| Stage 1 of my buildup completed - 2/27/02 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I've divided my buildup
into two major stages. Stage 1 consists of skidplates, towhooks, rear
bumper / tire carrier, 4.5" lift, 15x8 wheels and 31x10.5x15 tires.
A lot of the modifications made in Stage 1 are meaningful ones but are
also just a stepping stone before Stage 2, which is basically running 32"
or 33" tires, new gears and at least one locker. That is why I
chose the 15x8 wheels - so if I go to a wider tire (like 32x11.5), I
won't have to get new wheels. Also, anytime you increase tire size and
don't change gears, you will feel a loss of power. That is one reason
why I chose 31" tires as opposed to 32's from the start because I
don't want to lose to much power. Plus with 31's and the wheels with 4.5"
backspace, I should have no rubbing at all. As of today, Stage 1 is
complete with the exception of the rear bumper / tire carrier. (I have
it, I just haven't put it on. I may get it on in the next two weeks.) On
this page, I won't really discuss the installation but I want to give a
you review of the Rubicon Express 4.5" lift and SYE and how this
compares to when the jeep was stock. So for starters, we need a good
before and after pic. Unfortunately the before pic I took really sucks
so I substituted another pic from when it was stock.
Lift and tire height measurements (actual measurements taken at the vehicle)
With these height measurements, keep in mind that I chose to get the RE1462 leaf pack which is known to give much more than 4.5" of lift. As you can see, it gave me 6.5"! (The RE 4.5" kit normally comes with a 3.5" leaf pack and 1.25" shackle) So yes right now the rear is sitting a little higher than the front. In the "after" picture above I was pretty loaded down with tools, removed parts, and two spare tires, to help the lift settle. I specifically chose the RE1462 leaf pack because I want to compensate for the weight I will be carrying from the bumper / tire carrier, gas tank skid, and gear I'll have to carry. The last thing I want is sagging leafs in the back. This is also a good leaf pack to have if I want to go higher by adding an extended shackle. I'll see how everything settles after I get the bumper on before I decide if I need a coil spacer in the front to level it out. I guess now is a good time to show you a pic of the rear leaf springs. 
In addition to the leaf pack (or AAL if you choose), this is a very complete kit. It comes with 2 front coil springs, bumpstops, 4 DoetschTech shocks, upper and lower fixed control arms, adjustable track bar, extended brake lines, swaybar quick disconnects and a transfer case lowering kit which I don't recommend using. It also comes with U-bolts for the rear spring pack, however make sure they send you the correct ones. They sent me ones for the Dana35 axle which doesn't fit around my 8.25's axle tube which is bigger in diameter. This cost me about $20 and a trip to the auto parts store for new U-bolts since I wasn't going to wait for RE to send me the correct ones. Here are some pics of the coil springs, control arms and track bar. 
 An
interesting thing about the control arms (above). They appear to be the
exact same length as the stock ones but after a careful measurement from
bushing eye to eye the RE control arms are 1/8" longer than stock.
I was expecting a bigger difference in length than the stock ones, but
apparently that is all that is needed to put the axle where it is
supposed to be for this lift.
Rubicon Express Slip Yoke Eliminator (SYE) aka "hack and tap kit" and CV driveshaft There are several reasons why I chose this SYE kit. For one, I thought it would be easier to install than tearing apart my transfer case as required by all other kits. Also, those who are actually using this kit have all recommended it and have had no problems with strength issues. I haven't yet heard of any failing or breaking. Also for the newer XJs, this kit is quite a bit cheaper than those sold for 96 and older and much less expensive than the other kits that send you a new shaft to put in. Of course I was nervous about cutting the output shaft and the drilling / tapping threads. I really took my time on it and was very pleased at the cut I did on the shaft. The hole I drilled in the shaft was a tad off center, which worried me but after bolting the new flange on I realized that the hole doesn't need to be perfectly in the center - as long as you get it close you are OK! There are two very good install articles about this kit on the ILOVEJEEPS website. Here are the links: http://www.ilovejeeps.com/reviews/article.cfm?ID=42 http://www.ilovejeeps.com/projects/article.cfm?ID=10 Once you get a SYE installed, you need a CV driveshaft that will need to be longer than the stock shaft to compensate for the increased distance between your transfer case output shaft and rear pinion. The CV driveshaft will have the slip yoke in the shaft which is where it should be instead of on the output shaft of the transfer case. You probably need to shim the rear axle so the pinion points just a few degrees less than straight with the driveshaft. RE recommended a 6 degree shim for my setup and it works great so far. Only two or three times have I felt vibrations between 75 - 80 mph. Thankfully its nothing major. For more information about Rubicon Express products go to http://www.rubiconexpress.com Here is a pic of my stock driveshaft vs the CV driveshaft: 
My wheels and tires For wheels I chose the Tech 1 black rockcrawler wheels from http://www.4wheelparts.com/ They are a steel wheel which means they are heavy but the advantages are that they are strong, incredibly cheap (about $45) and very cool looking. I chose the 15x8 size with a 4.5" backspace. This causes my 31" tires to stick out just the right amount - just barely past the flare which is perfect in my opinion. With this backspacing a 31's, there is no chance the tires will rub against the control arms. The only rubbing to watch out for will be on the fenders but is very minimal. I couldn't decide for the longest time on wether or not to get the BFG A/T KO tires or the Goodyear Wrangler MTRs. They were both very expensive, and I didn't want a tire that was going to be extremely loud on the pavement. I've heard the MTRs will do much better in mud than the A/Ts. So when I found a shop that would sell me the MTRs costing just slightly above the BFGs, I decided to go for it and got the MTRs. Surprisingly, the MTRs are not loud on the pavement at all! There is a slight rumble at slow speeds, and a droning or hum at highway speeds but they really are not bad at all. I was expecting much worse. I decided to get the 31x10.5x15 size but will go bigger in the future. These pics give you an idea of how big a 31" tire is compared to the stock 225/75R/15 Goodyear RT/S tires. 
After giving it a test drive offroad, the tires do rub a little bit on the front bumper under extreme flex situations. Without some fender trimming 32's would surely rub a lot, probably shredding the plastic bumper and flares. If you keep the front swaybar connected of course there won't be any rubbing, but what fun is that? 
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