The money pits; Jeep JK & XK

[Ty@Tekin]

We bought an '08 JKU Wrangler about 3 1/2 years ago, but I have now got my hands on it after selling my beloved WRX.



Specs:

3.8L V6
6spd MT
285/70 BFG KM2s
17x8 Black Rock Type D 909Bs
Spyder front winch bumper
Spyder rear rock bumper
Spyder tire carrier
Rigid Duallys (thanks badger!)
MOPAR side steps

I have a 2" lift to install, hopefully this weekend. It had a leveling kit when we bought it but I want a little more height on it. I like the Wrangler, in all it's slow glory (everything feels slow after driving a stage 2 WRX for 3 years.) Can't wait to keep adding to it a little bit here and there. Next items are for sure a winch, another set of Duallys, hi-lift mount on the back, hood decals and I have some Rugged Ridge stuff picked out to give it more attitude.


So I sold my WRX and bought a 2007 XK Commander Overland for the wife to drive and take the job of family hauler. I've always liked the Commander body style and this rig is sweet! The lift really helped convince her it was the right rig for us and I knew she would love driving it. We bought it with stock Sahara wheels and tires on it, which would just not do up here and I can't leave anything alone.



Specs:

5.7L HEMI
QDII
4" SuperLift w/ rear airbags
285/70 BFG KM2s
17x9 Pro Comp Series 5001s
Mopar bull bar
PIAA fogs

My Wrangler sees a bit of offroad time, wish there were more trails around here as I love wheeling. The Commander is probably destined to be a pavement princess and see not much more than dirt roads and lots of snow in the winters. I like it more every day, even though it has it's little Chrysler quirks, like they all do. We are definitely a Jeep family!

[Kurtsara1800]

I love the 4 door JK's, if we didn't have to tow a BBQ vending trailer I would have one, I do love my CJ7 though, a lot of fun off road.

[Ty@Tekin]

Weak poser "flex" shot if you even want to call it that. I was bored haha





2" lift going on tomorrow!

[2JSC]

I tried talking my fiance into trading the Impreza for a Commander, but she wants a Tundra CrewMax... I agreed. Once we get the Toyota, I might spend some more time on my '97 TJ. recently put a completely new cooling system in it and gave the transmission some love. Now the axles are the next target, that is before the tires rot off. lol

Good looking rigs you got there Ty.

[Ty@Tekin]

Originally Posted by 2JSC

I tried talking my fiance into trading the Impreza for a Commander, but she wants a Tundra CrewMax... I agreed. Once we get the Toyota, I might spend some more time on my '97 TJ. recently put a completely new cooling system in it and gave the transmission some love. Now the axles are the next target, that is before the tires rot off. lol

Good looking rigs you got there Ty.

I really like the Commander, probably more than she does. It's a solid rig, although ours needs to go in for the recall and be reprogrammed. I spent a good while last night working on the front end, it was making some nasty popping/shifting sounds. Turns out it was just the sway bar links, they were both loose!

You'll like the CrewMax, those are really nice trucks. I wish to have a TJ someday that is mainly offroad purpose built, but it'll be a long time before then.

[2JSC]

We were going to get a JKU to tow a camping trailer, but then I said I wanted to take the TJ out more and go on vacations and take it with us, so we needed more towing capacity. Test drove a hand full of trucks and the Tundra CrewMax was the best IMO. And the rear seating area leaves plenty of room for the two kids and two dogs with gear in the bed and a TJ on the trailer. I bought my TJ back in '07 and have been toying with it since. I'd really a 2nd vehicle for us since I have a company van, but I like driving it around now and again. I hope to swap axles, mild stretch and run 35's. That way I can drive it on the highway if I want and still have some good fun on the trails with it.

[Ty@Tekin]

Installed my $20 2" spacer lift today. Took about an hour per axle and it went smooth, love the way it looks now!







Going to order Rough Country N2.0 shocks next month.

[chino63]

Both rigs look good Ty, you can do some wheeling at Axialfest next year.

[greenjk]

A couple of very nice looking Jeeps, I might have to put some pics up of mine.

[BJoe]

make sure you get the alignment checked out at a good shop before you drive it much, seems like every time I hear Death Wobble and see a JK,there's some sort of mild and cheap lift kit involved and no mention of an alignment being done after install.

[greenjk]

Waste of time doing an alignment as the only thing adjustable is the toe in/out and that will be the same as before.

[Ty@Tekin]

Originally Posted by chino63

Both rigs look good Ty, you can do some wheeling at Axialfest next year.

Thanks! I am planning on driving the JK to Axialfest next year and possibly wheeling a little bit if I have time. It'll be more ready by that time.

Originally Posted by BJoe

make sure you get the alignment checked out at a good shop before you drive it much, seems like every time I hear Death Wobble and see a JK,there's some sort of mild and cheap lift kit involved and no mention of an alignment being done after install.

Originally Posted by greenjk

Waste of time doing an alignment as the only thing adjustable is the toe in/out and that will be the same as before.

I read about the death wobble and checked everything yesterday to the best of my abilities. It drove ok up to about 45, haven't gone any faster. Really I only lifted the front 1" higher than it was and 2" in the back since it already had a leveling kit and drove perfect with it. I just need new shocks before I can go out and flex it much, but it hardly ever sees and "trails." Mostly logging roads around here, no fun Jeep trails.

[knnphillips1990]

Looks good just wait till the mod bug really hits.
And it now looks completely different and this picture is only 5 or 6 months old.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[BigSki]

2 nice looking rigs!

I keep questioning myself about the choice of the WJ, I like it but there is almost no aftermarket support for it. I'm ok with it stock for now, but upgrading to a relatively small 31" tire is a big deal, unlike a TJ.

[Ty@Tekin]

Originally Posted by knnphillips1990

Looks good just wait till the mod bug really hits.
And it now looks completely different and this picture is only 5 or 6 months old.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I like the look of that a lot! I want to do flat fenders, but it will probably be awhile before I can. I'm trying to restrain myself and only spend a little bit here and there for now..

Originally Posted by BigSki

2 nice looking rigs!

I keep questioning myself about the choice of the WJ, I like it but there is almost no aftermarket support for it. I'm ok with it stock for now, but upgrading to a relatively small 31" tire is a big deal, unlike a TJ.

WJ's are solid rigs too, we looked at many of them and also WK and WK2s, they were just on the spendy side and I got lucky finding the XK.

Went for a little adventure this afternoon, found some muddy trails and explored for 4-5 hours. Was a good afternoon!

[S ARR T 8]

Jeep looks great what 2 inch lift did you use?

[Ty@Tekin]

Originally Posted by S ARR T 8

Jeep looks great what 2 inch lift did you use?

You know I'm not even sure what brand, they are just nylon spacers on the coils. They are red so might be SkyJacker, I bought them new from a forum member for $20.

[S ARR T 8]

Thanks for the reply.looks like you got some beautiful country out there to do some wheelin

[Ty@Tekin]

Originally Posted by S ARR T 8

Thanks for the reply.looks like you got some beautiful country out there to do some wheelin

Sort of, lots of roads but not a lot of trails I'm finding, at least not right around this area. I'd like to find some light duty stuff I can take the wife on, just haven't found anything yet besides some small side roads that usually dead end.

[88RRC]

Normally death wobble is caused by bad bushings. That's what it was on my Range Rover, panhard bushings were shot and caused the truck to death wobble at speeds higher than 20mph. If it does it check bushings first. Oh, and you just lost major cool points by using spacers, lol. The whole concept of a 2 inch thick puck of Nylon holding up the weight of the chassis gives me the heebie jeebies. It does look good even though it has a mall lift. Please tell me those things are temporary?

Ben