Steven Preyer's 2006 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Steven Preyer

Steven Preyer

Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
56
Location
Temecula
Got my 2006 Rubicon back in August of 2018 in stock condition and for the last 6 months I've been taking it out on weekends learning and testing its capabilities. All I can say is that in stock form this Jeep blows my mind. I was able to complete trails I felt I had no business doing but it turned out it was just my nerves and the Jeep would just do it. This last weekend the Jeep received and lift and 33" tires. I'll post photos of a few trail shots prior to the upgrade but moving forward I should be able to do more trails and I'll post pics.

78305


78306



Guess which Jeep I am. All the built up rigs were always impressed when my little stock jeep on small tire would get through the trails. That is Brad from TrailRecon in front of me in the first picture.

78308


78309


Sand Stone Canyon in Anza Borrego.

78310
 
  • Like
Reactions: bedhed, TJ Starting, DrDmoney and 7 others
Looking good. Nice to see your using it. Brads JK looks huge in that photo. Should I be looking out for you on an upcoming video? :p
 
  • Like
Reactions: DrDmoney
Alex01 said:
Looking good. Nice to see your using it. Brads JK looks huge in that photo. Should I be looking out for you on an upcoming video? :p
Click to expand...

In stock forum I had a tendency to make all the JKU's around me look even larger. Likewise I felt like a little Suzuki Samurai. Brad is part of the San Diego Jeep Club and it was just dumb luck I was put in line behind him. He's a good guy, I've had the chance now to meet him a few times!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alex01
Got out today with some friends and took the jeep for some snow fun at Thomas Mountain. It's always fun for us SoCal people to find snow to play in. This was the first trail run post lift and tires. 9 jeeps in total and 3 winch recoveries on the day. I avoided being one of the recoveries by pure dumb luck.

79113


79114


79115
 
  • Like
Reactions: TJ Starting, Mikester86, -T. and 2 others
TJ Hunnicutt said:
Not dumb luck, it's those Mickey's😜

Nice build! What's next?
Click to expand...

Thanks, not gonna lie I love my Mickeys!!! 5 things on the radar but I'm not sure what order

  1. CB Radio hard mount / I'm using a hand held and I absolutely hate it / Also getting my HAM license
  2. Motobilt Diff Covers
  3. CV Driveshaft (most likely Tom Woods)
  4. RockSliders (currently rocking my stock tube steps, works for now but not really, haha)
  5. Front Bumper with D-ring attachments (looking at Mid-Width size)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mikester86 and TJ Hunnicutt
Great build and pics so far. Looks great. How do you like the ride and handling characteristics of the JSPEC and Rancho combination?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Steven Preyer
JMT said:
Great build and pics so far. Looks great. How do you like the ride and handling characteristics of the JSPEC and Rancho combination?
Click to expand...

Ride report following the install of my JKS JSPEC / Rancho suspension:

First impression that both the wife and I noticed was that the lift definitely created some extra bounciness over the stock ride. That being said the bounciness was a plush bounce and not a rattle your teeth out bounce. This was true both on road and when hitting the trail/snow. I was very pleased with the ride characteristics! Only problem I ran into was a nasty "thud" noise in the rear when hitting large dips. Pretty sure I have it narrowed down to my rear trackbar hitting my gas tank skid.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: JMT
There hasn't been a lot of reviews on the JSPEC lift, so was just curious. Thanks for the input. Did you net 3" of lift with the springs? Also, what made you decide on the Rancho's vs. going with the JSPEC shocks?
 
  • Like
Reactions: JMT
bobthetj03 said:
There hasn't been a lot of reviews on the JSPEC lift, so was just curious. Thanks for the input. Did you net 3" of lift with the springs? Also, what made you decide on the Rancho's vs. going with the JSPEC shocks?
Click to expand...

So simple reason for going Rancho Shocks over JSPEC shocks, every single review it seems like on this forum recommends the Rancho shock for our TJ's so I listened. A part of me wanted to go with the JSPEC shocks but I didn't think hundreds of people would steer me wrong.

As for net ride height from the JKS JSPEC 3" coils, I'm sitting 3.25 inches higher post lift. I'm a lighter TJ because I run a soft top and stock bumpers plus the lift is new. I think a little extra weight and some break in time and I would be at a true 3" of lift.

I have some more desert washes and rock crawling trips planned in the next 3 weeks so I'll be able to review my suspension even more at that point.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fouledplugs, TJ Hunnicutt and bobthetj03
Top Bottom
Back