Lyman's JL Story

Lyman

New member
Way back at the end of May I finally decided it was time to sell my beloved CJ7 and get a new JL. It had come to the point where I needed a vehicle I could not only wheel with but also haul my mountain bike on trips. The CJ7 was not all that comfortable and was so loud you had to yell to talk to the person next to you. As much as it was fun as a toy I wanted more.

So on June 1 I went to the dealership with the price I was willing to pay and started the negotiation. He came back with an initial price and I had already done my shopping on the internet and found one just under what he wanted. I told him I had 4 other dealerships to go to that day and if he wanted to see the Jeep he was going to have to give me 5% under invoice. He came back and said OK. I was surprised to say the least. I talked to him a couple months after and he told me I was still the cheapest they had sold a new Wrangler JL to. Got the manager on the right day I guess.

So here it was on June 1, 2018 right off the showroom floor. It is a stock Sport JL with the only options being a hard top and automatic tranny. One might ask why not a Rubicon? Well I knew the axles were going to be on of the first things
to get replaced and I am cheap what can I say.

DSCN1202.jpg

So the deal I made with myself was if I was going to sell my CJ7 I was going to make something just as capable or better. So the story begins.

After buying the Jeep I needed to get it ready for Deer Hunting season Mid October. So parts needed to be ordered up post haste.

The first decision was what tires to run. I knew I wanted 37's and really like the BF Krawlers. However with all the other money I was about to spend they were a little out of my price range.
Before I bought the Jeep I had run into this website and binge read and watched everything. I liked the look of the Coopers and seemed from all accounts to do well offroad.
So a trip was made to Discound tire and 37x13.50X17 Coopers were ordered up.

Also after seeing Sandstorm I really liked the wheels that it was running. So as well as the tires a set of Method Double Standard wheels were ordered up. Machined finish of course.

To fit the 37's I knew the first thing I needed to do was get the rubicon fender flairs. So after a month of waiting to get these in here they are. I gained only about a 1/2inch in the rear but 2.25inches in the front. However even though there
rear was only 1/2inch as you can see from the picture it is much wider as well. It currently looks alittle funny with so much space, but the 37's will eventually fill it up nicely.
DSCN1242.jpg
DSCN1245.jpg

So the next big decision was axles. My original plan was to get the serious axle set from Dynatrac. Well that fell through fast. It seems a lot of things are still being developed for the JL industry wide and parts are just not out yet.
Second option was to fork out the big money for a pair of prorock 60's well they were not ready for production yet either I may not be for awhile. The axles they had available were the XD60 and elite package. That was just way more th
than I wanted to spend. So I started looking around at other options.

The next option was the Ultimate 60's from Mopar. These seemed to be a decent value and quality and I could get them a lot quicker. The down side was ARB's were a little bit of a lead time if I wanted them and was not sold on the
electric locker. This may sound weird but the brakes on these axles also seemed overkill. I know I know what is a few extra pounds on top of an already beast of an axle.

I looked into Curry, but they didnt have anything ready for marked yet either. I also really dont like the how they are tipped up and have the control arm attached to the cover, but that is just me. Personal preference.

To save money I also looked at just getting an XD 60 in the rear and running a different set of wheels and regearing the front. Yes at the time I was thinking of every option. But eventually a decision was made and I put in an order.

The Tires and wheels came in a couple days after ordering them and I went down and picked them up. All I could say when I seen them on the flour at discount was WOW! The wheels where better looking than I had every expected.
And the Coopers made them look even nicer. Here are some picture of them, but they dont do them justice. They look really good. Did I mention they are big too.

DSCN1225.jpg
DSCN1220.jpg
DSCN1217.jpg

Last but not least I put on the order the suspension. I will be honest I just ordered up what Eddie had suggested. So I put in a call to EVO and ordered the Enforcer 2.5" stage 3 kit. After receiving the parts I was very impressed.
The size of the control arms dwarf the stock ones.

DSCN1268.jpg

So the suspension and Tire/Wheel's have been sitting in the garage now for about 6weeks just waiting for the axles. This finally brings me to today. Today being October 1,2018 also known as "Axle Day" as I have coined it.
This now leaves me two weekends to get everything in and running for Deer Hunting.

DSCN1255.jpg
DSCN1258.jpg

WHATS IN THE BOX!!! Be back tomorrow.

Lyman
 

Attachments

  • DSCN1250.jpg
    DSCN1250.jpg
    136.4 KB · Views: 184
Last edited:
Nice build. I can't wait to get there, but it's probably going to take me a couple years to get to this level

..... the timing for this is funny, considering your name was drawn for the Dynatrac lift giveaway a few hours ago

2018 JLUR. V6. Auto.
 

CanadaJeep

Caught the Bug
congrats on the mods, i'm guessing maybe that's why you didn't need the dynatrac lift your name was drawn for.
 

Lyman

New member
Well what can I say. This was my dream build and I was not going to get something I didnt really want. So here is what was in the box.

DSCN1259.jpg
DSCN1261.jpg
DSCN1263.jpg
DSCN1266.jpg

Here is how I got them out of the box.

DSCN1265.jpg

These things are a work of art. They are probably way over kill for what I will be using the Jeep for, but thats OK. Looks like the mountains are going to get hit with some pretty good snow here in Utah and will most likely mean these
will get their babtism in the mud. I took Thursday and Friday off as well this week to get them in and I will post many pictures of that.

Since I did go ARB I also purchased the twin.

DSCN1269.jpg

Though I EVO is handling most of the suspension I did go with the Rancho RS5000 for the shocks. Maybe one day I will go with a different shock, but in the past I have had good luck with Rancho and they were much cheaper than
some of the others.

Anyway more pictures to come and if you have any questions or requests please let me know and I will try and get to them.
 

JTCO

Meme King
Well what can I say. This was my dream build and I was not going to get something I didnt really want. So here is what was in the box.

Congrats! That's an awesome box to open.

These things are a work of art.

They really are. When I got mine, I just kept going into the garage and staring at it, looking at every detail. My wife was concerned I'd sleep out there, lol. Dynatrac puts so much quality control and meticulous detail into their axles. :thumb:
 

Last edited:

WiscoHR

Member
Well what can I say. This was my dream build and I was not going to get something I didnt really want. So here is what was in the box.

View attachment 5864
View attachment 5865
View attachment 5866
View attachment 5868

Here is how I got them out of the box.

View attachment 5867

These things are a work of art. They are probably way over kill for what I will be using the Jeep for, but thats OK. Looks like the mountains are going to get hit with some pretty good snow here in Utah and will most likely mean these
will get their babtism in the mud. I took Thursday and Friday off as well this week to get them in and I will post many pictures of that.

Since I did go ARB I also purchased the twin.

View attachment 5869

Though I EVO is handling most of the suspension I did go with the Rancho RS5000 for the shocks. Maybe one day I will go with a different shock, but in the past I have had good luck with Rancho and they were much cheaper than
some of the others.

Anyway more pictures to come and if you have any questions or requests please let me know and I will try and get to them.

Damn those look beautiful!!! Congrats!


Sent from my iPhone using JL Wrangler Jeep Forum mobile app
 

Lyman

New member
Well it was a productive day in the garage, but didnt get as much as I was hoping done. I had to put in a call to Dynatrac to get some questions answered as well as EVO. The perches on the XD60 are a lot different than stock. With a little more play around the bottom of the spring. Also if I put the adjustable end of the control arm at the axle side I can't lock the JAM nut. I maybe could have worked around this, but it would have take some time to get it right. EVO was ok with flipping this one control arm as it was just a straight piece.

The rear studs are really long and the longest discount had was two inch. They almost worked but right as I cinched it down the end of it popped off ha. Any way I found some lug nuts that were 2.5" and used them. Unfortunately I can only get to about the top 1/2"(they are regular 6 sided and way fatter) of the nut before my socket will hit the rim so I would like to find some splined lug nuts that are little longer if they exist. The front studs are about 1/2" shorter so I will use the splined up there for now.

So here is a picture of the rear end lining up for install.

DSCN1272.jpg

So here is a picture of the two rear ends. One looks bigger than the other I think.

DSCN1271.jpg

So I did get it on the ground just in time to call Tom Woods driveshafts and order up the rear drive line. From the tip of the 1350 yolk to the mounting surface of the tranfer case it measured out to be 43 3/8". I have a different yolk coming for the transfer case side so I can use a 1350 ujoint on that side.

Sorry for the quality of the following pictures but I took them only 30minutes ago coming in from the garage. I spend almost 10hours out there today. Im tired. But here it is so far. The rear is in and the front is half way out. All I can say is this thing is BIG!!! I am actually hoping those springs settle a little. Its way tall ha.

More to come tomorrow.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN1278.jpg
    DSCN1278.jpg
    96.8 KB · Views: 119
  • DSCN1279.jpg
    DSCN1279.jpg
    135.2 KB · Views: 121
Last edited:

JTCO

Meme King
That looks awesome. Not sure if this would have helped you, but Harbor Freight has a service wrench kit. They're thin and short but the openings are huge. I had to use them on my control arm nuts that I couldn't reach. You can just put a pipe on the end for leverage.

IMG_20181005_063123_968.jpg

As far as lug nuts, we gave Gorilla brand for the JK. Thin and splined and the key is really slender as well.

IMG_20181005_063318_652.jpg
 

Lyman

New member
On the XD60 the supports for the control arms were to big and buried the nut inside them. I just could not get to it. Although the tools are cool and might pick them up.

So the nut you linked is the exact one I popped the top off haha. I need one at least 1/4" longer(so 2.25")

The Axles are 68.5" wide and let me tell you those tire are still sticking out about 3". Im happy I didn't go wider for my purposes.

As soon as I can get it back on four wheels today or tomorrow I will post more pictures showing how wide these are. I will also get lengths on how high the springs are sitting compared to the stock ones.

Lyman
 

Top