SIDETRACKED - My Sarge Green Texas Trail Edition Build

[AirborneTexasRanger]

I have been doing mostly cosmetic mods myself, but I am starting to think about new lift, tires, bumpers, etc. Very impressive vehicle and gives me a glimpse of what mine could look like. Thanks for sharing! Here is mine so far....

That's a sweet Texas Flag sun shade! Where did you get it?

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[21Moja]

Interesting, it looks like JCR killed the Gladiator fenders...How level are you sitting with the spacer up front?

 

[skindata]

Awesome rig!

 

[Ted Striker]

Interesting, it looks like JCR killed the Gladiator fenders...How level are you sitting with the spacer up front?

Interesting, it looks like JCR killed the Gladiator fenders...How level are you sitting with the spacer up front?

I'd say it's within .5" of being completely level, even with the .75" coil spacer on top of the Clayton springs. Slight sag in the front due to weight of bumper, winch, lights.

 

[21Moja]

I'd say it's within .5" of being completely level, even with the .75" coil spacer on top of the Clayton springs. Slight sag in the front due to weight of bumper, winch, lights.

I have the front springs from the Clayton 3.5" lift in the garage...I wonder if that would level it out without using a spacer...

 

[jumpg8]

That's a sweet Texas Flag sun shade! Where did you get it?

Thanks! I love it. Here: https://www.jtopsusa.com/product-page/jeep-gladiator-sunshade-texas-flag
They are made in Abilene, TX

 

[Ted Striker]

Finally got the rest of the hardtop finished wrapping with Killmat and the Coverking Topliner. Wanted to get it done before my long drive from Houston to Ouray so that it would help reduce overall cab noise and it did an amazing job. Don't get me wrong, it still has wind noise like every Jeep does, but it felt much quieter and more refined in the cab. It got rid of that hollow feeling and feels more like a normal car or truck.

 

[dfreezy]

What thickness Kilmat did you go with?

 

[Ted Striker]

What thickness Kilmat did you go with?

80 mil

 

[PJTree]

Nice build and great work, I will be following! Quick question. Why did you get rid of the Rubicon? Did you have a Mojave as well or just the sliders?

 

[Ted Striker]

Nice build and great work, I will be following! Quick question. Why did you get rid of the Rubicon? Did you have a Mojave as well or just the sliders?

I got a great offer for the Rubicon, so that's why I sold it. I'm partial to the Sarge Green as well, so it worked out well. I didn't have a Mojave, I just bought Mojave sliders from someone on Facebook Marketplace until I installed the Rockslide Engineering sliders/steps.

 

[Ted Striker]

It's a great day! I got my Jeep back after being in the shop for almost a month. Before the trip to Colorado for Jeep Jamboree, I had a shop repair a whining gear noise in the rear end that I suspected was caused by a bad outer pinion bearing and race. Sure enough, it was in bad shape from a previous shop that installed my Yukon gears. New bearing and race was installed and I was on my way.

On the way to Colorado, I started noticing a grinding noise in the rear every time I turned right or left. It got progressively worse the more I drove, but I was committed to going to the Jamboree, gears be damned. Had a great time in Ouray, gears made a lot of noise but I still managed to wheel it without any major issue, just embarrassing when everyone is looking at you making a 2 point turn on a tight switchback.

Fast forward to getting back to Houston and I took it back to the shop to let them figure it out. While I did, I started looking on these forums for anyone that maybe had a similar issue. That's when I found a thread that talked about gear oils and what to use. I looked at my invoice and found out that the gear oil the shop used was for electronic limited slip differentials! Basically it was gear oil for an older Jeep Cherokee and it was $59/quart! What I really needed was the Mopar synthetic gear oil that was $18/quart and a bottle of friction modifier additive for the LSD. Called the shop and they started investigating an it appears that the dealer they got the oil from input the VIN number totally wrong and gave them the wrong oil.

So now, the new oil and friction modifier additive is in, the gears aren't whining like they were before and definitely not sounding like they're grinding.

Was able to give it a wash for the first time since getting back from Colorado and I still can't get all the mud stains off of the underside, frame, and suspension. I did manage to clean the rest of the Jeep for 6 hours, installed the Sunrider back on and put down the Softopper. Weather is getting nicer here and I'm excited to get into top down, doors off for a little while before it gets too cold.

Pic from after the bath today:

 

[Ted Striker]

Well, the nice weather didn't last long, LOL. Ended up putting the freedom panels back on the Jeep due to it being in the 30's when I drive to work this week. Realized that I never took a finished product shot of the Coverking Topliner installed in the Jeep. Also, like that now I have a place to hang my patches.

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