After many years in the Toyota world I finally succumbed and bought a Jeep! Here's the build thread for my new obnoxious green JK Rubicon.
Mods are already underway - I'll make a new post for some of the things I've done and have planned.
But first, some pics as it sat when I picked it up a couple months ago:
First trip out, some obligatory flex shots. These things are surprisingly capable in stock form.
First mod on the list, new headlights. The stock headlights are pathetically underpowered and genuinely dangerous in the dark. I replaced them with new LED housings and the difference is night and day.
You might also notice that the front bumper is missing...
New bumper and wheels arrived - I got the Motobilt Crusher series bumper with grill hoop and stinger. Pictured here in bare steel waiting on powdercoat. I also grabbed a set of 37x12.5 Cooper STT Pro tires on 17" XD820 rims, pictured beside the old wheel.
The bumper is back from powdercoating and installed! I'm really glad I happened to do the headlights first because it occurs to me now that the only way to get my grill off is to remove the entire bumper. This bumper was a real pain to install so I'm not keen to do it again.
Next up is a JCR Crusader mid-width rear bumper with shield gate swinging tire carrier. I mounted the new spare wheel but haven't been able to mount the rest of the wheels yet as I've got some cutting to do first, and suspension.
Got my suspension installed and clearanced the wheels. I went with Teraflex fixed arms, EVO plush 3" coils, Bilstein 5100s, Teraflex bumpstops, Synergy front trackbar bracket and flipped drag link, teraflex rear track bar bracket, and EVO C gussets. I'm pretty happy with this suspension overall, though the 'plush' coils leave a little to be desired in terms of ride quality. I may try a different spring in the future.
First trip out with the new gear. Had to take it a bit easy as I'm still breaking in my new gears. Went with 5.13s and really happy I did. Also obligatory post-suspension flex shot.
That's all for now - more to come later!
Man 37s that’s sweet. Can’t believe how those new jeeps just beg to be tinkered with. Nice work
Awesome rig Shane, you know how to build em.
Looks good dude. Never thought I'd see you in a jeep.
Thanks guys - yea it was a hard decision switching to a Jeep but at the end of the day Toyota clearly isn't ever bringing the solid axle back and the IFS is pretty annoying limitation so you gotta do what you gotta do. I did seriously consider doing a SAS on my 4Runner but figured it was easier to just bite the bullet and go Jeep where I can bolt on whatever I need. If Toyota does ever come out with another solid axle truck though you better believe I'm going back, hah!
Haha nice. I'm sure your gonna love it. Been a while we gotta get back out there soon.
Right on, looks good. Hard to beat a Wrangler for aftermarket here in Canada.
There's a bunch of stuff I want for my Nissan but with the exchange rate and shipping it's outrageous. Seems like no one carries anything for it on this side of the border.
PS: Are you selling the old tires? Details? Looking for 32-33ish for a 16" or 17" wheel.
almost forced into buying a jeep here in Canada.. but im determined to make something out of my Nissan haha
Jeep aftermarket is definitely better here, but for a lot of stuff you still have to go cross border unfortunately. Both my bumpers came from the states, ended up basically paying double what someone in the US would. Ah well, you gotta do what you gotta do! It's even harder for you Nissan guys though, those parts are hard to find.
Yea Ryan I am selling the old wheels but probably keeping the rims and tires a package unless you can find a buyer for just the rims.
Last major mod on the list for a while - got some aluminum Poison Spyder Crusher fender flares in standard width. Just got them back from powdercoating and installed. I was really undecided on which fenders to get and for a while I thought I was set on some aftermarket plastic fenders - I'd read stories of metal fenders bending the body panels after hitting trees etc. and since we do a lot of thick tree wheeling I was worried that would be an issue. These fenders solve that problem by including inner brackets that sit inside the wheel well and reinforce the fenders by bolting them to the inner tub. In theory I should be able to push off trees without sustaining bad damage. Plus they're super lightweight aluminum. Some pics of the install.
Yeah it's pretty crazy with the exchange rate, just the short throw shifter I want works out to almost $600. There's definitely some good parts out there for the D40 Frontier, most of it is US or Australian made though. Best thing to do suspension wise is a "Titan swap".
Is all good about the tires, should be easier to sell them as a package to someone with a JK that likes those type of wheels.
Nice new rig, I have been tempted by the Jeep world many times. But I'm just too deep into Suzuki now to go back. Obnoxious safety colors unite!
Thanks Simon - obnoxious safety colors for sure!
Here's a few more pics from random exploration around the valley. I like these fenders but they don't really do much for the mud - got a two tone Jeep now, lol.
Nice setup and pictures!
Congrats on the Jeep.
Been years since I was here last on forum.
Always knew you to be a yota guy.
I sold my Jeep and I’m getting out in a quad.
Do miss the XJ tho.
Pic dump from some recent trips out
Bought some new sliders - they're the 'Brawler Rockers' from Poison Spyder. It was a bit uncomfortable drilling holes through the side of my Jeep but overall really happy with how it turned out. These things come in two parts: the actual sliders themselves, and also some rocker guards that the sliders bolt into. The rocker panels bolt onto the body by way of some nut certs that you drill and press into place. The sliders then bolt onto the rockers and also into the body mount brackets on the frame. They seem pretty sturdy and will hopefully save me from rocker/door damage in the future.
Pics of the install:
Some pics of a cool waterfall spot we found up past Sproat.
Looks great!
Are those sliders only attached to the body? No frame welds or anything? And you confident that’s strong enough to save you from panel damage? They look cool as hell though, for sure.
Thanks Alex - only the rocker guards are attached to the body. The sliders themselves are bolted to the body mount brackets directly on the frame with large load rated bolts. I'm pretty confident they'll hold up to some extreme abuse, but time will tell!
Nice! That’ll be plenty strong I imagine. I was looking at Coastal Offroad sliders, but they’re weld on. I did order a bumper and skid plates from them though! I’ll make sure I post pics once I get them installed.
Weld on sliders are probably the best, but that said I've run a lot of bolt on sliders and haven't been afraid to use them and I've never seen a failure. Some of the bolt on ones are a bit of a pain to install though, especially on the older 4runners. Some of the 3rd gen ones really suck and honestly welding would probably be easier. 5th gen are a bit easier as they have threaded holes aready. Not sure about the 4th gens.
Post up a build thread for your truck when you get your new bumper and skids and I'll follow along!
You could probably use the side step mounts for sliders on a 4th gen, as they bolt onto the frame. But my sidestep bolts were so rusted that I just chopped them off with a sawzall so the bolts are still stuck in there! haha
Weld on it is then! hah
Well, it was time for another lighting upgrade and at the risk of making my truck more of a cop magnet I decided to add a 50" light bar and set of Aries A pillar mounts. Haven't done any night wheeling yet so I'm not sure how bad the hood glare will be but hopefully it will be functional! For legal reasons I do want to look at some sort of cover for on road purposes but I haven't found anything I like yet. It seems like most of the covers are either multi piece, which I'm sure to lose in the thick bush, or loosely fitting fabric, which I don't like the look of. Ideally I'd do something like a vinyl film that static clings to the face of the glass but I haven't been able to find anything like that. If anyone has any ideas let me know.
Here are some pics:
I found a neoprene cover at princess auto that fits a 50" lightbar and does what it's supposed to do for $30. Previously the lightbar whistle drove me nuts so I kept it loose on the mount so i could tilt it down. If your lightbar whistles I'd recommend this cover.
When I first installed the lightbar it whistled like crazy - in fact whistle isn't strong enough a word, it was more like some sort of high frequency sound weapon used for crowd dispersal. I found a pretty good fix though, I bought some adhesive vinyl film and just wrapped the whole back. I haven't run it for an extended period yet to see if heat becomes and issue but I've read a few other people online use this approach with good results. Completely removed the whistle/jet turbine noise anyway!
Looks good, If you hadn't told me about the vinyl I would have assumed it came that way.