**Billet to Blue**

[Lynn_F]

The paint turned out pretty good!

I got a later start today than I had hoped for but I finally got everything unboxed and laid out...this is gonna be a shit-ton of work!!

Sponsored

 

[Lynn_F]

Progress...

Really slow progress...I forgot how long it takes to do all of this shit.

Got the front half done today!!

 

[cdyoung9799]

The paint turned out pretty good!

I got a later start today than I had hoped for but I finally got everything unboxed and laid out...this is gonna be a shit-ton of work!!

Christmas morning for a Jeep guy.

 

[cdyoung9799]

Progress...

Really slow progress...I forgot how long it takes to do all of this shit.

Got the front half done today!!

I would drive it just like that one day, just to see the reactions I would get. That thing is a beast.

 

[Lynn_F]

Finished!! Took it for a spin and it's got some wobbly issues that will need to be dialed in but overall I'm very pleased. I'll do a full review after I get it driving better.

 

[Lynn_F]

I finally got it home!! It drives awesome and is badass!! I am so stoked!!

I installed the lift over about 20 hours this past weekend. I drove it for the first time on Sunday at 8pm and it had a little wobble. I was too tired to mess with it anymore so my neighbor let me borrow his car while he was out of town. I adjusted out the front lca's and tightened the shit out of the track bar and headed to my local offroad shop Texas Offroad in Nederland TX. Cass, the owner, is awesome and has worked on all 4 of my jeeps. I left it with him to install my drag link flip kit, steering stabilizer and some custom work on my Metalcloak HD tie rod. I took my MC HD steering kit off of my other Gladiator when I sold it and planned on installing it on this one but I forgot that the Diesel gladiator didn't come with the wider Rubicon axles so the tie rod was too long. They cut .75" off of each end of the tube and a little bit off of the ends and it worked out perfect!

They installed my rock lights too because I prolly would have to sell this thing in the divorce if I spent another minute in the garage...

 

[bakobobby]

Progress...

Really slow progress...I forgot how long it takes to do all of this shit.

Got the front half done today!!

Your JT been skipping leg day

 

[Sublime]

Wow looks fantastic. Love the Tacticals. That wheel and tire set up is one of my 2 possibles I'm about to order. Just need some photo shop work done to see if they will work being color matched in Gecko.

Did you install a front track bar brace? Also did you go with the EVO drop brackets or use the Rancho set you had?

 

[Lynn_F]

Wow looks fantastic. Love the Tacticals. That wheel and tire set up is one of my 2 possibles I'm about to order. Just need some photo shop work done to see if they will work being color matched in Gecko.

Did you install a front track bar brace? Also did you go with the EVO drop brackets or use the Rancho set you had?

I have not installed the track bar brace yet...time will tell if I need it. I used the Evo drop brackets that came with the kit. They were a PITA to install - it required grinding part of the upper CA mount off and then my Metalcloak upper CA's wouldn't fit so I had to use the OEM CA's. It does appear to be much heavier duty than the Rancho bracket though. I wasn't sure how I'd like the tacticals in gunmetal with the blue but it turned out pretty good.

 

[Sublime]

I have not installed the track bar brace yet...time will tell if I need it. I used the Evo drop brackets that came with the kit. They were a PITA to install - it required grinding part of the upper CA mount off and then my Metalcloak upper CA's wouldn't fit so I had to use the OEM CA's. It does appear to be much heavier duty than the Rancho bracket though. I wasn't sure how I'd like the tacticals in gunmetal with the blue but it turned out pretty good.

Yeah I have read a few people say they had to do some grinding due to those drop brackets.

 

[Lynn_F]

Ok, now that I've had the lift on for a week and have put a few hundred miles on it, I feel pretty confident in giving an initial review.

The lift was pretty straightforward to install. The only 2 issues that I came across were having to grind off part of the upper front CA brackets and the u-bolt for the rear track bar bracket had to be bent to enable it to line up with the bracket. The grinding is unnerving but the issue was being able to tell exactly where the grinding needed to occur. This wouldn't have been nearly as big an issue if I had it on a lift but from the ground it was a bitch. The u-bolt would not have been that big a deal either except that I didn't have a vice, so I had to stop and find a friend that had one. The rest of the lift went as expected and was just time consuming.

The steering components were a challenge to make work - this was my fault too. Having the max tow/rubicon tie rod required cutting to get it to fit. I also ordered the Fox ATS steering stabilizer for the JK instead of the JL/JT because I didn't want the black/red color. The JK version clamp is too small for the 1 5/8" tie rod so the shop had to machine the clamp to get it to fit. The Synergy Track Bar relocation bracket and drag link flip went on easily and makes a huge difference in steering!

I wouldn't advise anyone taking a bunch of time painting they're tie-rod and drag link...mine look like shit.

So far I'm very happy with the wheels! They look great and don't seem like they'll be too hard to keep clean. I love the 12" width!! It makes the tires look a lot wider and more aggressive. The tires are a little rough at low speeds but are balanced well and ride pretty good at street/hwy speeds.
I got the Tazer JL Mini installed, calibrated for tire size and am happy to report that after a full tank of Diesel I'm getting ~18mpg! That's about a 5mpg drop from stock. I have not re-geared yet and will do that probably early next year but for now it holds 7th gear relatively easily and is still decent accelerating onto the highway.

Overall I'm ecstatic about the way everything turned out amd would definitely do it again if I had the choice!!

 

[cdyoung9799]

Ok, now that I've had the lift on for a week and have put a few hundred miles on it, I feel pretty confident in giving an initial review.

The lift was pretty straightforward to install. The only 2 issues that I came across were having to grind off part of the upper front CA brackets and the u-bolt for the rear track bar bracket had to be bent to enable it to line up with the bracket. The grinding is unnerving but the issue was being able to tell exactly where the grinding needed to occur. This wouldn't have been nearly as big an issue if I had it on a lift but from the ground it was a bitch. The u-bolt would not have been that big a deal either except that I didn't have a vice, so I had to stop and find a friend that had one. The rest of the lift went as expected and was just time consuming.

The steering components were a challenge to make work - this was my fault too. Having the max tow/rubicon tie rod required cutting to get it to fit. I also ordered the Fox ATS steering stabilizer for the JK instead of the JL/JT because I didn't want the black/red color. The JK version clamp is too small for the 1 5/8" tie rod so the shop had to machine the clamp to get it to fit. The Synergy Track Bar relocation bracket and drag link flip went on easily and makes a huge difference in steering!

I wouldn't advise anyone taking a bunch of time painting they're tie-rod and drag link...mine look like shit.

So far I'm very happy with the wheels! They look great and don't seem like they'll be too hard to keep clean. I love the 12" width!! It makes the tires look a lot wider and more aggressive. The tires are a little rough at low speeds but are balanced well and ride pretty good at street/hwy speeds.
I got the Tazer JL Mini installed, calibrated for tire size and am happy to report that after a full tank of Diesel I'm getting ~18mpg! That's about a 5mpg drop from stock. I have not re-geared yet and will do that probably early next year but for now it holds 7th gear relatively easily and is still decent accelerating onto the highway.

Overall I'm ecstatic about the way everything turned out amd would definitely do it again if I had the choice!!

Looks great!

 

[Lynn_F]

After 3 weeks and ~1500 miles I can definitively say that the shocks are worth every penny! This thing seriously rides like a Cadillac. There are multiple places on my daily commute that would bottom out the stock suspension on this truck and was very rough on my other Gladiator that I can barely feel now. I also have made some high speed runs on rough paved and unpaved roads and the difference between the 2.5" Kings and the 2.0" Bilstein B8 5160's is night and day.

 

[Lynn_F]

Haven't done much in a while. I have some fender vent blinkers and lights to install as soon as I get a break from work. I was able get her cleaned up!!

Sponsored