Taking the Plunge!

Astroman

Astroman

Member
I have not been at all active on this forum since joining in 2012, so I’m still a Wayalife newbie So a bit of “re-introduction” first…..

I discovered and joined this great forum 4 years ago and sought to own a JKU (I was a Jeep Liberty owner at the time).

In 2013 I “won” a nicely modded Rubicon on eBay and posted about it here:

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?3998-The-One-That-Got-Away-(

Since that one got away, I kept searching and eventually won another one on eBay – this time successfully in August last year:

Screen Shot 2016-11-12 at 9.07.37 AM.jpg

Came with the following mods:
• Nemesis Titan Tub Armor and Billy Rocker Rock Rails
• Coast 1310 Front Drive Shaft

• Synergy Tie Rod and Drag Link

• Teraflex Monster track bars front and rear
• AEV Heat Reduction Hood
• AEV Pintler Bead Lock Wheels in Argent

• AEV Snorkel with Pre-filter and River Raider breather hose kit
• BF Goodrich 35x12.50 17 KM2s
• Metal Cloak
DuroFlex Control Arms (full set)

• Metal Cloak 2.5” Springs

• Metal Cloak Front Bumper
and Rear Bumper with spare tire carrier
• Warn Power Plant 9.5 Winch with synthetic rope and Flatlink
• Fox shocks and ATS Steering Stabilizer
• All EVO Skids


IMG_2424.jpg


Enjoyed this set up for a year. Ran a few Jeep Jamborees and had a blast. But I want to be able to tackle tougher trails. The Wayalife trips featured in Eddie and Cindy’s awesome videos motivated me to seek a more capable rig. SO, with visions of Moby and Rubicat dancing in my head, I decided to Offroad Evolution-ize my JK ☺

Contacted Drew at ORE who was superb to work with and after understanding where I wanted to take things, he convinced me to go about my build in 2 phases:

Phase 1 (in progress – dropped off vehicle on 7 Nov, pick up 21 Nov)

• Suspension upgrade: Double Throwdown EVO FR and RR, EVO lever system
• King remote reservoir coilover shocks
• C2 Knuckle gussets
• Extreme high-clearance long arm kit
• Drag link flip kit
• Front control arm skids
• King bump stops
• Currie swaybar link system
• Re-gear from stock 4:10 to 5:13
• Replace 35x12.5 KM2s with 37x13.5 Toyo Open Country MTs
• JE Reel 1350 driveshafts

Phase 2 (Planned for Nov 2017):

• Dynatrac Pro Rock XD60 Front / Pro Rock 80 full float rear axles (5:38 ARB)
• Spyderlock 20” beadlock wheels
• 40x13.5 tires (brand undecided)
• EVO corner guards w/round LED lights
• EVO tire carrier
• EVO rear fascia bumper

Optional Phase 3 (undecided, tentatively planned for Q4 2018)

• Hemi or LS motor upgrade
• Atlas II

Planning to post updates here as they occur! Also, will be selling the Metal Cloak 2.5" lift, Fox shocks and control arms (tires are spoken for). PM me if interested.

Cheers,

-jim
 
Welcome. If you aren't already aware, Dynatrac has some new axle pricing as well. :thumb:
 
Well that'll escalate quickly. Haha. Awesome plan, I look forward to seeing it come to fruition. :beer:
 
Update: Phase I Complete

Picked up the JK from Offroad Evolution just before Thanksgiving and wow, I'm so pleased with the results :thumb:

It's not unusual to be at this early point in a build and wonder "why didn't I start this earlier," but in hindsight it was too easy not to start with all the competing priorities in life. Nonetheless, plunge taken, Phase I complete and no regrets! First impressions came from cruising back home on I-5 and enjoying how well she tracks on the highway (one of my concerns was losing some degree of pavement prowess). Road handling was better than my prior set-up and with the 5.13 re-gear and Pro-cal re-calibration, she felt more peppy when accelerating. At 75 mph she's only some 200 rpm higher than stock.

With my busy schedule, I have't had an opportunity to wheel her yet, but Hollister Hills is nearby and so I hope to gain some off-roading impressions in the next couple weeks and so post those here in a future update...

On the way down to ORE, I broke up the monotony of the 5-hour trip with some vlogging to document these first steps. Please excuse my lack of video editing competence, but I'm just learning how to use Final Cut Pro ;)

 
Sweet build man! Sheesh! That's a lotta cash to fork out all at one time. Hope you didn't have to rob a bank or a college fund for all that! [emoji6]
 
Nice build progression. Thinking really hard about starting my own journey to ORE. And don't worry about jambos, I like doing them too. I've met a lot a great people there. I'll be sticking with my 37s for at least another year or until I wear them out.
 
SWEET!! Jeep is looking great :thumb: I hope that you'll be able to join us on a run sometime soon :yup:
 
JeepJeep75 said:
Sweet build man! Sheesh! That's a lotta cash to fork out all at one time. Hope you didn't have to rob a bank or a college fund for all that! [emoji6]
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Thanks! I'm very fortunate in this stage of my life to be blessed with the means to invest significantly in several expensive hobbies, but with that said, I could've swore I heard an audible "gasp" from my wallet when Drew swiped my credit card :broke:

Ddays said:
Congrats! That's a badass setup! I can oogle photos of that system all day..:cool:
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Appreciate the compliment. Although it's embarrassing to admit, I found myself carefully choosing my parking spots during several stops on the way home, so that I could still view my Jeep from inside :blush: I even found myself searching this forum for best ways to keep the undercarriage clean. I never really worried about this before, but I just can't see letting any accumulated dirt/mud linger on that EVO bling longer than absolutely necessary!

scrhino said:
Nice build progression. Thinking really hard about starting my own journey to ORE. And don't worry about jambos, I like doing them too. I've met a lot a great people there. I'll be sticking with my 37s for at least another year or until I wear them out.
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Thank you! I can't recommend ORE enough. You won't regret it, so I encourage you to put intentions to plans :yup: I just signed up for several Jambos -- Rubicon, Moab and Big Bear. You planning on any for 2017?
 
wayoflife said:
SWEET!! Jeep is looking great :thumb: I hope that you'll be able to join us on a run sometime soon :yup:
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Thanks Eddie! I definitely will be looking to join you guys on future runs.........would be great to meet those I vicariously have come to know through Wayalife videos. And of course my JK would love to see its inspiration, Moby in person :2thumbsup:
 
Brute said:
Right on man...and I would just go straight to phase two...no need to regear twice...
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You know I agonized over this when I saw the new Dynatrac pricing (after I dropped off the Jeep at ORE). The issue for me was that I had just a two week window and it would have taken many more weeks to get full width XD60/80 PR built to EVO spec. If I were to start again, yes -- I would merge Phases I and II. That's OK -- I look forward to another road trip to ORE for more goodies!

Cheers,

-jim

:drinks:
 
Astroman said:
Thank you! I can't recommend ORE enough. You won't regret it, so I encourage you to put intentions to plans :yup: I just signed up for several Jambos -- Rubicon, Moab and Big Bear. You planning on any for 2017?
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Not yet but probably some east coast ones. Love to do big bear and rubi one day.


Liston
Instagram: black_rhino_jk
 
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