Why is it important to keep weight down on a TJ?

Might be in the minority here but I recently started keeping two 60lb tube sand bags in the back (one pressed up next to each wheel well)

I don't run a back seat and swap the hard top for a soft during the summer. It rides like shit without the hard top, even with fresh Moog stock height springs and ranchos. Adding the tube sand makes a world of difference driving it. I'll probably keep them after I put the hard top back on unless I'm hauling stuff back there.
 
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Not_Invented_Here_ said:
Might be in the minority here but I recently started keeping two 60lb tube sand bags in the back (one pressed up next to each wheel well)

I don't run a back seat and swap the hard top for a soft during the summer. It rides like shit without the hard top, even with fresh Moog stock height springs and ranchos. Adding the tube sand makes a world of difference driving it. I'll probably keep them after I put the hard top back on unless I'm hauling stuff back there.
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Change your shocks and ditch the sand bags :)
 
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I am actually in the process of switching out all of my Steel armor for Aluminum. Currently have Steel Gen 1 Genright front fenders , rear stretch armor and fenders, I just got my new Aluminum highline fenders and Aluminium inners, Aluminium corners and aluminum rear fenders, but I did decide to stick with my steel mini boat side Stretch sliders. I look forward to seeing how much weight I save. I’ll be weighing everything I remove and then weighing what it’s replaced with.
 
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Rescue6 said:
I am actually in the process of switching out all of my Steel armor for Aluminum. Currently have Steel Gen 1 Genright front fenders , rear stretch armor and fenders, I just got my new Aluminum highline fenders and Aluminium inners, Aluminium corners and aluminum rear fenders, but I did decide to stick with my steel mini boat side Stretch sliders. I look forward to seeing how much weight I save. I’ll be weighing everything I remove and then weighing what it’s replaced with.
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When I first ordered my front Genright fenders in steel and they showed up, I thought holly crap these weigh a ton. I returned them and reordered them in Alum. I am now running front fenders, rear corners, and rear fenders all Genright all Alum.

These numbers are from Genrights Website

Rear Corners in Alum
  • Super light weight version of our FULL corner guards, saves 49lbs over steel version.
Front Fenders w/ 4" flare in Alum

weight, only weighing 9.3 lbs each, compared to the steel version, which weigh 21.75 lbs. each! That's over a 24 lbs. reduction!


Rear Fenders 4" in Alum
  • Save 30 lbs with the light weight aluminum version 4" Rear Fenders

So a total savings of 49 + 24 + 30 = 103 lbs over the same products in steel.
 
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UKTJ said:
I have wondered why so many on here are so interested in the weight of parts on their TJs. From what I gather it seems that because of the terrain you often drive over (i.e. lots of rocks) you need to add a large amount of extra protection to your TJs in the form of skids, corner armour, etc. Those additions all add weight, so the incremental amount of weight in each part adds up. About right?

But what I have yet to really understand is why a heavier TJ is an issue. I could understand if you were maybe in a swamp and wanted to avoid sinking, but why is weight such an issue when tackling rocks? Is it as simple as the power to weight ratio?
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I weigh 🤣 very carefully what I put on my rig today, and on my sons rig.

Sprung weight. The biggest weight savers are things you can delete; hardtop, rear seat, spare tire and full doors.

You should only add something if it’s functionally necessary. In these cases, aluminum where possible, synthetic line. As an aside, some stock items work fine (e.g. bumpers, though they might steal some departure angle).

unsprung weight. These things are usually pertinent, so not much you can do about them. Tire choice can be significant, but everything else adds weight, longer springs, bigger tires (and rotational mass has a larger effect on ride than static mass, which is resolved largely through re-gearing).

The bottom line is, if you don’t need it, it will keep your rig lighter and your wallet heavier. Performance will be better overall. Get proper shocks for your rig, correct geometry problems if you need to. It all adds up.
 
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Plumber1 said:
When I first ordered my front Genright fenders in steel and they showed up, I thought holly crap these weigh a ton. I returned them and reordered them in Alum. I am now running front fenders, rear corners, and rear fenders all Genright all Alum.

These numbers are from Genrights Website

Rear Corners in Alum
  • Super light weight version of our FULL corner guards, saves 49lbs over steel version.
Front Fenders w/ 4" flare in Alum

weight, only weighing 9.3 lbs each, compared to the steel version, which weigh 21.75 lbs. each! That's over a 24 lbs. reduction!


Rear Fenders 4" in Alum
  • Save 30 lbs with the light weight aluminum version 4" Rear Fenders

So a total savings of 49 + 24 + 30 = 103 lbs over the same products in steel.
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I’ll be interested in seeing the weight. I’m guessing those numbers are for all the current Gen 3 parts. From talking with a few of the guys over at Genright the gen1 stuff I have was even heavier. The rear corners wrap under the tub like a slider in front of the wheel opening, no cut outs in the front fenders and it has more area on the front fender as well as I used the stock inner fenders as they did not offer inner fender replacements way back in about 2009ish when I did this stuff originally. It he’ll. I’d be happy with just a 100# savings even. I’m also going to an aluminum belly pan
 
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UKTJ said:
I have wondered why so many on here are so interested in the weight of parts on their TJs. From what I gather it seems that because of the terrain you often drive over (i.e. lots of rocks) you need to add a large amount of extra protection to your TJs in the form of skids, corner armour, etc. Those additions all add weight, so the incremental amount of weight in each part adds up. About right?

But what I have yet to really understand is why a heavier TJ is an issue. I could understand if you were maybe in a swamp and wanted to avoid sinking, but why is weight such an issue when tackling rocks? Is it as simple as the power to weight ratio?
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I realize the OP's question is a bit old, and the thread has shifted to more of a "how to build light" focus, but there's are very good reasons to build light. The GVWR of the TJ is 4,450lbs. Subtract out the curb weight of a stock vehicle, and you're left with 1,100lbs, give or take, to add fuel (~ 120lb for a full tank), passengers (175lb each?), cargo, and any mods or accessories you want. You'll blow past that max weight capacity pretty quickly, as @jjvw attested to, given his measured weight. Stronger brakes, heavier suspension, etc. all become required to control the extra weight. The stock configuration is a compromise, but once you change one thing you further compromise something else, which requires additional work to compensate. Building light helps to reduce the other compromises you have to offset.
 
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How much protection in an accident will the aluminum bumpers give as compared to steel bumpers? As TJ's get older and parts harder to find I would think the insurance companies will be more inclined to total instead of fixing them.... and I doubt they will pay out what it costs to buy a replacement TJ due to how their prices have skyrocketed lately. I've seen a lot of cases where the steel bumpers crumple the other car while completely protecting the TJ. I'm just wondering if the aluminum bumpers would do the same?
 
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Scout734 said:
How much protection in an accident will the aluminum bumpers give as compared to steel bumpers? As TJ's get older and parts harder to find I would think the insurance companies will be more inclined to total instead of fixing them.... and I doubt they will pay out what it costs to buy a replacement TJ due to how their prices have skyrocketed lately. I've seen a lot of cases where the steel bumpers crumple the other car while completely protecting the TJ. I'm just wondering if the aluminum bumpers would do the same?
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The aluminum parts are quite stout in comparison to most other vehicles out there.
 
DaveF said:
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Change your shocks and ditch the sand bags :)
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So, the Ranchos on there are not old at all and do not have many miles on them. Same with springs. Can you elaborate on how different shocks would address that problem? Seems a weight balance issue rather than a shocks issue, but it's not something I've investigated much. It's not a pain for me to roll around with that little extra weight distributed in the back
 
Not_Invented_Here_ said:
So, the Ranchos on there are not old at all and do not have many miles on them. Same with springs. Can you elaborate on how different shocks would address that problem? Seems a weight balance issue rather than a shocks issue, but it's not something I've investigated much. It's not a pain for me to roll around with that little extra weight distributed in the back
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Other people have more knowledge and have posted the answer above in this thread... it's about the valving of the shock is my understanding, adding weight will lower the back end, but won't change the amount of dampening the shock does.

I don't have ranchos, just the OME shocks the previous owner put on... but when I swapped my hard top for a soft top on my LJ, it certainly didn't noticeably change the driving characteristics of the vehicle.
 
DaveF said:
Other people have more knowledge and have posted the answer above in this thread... it's about the valving of the shock is my understanding, adding weight will lower the back end, but won't change the amount of dampening the shock does.

I don't have ranchos, just the OME shocks the previous owner put on... but when I swapped my hard top for a soft top on my LJ, it certainly didn't noticeably change the driving characteristics of the vehicle.
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Fair. do you run a back seat? Because all I'm doing I feel like is adding back a little more weight than the seat
 
Less weight = better performance
Doesn’t matter what you drive.
It can go the wrong way when you drop a big ass engine in a small vehicle. Drag racing, cool. Trying to turn the damn thing, no...
Other than that it’s always an upgrade to drop weight.
 
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Which is more nimble when it's time to play...

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Not in my LJ, but previous Jeep, 2012 JKU. It had a hard top. I noticed a huge difference when I took it off and ran topless for a while. Ended up selling the hard top and getting an OEM soft top.

My current build has many aluminum parts to cut down on weight. Someone had steel and aluminum corners side by side. I picked them up, such a huge difference.
 
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