One thing I learned from years of building Jeeps. Always start with tires then build your jeeps suspension accordingly to the tire size. Flex/suspension travel is more important than overall height. Look at any Rock Krawler. They are not very high and climb on anything.
I disagree with almost everything you said in this video. I did some research and found the basic 2.5" Teraflex lift to be more than sufficient. I added TF's front lower control arms to correct my caster and I couldn't be happier. The ride quality is outstanding for my driving and aesthetic needs. My tires are cheap, 35" Kenda Klever MT's. They work. - and expel Carolina mud well, and are not terribly noisy on the highway. They have also worn very well since I put them on and maintain my 5 tire rotation. Yes I had to rebalance them once after 5000 miles. But that was free since I bought my wheels and had them mounted at Discount Tire. Winches? I bought a Smittybilt with a rebate that lowered the price to less than $400 with a synthetic rope, fairlead, nice hook and detached remote control. It has worked every single time. And I know Smitty will stand behind it. Warn would have been twice as expensive and just as prone to a failure since their Zeon line is also made in.. you guessed it, China. My bumpers are DV-8, an American company with parts made of thick steel. But guess what? It's all made in China. Just according to specs provided by DV-8. Same with my Smittbilt Flux fenders. Here's another... headlights anyone? After three years of driving with stock JK headlights, I finally upgraded to some chinese made Amazon specials for less than $100. They work fantastic and are 3x brighter than what I had. Did I need to spend $500 on JW, nope. Is JW better? probably a bit. But not 5x the price better. My point is, if you are reading this, don't let this video fool you into thinking that you need to spend thousands on everything. Find your local parts/club guy who sells everything at less than Quadratec prices. Do some research. Read the reviews and you can be perfectly happy with "not top of the line" gear. Sure, If money allowed I'd be fully cloaked with Dynatrack Axles, but some people have lots of kids, a mortgage and don't make a ton of $. We also don't want to wait extra years before going wheeling. Buy it, break it, fix it later. Black Friday is this week and I may finally re-gear. I'll get the full Revolution kit front and rear with master install kit for $540. And maybe pick up the special on the install from the local Jeep master tech shop for another $550. Shop around and save big $$$. And remember you don't need the best, you just need what works for you.
Often times a "no questions asked" warranty is indication of you not needing to use it. Few companies will lifetime warranty a product if they feel they will have to honor it in large numbers. Almost every single lifetime warranty product I own has never let me down. Bad mouthing HF products is born of ignorance, there are many channels on youtube disproving the "junk" reputation HF products seem to have. Damn near everything we buy is made in China, often times Snap-on is being made right next to the HF stuff in the same facility.
I have heard that about Warn so much that I bought an economy, "Badlands," 8000 pound winch instead. I hope I did not make a mistake. So far, all is good.
Love the channel and info but, My expensive warn failed on me twice in horrible places. Had to replace the first one, thinking it had to be a lemon. A friend pulled me out with a Smittybilt 9500. So after dumping thousands into warns I bought the Smittybilt, and it has never failed, wether helping others or myself.
I ran a smittybilt for years, so has a friend of mine, we used his alot more and they never quit. The vehicle battery will get drained fast though. Went to dual batteries and all is fine.
I saved up and waited for Warn to offer a rebate which they do at least once a year. When they did I did a search for the best price I could get then submitted for the rebate. Saved quite a bit of money and was able to get the winch I wanted. Had to go wire cable but I plan to upgrade to synthetic because it is so much safer.
Ben, great advice here👍🏻. One thing I'd like to add is that a good steering setup on 35s+ is really important.Also, most common mistake I see is lack of planning on what owners want to do with their rigs! That really helps set the tone for buying quality parts etc.
I bet there r way more dmax’s, Cummins and power stroke’s and other trucks with 1 inch tire profiles on 24 inch wheels and $15,000 light bars on light bars at the mall just to try and get pussy than there r jk’s.
So funny how people think light bars = mall crawlers...I seen one dude in a bad a$$ Jeep on the dunes, turned on the light bar and turned night into day in front of his rig... impressive!
Can't say enough about staying a country mile away from retread tires. Am glad you touched on this. My experience it was a Sunday was on a MRT to recover an aircraft that had to divert to an alternate landing field. So 4 hr drive doing 80 in the middle of the desert, motor pool military check out vehicle wall to wall retreads. Sure enough that tread peeled right off and it whipped around, folded the fender back under the wheel well. Stuck in the desert go to grab the spare which had the wrong lug pattern 😮💨. This one was the worst of the 4 times this happened to me with retread tires.
Great vid as always. My reply to almost every "what is the best lift for under $500" post. Anyone who says that a cheap lift rides just fine has never ridden in a jeep with a good lift. Way worth the money. I started with an RC and now have replaced everything with components from manufactures I liked. Wish I had done that first.
A big hell yes to saving a little bit more and getting a quality lift kit, I didn't and am paying for it now. My next kit will be a much higher quality than what is on it right now
I like my Smittybilt winch over Warn. Being on the trail, i've personally seen 3 Warn winch solenoids go out on the trail and my Smittybilt that is 5 years old having to pull the Jeeps out with warns... One Warn winch was 1 year old. One was 2.5 years old and one was like 8 years old. My 5 year old Smitty was been killing it without hesitation. Anything functional, don't skimp
Minor point, Winch cable - I use the steel braid cable. This is due to in-bedding with brush fire trucks in covering wild fires, the synthetic cable has a much lower melt point. The steel cable will ware out much faster. It all depends what you are doing.
My chinese bumpers/tire carrier are holding up really well. One of the biggest things I think you shouldn't skimp on are headlights. Those Chinese/Amazon headlights do not hold up long for many people, myself included. Looks like you got lucky but it can be really dangerous if your headlights go out at night. Agree with everything else though
Its hard to argue with the knock offs being 1/6th of the price, or the sylvania white halogens being only marginally more expensive than standard replacement halogens.
Just found your site and really enjoyed it. I'm a new jeep owner, bought a 2013 10th Anniversary edition, JK 2 door, and went bat out hell, buying accessories after accessories. Which If I had found your this page earlier, could've saved me tons of inheritances funds. Well, lesson learned as I wheeled with a couple of clubs in my area, learned my jeeps abilities as well as mine. Present day, upgraded to a JLU, and with that, I took my time and upgraded to the things I learned from my JK learning curve. I can not agree more, see what you want, get the best for your buck, and if you have to "wait" a few paydays, or months, get the best down the road, or you just might find yourself in the "preverbal bind" on the trail with "cheap" gear. KUDU's to your page.
There is NOTHING wrong with Superlift dude. My Superlift with Kings rides way better than some of the more expensive lifts I've owned. Also, Warn? Maybe years ago but there are a lot of really good winches out there these days that work just as well and are just as dependable of a hell of a lot less. I realize this is 2 years old but still.
My 08 Rubicon had TeraFlex lift on it. The club I was in, in Texas bashed on a guys cheap RC kit. I converted to the 4" long arm to try out. Replaced shocks with FOX, added support to their brackets by trusses and changed out the tie rod ends to a better one. Never had one issue and the flex was insane. RC is also military/ leo friendly.
1) Wench: warn uses a plastic molded gear made of ryton. That's why they have so many failures. That plastic gear will fail when you actually need it (i.e apply a REAL load) 2) armor: spot on, carefully watch the metal thickness 3) Tires: KM3s, avoid ANY tire that has easy access to the base. One sharp rock and that tire is gone. Yokohamas have popped on me too many times. 4) Lift kits: Once you decide on the lift height you want. Don't skimp. A simply 2" body lift will be replaced later. Lift no more than 4 inches 5) replacement parts: unfortunately after market parts simply are not up to the quality.
Derski I’m thinking of getting the 4” x series kit for the lj since it has the adjustable control arms, shocks and springs at a cheaper price then than the skyjacker and other expensive kits with almost the same features would you recommend it?
One thing I will mentioned as a veteran Jeeper, Smittybilt being a “good” bumper but have issues… they upgraded and fixed that issue with the Gen3 X20. You should do a follow up video regarding wheels, I run and have always ran “inexpensive” bullet hole style wheels, currently running the ProComp 69 Series and have seen and ran similar since my first Jeep. All too often, I see the mall crawler wheels on trails and even though they look pretty, that’s all they are good for. If ppl want to buy them, fine, but buy some heavy duty wheels to go on trails and rock crawling… much financially manageable if you destroy a wheel with ProComps or similar at $150-175 than $500 “bro-lock” wheels.
Love the channel and info but, My expensive warn failed on me twice in horrible places. Had to replace the first one, thinking it had to be a lemon. A friend pulled me out with a Smittybilt 9500. So after dumping thousands into warns I bought the Smittybilt, and it has never failed, wether helping others or myself.
There are lots of happy Badlands winch owners!!! There are at least 10 of them in my jeep club. I hsve a Smittybuilt XRC and heard about the solenoid issue after I bought it. Keeping a cover on it seems to be the answer.
Have to disagree on the Warn winch, I had to retrieve a jeep with that very winch that left him stranded my cheaply priced Engo was able to get him out and has saved me on several occasions.
Should do a video about trimming the Rubicon sliders for more tire clearance. Basically you can shorten the rails so they don't stick into fender wells
It knocking you but you’re saying “a warranty won’t get you unstuck in the middle of the night” so my question is, in the middle of the night, is that spare tire delete going to help you if you rip a tire?
Theoretically there are 100s of failure points that will leave you stranded, broken trackbar mounts, sector shaft failures, broken control arms, engine failure, dead starter, etc.. my point with that quote is that I know a lot of people buying cheaper stuff because of a “no questions asked warranty”. A warranty is always good, but does not help when you aren’t parked at home. My tire carrier delete was a tough choice, but I did not do it because of the cost savings. Hope you kinda see what I’m saying
I fix my tires but i always carry at least 1 spare on the rear no rear spare not a real jeep . its hidous like a hank hill/miley Cyrus looking ass of a rear end. Cool jeep though aside from spare delete.
My superlift kit is great. Especially paired with RK control arms. You don’t need a $4000 long arm kit to go out there and wheel. I do try to stay away from rough country though. And one of the most important things you most definitely shouldn’t skimp on is headlights. Everything else was spot on though!
I totally agree with you. Except “American made”...For example American made bumpers are tough, but doesn’t have enough coating for the Swedish climate. Or American M&S tires like Cooper are good in summer but are too hard for Swedish winter.
Tyres, transceiver, and lights are the main thing I did not skimp on having. I love traversing old logging trails in the middle of the night. These logging trails are pitted with ruts, holes, cracks, and filled with broken logs, downed trees, and washed in boulders. Tyres need to have very good sidewalls to go through those logging trails. Going into the trails, it will likely be daytime. But returning out, it is most always night time. This is why I have eight forward facing lights, two side facing lights, and four reverse facing lights. The transceiver transmits 24 megacycles to 54 megacycles, 130 megacycles to 180 megacycles, 400 megacycles to 510 megacycles. It is my hope I never have to use it for a rescue. But it is very versatile. A cellular phone is nearly worthless on the logging trails I frequent. As for the suspension lift, wheel rims, and onboard recovery gear, I went for the middle of the line on those because the top of the line was either too expensive or seemed no different than the top of the line. My next upgrades will likely be the seats. The many years together have worn out the seats on my aging TJ. I will likely go for middle of the line seats in the front and an economy seat for the back. Bottom of the line upgrades are the 2000 watt inverter, used stainless steel bumpers I cleaned up, and used upper door sliding glass soft doors. Thought they are good branded, they were bought used and were very cheap.
If you're not hardcore offroading, go with aluminum over steel for the fenders. It's lighter and will be better overall for mpg and whatnot. But way more durable than the plastic stock junk, lol. 👍
I understand everyone has their own budget but its true ,save up alittle more n wait till you have the funds to do buy it . trust me i went cheap route n guess what in the end i spent even more cause i wasnt satified or it failed on me . as i got more into offroading it is wise to buy once cry once . sometimes its hard to realize that . it does save me alot of money doing things myself instead of paying someone but their are people that is less mechanical incline so i can understand it costs abit more to be paying someone to install your stuff but as always great video n keep it coming .
You covered everything. Suspension wheels and tires armor recovery and treatment maintenance parts. What is left a guy could skimp on lol. Nice video, enjoyed seeing your jeep
Gonna get a 2.5 Terraflex lift and suspension for my old TJ with some 33s. 👍 That's all she's gonna need for me, and I get to keep the rest of her driving gear stock.
Also keep in mind bigger tires will cause death wobble meaning that You will be forced to need a steering stabilizer so do not cheap out on those either Should be part of a good lift kit but who knows
Pays to be a welder/metal fabricator. Custom making my own bumpers skid plates and rock rails. That way I know how thick the material is as well as the quality of the welds will be awesome.
"I'm not going to start naming off a bunch of brands" Harbor freight, Badland series, smittybuilt Recommends saving up with warn or superwench, synthetic ropes vs steel
Just about everything that goes on your Jeep: Axel housing, inner axels, lockers, lift kit, brakes, gears, drive shaft, winch, spare tire carrier, etc... EVERYTHING.
I love this video. I am thinking of putting a 4 inch lift on my 15 JK. I have seen some people say 40s will fit under a 4 inch i am thinking of maybe 37 or 38. So this bringd my questions. 1. Will 40s fit under a 4 inch lift? 2. My jeep is manual should i get 4:88 or 5:13 gears. I have millions of questions but these are the ones I am having trouble finding answers.
Ben can you do a video on your front axle and what key features you have on your d44 I know it’s a dynatrac just wanna little more of a review/talk about it and what you recommend I have a sport and I watch reviews and builds but you give honest feedback so just a thought for a new vid
Dont skimp on anything that will get any bit of use. Aesthetic stuff is okay, but anything that will actually get used or experience any wear you need to get great quality.
I gotta say I paid for a barricade rear bumper and tire carrier thinking it was good, shit bent easily. But my $200 steel front bumper took a hell of a lot of abuse and never bent, broke, anything. Hell I trusted it more than the "name brand" one I had
What's up dude! Just saw you on Saturday around the Flag pole knob area. We were coming down a trail n you were going up. Wish I would of been able to meet you and check your Jeep out. Cool videos! We'll take care.
The winches I was referring to in this video were the older style badlands with the mechanical brake. The newer one has quite a few impressive improvents
Running board automatic I got one it double as rock rail and make it easy fo me get in do video on them for people my age 70 yrs old with arthiritis it great to help get in my Jeep Rubincon open door it lower down close the door it hose back up
Hey man, I get and respect what you said about amazon and ebay bumpers, but as long as you check out the thickness of the steel, some of them are really good, comparable to american made. I have amazon bumpers and it has withstood as much, possibly more abuse than my buddy’s DV8. I would say the only downfall was the lack of instructions, you really have to have a know-how to piece it together.
I got a 200$ rear bumper that totalled 2 Honda size cars that rear ended me while I was parked. Just had a buddy at the shop straighten it out and cash me out on the bumper witch they valued at 350$
SKID PLATES ARE THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO , if you are on the trail and break a control arm you can fix that, try fixing a transfer case, transmission, or a oil pan on the trail, not fun
@@jonlucdesprez5995 no I'm agreeing with you but I wouldn't do anything crazy but gravel roads and simple ass trails until I got that and everything else
Dude claps on Badlands winches and the most popular offroad recovery channels on TH-cam are running badlands. They use them professionally to recover vehicles on the daily.
I totally agree, Ben! It's easier to explain price once than to apologize for quality forever. Keep up the cool vids. Personally I don't get the HaTeRs, guys like U take the time to post vids and offer opinions and then some peeps just can't help but crack back about something. It's the same on the forums, unfortunately. I'm a big Mickey Thompson fan myself, but I love the Yokohama Geolandar X-MTs U have! Keep the vids coming!
The part that sucks the most about building a Jeep. The long time it takes if you’re doing it right and with quality. Unless you’re just loaded with cash
I have watched many videos like this. The problem is that by choosing so-called "Premium products", many people, include me, might not be into car mods at all. Classic examples are KC lights and Warn winchs. I mean....some of the prices are just aboselutely outrageous. Do they perform better than other brands? Maybe. But do they perform four times better? Probably no. But that is the difference in price. I mean, I can get 80% performance with 1/4 the price, that's good enough for me. Maybe you always go to remote areas alone and you often get stuck, then maybe Warn winch is the right one for you. But at that point, maybe you should consider some redundancies. Two of everything.
I'd like to see a video of parts that you can skimp on, like fenders they are mostly just for looks, a cheap set might not have a good coating on it or great hole alignment but that's easily fixed, bassically I would say anything with out moving parts, armor I get cause of metal thickness
imma be honest. ive got a pair of amazon tires on my 4x4 s10 got bolts and screws and nails all in em and ive only aired up 1 time in 5 years of owning them Achilles Desert hawks at the time i paid $600 for 4 of em
Love the channel and the Jeep! I just got a '10 Rubicon deep water blue pearl. Already had 35's and a lift and winch. I'm saving up to replace the entire lift kit at once with a much higher quality one. It does good though. Fisrt things first for me was new drive shafts. I think you could add this to your list (if no one mentioned it already). Lifting a Jeep especially, get new drive shafts and good ones! I went with the Thomson Woods 1310 front and rear based on the off road application I do.
Nailed it brother - American made! Rockhard skids for me. Adams driveshafts. Bought some cheaper skids - they came with chipped paint and ill-fitting. Returned them all and spent the money on American. Almost never regret buying American!
I spent a fortune on a expensive AEV Dual Sport lift kit that road like crap. The kit was quality but the springs were way too stiff. Money is not always the true gauge. BTW nice jeep.
Can you recommend some nice lift kit brands? I’ve checked some local shops where I am at and they are pushing rubicon express, teraflex, and AEV. I really want to take the advice of saving a bit to get a nicer quality suspension vs something to just lift the Jeep. Would love to hear your thoughts
Epic everything Productions im a big fan of metalcloak and rock krawler. Both are great quality, but naturally it all comes down to what you want to do with your Jeep and the ride quality you want to acheive
JK Gear and Gadgets thanks! For me I am mostly concerned for the ride quality on the street with occasional weekend off the beaten path roads. Would the 2 companies you recommended have lift kits that would be good for this? Like you said in your video, I don’t want to replace my stock suspension with a subpar suspension just because I want to add height for bigger tires.
Epic everything Productions both of those will greatly improve the ride! However make sure you get a kit that is complete with springs, shocks, adjustable control arms, adjustable trackbars etc.
How do you carry a spare on the trail? Seems a bit risky to not have one to me, but I also know 0 about offloading. Currently considering buying a jeep and getting into it. Not trolling.
I either throw it in the back or don’t go with one at all. It is a risk for sure, but a risk I have to take. I didn’t really want to have a 40” tire on the back of the Jeep as a spare
go cheap on head and tail lights, bumpers can be done cheap as long as you read reviews and look into thickness, and while it is generally a good idea to go all out and buy the best, most people can’t. for example instead of a full lift kit, since i only went 2.5 inches, i got a coil spacer lift, which was under 100 and did not force me to correct any suspension components. shocks i would definitely go all out on, light bars, you could either buy cheap ones off amazon that aren’t quite as bright and save 100s-1000s, but they have a higher likelihood of breaking at some point (generally due to condensation which can be prevented with silicone) or go with rigid and pay 1-2k. tires, rims, shocks are the most important things (in my opinion) that you should spend money on and not cheap out.
Hello JK GEAR ☆ Great job on information I GOT MY 1ST JEEP WRANGLER UNLIMITED SAHARA V6 3.6 4 DOOR 35x12.50r20, M/S tires LOOKING FOR A/T TIRES I'M TRYING To find out what gear ratio is in - has a lot of zip no lacking power But !!! Transmission shifting funny in 4th to 5th not to bad, - but enough to notice, had Transmission fluid and filter change still does it, Using the supper Cal programmer going to take the differential covers then I may be able to see what gears are in 🙄
Hey brother. I’m really digging the fenders. They look inexpensive and really mean. Please let me know where you got them from ?? I would love adding them to my Jeep
JK Gear and Gadgets thanks for getting back to me brother. I tried watching all your videos last night till like 3am lol. My fav was the roll cage cover removal. I been wanting to do that forever. Thanks for all the awesome videos man. Those fenders are about $800 on all sites. Great buy
I didn’t have any issues this weekend on a quick Offroad trip. I plan on moving it back some anyways though. Need to adjust the control arms after the larger tires
Great video. Wondering if you could list some of the brands you mentioned, especially bumpers. It will be my first major mod. How solid are Smittybuilt bumpers?
When you spoke about your suspension you didnt say what brand/company you used. Im very curious since you stated that it rides smoother than the factory suspension. Thank you
One thing I learned from years of building Jeeps. Always start with tires then build your jeeps suspension accordingly to the tire size. Flex/suspension travel is more important than overall height. Look at any Rock Krawler. They are not very high and climb on anything.
I like that you keep saying, “American Made....”
Thank you, brother!👍🇺🇸❤️
I disagree with almost everything you said in this video. I did some research and found the basic 2.5" Teraflex lift to be more than sufficient. I added TF's front lower control arms to correct my caster and I couldn't be happier. The ride quality is outstanding for my driving and aesthetic needs. My tires are cheap, 35" Kenda Klever MT's. They work. - and expel Carolina mud well, and are not terribly noisy on the highway. They have also worn very well since I put them on and maintain my 5 tire rotation. Yes I had to rebalance them once after 5000 miles. But that was free since I bought my wheels and had them mounted at Discount Tire. Winches? I bought a Smittybilt with a rebate that lowered the price to less than $400 with a synthetic rope, fairlead, nice hook and detached remote control. It has worked every single time. And I know Smitty will stand behind it. Warn would have been twice as expensive and just as prone to a failure since their Zeon line is also made in.. you guessed it, China. My bumpers are DV-8, an American company with parts made of thick steel. But guess what? It's all made in China. Just according to specs provided by DV-8. Same with my Smittbilt Flux fenders. Here's another... headlights anyone? After three years of driving with stock JK headlights, I finally upgraded to some chinese made Amazon specials for less than $100. They work fantastic and are 3x brighter than what I had. Did I need to spend $500 on JW, nope. Is JW better? probably a bit. But not 5x the price better. My point is, if you are reading this, don't let this video fool you into thinking that you need to spend thousands on everything. Find your local parts/club guy who sells everything at less than Quadratec prices. Do some research. Read the reviews and you can be perfectly happy with "not top of the line" gear. Sure, If money allowed I'd be fully cloaked with Dynatrack Axles, but some people have lots of kids, a mortgage and don't make a ton of $. We also don't want to wait extra years before going wheeling. Buy it, break it, fix it later. Black Friday is this week and I may finally re-gear. I'll get the full Revolution kit front and rear with master install kit for $540. And maybe pick up the special on the install from the local Jeep master tech shop for another $550. Shop around and save big $$$. And remember you don't need the best, you just need what works for you.
Next video idea/request:
Jeep mods you can get away with skimping on- like handle inserts or whatever you think fits
"A warranty will not help you get unstuck!" Nor will Warn's "Screw you" form of customer service. Many people are learning this lately, it seems.
Often times a "no questions asked" warranty is indication of you not needing to use it. Few companies will lifetime warranty a product if they feel they will have to honor it in large numbers. Almost every single lifetime warranty product I own has never let me down. Bad mouthing HF products is born of ignorance, there are many channels on youtube disproving the "junk" reputation HF products seem to have. Damn near everything we buy is made in China, often times Snap-on is being made right next to the HF stuff in the same facility.
The only time I really needed my Warn m8000 it failed on me. I was pulled out by my brother with a Smittybilt $300 winch.
I have heard that about Warn so much that I bought an economy, "Badlands," 8000 pound winch instead. I hope I did not make a mistake. So far, all is good.
Love the channel and info but, My expensive warn failed on me twice in horrible places. Had to replace the first one, thinking it had to be a lemon. A friend pulled me out with a Smittybilt 9500. So after dumping thousands into warns I bought the Smittybilt, and it has never failed, wether helping others or myself.
Save up "a little bit more" for a Warn.... Define "A little bit"... because you can buy 5 pretty good winches for 1 Warn...
Which ones do you recommend? I’m looking for a winch.
I ran a smittybilt for years, so has a friend of mine, we used his alot more and they never quit. The vehicle battery will get drained fast though. Went to dual batteries and all is fine.
I saved up and waited for Warn to offer a rebate which they do at least once a year. When they did I did a search for the best price I could get then submitted for the rebate. Saved quite a bit of money and was able to get the winch I wanted. Had to go wire cable but I plan to upgrade to synthetic because it is so much safer.
Ben, great advice here👍🏻. One thing I'd like to add is that a good steering setup on 35s+ is really important.Also, most common mistake I see is lack of planning on what owners want to do with their rigs! That really helps set the tone for buying quality parts etc.
Jks need light bar. Nothing but light bars. Malls get dark at night
They need dubs also and lowered a few inches. The fat ladies can barely get in them.
Aftermarket custom performance hoods!! Engine temps rise at the mall
I bet there r way more dmax’s, Cummins and power stroke’s and other trucks with 1 inch tire profiles on 24 inch wheels and $15,000 light bars on light bars at the mall just to try and get pussy than there r jk’s.
So funny how people think light bars = mall crawlers...I seen one dude in a bad a$$ Jeep on the dunes, turned on the light bar and turned night into day in front of his rig... impressive!
AV8R Ted yea well that Jeep was using the light bars for its intended purpose. That’s the difference.
Can't say enough about staying a country mile away from retread tires. Am glad you touched on this. My experience it was a Sunday was on a MRT to recover an aircraft that had to divert to an alternate landing field. So 4 hr drive doing 80 in the middle of the desert, motor pool military check out vehicle wall to wall retreads. Sure enough that tread peeled right off and it whipped around, folded the fender back under the wheel well. Stuck in the desert go to grab the spare which had the wrong lug pattern 😮💨. This one was the worst of the 4 times this happened to me with retread tires.
Great vid as always. My reply to almost every "what is the best lift for under $500" post. Anyone who says that a cheap lift rides just fine has never ridden in a jeep with a good lift. Way worth the money. I started with an RC and now have replaced everything with components from manufactures I liked. Wish I had done that first.
A big hell yes to saving a little bit more and getting a quality lift kit, I didn't and am paying for it now. My next kit will be a much higher quality than what is on it right now
I like my Smittybilt winch over Warn.
Being on the trail, i've personally seen 3 Warn winch solenoids go out on the trail and my Smittybilt that is 5 years old having to pull the Jeeps out with warns... One Warn winch was 1 year old. One was 2.5 years old and one was like 8 years old.
My 5 year old Smitty was been killing it without hesitation.
Anything functional, don't skimp
Minor point, Winch cable - I use the steel braid cable. This is due to in-bedding with brush fire trucks in covering wild fires, the synthetic cable has a much lower melt point. The steel cable will ware out much faster. It all depends what you are doing.
My chinese bumpers/tire carrier are holding up really well. One of the biggest things I think you shouldn't skimp on are headlights. Those Chinese/Amazon headlights do not hold up long for many people, myself included. Looks like you got lucky but it can be really dangerous if your headlights go out at night. Agree with everything else though
Its hard to argue with the knock offs being 1/6th of the price, or the sylvania white halogens being only marginally more expensive than standard replacement halogens.
Can you make a video of your current suspension and why you chose that brand for that part, also what would you have done differently.
Just found your site and really enjoyed it. I'm a new jeep owner, bought a 2013 10th Anniversary edition, JK 2 door, and went bat out hell, buying accessories after accessories. Which If I had found your this page earlier, could've saved me tons of inheritances funds. Well, lesson learned as I wheeled with a couple of clubs in my area, learned my jeeps abilities as well as mine. Present day, upgraded to a JLU, and with that, I took my time and upgraded to the things I learned from my JK learning curve. I can not agree more, see what you want, get the best for your buck, and if you have to "wait" a few paydays, or months, get the best down the road, or you just might find yourself in the "preverbal bind" on the trail with "cheap" gear. KUDU's to your page.
There is NOTHING wrong with Superlift dude. My Superlift with Kings rides way better than some of the more expensive lifts I've owned. Also, Warn? Maybe years ago but there are a lot of really good winches out there these days that work just as well and are just as dependable of a hell of a lot less. I realize this is 2 years old but still.
My 08 Rubicon had TeraFlex lift on it. The club I was in, in Texas bashed on a guys cheap RC kit. I converted to the 4" long arm to try out. Replaced shocks with FOX, added support to their brackets by trusses and changed out the tie rod ends to a better one. Never had one issue and the flex was insane. RC is also military/ leo friendly.
1) Wench: warn uses a plastic molded gear made of ryton. That's why they have so many failures. That plastic gear will fail when you actually need it (i.e apply a REAL load)
2) armor: spot on, carefully watch the metal thickness
3) Tires: KM3s, avoid ANY tire that has easy access to the base. One sharp rock and that tire is gone. Yokohamas have popped on me too many times.
4) Lift kits: Once you decide on the lift height you want. Don't skimp. A simply 2" body lift will be replaced later. Lift no more than 4 inches
5) replacement parts: unfortunately after market parts simply are not up to the quality.
Going on 2 years with the 500 dollar Rough country lift kit and I have to say I have no regrets.
Derski I’m thinking of getting the 4” x series kit for the lj since it has the adjustable control arms, shocks and springs at a cheaper price then than the skyjacker and other expensive kits with almost the same features would you recommend it?
One thing I will mentioned as a veteran Jeeper, Smittybilt being a “good” bumper but have issues… they upgraded and fixed that issue with the Gen3 X20. You should do a follow up video regarding wheels, I run and have always ran “inexpensive” bullet hole style wheels, currently running the ProComp 69 Series and have seen and ran similar since my first Jeep. All too often, I see the mall crawler wheels on trails and even though they look pretty, that’s all they are good for. If ppl want to buy them, fine, but buy some heavy duty wheels to go on trails and rock crawling… much financially manageable if you destroy a wheel with ProComps or similar at $150-175 than $500 “bro-lock” wheels.
I always say “save money to save money” don’t spend $50 now, to spend $75 later. Now that part costs you $125. PLUS your labour.
Never had an issue with my badlands winch
Nor any of my diy sliders bumpers or body armor
And American made doesn’t automatically mean quality
Ugh! I skimped on my lift(rough country) and I've regretted it to this day.
Love the channel and info but, My expensive warn failed on me twice in horrible places. Had to replace the first one, thinking it had to be a lemon. A friend pulled me out with a Smittybilt 9500. So after dumping thousands into warns I bought the Smittybilt, and it has never failed, wether helping others or myself.
Which model was it if you don’t mind me asking? Was it the VR series?
Harbor freights new badland apex 12000 is amazing! It also has your preferred synthetic line 😁
There are lots of happy Badlands winch owners!!! There are at least 10 of them in my jeep club. I hsve a Smittybuilt XRC and heard about the solenoid issue after I bought it. Keeping a cover on it seems to be the answer.
friends and family have had a good experience with rough country, surprised you said to skip them
My number one thing is winches to! But I did skimp on my winch and she ended up with my damn house in the end....
Have to disagree on the Warn winch, I had to retrieve a jeep with that very winch that left him stranded my cheaply priced Engo was able to get him out and has saved me on several occasions.
Should do a video about trimming the Rubicon sliders for more tire clearance. Basically you can shorten the rails so they don't stick into fender wells
It knocking you but you’re saying “a warranty won’t get you unstuck in the middle of the night” so my question is, in the middle of the night, is that spare tire delete going to help you if you rip a tire?
No, but there are a few ways to fix a tire to get you off the trail. Also I really don’t want to have a 40” tire on the back of my Jeep.
Theoretically there are 100s of failure points that will leave you stranded, broken trackbar mounts, sector shaft failures, broken control arms, engine failure, dead starter, etc.. my point with that quote is that I know a lot of people buying cheaper stuff because of a “no questions asked warranty”. A warranty is always good, but does not help when you aren’t parked at home. My tire carrier delete was a tough choice, but I did not do it because of the cost savings. Hope you kinda see what I’m saying
After 35s or 37s most guys start fixing tires on the trail. Too expensive and too hard to carry a spare.
Most times a large M/T doesn't puncture, but you'll just lose the bead. That can be fixed easily.
I fix my tires but i always carry at least 1 spare on the rear no rear spare not a real jeep . its hidous like a hank hill/miley Cyrus looking ass of a rear end. Cool jeep though aside from spare delete.
My superlift kit is great. Especially paired with RK control arms. You don’t need a $4000 long arm kit to go out there and wheel. I do try to stay away from rough country though. And one of the most important things you most definitely shouldn’t skimp on is headlights. Everything else was spot on though!
I totally agree with you. Except “American made”...For example American made bumpers are tough, but doesn’t have enough coating for the Swedish climate. Or American M&S tires like Cooper are good in summer but are too hard for Swedish winter.
Tyres, transceiver, and lights are the main thing I did not skimp on having. I love traversing old logging trails in the middle of the night. These logging trails are pitted with ruts, holes, cracks, and filled with broken logs, downed trees, and washed in boulders. Tyres need to have very good sidewalls to go through those logging trails. Going into the trails, it will likely be daytime. But returning out, it is most always night time. This is why I have eight forward facing lights, two side facing lights, and four reverse facing lights. The transceiver transmits 24 megacycles to 54 megacycles, 130 megacycles to 180 megacycles, 400 megacycles to 510 megacycles. It is my hope I never have to use it for a rescue. But it is very versatile. A cellular phone is nearly worthless on the logging trails I frequent. As for the suspension lift, wheel rims, and onboard recovery gear, I went for the middle of the line on those because the top of the line was either too expensive or seemed no different than the top of the line. My next upgrades will likely be the seats. The many years together have worn out the seats on my aging TJ. I will likely go for middle of the line seats in the front and an economy seat for the back. Bottom of the line upgrades are the 2000 watt inverter, used stainless steel bumpers I cleaned up, and used upper door sliding glass soft doors. Thought they are good branded, they were bought used and were very cheap.
Indrid Cold Do you plan on doing some videos?
I'm a strong believer of light bars before locker!😁🤙
If you're not hardcore offroading, go with aluminum over steel for the fenders. It's lighter and will be better overall for mpg and whatnot. But way more durable than the plastic stock junk, lol. 👍
Rode for years on retread tires from treadwright. If you aren't going balls out off-roading, they are a great option. Plus you have a spare.
I understand everyone has their own budget but its true ,save up alittle more n wait till you have the funds to do buy it . trust me i went cheap route n guess what in the end i spent even more cause i wasnt satified or it failed on me . as i got more into offroading it is wise to buy once cry once . sometimes its hard to realize that . it does save me alot of money doing things myself instead of paying someone but their are people that is less mechanical incline so i can understand it costs abit more to be paying someone to install your stuff but as always great video n keep it coming .
You covered everything. Suspension wheels and tires armor recovery and treatment maintenance parts. What is left a guy could skimp on lol. Nice video, enjoyed seeing your jeep
“I’m not gonna start naming names or anything......but Harbour Freight & Smittybuilt....”. LOL!
Gonna get a 2.5 Terraflex lift and suspension for my old TJ with some 33s. 👍 That's all she's gonna need for me, and I get to keep the rest of her driving gear stock.
33s on a Tj is a great combo 🤘
Also keep in mind bigger tires will cause death wobble meaning that You will be forced to need a steering stabilizer so do not cheap out on those either Should be part of a good lift kit but who knows
I have to disagree. Death wobble is caused by bad steering components or other loose hardware in the steering/suspension
You forgot to mention re gearing
our group run with a few harbor freight, no issues. Sadly, the warn are the solenoid issues but also easy to change
I certainly can't disagree with any of that!
Pays to be a welder/metal fabricator. Custom making my own bumpers skid plates and rock rails. That way I know how thick the material is as well as the quality of the welds will be awesome.
"I'm not going to start naming off a bunch of brands"
Harbor freight, Badland series, smittybuilt
Recommends saving up with warn or superwench, synthetic ropes vs steel
Just about everything that goes on your Jeep: Axel housing, inner axels, lockers, lift kit, brakes, gears, drive shaft, winch, spare tire carrier, etc... EVERYTHING.
I love this video. I am thinking of putting a 4 inch lift on my 15 JK. I have seen some people say 40s will fit under a 4 inch i am thinking of maybe 37 or 38. So this bringd my questions.
1. Will 40s fit under a 4 inch lift?
2. My jeep is manual should i get 4:88 or 5:13 gears.
I have millions of questions but these are the ones I am having trouble finding answers.
Ben can you do a video on your front axle and what key features you have on your d44 I know it’s a dynatrac just wanna little more of a review/talk about it and what you recommend I have a sport and I watch reviews and builds but you give honest feedback so just a thought for a new vid
Dont skimp on anything that will get any bit of use. Aesthetic stuff is okay, but anything that will actually get used or experience any wear you need to get great quality.
I gotta say I paid for a barricade rear bumper and tire carrier thinking it was good, shit bent easily. But my $200 steel front bumper took a hell of a lot of abuse and never bent, broke, anything. Hell I trusted it more than the "name brand" one I had
All true my man!! Always always safety first before looking cool
Exactly! 🤘
One of the BEST Jeep info channels out there. Good job......
What's up dude! Just saw you on Saturday around the Flag pole knob area. We were coming down a trail n you were going up. Wish I would of been able to meet you and check your Jeep out. Cool videos! We'll take care.
Awesome! Maybe I’ll see you up around there another time!
Funny to see this video against Badlands and then watch the Badlands install a year later. ;)
The winches I was referring to in this video were the older style badlands with the mechanical brake. The newer one has quite a few impressive improvents
@@JKGearandGadgets I figured. I was just bustin some chops. I’m pretty impressed with the new Badlands winches.
Running board automatic I got one it double as rock rail and make it easy fo me get in do video on them for people my age 70 yrs old with arthiritis it great to help get in my Jeep Rubincon open door it lower down close the door it hose back up
Great for my wife and kids as well.
Hey man, I get and respect what you said about amazon and ebay bumpers, but as long as you check out the thickness of the steel, some of them are really good, comparable to american made. I have amazon bumpers and it has withstood as much, possibly more abuse than my buddy’s DV8. I would say the only downfall was the lack of instructions, you really have to have a know-how to piece it together.
Great video! Buy once, cry once!
I have a 01 Xj and I am using Rusty’s off-road 3in lift rides really nice just need some better shocks
I got a 200$ rear bumper that totalled 2 Honda size cars that rear ended me while I was parked. Just had a buddy at the shop straighten it out and cash me out on the bumper witch they valued at 350$
What suspension lift kit would you recommend?
SKID PLATES ARE THE FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO , if you are on the trail and break a control arm you can fix that, try fixing a transfer case, transmission, or a oil pan on the trail, not fun
I'd agree to an extent. I'd upgrade most of the other stuff and then skid plates. THEN I can hit the trails hard haha
Collin Morin I would rather swap out a contro arm or a driveshaft on the trail rather than an engine, transfercase or tranny
Collin Morin you need them especially if you do real rock crawling or wheeling
@@jonlucdesprez5995 no I'm agreeing with you but I wouldn't do anything crazy but gravel roads and simple ass trails until I got that and everything else
Collin Morin true
Dude claps on Badlands winches and the most popular offroad recovery channels on TH-cam are running badlands. They use them professionally to recover vehicles on the daily.
This was back before the new style badland winches. The new style is much improved
I totally agree, Ben! It's easier to explain price once than to apologize for quality forever. Keep up the cool vids. Personally I don't get the HaTeRs, guys like U take the time to post vids and offer opinions and then some peeps just can't help but crack back about something. It's the same on the forums, unfortunately. I'm a big Mickey Thompson fan myself, but I love the Yokohama Geolandar X-MTs U have! Keep the vids coming!
Thank you for your comment! And as you said, it’s impossible to please everyone but I honestly try my best lol
The part that sucks the most about building a Jeep. The long time it takes if you’re doing it right and with quality. Unless you’re just loaded with cash
I have watched many videos like this. The problem is that by choosing so-called "Premium products", many people, include me, might not be into car mods at all. Classic examples are KC lights and Warn winchs. I mean....some of the prices are just aboselutely outrageous. Do they perform better than other brands? Maybe. But do they perform four times better? Probably no. But that is the difference in price. I mean, I can get 80% performance with 1/4 the price, that's good enough for me. Maybe you always go to remote areas alone and you often get stuck, then maybe Warn winch is the right one for you. But at that point, maybe you should consider some redundancies. Two of everything.
All of your videos are great. Well explain for a slow guy like me 😁. You have a new subscriber
I'd like to see a video of parts that you can skimp on, like fenders they are mostly just for looks, a cheap set might not have a good coating on it or great hole alignment but that's easily fixed, bassically I would say anything with out moving parts, armor I get cause of metal thickness
SteveGibbs AnotherJKowner I kinda disagree with you on that flares to me is something that you don’t need to skimp on. Saves you from body damage.
imma be honest. ive got a pair of amazon tires on my 4x4 s10 got bolts and screws and nails all in em and ive only aired up 1 time in 5 years of owning them Achilles Desert hawks at the time i paid $600 for 4 of em
Ironman tires are good for the price, people running them here with no problems
Very informative video! I believe you are spot on! Keep up the great videos!
Very good video! Been loving your channel. Very informative and has helped me upgrade my rig the right way
Dude this is one sweet ride , What bumper did you match your winch with and what rock guards did you use .
I would like to know your opinion about two way radios vs cell phones. Great video! I’m working on my Ruby.
Is there a video on parts you can skimp on?
Love the channel and the Jeep! I just got a '10 Rubicon deep water blue pearl. Already had 35's and a lift and winch. I'm saving up to replace the entire lift kit at once with a much higher quality one. It does good though. Fisrt things first for me was new drive shafts. I think you could add this to your list (if no one mentioned it already). Lifting a Jeep especially, get new drive shafts and good ones! I went with the Thomson Woods 1310 front and rear based on the off road application I do.
Hey man great videos! I am a new sub and wondering if you have a video that goes over all your Jeep mods as it sits in this video? Keep it up
I'm not a fan of 4-door Wranglers, but your Jeep looks good and nicely upgraded. Well done.
Thank you!
@@JKGearandGadgets, you're welcome.
Better to be safe than sorry Bro, Thanx 4 the heads up.
Nailed it brother - American made!
Rockhard skids for me. Adams driveshafts.
Bought some cheaper skids - they came with chipped paint and ill-fitting. Returned them all and spent the money on American.
Almost never regret buying American!
I spent a fortune on a expensive AEV Dual Sport lift kit that road like crap. The kit was quality but the springs were way too stiff. Money is not always the true gauge. BTW nice jeep.
That is very true. I’m not a fan of AEV lifts at all.
Can you recommend some nice lift kit brands? I’ve checked some local shops where I am at and they are pushing rubicon express, teraflex, and AEV. I really want to take the advice of saving a bit to get a nicer quality suspension vs something to just lift the Jeep. Would love to hear your thoughts
Epic everything Productions im a big fan of metalcloak and rock krawler. Both are great quality, but naturally it all comes down to what you want to do with your Jeep and the ride quality you want to acheive
JK Gear and Gadgets thanks! For me I am mostly concerned for the ride quality on the street with occasional weekend off the beaten path roads. Would the 2 companies you recommended have lift kits that would be good for this? Like you said in your video, I don’t want to replace my stock suspension with a subpar suspension just because I want to add height for bigger tires.
Epic everything Productions both of those will greatly improve the ride! However make sure you get a kit that is complete with springs, shocks, adjustable control arms, adjustable trackbars etc.
Hello, have you done a video of your CB radio?? Really interested
Awesome video! What brand are your fenders? Love the Jeep
They are MCE!
How do you carry a spare on the trail? Seems a bit risky to not have one to me, but I also know 0 about offloading. Currently considering buying a jeep and getting into it. Not trolling.
I either throw it in the back or don’t go with one at all. It is a risk for sure, but a risk I have to take. I didn’t really want to have a 40” tire on the back of the Jeep as a spare
So, basically, don't cheap out on anything.
Hahahaha 🤦🏻♂️
go cheap on head and tail lights, bumpers can be done cheap as long as you read reviews and look into thickness, and while it is generally a good idea to go all out and buy the best, most people can’t. for example instead of a full lift kit, since i only went 2.5 inches, i got a coil spacer lift, which was under 100 and did not force me to correct any suspension components. shocks i would definitely go all out on, light bars, you could either buy cheap ones off amazon that aren’t quite as bright and save 100s-1000s, but they have a higher likelihood of breaking at some point (generally due to condensation which can be prevented with silicone) or go with rigid and pay 1-2k. tires, rims, shocks are the most important things (in my opinion) that you should spend money on and not cheap out.
Hello JK GEAR ☆
Great job on information
I GOT MY 1ST JEEP WRANGLER UNLIMITED SAHARA V6 3.6 4 DOOR
35x12.50r20, M/S tires
LOOKING FOR A/T TIRES
I'M TRYING To find out what gear ratio is in - has a lot of zip no lacking power But !!!
Transmission shifting funny in 4th to 5th not to bad, - but enough to notice, had Transmission fluid and filter change still does it,
Using the supper Cal programmer going to take the differential covers then I may be able to see what gears are in 🙄
My lift is a mix up of everything I needed to be functional.
Awesome video bro!!!!! Tell that wife of yours to post something up!!
Hey brother. I’m really digging the fenders. They look inexpensive and really mean. Please let me know where you got them from ?? I would love adding them to my Jeep
They are MCE, sadly they are not inexpensive. They are a special plastic that is flexible and bendable, won’t crack
JK Gear and Gadgets thanks for getting back to me brother. I tried watching all your videos last night till like 3am lol. My fav was the roll cage cover removal. I been wanting to do that forever. Thanks for all the awesome videos man. Those fenders are about $800 on all sites. Great buy
Love your jeep. The rock slider on your driver side looks mighty close to the back wheel. Have any issue with the back wheel hitting it?
I didn’t have any issues this weekend on a quick Offroad trip. I plan on moving it back some anyways though. Need to adjust the control arms after the larger tires
Great video. What brand are your rock rails? Do your rear tires rub against them? It seems they would based on how close they are to the rear tires.
They are Barnes4WD, and they don’t rub. With 40s it is close but fits. They are actually a tad shorter than the rubicon rock rails
@@JKGearandGadgets good to know. Thanks
Do not skimp on wheel spacers! Buy once, cry once!
Or just buy wheels with the correct backspacing to begin with.
Just get rims skip spacers .
Great video. Wondering if you could list some of the brands you mentioned, especially bumpers. It will be my first major mod. How solid are Smittybuilt bumpers?
They are on the decent side. Still not American made but better than other cheaper ones on the market
I can't recommend Body Armor bumpers and rock sliders. They rotted out on my TJ after two years.
Some times u have to do cheap lift . got a 2" spacer lift because rock jock 44 .
Very true.
Nice video man! Just subscribed!
Thanks!
Question what size lift do you run ?
4.5” for the 40s 🤘
When you spoke about your suspension you didnt say what brand/company you used. Im very curious since you stated that it rides smoother than the factory suspension. Thank you
6:23 he goes on to mention it's not a kit and lists parts and some brands