The building of "El Toro"

My wife and I spent the next few years recovering from the upgrades/repairs on the wallet and just wheeled as often as we could. In the PNW, our window for getting in the mountains close to home is quite narrow with most trails not opening until Labor Day weekend. Some still have snow on them!

We got offroad as often as possible just enjoying the Jeep and outdoors and our Jeep club.

Next up on our bucket list was MOAB! As it turned out, our club made the trek in 2023. Now that I look at pictures, I'm really starting to see how little articulation/flex I'm getting even with the front sway bar disconnected. I need to work on that as I've never measured for shocks properly, just bought what was 'recommended'. The learning continues.

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At this point, I'm still on the factory rear driveshaft and Dana 30 up front! My biggest weakness as I see it so far. I'm a commercial HVAC tech by trade, although I don't run a service truck anymore thankfully, and I never want to be the guy broken on the trail if I can help it. I have patience like a saint and enjoy helping others with trail repairs but I have no patience for my own broken junk. I hate it! So, knowing it's a matter of when, not if, the front bends, breaks, whatever, it was time to plan on strengthening it. FINALLY!!!!

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Here's El Toro getting prepped in the driveway. The new PR44 had arrived! ARB locker and axle shafts to boot!
 
My new tie rod and steering damper hadn't arrived and so I put the originals back in for the time being. The tie rod was seized so no adjustments could be made, which were going to be necessary to get it all aligned, but it worked for a week :)
 
I was getting tired of disconnecting my front sway bar links. Having a new PR44 up front deserves to have a better setup. So I kept my eyes peeled for a used Rubicon sway bar disconnect. I found one in no time and installed it with an EVO No Limits. Why did I wait so long to do this? What a breeze it is.

I forgot to take pictures but here it is after a few years of service.

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Off-roading in the PNW can be challenging at times. We get a lot of rain and you just have to deal with it, along with the steep climbs, trees which have big roots that, when wet, you loose traction so quickly you slam into a tree. Not that that's ever happened to me though :)

I think trees are more valuable than people up here because we run trails that are so tight they are literally less than 68" between trees. Even in a 2-door I'm making 3 & 5 point turns to get around trees just to stay on the trail. Forget it if you have a JKU or JLU, not going to happen sometimes. My JK fits through the trees but with lots of rubbing sometimes. My wife hates it since we're surrounded by a plethora of trees and yet they can't cut one down to prevent trail damage. Geesh.

So, about that rain and large wet tree roots, tight trails, etc. One trail call Leaning Tree got the best of me. It was raining, miserable, the trail was steep and tough even if it weren't raining. I ended up losing a side mirror, smashed my door handles in on both sides, broke a front fender, and crushed my license plate holder. Even the door hinges can get hung up in some of the tight trails! Good grief. But it is fun :)

I made it through the Rubicon and MOAB with less damage combined!!!

Now I have more upgrades to make to harden the JK and tackle that trail again. Half doors with flush handles, no mirrors, beadlocks, trimmed fender flares or aluminum ones that are hardened and meant to take an impact and pivot around a tree (that should be cut down mind you.)
 
My engine skid was rubbing on the PR44 but only when flexing out fully. I decided to stick with EVO and get their full skid package since it's minimalistic, tough, makes changing the oil easier than a pan type skid, and it looks cool too! I didn't take photos of this project at the time, mainly because of the transmission skid install. It was a bear to say the least.

Lifting the transmission and transfer case a bit to clear the mounting bolts and slide the skid underneath was met with many expletives and burning up all the patience I had that day, to the point of frustration.

I was finally able to line it all up and get it installed but by the end I was just glad to have it on correctly that I just wanted to put up my tools and have a beer to celebrate.
 
Brown Santa showed up today with new rear springs.

The Clayton lift kits do not eliminate the factory rake so my 2.5” lift kit netted a little over 3” front and back. Add to it that I have no weight in the back 99% of the time and a steel front bumper and winch pulling down the front a tad that doesn’t help the stance at all. So new 1.5” could went in. I should note, Clayton lists their spring rates and the shorter dual springs have really softened the highway bumps for my setup.

What I can’t explain is the steering improvements after dropping the rear 1” but I’ll take it. I did however tinker a bit while the coils were out, going full droop and stuff to check clearances and I found my passenger sway bar link was 1” shorter than the driver side.

I must have made a mistake when measuring and installing them a few years ago. So that may have played a role in handling improvements too. Thoughts?
 

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