Jade Where's Waldo Build

Spent the afternoon exploring some El dorado forest roads

 

Fenders are on and did some oakie fit testing to make sure i had room to spare. Just used some oe style clips from Amazon and time will tell how they hold

 

Looks really good, man!

 

Thanks man, I was actually really surprised, the cooper stt pro is more like 34.5 so if I switch tires it might be lots of work down the road. Based on how much I rub i think 1.25 for a 2.75 total would have been perfect and a 1" would have been a barely noticeable rub. It'll be cool to see how they do off road. These new gears make a huge difference but I feel like I should have gone 5.29, however Its still a noticeable improvement with the 4.88. Just gotta get a second transfer case to make it the jack of highways, small jumps and low range mall crawls.

 

Finally made it to the rubicon trail! I went with 3 jeeps. They were on 37s 40s and 42s, built axles or tons and dual lockers, they were also all trailers in and by the end of the trip, no one had sustained any significant damage! One spare tire carrier spindle broke and I lost my ac belt because my compressor seized.

The 35s did great, aired down to 10 psi with the ray 10s and had no issues. Some very minor rubbing but I am definitely hitting the frame and full lock so I may need to retub the tub with some 1.25" spacers. The fitting on the diff for the front locker came loose so I went the whole time with only the stock rear locker. Everything went pretty good and I definitely pushed my comfort zone even though we bypassed little sluice and soup bowl. Trick was trusting the sliders and just putting them into the rock and letting the truck work.

Definitely did okay with the 4.88 but in reflection, the 5.29 5sp combo would have been money. My next purchase will be a second transfer case. The control of that will make it easier to control and keep the truck safe. I kept stalling in not the best spots and the clutch cancel start button is magical once you figure it out.

 

Looks like a great time!
I love the sound of sliders on rock personally haha. It's fun to just pivot around stuff with them. Pretty much the one piece of armor you need the most on that trail.
You will love having dual cases. That's the exact reason I got mine. Was tired of giving my left foot a workout on trails like the Rubi

Also, do you have any pics of your rear shock relocation?

 

One of these days I'll be redoing the lower tabs and maybe the upper tabs. They don't line up perfect so I'm missing some travel. I've compensated by extending my bumps, basically I have more shock than travel and I need a bigger welder before I tackle this. @Squeaky Penguin has some photos on his and I like his tabs better. I bought a kit but the upper tabs didn't work and honestly for like $100 bucks more you could get a plasma cutter and make the parts from the kit. It's just some flat stock shaped to box the frame, some dom tubing as a cross brace and some tabs on the axle and dom. You could plumb Bob it so they're parallel like I did or triangular them for more flex. We also struggle with the brake and e brake lines being in the way and rubbing.

 

Right on. Thanks for the pics.
I have a plasma and am thinking I'll just make my own tabs when I do mine.

 

https://youtu.be/axqZBvBAvW4

 

https://youtu.be/jsyjofFmFFk

 

Extent of the trail damage, simply put, armor was worth the money. No significant issues.

 

Tried to do an actual edit of the third day, not just a long video

https://youtu.be/QZnfYLgYLZ8

 

Managed to make a last minute weekend trip. Started after dark and made it to spider lake in about 2 hours. Spent the next day there and drove out Sunday.

 

https://youtu.be/tYuychCEnPQ

Night trip into the trail! The video is kind of lame because it's hard to see but stuff like gatekeeper shows the size of the rocks pretty well.

Please ignore all my stalling too, I have a dual case on my wish list. It drives me nuts too

 

https://youtu.be/9iF58vkVrlQ

Here is the trip back 2 days later! I tried some B roll that sucks but it's fun to try

 

Got about 2 ft of snow in these storms, dripped down to 10 psi and truck did great!

Drove around the neighborhood and surprisingly was able to pull two full sized diesels out of tricky spots with the 9.5k winch and snatch blocks and used the traction boards on an f150 4x4.

 

Blew the diff omw to work one day. While the truck has been on jack stands I've started wandering through years of neglect. Blown bushings and brakes and leaks. So she's been torn apart and im tackling things as I can!

Im currently sitting:

Oem steering rack
Total chaos steering bushings
555 sankei outter tie rod
555 sankei lbj
SPC UCA UBJ
SPC UCA Bushings
Total Chaos spindle gusset
Sonoran Steel poly LCA bushings
Durobump front diff bushings
PowerStop pads
PowerStop shoes
ECGS warrantied 3rd member with elocker and 4.88 Nitro gears

And just to top it off im re-welding some of the boogers on the Total chaos LCA tabs and cleaning and painting as much of the frame as I can.

Still need to order some new Alcan springs but the steering rack really threw me

https://www.instagram.com/p/DH5KfzouHhc/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

Did they say what caused the 3rd to blow up?

 

Nope. Google says "inadequate lubrication, excessive heat, incorrect break-in procedures, manufacturing defects, and improper gear mesh" .... which doesnt help. I followed the break in, followed the lube directions, have done like 2 changes since break-in... tuck is heavy but not excessive, and I don't drive that crazy either. Lots of mountain roads that are more than what most trucks see but idk.

What i will say is that ECGS honored the warranty and return was quick. The locker position switch broke during delivery transport and they overnights me a new one. Customer service communication was responsive and polite. I literally have nothing bad to say besides the thing broke.

Hopefully I'll be back up soon, im pretty far down a rabbit hole currently

 

ECGS has been great to work with from my experience as well. Glad to hear they've taken care of you.
If you can get up and running by then, you should come join for the Rubicon Zukicon event on weekend of 4th of July.