Oldgrayfrog
New member
Hi all, I wanted to take the time to introduce myself. I’ve been back in a Jeep for about a year now. Initially I went looking for a used JK, only to find dealerships asking damn near new money for three year old jk’s with 50,000 miles on them. So I searched my local dealers for leftover 2016’s (it was January and they had a lot of 2017’s on the lot). I ultimately found a leftover black Rubicon with hardtop and a less than ideal AT. While I’d have preferred a six speed, getting $10k off list eased my pain considerably.
My initial goal was to make it a bit more user friendly, so I installed the insulated panels in the hard top, and replaced the head unit with a good Kenwood navigation unit with CarPlay. Knowing that Jeep literally takes the stock vehicle on the rubicon trail, I initially invested in mods to take advantage of some of jeep’s greatest hits, so I bought an AEV rear bumper off a Modern Warfare edition, and a Hard Rock front bumper, traded up for Hard Rock rock rails and Warn 10-S winch. Atlanta is our nation’s distracted driving capital, so I wanted a bunch of steel between me and the cell phone idiots.
I recently bought a set of AEV Pintler wheels and am trying to decide what tires to put on it and what sort of lift I might buy. I’m driving it a bunch of highway miles at the moment, so I’m not sure I want to go to 35” tires. I’ve been waffling between trying to grab a set of the JL Rubicon 285/70/17 KO2S, or going for the 285/75/17 KO2s. The biggest reason I’m looking at the 285/75 over say 315/70 is weight. Getting that extra half inch of height and inch of width adds like 8 pounds of unsprung weight. Although I have 4.10 gears, I do a lot of driving in the North Georgia mountains.
On the lift, one consideration to keep in mind is I’m 100% disabled vet. I broke my neck jumping from a helicopter and am fused from C2 to T5. I’m not going to love something rock hard. I don’t have any issue with my jeep’s stock ride (if anything it’s a little squishy). I’mconsidering the AEV 2.5” SC lift, but am also a sucker for modding my cars beyond recognition, which brings me to an Icon or similar coilover setup. I just don’t have enough experience setting up Jeep suspensions to know what I’ll need, and what’s just bs. I read the sticky post on suspensions and wheels and tires, but I know from other forums that asking the right questions can save a lot of time and money.
Finally, if anyone is from the Atlanta area and can recommend a good shop, I’dappreciate it. There’s been a lot of stuff I’ve enjoyed doing myself, but I donÂ’t think I’m up to swapping the suspension without a lift.
I apologize for not having a current picture for this thread, but I’ll see if I can’tfind one to post later.
My initial goal was to make it a bit more user friendly, so I installed the insulated panels in the hard top, and replaced the head unit with a good Kenwood navigation unit with CarPlay. Knowing that Jeep literally takes the stock vehicle on the rubicon trail, I initially invested in mods to take advantage of some of jeep’s greatest hits, so I bought an AEV rear bumper off a Modern Warfare edition, and a Hard Rock front bumper, traded up for Hard Rock rock rails and Warn 10-S winch. Atlanta is our nation’s distracted driving capital, so I wanted a bunch of steel between me and the cell phone idiots.
I recently bought a set of AEV Pintler wheels and am trying to decide what tires to put on it and what sort of lift I might buy. I’m driving it a bunch of highway miles at the moment, so I’m not sure I want to go to 35” tires. I’ve been waffling between trying to grab a set of the JL Rubicon 285/70/17 KO2S, or going for the 285/75/17 KO2s. The biggest reason I’m looking at the 285/75 over say 315/70 is weight. Getting that extra half inch of height and inch of width adds like 8 pounds of unsprung weight. Although I have 4.10 gears, I do a lot of driving in the North Georgia mountains.
On the lift, one consideration to keep in mind is I’m 100% disabled vet. I broke my neck jumping from a helicopter and am fused from C2 to T5. I’m not going to love something rock hard. I don’t have any issue with my jeep’s stock ride (if anything it’s a little squishy). I’mconsidering the AEV 2.5” SC lift, but am also a sucker for modding my cars beyond recognition, which brings me to an Icon or similar coilover setup. I just don’t have enough experience setting up Jeep suspensions to know what I’ll need, and what’s just bs. I read the sticky post on suspensions and wheels and tires, but I know from other forums that asking the right questions can save a lot of time and money.
Finally, if anyone is from the Atlanta area and can recommend a good shop, I’dappreciate it. There’s been a lot of stuff I’ve enjoyed doing myself, but I donÂ’t think I’m up to swapping the suspension without a lift.
I apologize for not having a current picture for this thread, but I’ll see if I can’tfind one to post later.
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