The Travels of an 03 Rubicon

MaloStapalo

MaloStapalo

Release the Kraken
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2018
Messages
1,242
Location
Веил, колорадо
I got my first Jeep when I was around 17. It was an 86 Cherokee Chief that needed lots of work. I promptly sunk it in the mud and after waiting 4 days for it to be recovered, the carb and lots of other things were toast. Fast forward a number of years, and I am trading my 350Z for a friends Wrangler SE. The jeep bug was back. With a vengeance. Sold the SE, put in a large chunk of new money and brought home an 03 Rubicon with 96,xxx miles. This is her story. *Cue Law and Order sounds*
PreSaleFront.jpg
PreSaleRear.jpg
 
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She was in very good shape for being a 15 year old car that had been mildly off roaded on the trails of Colorado and with fairly low miles. Between April to present day maintenance has been:
Mopar oil filter, new drain plug, Valvoline high mileage
Redline MTL 75W80 GL-4 transmission fluid
Redline D4 ATF transfer case fluid
Torco gear oil 85W140
Valvoline ATF4 Synthetic power steering fluid
Zerex G-05 HOAT Coolant
OEM Mopar radiator
Stant 195 thermostat
AC Delco air filter

Replacement Parts:
Poison Spyder Dana 44 diff covers
Rancho 7000MT shocks
Currie Currectlync tie rod and drag link
Removed drop pitman arm for standard arm
Spicer 5-760X axle U Joints
Spicer 706944X Ball Joints
Rancho 7000MT steering stabalizer
Platinum CarQuest pads and rotors
Hella E-Code H4 headlight housing
ORO LED Tailights
Poison Spyder license plate LED and 3rd brake light
Autolite XP985 Iridium Spark Plugs
NTK 02 Sensor upstream and downstream
Serpentine belt

When it's all typed out like this, it looks like I have been busy!
 
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PreRustRemove.jpg
The bumpers had seen some wear and tear use, but the metal was sound. I found this product called Ospho, which is marketed towards the marine industry. You remove loose rust and paint, then spray the water like substance onto the metal and let it sit overnight. Then wash it off, and be amazed at what it has done to the metal. After, you can paint directly onto the dried ospho.
 
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Well done so far! You don’t see many Rubicons in Patriot Blue!

I’ll bet you’re liking this thing over that SE!
 
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CompFront.jpg
FrontAxleStripd.jpg
Right around the same time I noticed some uneven wear on a front tire, found a tutorial on how to check the ball joints and found those to be the culprit. After a grueling 3 day stretch stripping out (what appeared to be) the original parts, I finally got it reassembled. Hearing the u-joints and ball joints finally break free sounded like a gunshot in my friends garage. A wave of relief passed over as I celebrated not having backed myself into a corner where the part either comes out, or I have disassembled too far. While I had the wheel hub apart for the ball joints I went ahead and replaced the other things.
 
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Whats next?

Tue and Wed I will be installing:
Currie 4" springs
Currie Antirock
Currie Front Track Bar
Currie JJ and Savvy control arms
Metal Cloak rear track bar

When I get back from vacation:
Savvy 1.25" aluminum body lift
M.O.R.E. "bomb proof" 1" torsion motor mounts

With this, I will be able to remove the transfer case drop kit from the previous teraflex kit, and plan ahead for a spring tummy tuck. Measuring then for a tom woods drive shaft.

Also ordered Shrock Works rocker guards, these are handmade by a small shop in Texas. Roughly a 6-8 week lead time which will give me enough time to get the body lift on. I chose these over PS rocker knockers as Shrock's do not incorporate any mounting or attachment to the body mounts. Important because the PS would require me to trim part of my body lift on the left and right side to make it level with the front and rear.

ShrockSide.jpg


ShrockUnder.jpg
 
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Wow, man that's cool. You got deep pockets to throw at that beast!
When you sunk the first jeep for 4 days did you leave it there by itself?
Unfortunately here in FL when Jeeps/ trucks get stuck and left unattended bad things happen.
They get stripped of all good parts, flipped upside down, rocks thrown through windows and even set on fire.
 
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Chris said:
I like where you're going with this build, and that color is really growing on me! Based off the quality of parts you're using, it's clear you've done your research!
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Thank you! I have spent way too many hours reading and deciding, then changing my mind.

Matt77 said:
Wow, man that's cool. You got deep pockets to throw at that beast!
When you sunk the first jeep for 4 days did you leave it there by itself?
Unfortunately here in FL when Jeeps/ trucks get stuck and left unattended bad things happen.
They get stripped of all good parts, flipped upside down, rocks thrown through windows and even set on fire.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was there by itself. It was in the center of a large mud hole so you would have to walk out to get to it. Or throw something at it.
 
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Flib said:
very nice! even nicer to see it in its natural habitat with some dirt under its wheels :)
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Thanks, this definitely gets used pretty frequently. I am about 4 hours outside of Moab, and there is miles and miles of terrain locally. I picked this Wrangler with the sole intention of building it for trail riding, camping, and assisting with recoveries around the trails.

Chris said:
Just noticed you're in Vail too! I'm jealous.
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Took 30 years, but I made it. Minus a lot of the income disparity, this place is an outdoor paradise.

tworley said:
Definitely headed in the right direction! What belly up skid are you going to use?
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This week I am considering UCF since it comes in varied heights of tuck (I like options), and a trans/oil skid. Last week, it was Nth Degree. I like their price (and design) a lot, but the idea of leaving my trans unarmored while spending so much to protect the oil and transfer skid, seem problematic.
 
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Antirock.jpg
CoilFrontCArms.jpg
LowerControlA.jpg
Trackbars.jpg
So yesterday my wife sent me the picture of all the boxes and made sure I knew how heavy they were for her to drag inside the house while I was at work. My excitement outweighed her sore back. I very briefly got to open my new toys before I had to move my attention to her. This morning I got to open them all the way.

First impression: Holy shit, these are high quality. Like seriously nice. Granted, my recent experience has been my old Teraflex kit, but these blow that out of the water.

My advice, if you are currently about to drop a good amount of money on a full suspension kit, of any brand be it teraflex, RE, whatever it may be, seriously consider saving just a little more and putting on Currie items. From the quality of the Currectlync, to their JJ's, the antirock, their trackbar, everything is of the highest quality. Thats it, I am a Currie fan for life now. There is no doubt that this kit will perform as well as everyone has said it will. (and its shiny)
 
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Have you looked into Savvy for your tummy tuck? Their system includes a tcase skid, engine skid, gas tank skid, 1.25" body lift, and a 1" motor mount lift. There are a few of us in CO that run it. Definitely worth the money.
 
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tworley said:
Have you looked into Savvy for your tummy tuck? Their system includes a tcase skid, engine skid, gas tank skid, 1.25" body lift, and a 1" motor mount lift. There are a few of us in CO that run it. Definitely worth the money.
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I have considered it, I have their 1.25" body lift in with this order and a mml arriving today. I saw that it was backordered currently but that may change by spring time. Do you have pictures of it installed on your rig?
 
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