UNDER the JL WRANGLER RUBICON : A Look at Suspension / Steering Components & MORE!

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Wow, great pictures and information, thanks

Glad to hear you like what you see :yup:

Great pics and info, thank you! How do you think these axles will hold up to running 37s?

Hard to say for sure but we intend to find out. :cool:

Nice pics! New to Wranglers. Not sure exactly where the electronics are at for the forward and aft lockers. Saw the sway bar disconnect electronics. Nice. My Red Rubi JL will be delivered in roughly 5 more wks. These photos really help a lot to prep for an underbody inspection at the dealers. :thumb:

Glad to hear these pics will help you out. :)

My red JLUR arrived today. I'll be picking it up tomorrow. After looking at your beautiful white JLUR I'm excited to say the least. I'll be watching your mods closely. I love what Cindy and you have done to your last 2 JKU's. Thanks for all the information you pass along.

Awesome - we're glad to hear you enjoy the work we do :yup:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Look like the tow electric on the bottom of the rear bumper could get smashed on a drop off.

Love the diagrams of the front and rear! Nice job.

Oh yeah, that'll happen. It did with the JK too. Gonna have to figure out a better location for them.

That’s an amazing bit of coverage of the Jet’s nether regions. Superb job!

Can you show his boy parts?

:eek: :cheesy:

Hi Eddie
Have you heard anything about the turbo diesel coming out yet do you have any more info on it I can’t even get a spy shot that they are even working on it. It’s like it’s asleep I hope somebody wakes it up soon I’m gonna go out of my mind!!If you find anything out please let me know!!
Ps nice picks
Thanks Vinny

Jeep has said all along that the diesel won't be coming out until next year.

Hmmm..... So correct me if I'm wrong but the LED option gives you the LEDs with the funny looking blind spot monitoring thing on the tail lights but the safety group activates it?

Yes, the LED group gives you the same tail light housing but you would need the safety group to actually have it.
 

Mr.Hellcat2You

New member

Jeeeep

Member
nice!

with the extra space where the evap used to be and seeing how they placed a battery in the 2.0, looks like a potential place to put some sort of battery/power source for camping accessories like ARB fridge and etc. or possible extra fuel tank :thinking:

where you were showing the rear pinch seam trimmed, is that a paint missing spot?

seems like a lot more weights on the DS then I recall on the JK DS.

what was that bracket that was bolted into the front control arm near the FAD?

The oil pan looks smaller or maybe it's just more shallow than the JK, what's the oil capacity?

Dealership got more Rubicons in, I'm going looking but staying strong!
 

RMC2

Member
Awesome and detailed coverage not available elsewhere I'm sure. (Going off of history)

Super excited for everyone that are getting JLs. Maybe someday for me. Looking forward to seeing it put to work and built up even better.
 

Four Flusher

New member
Great information, surely a lot of work for you two but hopefully a labor of love. Just for fun do you have any pictures of your beat up stock skids on your JKs?
 

Tellico

Member
what was that bracket that was bolted into the front control arm near the FAD?

That is the skid plate/armor for the font axle disconnect (FAD) motor.

To be honest, I was less than excited to see this type of axle disconnect added on the JL. Electrical issues at the motor contacts, followIng water crossings or too much jarring around, have plagued FADs on recent generations of Toyota Tacomas. If there is a break in the circuit, you can shift into 4WD but the computer can’t join the axle shaft and you still only have 2WD. I have always said, “I’m glad Wranglers don’t have to deal with that headache.” ...

Who knows, maybe Jeep engineering has produced a very reliable, well-built unit but I still don’t like the idea of having a mechanical transfer case lever and then still relying on a computer and electrical harness to get your Jeep into 4WD. I guess it’s the same risk as having electronic lockers, but at the end of the day, when there’s already plenty of stuff to break on the trail, it’s one additional electrical harness that I would rather do without. Lockout hubs are a better way to get to better MPGs and isolating the front driveline during 2WD, but that’s asking a lot from Jeep on a new vehicle. I’m sure they considered lockout hubs, but the costs probably didn’t add up for a vehicle that is already expensive. There was a reason Jeep went away from this after the YJ and it looks like they only brought it back to get better MPGs.
Anyways, there’s my rant on the FAD. We will know how they are holding up by the end of this year I’m sure!

Thanks for the breakdown and detail, wayalife!
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
I know for sure the black plastic thing is the part of the blind spot monitoring system. I haven't seen it outfitted on a non LED Jeep yet though. It always seems to be on the LED equipped JLs.

It is, we just didn't get the safety group with our JL. Being that we got the LED lights, it still has the same housing.

with the extra space where the evap used to be and seeing how they placed a battery in the 2.0, looks like a potential place to put some sort of battery/power source for camping accessories like ARB fridge and etc. or possible extra fuel tank :thinking:

Honestly, I'm kinda glad to see the area down there just opened up free of anything getting hit. I personally wouldn't recommend it but yes, I could see how you could install an additional batter, air tank or even fuel tank there.

where you were showing the rear pinch seam trimmed, is that a paint missing spot?

You mean just past the angled seam to the right? If so, no, that's just the fender metal beyond and the way light is catching on it, it seems brighter.

seems like a lot more weights on the DS then I recall on the JK DS.

Hard to say for sure as I no longer have a factory rear shaft laying around to double check but yeah, the one we have seems to have a few more balancing weights on it.

what was that bracket that was bolted into the front control arm near the FAD?

Are you referring to the silver color bracket? If so, it's holding the brake line in place.

The oil pan looks smaller or maybe it's just more shallow than the JK, what's the oil capacity?

The pan is smaller and even higher up and oil capacity is now only 5 quarts.

Dealership got more Rubicons in, I'm going looking but staying strong!

Good luck to you :thumb:

Great thread. Love how you diagramed the front and rear.

Thanks! Figured people might find it helpful to have :)

Awesome and detailed coverage not available elsewhere I'm sure. (Going off of history)

Super excited for everyone that are getting JLs. Maybe someday for me. Looking forward to seeing it put to work and built up even better.

Oh, I'm sure someone out there will rip off our photos and post it up as theirs sooner or later. Going off of history of course.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Great information, surely a lot of work for you two but hopefully a labor of love. Just for fun do you have any pictures of your beat up stock skids on your JKs?

LOL!! Gotta rack it up again but the only thing that really got hit was the driver side frame rail, transfer case skid bar and rock slider. I don't think anything else got hit.

Wow! Great detail! Thanks for doing that.

You bet, glad you're liking what you see. :yup:

That is the skid plate/armor for the font axle disconnect (FAD) motor.

To be honest, I was less than excited to see this type of axle disconnect added on the JL. Electrical issues at the motor contacts, followIng water crossings or too much jarring around, have plagued FADs on recent generations of Toyota Tacomas. If there is a break in the circuit, you can shift into 4WD but the computer can’t join the axle shaft and you still only have 2WD. I have always said, “I’m glad Wranglers don’t have to deal with that headache.” ...

Who knows, maybe Jeep engineering has produced a very reliable, well-built unit but I still don’t like the idea of having a mechanical transfer case lever and then still relying on a computer and electrical harness to get your Jeep into 4WD. I guess it’s the same risk as having electronic lockers, but at the end of the day, when there’s already plenty of stuff to break on the trail, it’s one additional electrical harness that I would rather do without. Lockout hubs are a better way to get to better MPGs and isolating the front driveline during 2WD, but that’s asking a lot from Jeep on a new vehicle. I’m sure they considered lockout hubs, but the costs probably didn’t add up for a vehicle that is already expensive. There was a reason Jeep went away from this after the YJ and it looks like they only brought it back to get better MPGs.
Anyways, there’s my rant on the FAD. We will know how they are holding up by the end of this year I’m sure!

Thanks for the breakdown and detail, wayalife!

The FAD is something even the Jeep engineers fought to keep off the JL. Not exactly thrilled with having it but know there are companies working to get around it.
 

RMC2

Member
The FAD is something even the Jeep engineers fought to keep off the JL. Not exactly thrilled with having it but know there are companies working to get around it.

I would think a single solid shaft is on somebody's drawing board. I hope the axle tube is solid with just a notch cut in it for the FAD, versus two tubes connected by the FAD housing. That way the axle doesn't really have a weak spot there, or not too much.

And yes, somebody will definitely rip off your photos.
 

13_gecko_rubi

New member
I would think a single solid shaft is on somebody's drawing board. I hope the axle tube is solid with just a notch cut in it for the FAD, versus two tubes connected by the FAD housing. That way the axle doesn't really have a weak spot there, or not too much.

And yes, somebody will definitely rip off your photos.
It is two tubes connected by the fad housing but I wouldn't call that a weak link. It's a heavy duty cast housing like the diff.

You can still run a single piece shaft which I know folks are working on. You just need to trick fad (not hard with a relay) and take the synchro/interlock out of tcase.

Sent via....
 

RMC2

Member
It is two tubes connected by the fad housing but I wouldn't call that a weak link. It's a heavy duty cast housing like the diff.

You can still run a single piece shaft which I know folks are working on. You just need to trick fad (not hard with a relay) and take the synchro/interlock out of tcase.

Sent via....

It is great having you around. I am sure it tough at times, staying quiet because you can't share everything you know.

This sounds more complicated than I thought. Hopefully the cast section holds up.
 

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