain Billy Goat Build

rasband said:
Well boys, we did it.

Filler overflow is fixed, I almost didn’t get to it because fishing in a gas tank sucks (even mostly empty) and I was interrupted constantly today. However I finally got it loose without breaking anything.

No overflow on the first fill up 🙇

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Now for clearance addition. I went from ~15” (6” off the frame) to ~16 7/8”. It’s also tighter all the way around, which is a welcome addition.

Can’t wait to see it perform next season.

Edit: oh and the money shot. Excuse the wire hanging down I need to hook up for the reverse lights

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So much want :love:
 
I noticed that my steering has felt loose the last few days, fortunately all my trips are pretty short and low speed. After another thread today on the JKS bushings I went back out to take a look and found the front frame side was loose.

Steering is much better since - but I need to find a proper socket size for my larger torque wrench to dial this in better. I am pretty sure I didn’t check it as soon as I should have after install, so this next week with my family out of town I’ll be checking all the parts I’ve installed and updating my maintenance checklist.
 
rasband said:
I noticed that my steering has felt loose the last few days, fortunately all my trips are pretty short and low speed. After another thread today on the JKS bushings I went back out to take a look and found the front frame side was loose.

Steering is much better since - but I need to find a proper socket size for my larger torque wrench to dial this in better. I am pretty sure I didn’t check it as soon as I should have after install, so this next week with my family out of town I’ll be checking all the parts I’ve installed and updating my maintenance checklist.
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Track bar? I have to check mine (jks) at least 2x a summer, it loosesens up as the original mount has been very slightly wollowed out.
 
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IPerkWVU said:
Track bar? I have to check mine (jks) at least 2x a summer, it loosesens up as the original mount has been very slightly wollowed out.
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Yep, the trackbar. I wonder if there’s any way to avoid the wallowing - I guess just keeping it torqued down is the only way.
 
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rasband said:
Yep, the trackbar. I wonder if there’s any way to avoid the wallowing - I guess just keeping it torqued down is the only way.
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Yeah, I think so. I blame mine on the PO! But I know to check it regularly and always Carry the necessary wrench and socket set to keep it snug after wheeling.
 
IPerkWVU said:
Yeah, I think so. I blame mine on the PO! But I know to check it regularly and always Carry the necessary wrench and socket set to keep it snug after wheeling.
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I’ve read some folks try to swap in the Currie JJ ball and use a larger bolt - if this trend continues I’ll probably look more into it.
 
Today I upgraded my winch line to synthetic. Surprisingly, with the steel cable on vs off entirely - there was negligible difference in height. Maybe 1/8” on the high end.

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As an aside, I need to repaint the winch housing - it looks awful.

As an added bonus, I finally trimmed the tailpipe too. It was hanging too far out and getting hit on rocks pretty constantly on the last run. It’s not pretty, but once the rust sets in and I deburr a bit more it’ll be not too noticeable.

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I need to get back under and take a look at that rust spot - in the image it looks pretty bad (and surprising to me).
 
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It’s time I finally manage the remaining Control arms (partially for future proofing, partially to address binding) - the last parts that are mostly height agnostic: there’s some Savvy CAs in bound for the remaining three (rear lower, front lower and front upper).

I have checked the rear uppers a few times now and haven’t found anything loose. My wheelbase isn’t off too far, but I’ll likely pull it back in a touch.
 
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We’ve had a decent number of snow storms this year already, and while I’m sure other tires are also great, I have zero complaints about the performance of the KO2s so far. If they age even halfway decent - I won’t hesitate to recommend them to others.

I can run pretty comfortably in 2wd in most spots.

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rasband said:
We’ve had a decent number of snow storms this year already, and while I’m sure other tires are also great, I have zero complaints about the performance of the KO2s so far. If they age even halfway decent - I won’t hesitate to recommend them to others.

I can run pretty comfortably in 2wd in most spots.

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Good to see snow sticking in those tread blocks. They are my next set.
 
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I’ve had the Savvy CAs sitting there a while, hopefully I can get to installing them this weekend. However the work this week was just throwing on the 1.25” wheel spacers to get the rubbing to stop under turning+flex on the Antirock. I was hoping it looked fine with just the fronts, but I didn’t like that and bumped the rear wheels too...

I don’t really care for spacers, but they solve a problem until I can afford wheels + tires. I’m sure there will be a lot more junk tossed up on the side making me look like a real wheeler.

The best part of this is I finally got to break in the new impact wrench I got for Christmas. That’s a nice addition to the quiver.

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An impact wrench is probably my new favorite tool, it sure saves a lot of time and energy.

All lower savvy CAs are on and adjusted - compared to the stock ones there’s definitely some more clearance before interfering with the mounts. A quick drive and I couldn’t notice any adverse affects. Once I’m out of the honeymoon phase I will hopefully have a better tell.

here’s the old bushings.

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Maybe I should start a thread on this, but while digesting flex potential of the OEM CAs as opposed to the new Savvy setup, I realized the front and rear lowers are different on mine. I understand how the rear allows flex, but the fronts have a cross brace that I believe would significantly inhibit it.

Now this could be aftermarket, I’m not entirely sure as a shop did change these out when I first bought the Jeep and got talked into something before I knew where I was going with this rig or what all the parts were and did...

Can anyone speak to if this is OEM and/or if their rig had the same difference before upgrades to whatever later lower CAs you opted for?

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That isn't OEM. Someone boxed in those arms thinking they were improving something.
 
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jjvw said:
That isn't OEM. Someone boxed in those arms thinking they were improving something.
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That’s what I could find too, I knew the binding was in those, so April phools will be a nice run for the check. I think I can tell the difference so far, but it could be my mind rationalizing the cost.

I think I have a clear plan for what’s next and the long term desires, though the order is less clear.

* Genright body mounts
* 4” Currie Springs
* Outboard the rear
* Extend the front
* 35”
* Likely required regear
* Plate +Hitch Rear Bumper

Everything else is security/creature comfort/for fun/reduce hang ups like flush mounts
 
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After reading about @bobthetj03 ’s experience with the metalcloak jaunce bumpers, I decided to dive in and see what’s up. I saved these for when I was going to address the rake too with some spacers and have the springs out.

I only did the front, hopefully when I do the rear I can also remove the bump stops since these seem to hard stop Close to where the bump stops back there

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And a hard to tell angle on the rake (I may add 0.5” in the rear like the OME kit would have had)

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Your rig is coming together real nice! What's the story/experience on those bounce bumpers? I've never seen them before...
 
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