Cruellacon: The resurection of a 2010 JKUR

clownman

New member
Hey everyone!!! Now that I'm not having to spin wrenches on the wife's new rig I am able to catch up on all the pics I have taken and work that I have done/redone. I got my introduction completed at over in the wave section so I will just dive right in on the tech and fab work that I have done thus far. This is not intended to be a bash thread but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on what the previous owner has done.

I purchased this Heep that was supposed to be a daily driver and needless to say it was not due to numerous electrical issues, severe death wobble (which was supposedly fixed) and leaking steering box. She needed a lot of work and re-work to make it road worthy especially since this is the wife's rig and needs to get her around town and to work while still being able to take us to the mountains on the weekends.

Upon delivery of the vehicle (3 weeks after we paid for it), there was a nice leak from the steering gear box, turns out it was not tapped properly for the hydro assist. Also that it was not the rebuilt delphi box that was supposed to come with the rig, it was a Chinese box that was swapped out and the hydraulic ram was not even installed nor was it the right size. The ram was a 1.375" ram and not the 1.5" that everyone and their mother has proven works. I made an attempt to correct the angled tap job and no luck, still leaked. So I called up West Texas Offroad and ordered a rebuilt Delphi box and their kit. Problem solved!!!
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So while I was waiting for all of that to arrive I dug into the wiring for all of the lights he added to the jeep. I figured I would pull out some of the switches and see what wires controlled what because there were wires everywhere under the dash, some connected, some not... well needless to say I was not happy with what I found regarding his wiring job. So everything came out, and I mean everything! Only one of the lights he installed was on a dedicated relay and fused circuit. Everything else was a rats nest of corroded speaker wire and stupid crimp/twist connections either with a huge fuse or no fuse at all.
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So with all that gone we pulled all of the interior out to paint the cage that was "clear coated" and to re-weld some of his cold or incomplete welds. After fixing some of the cage and the spare tire carrier that was not removable (I was told it was), I started to install the new switches and relays. I did a lot of research and loved the idea of the Spod and their switches, but I also liked the look of the 12voltguy dash mounted panel but I did not need the winch controls up on the dash... I was torn so I decided to go my own route and do both!!! So I put my electrical engineering classes to use and this is what I came up with. All connections were soldered and then shrink wrapped, no crimp connections anywhere in the whole setup.
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Once the wiring was complete it was back to the ram assist and new box install and cutting off all the old brackets for the original ram that was to small and the stud that was welded in to put the steering stabilizer back on. It was a very simple set up but the return line was not playing nice with the pressure line and where WTO tapped into the box on top. They suggested just bending the hardline to make it work but that was not working. So a quick visit to summit racing and now we have an inline cooler and no lines at the box trying to occupy the same space. More fluid and keeping it cooler, winning!!
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So after new tires, steering box, ram, mounts, lots of welding and grinding, countless hours of wiring and what seemed like an eternity, today was the first day since owning it for nearly 2.5 months that we were able to actually drive the jeep more than a few miles. It originally had a horrible death wobble but after going over every nut and bolt including getting a new set of Metalcloak upper and lower control arms to replace the stock ones, it now handles like a dream. I can turn the 37's with one finger on the wheel and there is no death wobble!! The wife was even able to take it for a drive without worry!!!

Overall we are very happy, it has been a very long and trying 2.5 months on both the wife and I but this beast is slowly coming around to being a capable and reliable rig.

Let me know what you think, we cant wait to get off road with some of you guys and girls, spring cant come soon enough!!!

-Chris and Leyanne
 
Nice work. I remember your other post about the inherited problems. What a mess. Have fun and enjoy the ride.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
WOW, great job Chris!
What a rat's nest you bought! That switch box you fabbed is great.
I sure don't understand why anyone uses speaker wire for anything other than speakers - it's the sign of laziness and jerry rigging to me.

Keep going pal and you'll get this Jeep where it needs to be. :thumb:
 
Thanks guys. It will be going under the knife again after Turkey Day for some new gears. Now the question comes because I just talked to 4wheelparts over in Fresno and the guy was saying I would be better off with 4.88's while I was thinking about 5.13's? I'm running 37's that actually measure out to be about 36.5" tall. What do you guys think? 4.88 or 5.13? Only other mods are flowmaster dumping before the axle and a K&N Intake.

Also have to do new driveshafts, thinking about JE Reel or Tom Woods. Probably going to do this all at the same time so any input is appreciated.

Oh and Pastorwug, thanks again for the hardtop! It fits great, hopefully we will meet again and go wheeling sometime out near Pismo maybe.


-Chris
 
Just put 5.13s in the Jeep when we put 37s on it and I wouldn't go another way.. Awesome response on the road and better on the trails
 
Ride is looking good. Glad you are removing all of that Brute4ceness out of that Jeep. That dude was a first class idiot. What a sham ey? Glad you are giving that rig much needed TLC.
 
Ride is looking good. Glad you are removing all of that Brute4ceness out of that Jeep. That dude was a first class idiot. What a sham ey? Glad you are giving that rig much needed TLC.

Brute4ce an idiot? He is supposed to be a epic fabricator! Rofl, man that guy does crappy work...
 
It's been said, but few people do it, including me - research - and WAL is a great place to research the purchase of ANY used Jeep before you pull the trigger.
The smuck that sold this Jeep to Chris should have his ass handed to him.

We should compile a list of NEVER GO TO fabricators, shops and mechanics to help perspective buyers with their choices.
Though I'm sure Eddie would once again be called a EVO whore for only recommending the shops or products that pay him.

Everything I have on my Jeep was recommended by people I have come to trust here on WAL - and my Mods are not all EVO by any stretch.
 
It's been said, but few people do it, including me - research - and WAL is a great place to research the purchase of ANY used Jeep before you pull the trigger.
The smuck that sold this Jeep to Chris should have his ass handed to him.

We should compile a list of NEVER GO TO fabricators, shops and mechanics to help perspective buyers with their choices.
Though I'm sure Eddie would once again be called a EVO whore for only recommending the shops or products that pay him.

Everything I have on my Jeep was recommended by people I have come to trust here on WAL - and my Mods are not all EVO by any stretch.

I exposed this guy on another forum after he ripped off a friend of mine last year. Of course he had quite a few supporters, proclaiming his great work. I had proof of his poor welding, his ripped of nemesis shock mounts, reselling of a tail light kit and calling it his own, and just being a shady guy. I was just flamed, got nasty pm's and eventually threatened by Travis (although I only found that part to be amusing ). Guess I should posted all my info here as a warning, but at the time, figured the guy would never try to come to this site. Sorry Chris that you got screwed by this tool. But I'm glad to see you're doing the rig justice and fixing all the crappy "upgrades" that had previously been inflicted upon it.
 
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Yea I had not done my research on this guy, oh well lesson learned and now I'm just warning everyone to stay away from him. I'm just glad that this thing is back on the road and driving again!!!! And Duff, sadly that is the rig... it drives straight and the castor and camber is spot on now so I guess he was able to have it fixed.

Question about driveshafts... do you run 1310 or 1350 u-joints? I will be doing gears sometime soon and I want to do the driveshafts at the same time, do you think that I would be ok with a 1350 in the rear and a 1310 up front? or just say screw it and go 1350's all around?
 
Yea I had not done my research on this guy, oh well lesson learned and now I'm just warning everyone to stay away from him. I'm just glad that this thing is back on the road and driving again!!!! And Duff, sadly that is the rig... it drives straight and the castor and camber is spot on now so I guess he was able to have it fixed.

Question about driveshafts... do you run 1310 or 1350 u-joints? I will be doing gears sometime soon and I want to do the driveshafts at the same time, do you think that I would be ok with a 1350 in the rear and a 1310 up front? or just say screw it and go 1350's all around?

I would not hesitate to go 1350s, although alot of people have success on 1310s, it's not much more upfront to go 1350s and the most expensive thing in Jeeping is buying twice. So may as well go big the first time.
 
I think that's the same guy who I almost got ripped off from with my tail light kit but I was fast to use paypal and got my money back, then he got banned on every forum.

Glad to see your fixing the jeep tho.
 
Wow what a mess! That track bar bracket was some shady stuff. Scary that this person thought all this was done right. Glad u got it all fixed up!
 
Just a heads up. This guy is now advertising on craigslist under the business name "jeep shack" out of Oceanside.
 
Yea I will more than likely just get the 1350's, I never like to pay for things twice!!!

As for Brut4ce aka The Heep Shack... you know you suck when you have to change the name of your business, that's some shady shit right there. I am surprised that Poly performance and Artec still ship him stuff after all the bad news he has stirred up. And hinrichs, yes its the same guy, glad you were able to recover your money because you would never have gotten those lights.
 
Overlander, I've thought about and tried to do just that but he is not an actual business and this does not come up on their site under any name I tried. When he was actually responding to calls/emails/texts he was still in the process of finalizing all his stuff. Not sure if it's even legal to be operatin like he is. But that would explain how he is able to change the name of his business so easy.

The wife and I are super excited to take this thing back to NV for Thanksgiving. Anyone on here in the Carson City/Dayton area that wheels near prison hills or eldorado? I'm gonna head out there this weekend and stretch her legs a bit and teach the wife about wheeling. Let me know if anyone wants to join.
 
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