Upfit My Jeep JL

[steverkemp]

So, I’m taking the plunge! My Jeep arrives this week and after looking at pictures from Anchors Down it’s clear this group has a lot of expertise. So, I thought it would be fun to find out how you would upfit a JL with a $10K budget.

Here’s what we have to work with:
2018 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon
2.0 L Turbo
8-speed Auto
Bright White
Black Interior

$10K budget, GO!

[halla]

I did a little overtime, but did 2.5” lift, 34 tires and wheels, all 5. Heavy duty rear bumper and tire carrier. Later on did front bumper, grille, bestop auto steps and bestop sunrider. Getting ready to upgrade the shocks, steering stabilizer. Enjoy the new Jeep.

[wfo9]

Originally Posted by steverkemp

So, I’m taking the plunge! My Jeep arrives this week and after looking at pictures from Anchors Down it’s clear this group has a lot of expertise. So, I thought it would be fun to find out how you would upfit a JL with a $10K budget.

Here’s what we have to work with:
2018 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon
2.0 L Turbo
8-speed Auto
Bright White
Black Interior

$10K budget, GO!

Attachment 183162

Start with a simple spacer lift. and slap on some 37s. You will need something to beef up the tire carrier.

The rest should be pretty much free mods.

Things are amazing out of the box.. but the reliability and quality control issues are spooky on the JL. I would not put a bunch into it until you are sure it won't end up being another buy back.

The 2.0 sounds neat, but what a wild card.

If you want to put more into, go with an actual suspension lift. Not sure who has a good setup for the JL, but I saw a pretty nice review of a fox based kit from Dynatrac set to ship in mid august.

The stock front bumper is good after you remove the wings. I would just remove the rear though.

[The Renegade]

Originally Posted by steverkemp

So, I’m taking the plunge! My Jeep arrives this week and after looking at pictures from Anchors Down it’s clear this group has a lot of expertise. So, I thought it would be fun to find out how you would upfit a JL with a $10K budget.

Here’s what we have to work with:
2018 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon
2.0 L Turbo
8-speed Auto
Bright White
Black Interior

$10K budget, GO!

Attachment 183162

I looked at that identical jeep about a month ago. It was absolutely beautiful. Nice choice on color also.

[steverkemp]

Originally Posted by wfo9

Start with a simple spacer lift. and slap on some 37s. You will need something to beef up the tire carrier.

The rest should be pretty much free mods.

Things are amazing out of the box.. but the reliability and quality control issues are spooky on the JL. I would not put a bunch into it until you are sure it won't end up being another buy back.

The 2.0 sounds neat, but what a wild card.

If you want to put more into, go with an actual suspension lift. Not sure who has a good setup for the JL, but I saw a pretty nice review of a fox based kit from Dynatrac set to ship in mid august.

The stock front bumper is good after you remove the wings. The I would just remove the rear though.

Thanks. Do you know if the 3 inch Mopar lift is a spacer lift? Yes, fingers crossed on the 2.0 but test drove one on the lot today and it was a blast!

[Jammer151]

Originally Posted by steverkemp

Thanks. Do you know if the 3 inch Mopar lift is a spacer lift? Yes, fingers crossed on the 2.0 but test drove one on the lot today and it was a blast!

Don’t do a body/spacer lift. The good thing about the Mopar lift is that it keeps all the factory angles and keeps everything covered under warranty. Stick with 35’s as 37’s are heavy and will require further upgrades to keep from bending/breaking things. So:

- Mopar lift
- 35’s all around (including spare)... you can keep factory wheels with 35’s, 37’s you will have to go with wider rims
- Poison Spyder Bumpers, or equivalent, front and back
- Terra-flex spare tire carrier
- blue-ox/braking system so you can tow

[TheGerman]

What is the objective ? Look good at the Country Club and campground or actually tackle serious trails ? I can't see a 60k+ Jeep going across the Rubicon or Dusy-Ershim or Golden Spike etc. Back when the JK came out I went on a trail run with a four door on 37s and it still struggled. A lot.

For getting around backcountry roads the stock Jeep is good enough, maybe add a winch in case you get into trouble. And carry a chainsaw.

[FOURWHL]

Lift and tires is the place to start. With the JL I’d be looking at 37s. Rock Krawler has a nice 2.5” starter lift that’d be perfect. I ran their stuff (still have the control arms on) can definitely recommend it. With wheels and tires and lift you may have a couple grand leftover to play with. Rock sliders/rocker guards are a must have if you’ll see any rocks. Bumpers always a nice upgrade. Soft top if you don’t have dual tops. Lights can be fun but depend on your priorities.

May want to be a little patient too as vendors are racing to get products released for the JL. Expect you’ll see a lot of new stuff in the next couple years

[FOURWHL]

Originally Posted by TheGerman

What is the objective ? Look good at the Country Club and campground or actually tackle serious trails ? I can't see a 60k+ Jeep going across the Rubicon or Dusy-Ershim or Golden Spike etc. Back when the JK came out I went on a trail run with a four door on 37s and it still struggled. A lot.

For getting around backcountry roads the stock Jeep is good enough, maybe add a winch in case you get into trouble. And carry a chainsaw.

Things have changed a lot. I just ran 30 mi of the rubicon (tahoma to little sluice and back out) in under 24 hrs on 37s. There were extenuating circumstances which forced me to run that fast and I certainly don’t recommend it as it was almost like work, but don’t underestimate a JK on 37s. Oh and I was alone with no spotter for half of that.

[wfo9]

The reason I recommended the cheap spacer lift is JL specific suspension products are coming out quickly for the JL and there will be much better options over time. The most basic lift works amazingly well on the JL Rubicon. Its nothing like a JK from that perspective.

Even the stock sliders get the job done. Belly and rear bumper is the biggest problem area for hard core use. What most people do.. Stock with spacer lift is plenty.

My fried has this.
https://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-su...-kit-676c.html

He is on 38s now.

He has pushed his JL to ridiculous levels with no major issues, beside him beating the crap out of it and he did have a buy back on his first one for steering.

You can see the stupidity in his videos here.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQH...nFW8dnw/videos

Just one example:https://youtu.be/HUNvYzEixIY?t=11m6s

I got to know him back when he had an 80 series landcruiser, but they picked up this JL and decided to become youtube stars. He is a bit crazy and does not give a crap about tearing up a 50k jeep that still has temp tags on it. I spotted him up some absolutely terrorizing stuff in his 80 that I was even intimidated by in my trail rig. Hopefully his luck holds up.

Hopefully these videos don't get more idiots out there.. It takes actual skill to do this. He does have some major seat time and misc fails under his belt. The avg person should not attempt this stuff.

Personally, not a fan of the youtube thing, but it does show you what can be done basically out of the box with tires, wheels and $170 in spacer lift.

[Slolane]

A big question is what gears do you have? I'm not sure about the JL, but the JK Rubicon came with either 3.73 or 4.10 axles. If you have 4.10's you should be ok with 35" tires, but if you go to 37's you should regear to 4.56 or even 4.88.

As a reference, I'm regearing my '15 Sport to 4.56 to run 35" tires. Also adding front and rear lockers since Sport doesn't have them.

You can probably run 35's with maybe a spacer kit but if you're going off road I would go with a 2.5 -3.5" lift. I'm very happy with my AEV Dual sport.

[wfo9]

Trans in the JL changes things up quite a bit. 37s stock 410 gearing on a Rubi....no problems.

That is with the penstar.. not sure about the 2.0 turbo. Should be even better.

[mlmay12]

Originally Posted by steverkemp

So, I’m taking the plunge! My Jeep arrives this week and after looking at pictures from Anchors Down it’s clear this group has a lot of expertise. So, I thought it would be fun to find out how you would upfit a JL with a $10K budget.

Here’s what we have to work with:
2018 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon
2.0 L Turbo
8-speed Auto
Bright White
Black Interior

$10K budget, GO!

Attachment 183162

1) Mopar 2" Lift (Will actually raise it 3.5" and includes front drive shaft)
2) Teraflex Spare Tire Carrier and Brake Light Mount
3) 5 tires and Wheels (35")
4) Gobi Stealth Roof Rack
5) 48" LED Light Bar
6) Superchips Flashcal (to adjust speedometer for tires)
7) Geometry Correction Brackets for Lift
8) Bumpers and Winch

Puts you at about $7500, good luck.

[RV Randy]

I tend to agree with Slolane. I have a 2015 4dr Rubicon and I've been building buggies and 4 wheeling Colorado/Utah for a long time. I would recommend the AEV suspension because it is designed by an ex-Chrysler suspension engineer and its a complete system with all of the correct geometry adjustments, etc. You can get it in the 2.5, 4.0 and possibly bigger lifts. I know on my rig it improves the handling immensely versus stock (highway, cornering as well as off road). It actually rides much smoother than stock and is very stable at highway speeds. I went with the 4" lift, it doesn't look much taller than the 2.5 but it gives you more off road wheel well clearance to clear the stock flares. You dont want to take a nice rig like this, that will spend most of its life on pavement and have it handle and ride like a dump truck.

I'm sure the torquey diesel and 8 speed trans will help, but I also recommend changing differential gears if you go with bigger tires. I run radial 35's on the street and I went with 4.56 gears. I have a set of bias ply IROK 37's on beadlock wheels I put on if I trailer the rig to Moab. The 8 speed will help with a lower first gear, etc but the bigger tires throw off the shift points and when you are in the higher gears the transmission will hunt up and down a lot and its annoying. Going with 4.56 for 35's or 4.88's for 37+ is what I would recommend. Get the ProCal tuner to calibrate your speedometer, you can also turn off the TPMS when you are aired down off road so the low pressure warning doesnt drive you nuts. Even though the Rubicon has heavier front/rear axles than a standard Jeep, you can still break axles and the bigger the tire the greater the odds of breaking something.

All of the bumpers and tire carriers recommended are good kit, but unless you are really going to do hard core stuff, what comes on the Rubicon are pretty good too. AEV sells a tire carrier that fits the Rubicon rear bumper that can handle up to a 37" tire. The front bumper can accommodate a Warn 12K winch without modification. I also put a an AEV stinger on the front to help protect the winch, and it helps you judge where the front edge of the bumper is when pulling into parking spaces. The rocker sliders are OK for typical stuff but if you're going to run big rocks you need to get better after market ones that provide better protection.

You should also consider getting a CO2 setup or onboard air compressor so you can air up your tires after being off road.

[steverkemp]

When you guys are mentioning AEV for the Mopar kit you're throwing me off because the kit that Mopar sells right now is based on Fox shocks. Is it really AEV?
https://www.moparestore.com/accessor..._77072395.html

I'm open to whatever but the dealer is giving me cost on parts and I'd be able to pick this one up at a reasonable price.

[RV Randy]

Originally Posted by steverkemp

When you guys are mentioning AEV for the Mopar kit you're throwing me off because the kit that Mopar sells right now is based on Fox shocks. Is it really AEV?
https://www.moparestore.com/accessor..._77072395.html

I'm open to whatever but the dealer is giving me cost on parts and I'd be able to pick this one up at a reasonable price.

No, the Mopar kit uses Mopar components. AEV (American Expedition Vehicles) is an after market supplier. The Mopar stuff works OK and if the dealer installs it they also give full factory warranty on it. But, I think you get a better system that works better i.e. the Mopar system will lift your vehicle but provides handling & ride similar to the stock setup. The AEV setup uses Bilstein shocks and in addition to providing the lift, it will improve handling and ride quality noticeably. It is a full turnkey kit and you don't have to modify any other compenents on your vehicle. For example, part of the Mopar kit is a new front drive shaft to clear the exhaust crossover pipe. With AEV kit you dont need to replace the driveshaft because they provide a short exhaust extension that inserts into a factory connection in the crossover pipe. Both systems are OK but I think you get a much better handling setup with AEV because all of the money is spent on upgrading components and addressing geometry angles instead of buying replacement driveshafts. Go to AEV's website and see what they offer for the JL. They also provide a lot of detail what their system does versus other kits.

[Jammer151]

While the JL’s tranny changes things up a bit, with 37s and 4:10 it is still going to be underpowered. Good news is that there is a lot of positive reports on the new front axel strength and people are not having the same issues running 37’s as they did with the stock JK Dana 44’s.

As I said before, if I would stick with 35’s and stock gearing and spend my money somewhere else. I’m running 37’s w/5:13, prorock 44 ultimate, big brake kit, PSC big bore steering, and supercharged. I spend a few weeks a year in moab and the guys with 35’s can go the same places I go.

[LTZ470]

If it's a road queen and only used offroad once or twice a year, keep the weight down and keep it lower to the ground, add oversized disc brakes Tera-Flex, Teraflex Tie Rod and Tracking Bar...

And QUIET All terrain tires...

[Dodge Guy]

Yes, take the $10k and use it to fund the loss you will take when you trade it in on a 3.6L! the 2.0 is gutless!!! you will not be happy, especially when you hit a hill with 2 people. I couldn't imagine trying to wheel one.

[steverkemp]

Originally Posted by Dodge Guy

Yes, take the $10k and use it to fund the loss you will take when you trade it in on a 3.6L! the 2.0 is gutless!!! you will not be happy, especially when you hit a hill with 2 people. I couldn't imagine trying to wheel one.

uh, no. That's old-school. Thanks for sharing your opinion, though.