Having it all - JTRD sun buggy, trail rig and overlander

[813 Fabrication & Design]

Next up, onboard air.

I looked at a few options, and settled on the @813 Fabrication & Design mount for behind the rear driver's side seat. I like that it's up and out of the way from rocks and rain, and also hidden away from curious hands when the top is off. I don't have air lockers, so it's only powered on when I need to air up. That means I don't need to worry about noise in the cab when it turns on or heat against the back of the seat. So far, use has always been with me out of the cab running the hose, and the seat folded down.

The mount was rock solid and very well made, and the instructions are great. It's a tight squeeze to get it in there, but in the end it fits like a glove.

Compressor is the ARB dual. A little pricey, but I plan to hit the road for some extended travel later this year, and I didn't want to have to worry about the gear I'll use a lot. In a few test air downs/ups, the dual ARB could get my BFG KO2s 35/12.5 up from 15 to 36 in about 2 minutes each. I didn't get a lot of heat off the unit, either.

I learned a few things during the install, but I'll say the big challenge in installing the ARB dual compressor in that location was the wiring. I followed the advice of pretty much everyone and committed to a direct connection to the battery. In the spirit of keeping the fuses as close to the battery as possible, and making sure the wire that was exposed outside the cab was top quality and well protected, I decided to add the wire I needed right at the plug end and use the original ARB harness to go from the battery and through the firewall as far as it would take me. The good news is, the ARB power harness in that nice, thick cover easily crossed the engine and made it in through the firewall at the hole above the driver's side footwell. The original harness even made it about 18-inches into the cab, which let me do all the splicing inside. Since I was adding to the plug end of the harness, I ended up needing about 6 feet of wire to two 10-gauge power lines and two 10-gauge ground lines (the ground is one 8-gauge at the battery side, a splice ARB does somewhere inside that harness).

I took my time, used plenty of heat-shrink tubing, and pulled a lot of interior body panels, but it made for a nice clean wiring run in the end.

From the battery and across. I took a few 1-inch rubber lined metal wire looms I picked up at Home Depot and re-bent them to work under the existing nuts and captive washers along the front of the engine bay. Keeps it neat and out of harms way.

Through the firewall at the plug where the clutch would be. I drilled a 3/4 inch hole in the factory cap and then reinstalled it. I sealed it from the inside and out with black RTV silicone. No air or water leaks so far, and the heavy jacket on the ARB harness protects the wires from the cut plastic plug (that's the GMRS antenna cable going in there with it).

Down inside the factory wiring path from front to back, and then inside the rear panel beside the seat. The wire comes out behind the seat belt and comes up behind the seat. I added some Harbor Freight plastic sheathing in places it looked like the wires might rub anything. I'm not eager to see two 40-amp hot power lines try to melt my cab.

The ARB switch needs a lower-amp ignition power source for its relay, so I picked up the extra ignition power line that's bundled with the Aux wires above the passenger footwell. Routing was the same, just on the other side, and I took the opportunity while I had that side open to run a 12-gauge power line from the Aux 1 wire to the back under the seat. I'll use that to power a DC panel back there for my fridge, once the 60-seat is out and the platform is in. I didn't worry about a light for the switch, since the interior light in the rear panel is right there.

A few other random tips:

• Pay close attention to the tips 813 incudes in the instructions about adjusting the compressors in the ARB mount, and rotating them so the fitting is far to the outside. It made a huge difference in how they fit.
• Leave the switch out of the mount until after you bolt it into place. The bolt is a bear to reach once you've dropped the package in, but with the switch out its a straight shot down with a decent 10-inch extension.
• If possible, get the wiring done before the final bolt in of the mount and pumps. That will let you plug the power and switch harnesses into the pump while you can still reach them. Once the pump is in and bolted down, squeezing the plugs and your fingers in there is murder, and trying to keep the other side of the plugs from just sliding away is darn near impossible. I did it, but I put more than a few dents in my hands along the way.

All in all, I absolutely love this set up. Great (if tight) fit. Secure from road debris, weather and idle hands. And rock solid. I haven't heard a rattle of a creak since it went in.

Great write up! I'm glad it worked out well for you. Looks great

Sponsored

 

[John in the Woods]

Next up was a heavy lift, with the addition of a set of ARB step sliders.

I went with these for a few reasons: I wanted something I knew would be tough, something that offered a flat and solid step for my dogs and 5'1" navigator, and something that gave the body some side protection. ARB has a proven reputation with off-road gear, so tough I knew I could count on. From the look of them it seemed the step was right (more on that in a bit); and the fender-to-fender line promised to let me pivot around an obstacle without crushing the cab, with the added bonus of a rocker guard that attaches to the cab and the step. The clincher was the price -- just over $900 for the step/sliders and the rocker guard panels, fully powder coated. That's a few hundred bucks ahead of some other rocker/slider/step options, for a brand that is most definitely not a cheap knockoff.

I ended buying them from @Northridge4x4 . They had the price to match anyone, and had already proven themselves last fall by delivering everything I ordered on or ahead of schedule. @Tech Tim also did THE best video on installing these (although dude, sloppy silicone work my friend ) so I felt like I could pull it off.

Short version, I was able to pull it off, with a few lessons learned along the way. These are 95 percent great, with a few places I think @ARB_USA could step it up (I'm not clever enough for that pun; it just happened). They are solid, and I love the look. No rock tested yet, but Rausch Creek and Jeep Jamboree ain't too far off, so they'll get it soon.

A few lessons:

These things are big and heavy. They came on a tractor trailer, and were dropped in my driveway with a portable lift. Invoice put the palette at 200+ pounds, so pick a good spot and don't expect to move them until you unpack them. Stripped of the transport gear, the sliders and guards came in at just under 100 pounds.

The biggest headache point on this, well maybe tied with drilling 36 holes into the cab for the rocker guards, was removing the factory body bolts. I documented my anxiety-filled journey over here, and thankfully the good folks in this forum talked me through it. Bottom line: patience, a good half-inch ratchet, be willing to go back a quarter turn for every few you gain for a while, and get a good body position so you have strength and control as you work (see Tim in that video). I ended up not using heat on most of them, and just worked slowly and felt things along. Once out, I anti-seized the snot out of them to make working with them easier -- and you need to tighten and reinstall all of them twice for this process (once to shim it level and line up and mark the holes for rocker guards, and the second time to install it all).

If you get the bolts loose, but they won't pop out, it's just a retainer clip Jeep put in there (not sure why, but why not I guess). Just apply a little downward pressure while you turn out, and the bolts drop. Two of those clips came out on mine, so here's what you're up against. I didn't bother to reinstall them.

I did this solo (it was actually harder with a helper tugging in the wrong direction), and used a jack to raise them up and down once I got a good balance point. With the cab taped up, I wasn't worried about scratches during the test fit. when it's game time for the second raise and final install, you can get the body bolts started while the sliders are still hanging fairly low, put your silicone on the upper inside edge of the rocker guards (I used clear, in case things got sloppy), and slowly lift and tighten to get it all neatly into place.

So here's one place ARB definitely came up a little short. If you watch the video by Tech Tim, you'll see there are a few places where the bolts that go into the nutserts that hold on the rocker guards are too long, and hit the interior shell of the cab. It's easy enough to loosen the fender a bit to insert the nutserts, because you get the room back when the nutserts compress. But the bolts need to be shorter. Twelve out of 36 bolts need to be cut down and have their threads cleaned up. There's no way you should pay $900+ and have to do your own machine work on the bolts. ARB absolutely ought to include 12 of the shorter bolts you need. I'm a garage DIY guy, so I stuck the dozen bolts through a sheet of plywood to hold them, and used an angle grinder to cut them off.

I installed the nutserts using the process described in the directions and the @Northridge4x4 video, and bought a decent Smittybilt hand tool off Amazon that did the job with ease. With that bolt trimming, the nutserts and bolts fit even in the tight spots.

The only other place I think ARB missed an opportunity was by not using the four factory rock rail mounts on each side under cab. The inside of these boat-sided sliders passes within a few inches of all of these holes, but there's no tab welded or bolted on that connects them (sorry, no pic). I've seen other body-bolt mounted sliders that use these mounts too, and that looks like a smart way to make these as strong as possible. Seems like a missed opportunity there.

Those minor critiques aside, I like these step sliders very much. I had no problem with a gap between the rocker guard and the step, and love the way they integrate into the fenders and run straight just inside both fenders from front to rear. That's already done a lot to cut down on the snow and mud flying up into the side of the cab. Let's hope it can do the same for tree trunks.

My one semi-clever addition to the install was a little exterior-grade adhesive red vinyl added to the body in the section behind the ARB cutout logo. Adds a little more of the Ruby accent color.

As a step, it's flat and slightly textured from the powder coating, so a great place to get a leg up or stand to grab something off the roof. If you're short, however, this doesn't really give you much help getting up. The step height is pretty much even with the floor of the cab.

Overall, I like the look, they're a solid step and they offer some good cab and body side coverage from wheel to wheel. Of course, they're a bit pricey for mud flaps or shopping cart collisions, so the proof will be out there on the trail. I'll update this in a few months once I've ground them into a few things.

 

[Tech Tim]

Thanks for the props on the video John, we have fun shooting those.

Yes, the silly-con job was a little sloppy, it was end of day and that Gladiator was headed for the Rubicon in the AM, so we were rushing to get it done........

 

[ScottHarr_JT]

Sickkkkkkk, looks awesome.

 

[John in the Woods]

One of my goals is to try and keep this tight and simple, which includes using the cab and the bed to pack and carry all the gear I need. My hope is to keep the gear in the bed underneath my roll-up Mopar cover, so everything stays dry and dust free no matter the trail or weather.

To try and pull that off, I added a full set of bed molle panels from @JcrOffroad. Here's what they look like installed, with my Hi-Lift attached to the included mounting bolts they sent.

The upsides ... I love the cutout for the lights, the price was good relative to other options, the customer service was great (quick shipping, great packaging, quick response by email), and it felt good to support a brand that's been supporting Jeep owners for so long.

What I wish I knew ... they don't feel as thick or as stiff as some other panels I've seen (particularly the ones from @813 Fabrication & Design), the identical side panels for driver and passenger mean a little space is wasted on both sides (the front above the wheel on the passenger side, the lower part where the power outlet is not on the driver's side), the top attachment tabs are small and don't offer much rigidity, and a panel with some weight on it really needs a solid attachment at the bottom as well.

Bottom line, be thoughtful about how you plan to use them, and how much you're willing to improvise to get things right. I think in the end I'll be happy with them, and the price was great so I'm not going to complain about the purchase. But it's just going to take a little playing with them to get the strength and service I'm hoping for.

If you're interested in a few more details, below is slightly trimmed version the feedback email and pics I sent to JCR. They gracefully acknowledged my message just a few hours after it was sent (they do have solid customer support) and thanked me for the feedback, so I think that puts us square on this deal.

- - - - - - - - -

Folks,

I want to thank you for an excellent customer service experience, from price through purchase and delivery. I purchased molle panels for the all three sides of my 2021 Gladiator bed, and they arrived quickly and well packaged. I found the YouTube installation videos very helpful; and they, the Black Friday 10% price reduction, and the reputation JCR has among Jeep enthusiasts were the reasons I chose your product.

With the product itself, I have been mildly disappointed. I am not in any way asking for a refund, or filing what anyone might consider a customer complaint. I offer a few points of feedback because I know product development is constant. In that light, here are a few thoughts:

• The packaging was excellent, and your generosity including a robust set of attachments parts was impressive. The latter, however, created some confusion. I received the same three parts kits for all three panels, even though the front panel required a different installation set than the side panels. In neither case were all the parts necessary for each panel's installation. Having parts that are not needed, and not mentioned in the instructions (as either being needed or not) forced me to review text and video instructions multiple times, which took time and introduced uncertainty.
• On the parts, I suggest for ease of customer use that you source bolts for the panel assembly and for attaching to the existing anchor points on the truck that require the same size and style of tool to tighten. In this case, both were hex bolts, but each was a different size (one SAE, the other metric). The need to constantly shift between tools while adjusting the panel for best fit was frustrating and time consuming.
• Your instructions did not mention the need to clean the factory anchor points out if the bed had been lined and no factory trails rails had been installed. It's a common challenge well known in the Jeep community.
• The bolt head diameter, even with the supplied washer added, seems inadequate to fully secure your attachment tabs to the truck bed (see attached photo; be aware the larger washed was added by me and not included in your kit). The side racks, if loaded with heavy items such as a hi-lift jack will receive considerable lateral stress on uneven terrain. In order to maximize rigidity, these bolts should have a robust head-and-washer combo that lays its shoulder across as much of the attachment tab as possible.

• Likewise, my early modest on-road experience showed the three-tab attachment system unable to stabilize the side panel with a hi-lift attached, even over mild paved road bumps. Potholes made the side panel swing inward and rebound the lower rubber-covered bumpers into the bed side very aggressively, in multiple instances shaking off the supplied rubber bumper and leading to minor bedside damage. To correct this, some combination of more robust upper mount (after purchase, while researching this, I noted some of your competitors include a bed-length tracks that fits behind the trail rails and likely offer significantly more lateral rigidity) and lower attachment point (several competitors use the existing hole on both sides behind the lower bed anchor; you could likely fashion an easy attachment to the lower part of the bed anchor loop as well, using that anchor in a way that does not limit strap attachments). I was forced to fashion a makeshift solution while on the road to prevent further damage to my bed from pipe, pipe insulation and zip ties (photo attached; not a suggested designed, but included for your awareness).

• Once more on the hi-lift, the included kit pairs with two special slots machined into the smaller front portions of the side molle panels. I experienced two problems with this:
  • First, the square shoulder on the included carriage bolt was significantly deeper than the thickness of the panel. Since the square shoulder did not fit inside the supplied washer, that meant it was impossible to fully tighten the anchor bolt to the panel. Suspending a heavy hi-lift jack from two unsecured attachment points was unacceptable, so I modified the supplied carriage bolts to allow more the of the square shoulder to fit inside the washer while still leaving some to prevent rotation in the slot (photo attached). Again, requiring improvised modifications to make newly purchased equipment perform as anticipated invites customer frustration.

• Second, the two bolts only attach the upper portion to the hi-lift to the front section of the two-part side panel. Given the length of the jack and the weight of the lifting mechanism at the lower end, combined with the seam in the two side panels, even once fully secured with the modified supplied hardware and the makeshift lower panel-to-bed mount, the heavy base of the hi-lift jack swung violently away from the rear potion of the panel to which it had no direct attachment. A bungee cord resolved this in the field, but I think a more elegant solution would be the addition of a third special slot, this one in the rear panel, in-line with the two already machined into the front panel and placed so that it can likewise use the holes in the jack's main bar. There is ample room for such a modification.
• I understand and appreciate your desire to make panels that can attach to both the right and the left sides (a production and inventory delivery advantage that reduces your cost), but it seems a lost opportunity to not extend the passenger side front panel all the way to the front of the bed (the driver's side understandably cannot go that far due to the bed's shape to accommodate the fuel filler). Using a longer panel on the passenger side would allow you to both incorporate the fourth existing upper attachment point in the bed, and also allow you to link the lower part of the side panel to the outer edge of your front molle panel, which itself does have an excellent lower attachment. That would help stiffen the front portion of the side panel (which bears most of the weight of an attached hi-lift).
• Lastly, I separately purchased a few sets of Roam QuickFists for molle panels to anchor a shovel and ax. The dimensions of their rectangular anchor and the holes in your molle panel do not match. I'm not sure if there is a standard from which someone has varied, but it did provide another source of frustration. Ultimately, I used the QuickFist anchors as nuts and attached them through the round bolt holes you included in your design.

Again, I offer these observations as what I hope is useful R&D and customer experience/marketing feedback. I plan to continue to use my JCR panels, and will continue to consider you as my Jeep built continues.

Best,
John

- - - - - - - - -

Last note: Here's how they're set up right now. I'm planning to add a 6-ton bottle jack to the passenger side, and a 20L jerry can and ax on the driver's side.That should all fit inside the wheel wells, and not take up precious bed floor space from boxes and bags of gear.

 

[John in the Woods]

After a few trail rides with some groups, I went with what seems like a pretty standard comms set up.

• Midland MXT-275 GMRS radio, and added the 6DB gain whip antenna. Got the radio from Blue Ridge Overland as a thank you for their great videos on radio installs (I always try to pay folks back for sharing knowledge) and picked up the antenna from @Northridge4x4, my go-to for most stuff. Modified a Midland rack mount and attached the antenna to the Mopar A-pillar light bracket on the driver's side.
• I added a set of Midland GTX-1000 handheld GMRS radios, for use if I'm doing some trail spotting, or to share with anyone out there who needs a radio during a group ride (just paying forward the generosity that folks such as @Kindafearless have already shown me). I picked this up from REI, and got a member discount.
• Midland 75-822 handheld and car-mounted CB. I wasn't planning on a CB, and I'm not going with Midland as a reflex. The Midland radios all just seem to be one of the top versions of the things I need at good prices, and I bumped into a group still using CBs for trail comms so I thought it might be smart to have one handy before I head out for any extended trips. The 75-822 has a swappable base so it can connect to truck power and a mounted antenna, but so far I'm just using it as a mounted handheld. If I need to, I'll mount a CB whip to the A-pillar bracket on the passenger side. I picked this one up through the Walmart website. Best price I saw, and one of the only ones who said it was available.
• Added the Garmin InReach mini (again from REI with a $50 off deal) and set up the $12 monthly subscription. Like a fire extinguisher, I hope I never need it, but thought it was smart to have.
• I have a mount for an iPad Mini so I can run Gaia and maybe a few other mapping/camping apps. I haven't bought the iPad yet. I was waiting to see what Apple announced this month, hoping that some cool new options will drive the prices on last year's cool new options down a bit.
• Of course, I have an iPhone plugged into the 8.5" audio system. Apple Music, XM Radio and Google Maps are my very best friends. In 17 months, I'm not sure if I've ever turned on the radio.

Most of it hangs on a Ram dash mount system, with the Carolina Metal Masters ball in the grab handle for the Ram mount that holds the CB. I have the GMRS radio attached to the passenger side of the center console with some industrial strength Velcro off Amazon, which works very well and lets me pull if off when I want to hide it (especially if the doors are off and I'm parked). For the handset I used the US-made bracket from Walcott Radio. It's an east install and works very well, but it add a little space between that plastic grab rail cover and the dash on both sides of the rail. Hardly noticeable, but if that stuff bugs you, be warned.

I tried to be conservative and only buy things that seemed time-tested and likely to be needed. I'll admit here I expect I'll laugh at myself in a year over at least some of this, but you gotta start somewhere.

A few pics ...

GMRS radio mounted to the center console with Velcro.

The antenna sits on the outside of the A-pillar mount. The wire comes in through the plug in the firewall where a clutch cable would be, and runs under the dash and inside the center console to the passenger side. I spooled the extra antenna wire under the passenger seat. Power and ground are hard wired to the ignition power line Jeep included with the Aux wire bundle under the dash on the passenger side, and to a body ground inside the passenger kick panel.

Here's the dash setup, with radios in to show the displays from the driver's perspective, and out so you can see the mounts. The dash mounts are for an iPhone, the InReach Mini and the iPad, none of which were in when I took these shots. But you get the idea.

Ram mount seems very solid so far, but I haven't bounced things at any kind of speed yet. I'll let you know how it all holds together.

And yes, for the record, I did get my GMRS license. WROT610 at your service.

 

[Tech Tim]

And yes, for the record, I did get my GMRS license. WROT610 at your service.

Did they drop the price to $35 yet or was it still $70?

Build is looking good!

 

[John in the Woods]

Did they drop the price to $35 yet or was it still $70?

I got mine on Dec. 6, and it was still $70. Worth it, given the time and family use.

 

[Uparms]

Great write up! I'm glad it worked out well for you. Looks great

Very nice, but I might add/fab a plastic flip up or removeable cover as that is the first spot for water on windy rains. I run 9 months no back window, with the Premium Soft Top inplace as a bikini top. Thanks for the write up!

 

[John in the Woods]

Very nice, but I might add/fab a plastic flip up or removeable cover as that is the first spot for water on windy rains. I run 9 months no back window, with the Premium Soft Top inplace as a bikini top. Thanks for the write up!

Good heads up.

I'm mostly hard top in the Northeast, but hoping my travels let me spend more time in roofless weather. I grabbed the Mopar bikini top for just that purpose, and I'll keep a keen eye on water getting in behind the seat. It things get too soggy too often, I'll definitely look for some kind of cover.

 

[John in the Woods]

Time for two confessions ...

In a total vanity move, exactly the kind of thing I swore I wouldn't do, I put down $40 to get the matching red highlights rings for my KC Flex ERA 4 lights. No functional reason for it at all. I just thought it went better with the factory Ruby highlight color.

Yes, I changed both. This just shows the difference.

Second, even though I'm an experienced carpenter with a small shop in my garage, I gave in to the siren call of the Goose Gear rear seat delete platform (just the 60 side so far). The price is on the crazy side, yes, but the design and craftsmanship looks absolutely top notch, and it's getting dang close to spring and build time is getting precious. I'll need someplace for the much-larger-than-expect IceCo fridge and the Ecoflow power station I want to set up. I ordered mine through OK4WD in New Jersey, which is an easy afternoon's drive from my place in the Finger Lakes.

I hope my 9th grade woodshop instructor Mr. Winnick ("why buy it, when you can build it!") will forgive me.

 

[John in the Woods]

The weather finally turned enough in the Finger Lakes for the concrete floor of the garage to be bearable, so I’m finally getting around to the small added skids. First up, the lower control arm and rear shock set from @ROCK HARD 4X4

I tackled the fronts first. As lots of people here note, these things are thick and very solid. Bends are precise. Welds are clean and complete. Given the beating my LCAs took in just a few trail trips last fall, these skids are very worth the pretty modest price tag.

There are plenty of good install videos and lots of breakdowns in this forum, so I won’t clog things up with more. Here’s just a few observations on the front LCA skids fresh from the scene …

• The instructions from Rock Hard are pretty spartan, but they mention that the skids are not driver/passenger specific. Looking at them, and the hooked tab on only one side of the front of each, and looking at the factory LCA mount on the axle, these things do seem side specific. The metal in the inside of the factory LCA mount bends inward to clear other things on the axel (the diff on the driver’s side, and the front axel disconnect on the passenger side). So, in order for the hooked tab to catch on the factory mount and prevent the skid from possibly spinning backward on impact, the tabs need to be on the outside on both sides.

• The instructions say it doesn’t matter how you install the teardrop shaped spacers between the inside of the skid mounts and the outside of the factory LCA brackets, and for three out of four of them that seems true. The spacer tab on the inside of the passenger side skid, however, seems better when pointing up rather than forward. In the forward position, it hits the factory disconnect cover. You could probably crank it in there, but then things will be very tight, and the force of hits to the skid could transfer right to the disconnect housing.

• Speaking of things being tight in that spot, I definitely recommend a 15/16 wrench or a very good adjustable. With the proximity to the disconnect cover, I found it impossible to get an impact or regular socket and ratchet or breaker on there. Hold the nut on the inside with something low profile, and crank the bolt down from the outside with a good impact socket.
• And on cranking down, for newbies like me, be aware that even after you get the bolt pretty tight, it will all seem too loose and the spacers will still rattle around a bit. No worries. Once you crank to 100 pound/feet it all tightens up. It’s a good workout, but it gets there.
• One suggestion for the product development folks at Rock Hard: the skids have a squared front with two symmetrical tight corners. On both sides, that puts the inside corner of the skid a good distance past the factory mount it’s protecting, and very close to hitting other parts of the axle housing. I didn’t want to mess with the excellent finish on these, but if I were making them I’d trim that inside corner tighter so there’s more space there. As it is, I wonder if a good shot could bend the corner back into the diff or disconnect housing. My head says that’s unlikely, given how ferociously stiff these things are, but my gut feels a little uneasy about that spot.

 

[John in the Woods]

Added the rear pieces of the @ROCK HARD 4X4 skid package (LCAs and shocks) and here's a few quick observations:

• The rears, like the front LCA skids, are very solid, but the rears feel like a much better fit. The fronts have those spacers filling the area between the LCA mount and the skids, and they stay loose until you really crank them down and bend the sides of the heavy skids in a bit. The side-specific tab also seems a bit sloppy, and the other side has a large area beyond the front corner of the LCA mount that looks like it should be trimmed back to avoid getting smacked into the axle. The rears, however, fit very much like a glove. No slop. The tab tucks perfectly inside the LCA mount to avoid the chance of any spin, the holes precisely aligned, and the provided bolts are a perfect fit. Unlike the fronts, they feel like they were born for this exact application.
• I'm not sure how it is for all shocks, but the Fox shocks with the Mopar 2-inch lift are fat enough that you cannot back the LCA bolt out unless you already have the shock unbolted and pushed toward the front. I was adding the shock skids as well, so I was going there anyway, but if you have the Mopar lift I don't see a way to do the rear LCA bolt without detaching the shock at the bottom.
• Speaking of which, and again this may be more so with the shocks that go with the lift, but be warned that once you release those shocks at the bottom, shoving them back up there to bolt back in is no easy task -- especially if you're a tired 59-year-old dude laying on his garage floor. Either get ready for a workout, or be smart and toss a strap around the shock to keep it from opening up.
• Also unlike the fronts, which cost about 3/8 to 1/2 inch of ground clearance when installed, the rear skids tuck up almost even with the bottom of the LCA and shock mount. From what I can see there's no meaningful loss of clearance, and a major boost in anti-rock strength.
• Lastly, I've seen folks going both ways when it comes to replacing the shock mount bolt. Rock Hard does not include a bolt for the shock mount like they do for both LCA skids. I assume they expect you to reuse the factory bolt, and when you put it through on the bench it doesn't seem long enough. Under the truck, under 100 lb/ft of torque, I felt confident enough in the amount of grab the factory nut got to reuse the original bolt (detail pic is below). I tossed a little Red Loctite in there for some security, and I'll keep an eye on it for a while.

Overall, these @ROCK HARD 4X4 LCA and shock skids are well designed and very well made, and completely US manufactured -- so that is a major plus. I'm a fan. Now, I'll toss on the Rusty's for the front of the rear LCAs, relocate that steering dampener, and then it's time to go bang them into a few things.

 

[John in the Woods]

Added the rear pieces of the @ROCK HARD 4X4 skid package (LCAs and shocks) and here's a few quick observations:

• The rears, like the front LCA skids, are very solid, but the rears feel like a much better fit. The fronts have those spacers filling the area between the LCA mount and the skids, and they stay loose until you really crank them down and bend the sides of the heavy skids in a bit. The side-specific tab also seems a bit sloppy, and the other side has a large area beyond the front corner of the LCA mount that looks like it should be trimmed back to avoid getting smacked into the axle. The rears, however, fit very much like a glove. No slop. The tab tucks perfectly inside the LCA mount to avoid the chance of any spin, the holes precisely aligned, and the provided bolts are a perfect fit. Unlike the fronts, they feel like they were born for this exact application.
• I'm not sure how it is for all shocks, but the Fox shocks with the Mopar 2-inch lift are fat enough that you cannot back the LCA bolt out unless you already have the shock unbolted and pushed toward the front. I was adding the shock skids as well, so I was going there anyway, but if you have the Mopar lift I don't see a way to do the rear LCA bolt without detaching the shock at the bottom.
• Speaking of which, and again this may be more so with the shocks that go with the lift, but be warned that once you release those shocks at the bottom, shoving them back up there to bolt back in is no easy task -- especially if you're a tired 59-year-old dude laying on his garage floor. Either get ready for a workout, or be smart and toss a strap around the shock to keep it from opening up.
• Also unlike the fronts, which cost about 3/8 to 1/2 inch of ground clearance when installed, the rear skids tuck up almost even with the bottom of the LCA and shock mount. From what I can see there's no meaningful loss of clearance, and a major boost in anti-rock strength.
• Lastly, I've seen folks going both ways when it comes to replacing the shock mount bolt. Rock Hard does not include a bolt for the shock mount like they do for both LCA skids. I assume they expect you to reuse the factory bolt, and when you put it through on the bench it doesn't seem long enough. Under the truck, under 100 lb/ft of torque, I felt confident enough in the amount of grab the factory nut got to reuse the original bolt (detail pic is below). I tossed a little Red Loctite in there for some security, and I'll keep an eye on it for a while.

Overall, these @ROCK HARD 4X4 LCA and shock skids are well designed and very well made, and completely US manufactured -- so that is a major plus. I'm a fan. Now, I'll toss on the Rusty's for the front of the rear LCAs, relocate that steering dampener, and then it's time to go bang them into a few things.

Just an added note ... I put on about 1,000 miles since installing these, and have begun hearing some clunks and bags over the past few days, on turns, when reversing direction, and at stops.

I went underneath it today and three of the four lower control arms bolts needed a fair bit of tightening to get back into torque. I don't suspect the bolts loosened, but I do think it's possible the skids, especially in the front, have a little room to bend in and did so over a few days and miles.

Retorquing is a good idea in general, so I'm not sounding any alarms here. Just a reminder to folks who might take this on to give those LCA skids some extra love after a little time passes.

For me, they're all torqued once again, and the clunks and bangs are gone.

 

[John in the Woods]

After another 600-mile trip with a stiff and numb left leg, I added an item to the list, the @Quadratec dead pedal. Things seems tough as heck, and was a super easy install.

It will never be this clean again.

Sponsored