12' Gecko Build

Just a quick update on what I have been doing.

After the gear break in i figured it was about time to actually try and figure out the small vibration I have been feeling after the re gear. Figured out the vibrations I have been feeling are 2 separate things. The one that starts around 45 seems to be coming from the front driveshaft. The pinion and drive shaft angle were about 2* off so I have the front upper control arms pulled and the pinion angle set so they will be perfect in line. Just waiting on my exodus order for evo front uppers to set those.

Once that's all done I'm going to pull the rear shaft and see what I can figure out about this vibration that comes in at about 60.

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Got the new front uppers in and pinion angle set. Hopefully tonight I'll get the front drive shaft in and make sure everything lines up. Really hoping that fixes the vibe I'm getting at 45mph then I'll get to work on figuring out the vibe at 60+

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Ok updating this thread finally the front is all done and set up no issues there other than I'm still running with no steering stabilizer but I'm not too concerned with that.

I have been chasing around a vibration in the rear for a few weeks now, I have checked everything I possibly can and I think I have narrowed it down to a driveshaft issue. I ended up getting a set of currie rear uppers to get the pinion angle in line and that has helped but the vibration is still there at higher speeds. I think my next upgrade is going to be a 1350 rear driveshaft but we will see.
 
catahoula said:
Well I hope ya figure out that stuff on your jeep! Did you ever install those EVO coils?
Click to expand...

Not yet I'm saving them for when I move up to 37s. I like my current stance with the 33s and as soon as i get this damn vibration figured out maybe I'll finally get to move on....

I did end up ordering a 1350 rear driveshaft today
 
Well gents I got Hatch all buttoned up for the time being rear 1350 driveshaft is in and adjusted and the vibes are as minimal as I'm gonna get them. And I am officially calling phase 2 of my build complete.

To sum up phase 2 I did a PR44 front axle swap, front and rear 1350 driveshafts, 4.88 gears, ARB lockers, rear 35 spline dynatrac shafts, front and rear upper adjustable control arms. Rancho 9000 shocks front and rear, evo front swaybar links, and an evo hinge tire carrier.

Time to start saving and gathering parts for phase 3 which will hopefully include....

Evo 2" plush rides paired with OME medium duty rear springs to net 3" of lift
Slab or machete beadlocks
37"x13.50" coopers
Rear evo rockstars (still sitting in my garage)
DL flip kit and rear raised track bar bracket if needed
Some sort of rear bumper (still undecided, maybe just evo facia)
Evo weld on sliders

All that should be happening within the next year or 2 but for now it's time to go beat it up on the trails this summer "and with any luck, well see you on the trails"

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so i have been brainstorming ideas on how to move forward with the next phase of my build and i think i have come up with a good list of parts needed for me to get this thing on 37s

EVO 2" plush rides (have in my garage plus 3/4" spacer if i need a little more height)
OME med duty rear springs (also have a 3/4" spacer if i need more height)
think im just going to buy a crown RHD drag link and a synergy sleeve for the flip and use my stock track bar in the raised bracket on my PR44
rockstar rear skids (still sitting in my garage)
i think im going to need rear brake lines and swaybar links
EVO rear track bar bracket
Spydertrax 1.5" wheel spacers
and finally a set of 37x13.50 Coopers
i think that should be all i need to get me there, mostly little stuff minus the cost of the tires. Hoping that i dont end up needing adjustable lower control arms too but i dont foresee needing them

now the question is if i am going to try and bust all that out before i take this thing to Moab in Aug or just run it the way it is for this trip and see what it can do. i would kinda like to sell my 33s in like new condition though considering they still have less that 5k miles on them and still look brand new

still on the to do list is something to replace my rear bumper but i am going to beat on the plastic for now and i would like some EVO sliders and beadlocks but that will all come with time.
 
Our setups are pretty similar except for the PR44. I'm running the EVO 2" in the front and I'll probably be putting in the 3/4"spacers as my rear sits higher... I've got 2" OME HD due to the weight I carry and I still had to add 1.75" spacers to keep from bottoming out on the bumps. Also avoided any issues with the Rockstars.

You will definitely need longer links in the rear and either drop brackets for the brake lines or longer lines. I've been running brackets, but I have new lines sitting in the garage.

I have not had to flip my drag link... Not sure if the extra spacer in the front will finally throw things off enough to necessitate one.

I'm thinking I may need to push out the rear axle a little more when I find 37s because it looks like it may be a bit close, but I'm not 💯 sure yet.

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
 
BaddestCross said:
Our setups are pretty similar except for the PR44. I'm running the EVO 2" in the front and I'll probably be putting in the 3/4"spacers as my rear sits higher... I've got 2" OME HD due to the weight I carry and I still had to add 1.75" spacers to keep from bottoming out on the bumps. Also avoided any issues with the Rockstars.

You will definitely need longer links in the rear and either drop brackets for the brake lines or longer lines. I've been running brackets, but I have new lines sitting in the garage.

I have not had to flip my drag link... Not sure if the extra spacer in the front will finally throw things off enough to necessitate one.

I'm thinking I may need to push out the rear axle a little more when I find 37s because it looks like it may be a bit close, but I'm not �� sure yet.

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
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dang you still had to add that much spacer in the rear to make it level?! i have no back seats and the stock rear bumper, looking at another guy on here that did the evo 2" front and OME med duty rears looked really level so im hoping to get the same result.

I figure since it really isnt that much money to jut get new brake lines and swaybar links for the rear

My thoughts on the front DL flip is i already have the raised TB bracket on my PR and have to have enough bump stop to clear it anyways, at 3" i may not "need" the flip but at 3" and stock TB in the stock location my front axle will not be centered so i either do the flip and run the TB in the raised location OR i buy an adjustable front TB and honestly the DL flip is cheaper so i figured i might as well.

In regards to the rear axle my last JKU i had a rock krawler 3.5" lift and 37s and in the end i ended up running stock rear lowers with Currie uppers. I took my rubi rails off and cut them about 2.5" shorter and re capped them and then trimmed the pinch seam to line up. If you do not cut the rails and pinch seam... yeah the tires sit like 0.5" from the pinch seam at ride height but nothing an angle grinder couldnt fix haha

are you running a rear raised trackbar bracket??
 
desertrunner said:
dang you still had to add that much spacer in the rear to make it level?! i have no back seats and the stock rear bumper, looking at another guy on here that did the evo 2" front and OME med duty rears looked really level so im hoping to get the same result.

I figure since it really isnt that much money to jut get new brake lines and swaybar links for the rear

My thoughts on the front DL flip is i already have the raised TB bracket on my PR and have to have enough bump stop to clear it anyways, at 3" i may not "need" the flip but at 3" and stock TB in the stock location my front axle will not be centered so i either do the flip and run the TB in the raised location OR i buy an adjustable front TB and honestly the DL flip is cheaper so i figured i might as well.

In regards to the rear axle my last JKU i had a rock krawler 3.5" lift and 37s and in the end i ended up running stock rear lowers with Currie uppers. I took my rubi rails off and cut them about 2.5" shorter and re capped them and then trimmed the pinch seam to line up. If you do not cut the rails and pinch seam... yeah the tires sit like 0.5" from the pinch seam at ride height but nothing an angle grinder couldnt fix haha

are you running a rear raised trackbar bracket??
Click to expand...

No. I had to raise the rear up because of the weight. I run an Atlas rear bumper system that is about 260lbs by itself. Add two Jerry cans, hijack, shovel, and spare tire, it was level with the HD, but sagged badly when taking off from a stop, and running desert trails, or even coming down off rock ledges, I'd bottom out the bumps. I added the spacers when I installed the Rockstars to avoid shocks being too short as well as getting me off the bumps. I run a soft top, and usually no rear seats, so now the rear is higher than the front again but the ride and performance on and off road is way better. I had originally gone with the medium duty OMEs but swapped then out after one trail run. 🙄

I actually have a rear drop bracket that was welded on when I got the Jeep. After reading about suspension geometry, I'm considering cutting it off and going with the raised rear which would then necessitate raising the front as well. At that point, I'd need to do the flip.

Yeah, my problem is that I run Poison Spyder sliders, so I'm concerned that they may rub. I can trim the pinch seam, but those rails can't be cut.



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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
 
I picked up some used adjustable arms here on the forum - a mix of Currie and EVO - so I can adjust if necessary. The rear coils are bowed already from the adjustment for the rear shaft, so I may have to relocate the perches if I have to shift the axle back any more.

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
 
BaddestCross said:
No. I had to raise the rear up because of the weight. I run an Atlas rear bumper system that is about 260lbs by itself. Add two Jerry cans, hijack, shovel, and spare tire, it was level with the HD, but sagged badly when taking off from a stop, and running desert trails, or even coming down off rock ledges, I'd bottom out the bumps. I added the spacers when I installed the Rockstars to avoid shocks being too short as well as getting me off the bumps. I run a soft top, and usually no rear seats, so now the rear is higher than the front again but the ride and performance on and off road is way better. I had originally gone with the medium duty OMEs but swapped then out after one trail run. 🙄

I actually have a rear drop bracket that was welded on when I got the Jeep. After reading about suspension geometry, I'm considering cutting it off and going with the raised rear which would then necessitate raising the front as well. At that point, I'd need to do the flip.

Yeah, my problem is that I run Poison Spyder sliders, so I'm concerned that they may rub. I can trim the pinch seam, but those rails can't be cut.



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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
Click to expand...

BaddestCross said:
I picked up some used adjustable arms here on the forum - a mix of Currie and EVO - so I can adjust if necessary. The rear coils are bowed already from the adjustment for the rear shaft, so I may have to relocate the perches if I have to shift the axle back any more.

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
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Do you still have the med duty springs sitting around?

Gotcha yeah sounds like you and I are both right on the same page with our builds and I think my list should cover all my bases

In regards to the rear spring bow. I bit in to the rock crawler mid arm 2" stretch bull shit and it gave me all sorts of issues in the rear including bad coil bow which led to me going back to stock rear lowers. You may be able to push it back a little but I wouldn't go too far back. I'm not sure what your sliders look like but I have read a few times of people cutting big sections out of the pinch seam and sliders then making a cardboard template of the gap and having a metal cap welded on. Idk how feasible that is for your set up though.

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desertrunner said:
Do you still have the med duty springs sitting around?

Gotcha yeah sounds like you and I are both right on the same page with our builds and I think my list should cover all my bases

In regards to the rear spring bow. I bit in to the rock crawler mid arm 2" stretch bull shit and it gave me all sorts of issues in the rear including bad coil bow which led to me going back to stock rear lowers. You may be able to push it back a little but I wouldn't go too far back. I'm not sure what your sliders look like but I have read a few times of people cutting big sections out of the pinch seam and sliders then making a cardboard template of the gap and having a metal cap welded on. Idk how feasible that is for your set up though.

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Click to expand...

No, I sold them to offset the cost of my mistake. 😎

Yeah, I haven't cared about the spring bow, but if I do have to push the axle back a bit, I may run into a problem with them hitting the track bar. Right now, they don't, so I haven't cared.

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Bad edit job, but the best I could do with what's on my phone right now... Hard to say but eyeballing, but the pinch seam will definitely need trimming and the rail may clear but won't know for sure until I try.

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
 
Oh dude you can totally cut off the end of those rails an inch or 2 before you get in to where the top bar ties in. It's not going to be sealed on the end anymore but I'm sure a mobile welder could cap that off for cheap.

And yeah my coils were clipping the track bar from time to time with my old set up.

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desertrunner said:
Oh dude you can totally cut off the end of those rails an inch or 2 before you get in to where the top bar ties in. It's not going to be sealed on the end anymore but I'm sure a mobile welder could cap that off for cheap.

And yeah my coils were clipping the track bar from time to time with my old set up.

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Click to expand...
Lol. Yeah, there's plenty of room to cut them if necessary, I just hope to avoid having to do it. 😎

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
 
Well nothing new on the jeep but for the last few weeks I have been working out deals to upgrade my truck and as of today I'm now the proud new owner of a 2016 F150 ecoboost lariat. Should serve me well for when the time comes to toss my jeep on a trailer.

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