yet another jk build

[rEALTrEE]

you know that phrase "if it ain't broke don't fix it?" ya, well this build goes completely against that. I bought this Rubicon kit used about a year and a half ago with a butchered body and cruddy electronics, swapped it out for some spare stuff i had laying around hoping it'd all work good, and it turned out to be a really good setup. it's kind of like my own little clampy. even though the truck runs good minus one or two issues, I've wanted to rebuild it as a fully custom jk for a while now, so that's what I'm doing. I'm new to the forums, so input will be well appreciated.



so last night I started tear-down of this thing. man what a wire covered mess! that'll definitely get organized when it gets put back together.



after cutting a butt-load of zip-ties i finally stripped it of it's electronics and started taking it apart. I asked my friends if I should get a stainless screw kit and they thought it wouldn't be needed, but after looking at some of the hardware on it I've decided it might be a good idea.




taking out the transmission i noticed all the screws holding it to the skidplate were all different lengths, and I laughed. maybe I won't buy used rigs anymore.


I also saw this when I bought it, but never had the hardware to fix that. OCD can be a pain lol.


getting the trans out was as far as I got before i realized I was lacking tools and so I called it a night.

I started on the frame this weekend. first i washed off the frame. I decided a regular hose just wasn't gonna cut it and so I pressure washed it... twice.




after that I sanded the frame for a fresh coat. I started with a 30 grit, and was gonna go to a 180 grit but all we had was 360 grit emery cloth so I used that. i think it turned out not too bad.





and a package also came in today! so now that I'm done with the frame I have some things I can do.



I've decided this rig is going to the Rude Boyz stc in August so now I have a deadline to meet.

[surgetek]

Subbed

[ScGRaceR]

seems like some nice vintage cars in the back!


/ welcome to RCC. nice truck!

[rEALTrEE]

not a whole lot has happened over the past week, I started it off with some tire mounting. i'm running gearheadrc sixer beadlocks on rc4wd mickey thompson tires. Because the jk has a fairly heavy body and makes the truck top heavy I'm putting weights in the tires. I started with an ounce in the front and 3/4 of an ounce in the rear. If I think it's too light i'll double the weight in each but as far as wheel weights go that's about as heavy as it'll get.





A package also arrived last monday containing a screw kit, so I slowly started putting the frame together.




I started with cleaning up the tranny and rebuilding it with genuine fast eddy bearings (it already had perfect rrp gears so I didn't worry about them) although I'm predicting a vanquish trans case in the future.









after that I put the majority of the frame together and wired it. I decided to run the old electronics because it's a great setup.



I also partially installed RC4WD's cms setup and it came together amazingly well. one thing that was goofy though when I went to put the front bumper mount on it wouldn't quite clear it. upon further inspection on rc4wd they tell you you need to order their bumper mount to make it all fine and dandy. I wasn't making another special order for a single part so I cut out some plastic till it fit.




if it turns out to be a problem I'll fix it, but for now I think it'll be good.

Originally Posted by ScGRaceR

seems like some nice vintage cars in the back!


/ welcome to RCC. nice truck!

thanks! the blue truck is our 54 chevy that never moves lol. the brown truck is just a welding rig that also never moves.

[Fuzzymk5]

Just finished the body for my jk, have decided on a color yet


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rEALTrEE]

Originally Posted by Fuzzymk5

Just finished the body for my jk, have decided on a color yet


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ya I saw it on this thread What did you do to you SCX-10 today? great job on the paint. I have I'm gonna go with a gunmetal grey and red scheme, and throw in some matte black too. I hope it turns out nice

A package from AsiaTees arrived last night. I gotta say, I wasn't particularly impressed with the hassle for shipping it. I've talked to other people locally about how they've done with AsiaTees and they said they had no hassle so I don't know if I was just the unlucky one or what but was not pleased.




that aside, the parts are awesome and look good. I was iffy about the front bumper I wondered if it would look ridiculous being as flat as it is and thought I might be making a tubular bumper but it looks good I'm impressed. I'll have a catch up to today here in a bit some pictures still need to load.

after that final box from AsiaTees arrived last night I couldn't pace myself any longer and basically wrenched until the whole frame was together. I almost wondered if it was still July when I finally dropped the tools lol. last night I started with the front axle. I gave the plastics a good cleanup and then put it together with the new parts.





when I put the good looking c-hubs and knuckles together I wanted to install the bushings on the inside like you do with the stock stuff but there wasn't a big enough gap. *sigh* so I had to put them on the other way (I didn't shave the knuckles for fear of weakening them) and I couldn't tighten the screws as snug as it probably needs to be. hopefully loctite helps out that situation.



everything else went smooth like butter, at least for the time being. (not foreshadowing anything maybe)


that's as far as I got yesterday.

today was a less busy day for me and I basically spent it all wrenching. I cleaned up the bench a little first in preparation for the awesomeness that was about to happen. it may look messy still but it's way better than it was.



that aside, I went on to build the rear axle in one swift swoop and was happy. I forgot to mention I'm gonna run 14mm wheel wideners. my buddy lent me his before I started the rebuild to try it out and it was unreal how much better it performed, so I ordered myself a set. they look really good paired up with the lockouts and hex hubs.





problems started rearing their ugly heads when I went to put the front axle on. first problem was when I initially put the axle on the cms hit the servo plate mount on the axle. no biggy I just grabbed the miniature death wheel and cut that off.





not only does that make it more functional it looks really scale now

the gremlins weren't done with me yet though, as more clearance problems arose. for the panhard bar I wanted to run a superlift link my buddy gave me a while ago, but it hit the axle, and when I switched to the rc4wd link the problem didn't dissapear. bummer. rc4wd should include a bent rod to help solve these clearance issues, I wonder why they don't already cause that's a big clearance problem.


that is as much travel as the clearance will allow.



it also binds here which is another bummer.


the rc4wd link is smaller diameter so I stayed with it. I have a lift kit that the PO (previous owner) included with the truck and I don't want to use it with this setup but I don't know what else I can do with this besides bend my own links, which could also be a problem in that I'd weaken the link by bending it. if anyone else has some input I'd love to hear it cause I think it'd be pretty important to have that travel back.



here it is pictured with the old jeep body.
rant 2 aside I put the rest of the front end together and moved on to the back. much easier since I didn't really change anything besides internals and lockouts.



yes I ordered a spare tire. no I didn't order a spare sixer rim. no I don't care that it doesn't match, although I should.


all that's left for the frame is the driveshafts, rock sliders (as inspired by Grizzly4x4) and a custom battery tray, and then... body! but for now, I make you wait some more.

[rEALTrEE]

the panhard problem was bugging me so when I got home today I put on the lift that the PO gave me. it's not the best lift it's a homemade thing out of carbon fiber but it's strong which is good.




the truck gets full flex and the panhard has room to spare now, but the panhard link was now too short and so i threw back on the superlift link so I can adjust it. the truck gets a lot more flex now than before as well from around 3" of flex to almost 5"



I'm not liking the lift idea too much so I might switch to a 110mm shock, but for now I make you wait some more

today I was playing with sheet metal. a buddy of mine let me come over and use his tools, which by the way, (if any of you watch Roadkill on YouTube) in the words of Finnegan, "is like letting someone borrow your wife, it's kind of a big deal." So thanks again for letting me borrow your tools, you know who you are, I owe you. We made some rock sliders as inspired by Grizzly4x4 http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/1-9-s...g-g6-ride.html
I changed it up a bit though. where he bought angle aluminum and bolted a lip onto the rock slider I made it a single piece started from sheet aluminum. because the jk's body gets narrow, you have to bend the aluminum to follow the body or it looks really boxy.



I also had to shave the ends in the front to make it clear the tires.





a battery tray also got made, and for some reason this ended up being a lot harder than it should've been. lol. we even had to draw a diagram.

after that was done up we proceeded with drawing it out on the sheet aluminum and cutting it.


instead of using 2 straps I reverted to going with just a single strap. I don't think it'll be a huge problem but I guess I'll find out soon enough.



after all that got made I quickly tested it in the shop, and, surprisingly, it moved! haha well not that surprisingly. because of the lift there's a slight bind in the driveshafts, but other than that it was all smooth. King Shocks are ordered and on the way, so I'll make sure it sits with a lot of droop to help prevent the binding.

now finally, for those of you that love making the body more, I'm gonna get started! I've had it trimmed for a while just in mocking things up, and I'll have to do a final trim and then it'll get masked.

overall I'm happy with the tray and rock sliders, I think because it's a flat sheet it'll help slide over rocks better than where the stock rock sliders catch and get hung up.

[rEALTrEE]

not an update I found that someone has edited and even deleted some of my posts just curious as to why? would like a pm

[THX_138]

Originally Posted by rEALTrEE

not an update I found that someone has edited and even deleted some of my posts just curious as to why? would like a pm

The edits have been posts that were merged together as a single post
If multiple posts are made back to back a minute apart with no outside comments in between, they tend to be merged.
You can leave a post open for hours and hours while creating it before hitting submit. No need to type out a paragraph or single sentence and submit and keep doing that repeatedly.

As for things getting deleted. Not this thread, but yes... Many of your posts in violation of the forum rule of "Post Whoring" have in fact been removed.
"Cool Truck", "I really like your paint, nice work", "love your wheels, I will be buying some soon"... Although are all nice compliments... They hold zero TECH value to a thread.
If nothing meaningful & helpful is being added to a thread and you simply want to let the person know it's cool or you approve etc... Please take advantage of the "LIKE" button.

Any other questions you are always welcome to drop me a PM at any time.

[rEALTrEE]

I'm finally getting to updating after some troubles with the computer. some time last week I started painting. I first hit it with a few coats of gunmetal then remasked for some red. after I laid all that down, I masked again but on the outside to paint the interior and the grille. the masking was a little rough, but overall I'm happy except for one thing- the grille just didn't want to get a nice coat of paint on it. so I might cut it out and install a knight customs grille, possibly the evil grill. would like to hear some thoughts as to which grille I should get/ if I should get a new grille at all.









one other thing that bugs me a little is that for the soft top the velcro that sticks to the rollbar has a hard time sticking to it, so it has to be ziptied down, but there's not a lot that can be done about that. I also installed an rc4wd light bar, and it will get headlights and taillights but I'll do those when I've decided what I'm doing with the grille.



one more thing I ordered 110mm king shocks and installed them. they really add a lot of wow factor to the rig, I hope they perform as well as they look.


so to come will be testing, and then sadly possibly no STC.

so here's the parts list for everything I put on the truck
-rc4wd cms system
-rc4wd mickey thompson baja claws
-rc4wd? superlift scale adjustable links
-rc4wd 110mm king shocks
-rc4wd light bar
-gearheadrc sixer beadlock rims
-rcscrews screw kit
-boomracing 14mm wheel wideners
-boomracing aluminum front bumper gunmetal
-boomracing aluminum rear bumper gunmetal
-boomracing aluminum spare tire carrier gunmetal
-boomracing aluminum c-hubs, knuckles and lockouts gunmetal
-fast eddy scx10 bearing kit
-axial 14t pinion
-axial jeep jk rubicon clear body
-Holmes hobbies 27t torquemaster expert
-mad skinz rubicon jk soft top black

[rEALTrEE]

I took the truck out for a run with my buddies the other day. the truck runs really nice. I've completely sorted out the binding issue with the driveshafts. this truck is basically ready for the Rude Boys STC, which is this weekend.




the squarebody chevy was inspired by my friends '79 C20. it's pretty bulletproof minus the rod ends. he drove the truck off a 20 foot or so drop and it didn't break.

overall I'm pretty happy with the truck as it sit's. I'm still on the fence about a new grille, but I'm leaning towards getting a knight customs evil grill, it looks pretty sinister. and I think I've got a name for the truck, Machine Gun Joe. now all I need is a G.I Joe driver or something lol

[RoboMonster689]

Thanks for the shoutout on the 79. Haha. Good thing I got a bunch of traxxas rod ends now. And the truck is looking killer! Still think you should run 1.9's cause you'll crush the 1.9 class. Pretty pumped!