Gobicon build journal

[toddarama]

Yet another build thread .... I figured I've lurked around here long enough that it's time to create a build journal. Post 1 - Here is my rig as purchased on 12/7/22. JT Rubicon with the following options:
Limited Edition Gobi Clear-Coat Exterior Paint
Leather-Trimmed Bucket Seats
Trailer Tow Package
Cold Weather Group
Auxiliary Switch Group
All-Weather Slush Mats
8-Speed Auto 850RE with Select-Speed
4:1 Rock-Track Full Time 4WD
Gorilla Glass Windshield
Black 3-pc Freedom Hard Top
33-Inch LT285/70R17C Mud-Terrain Tires
Spray-In Bedliner

..... just to prove it happened ... here is a picture:

 

[toddarama]

Round 1 - Some cosmetic goodies .....

• uConnect 8.4 Screen Protector - bargain buy on Amazon. No pictures, 'cause you can't even tell it's there! I've ruined plenty of touch screens with barn yard grit, etc on my fingers.
• Omix Sill Protectors because I could
• Bakflip x4s
• Weathertec Mud Flaps Front and Rear

A few pictures with the updates ....

 

[toddarama]

Order placed and coming soon:

• Clayton Off Road Overland+ 2.5" Lift Kit
• Falcon SP2 3.3 Shocks
• KMC KM723 Trail 17x9 -12mm Satin Black
• Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T 37x12.5R17LT

 

[sts90]

I had a Willys XR package with 2.0 engine before my gladiator, and I can tell you 33’s on 4.10 gears is not what 35’s on 4.56 gears is to drive. The gearing chart states this setup in correct area of RPM’s. It could have been the 2.0 motor, but that is why I have a gladiator. I am going to go 35’s as it is still in the correct area but 37’s I would not touch without a re-gear. Then the question is are you ready throw that part of the warranty away and possibly fight them on any other power train issues going forward. If dealership is against mods you are done. Don’t try Magnuson act as it only means something if you have the pockets to lawyer up. Just my experience base interaction over that year and it is fair to say I am jaded.

 

[toddarama]

I had a Willys XR package with 2.0 engine before my gladiator, and I can tell you 33’s on 4.10 gears is not what 35’s on 4.56 gears is to drive. The gearing chart states this setup in correct area of RPM’s. It could have been the 2.0 motor, but that is why I have a gladiator. I am going to go 35’s as it is still in the correct area but 37’s I would not touch without a re-gear. Then the question is are you ready throw that part of the warranty away and possibly fight them on any other power train issues going forward. If dealership is against mods you are done. Don’t try Magnuson act as it only means something if you have the pockets to lawyer up. Just my experience base interaction over that year and it is fair to say I am jaded.

Thanks for weighing in, and I appreciate the points you raise. I am going into this eyes open and recognize I am quickly heading down a path that could completely trash my warranty.... I'll run the 37s without a regear for about two months while I replenish the Jeep fund and decide on the exact ratio I want to go to.... 4.88s are probably still not perfect, but can be purchased as a Mopar accessory which might help my case for warranty coverage. I have five or six Jeep dealers to pick from in the greater Philadelphia area and some are more mod-friendly than others. I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

 

[toddarama]

Got the Tazer Mini installed today. Totally messed up marrying the Tazer and doing the reboot, cycle, cycle routine. The first drive threw a handful to DTCs .... redid the marry and reboot/cycle/cycle ... cleared the code and all is good now. Ready to fix the tire size when my tire/wheel/lift kit show up!

 

[Lush]

Got the Tazer Mini installed today. Totally messed up marrying the Tazer and doing the reboot, cycle, cycle routine. The first drive threw a handful to DTCs .... redid the marry and reboot/cycle/cycle ... cleared the code and all is good now. Ready to fix the tire size when my tire/wheel/lift kit show up!

Build seems to be lining up well, and certainly much quicker than mine! I gotta ask though, what was your rationale with going for the Tazer over using J-scan for the tire adjustment? I am in the position where I want to eventually adjust the calibration (not as urgent since its just 32 to 33 for me) and I was leaning towards the J-scan.

 

[toddarama]

what was your rationale with going for the Tazer

A few things:
1) The fabricator who is installing my lift (due to severe restrictions against doing 'car repairs' in the parking lot of my apartment complex ) recommended the Tazer. He doesn't sell them, so it wasn't just a sales pitch. He does run them in all of the Jeeps in his family.
2) I wanted the Tazer functionality where it remembers settings like whether I had ESS turned on or off
3) I want to play with some of the live functions like being able to turn on and off the brake lock and winch RPM and stuff like that through a combinations of steering wheel buttons
4) I read the instruction manual for the Tazer and figured I would be able to sort things out

Full disclosure - I can't say I looked that closely at JScan or AlphaOBD.

PS - I love the Dadiator name for your JT! My daughters are both grown and out on their own now, but I think they also might have come up with that name if they still lived at home.

 

[toddarama]

Finally had all of my parts show up and the shop I'm working with put things together today.... Clayton 2.5" Overland Plus kit, Falcon SPC 3.3 shocks and steering damper, RockHard axle side lower control arm skids front & rear plus frame side on the front, Rusty's frame side control arm skid in the rear, KMC Trail wheels and 37" Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/Ts ... and as they say "pictures or it didn't happen!"

 

[toddarama]

Another update .... knowing I'd see some noticeable tire poke with the new wheels and tires ... I ordered Double Black Off Road's fender extensions .... 2" more coverage to keep my local law enforcement happy......

Overall impressions with the fenders is that I think they are okay. I'll probably keep them on my rig as I do like the looks, but I don't think I'd buy them again. Here are my main thoughts on them:

I feel they are a bit too expensive for what you get.
The set of four extensions was on sale for $340, but it was another $260 for shipping from Australia. Grand total $600! - for four pieces of fiberglass with marginal quality finish.

The finish could have been much better.
The extensions arrived with a very glossy finish and needed some attention.
Outside Finish: The exterior side of the fender (what you see the most when the fenders are on the Jeep) came with a fairly uniform but very glossy finish. I spent a lot of time prepping the exterior of the fenders just to get to where I could spray some matte black bumper paint on the exterior. While I was hand sanding with 400 grit paper it was easy to pick up on a number of imperfections. There were about a half dozen surface defects where it looks like there may have been bubbles clinging to the mold causing inclusions in the surface resin. I didn't spent time filling them, as I wanted to get the fenders on, but I might pull them off this summer and give them more attention.
Inside Finish: Maybe I am being too picky complaining about the inside of the fender which you don't see that much when they are on the Jeep .... but this side of the fender was left pretty raw. The fiberglass layup layers and swirls of resin prevented me from being able to address this side with sandpaper.

Fit and Installation.
I have to give DBOR very high marks on this front. The extensions were pretty much a perfect fit to the factory Rubicon fenders. I had WeatherTech mud flaps installed front and rear and was able to keep the front ones on with the flares. The rear mud flaps wrap around the factory fender a bit more making it quite hard to line up with the extension installed, so I pulled off the rear flaps. Installation was as easy as drilling out the factory plastic rivets (5/32" bit was a perfect size for this), lining up the fender extension, then attaching the fender extension using the plastic rivets that DBOR supplied as part of the set.

Of course, the most important part ... pictures..... the last one gives you an idea how well these covered up the poke for me.

 

[antwon412]

Any reason you didn’t go with the XR package flares the Jeep makes? They are way cheaper and basically the same thing as far as I can tell.

 

[TheOpa]

Looks great! I had my lift installed at the same shop, good people.

 

[NeatFreq]

Outstanding build

 

[toddarama]

Any reason you didn’t go with the XR package flares the Jeep makes? They are way cheaper and basically the same thing as far as I can tell.

Well ... I was mostly looking to have extended flares to avoid any of Pennsylvania's LEOs telling me I wasn't up to par ... then I decided since I was getting extended flares I wanted something the followed the entire fender for full coverage. The XR flares cover about 60% of the wheel well ... after replacing my windshield on day 4 of ownership ... maybe I want too far on trying to get as much coverage as I could to protect from kicked up gravel?!?!

I do like the look of these as they follow the full line of the factory fenders. Really, if the shipping wasn't so expensive and the finish on them was just a little better I would have probably been 100% happy with them. ..... if rugged ridge ever copies these in some form of plastic similar to the existing fenders, I think they might have a hard time keeping them in stock.

 

[toddarama]

Looks great! I had my lift installed at the same shop, good people.

Joe is a rare find. Someone who honestly wants to make a living by doing work he can take pride in. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them and will go back to LockedNLoaded again in the future.

You are pretty close to me Greg, we should make some trips to RC or AOAA soon

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