Cascade Crew

chevymad · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 9:56 pm Post subject: It's a Jeep thang?

Got myself a new toy today! Very Happy

2003 Rubicon, pretty much stock. 5 nice new Goodyear wranglers, dana 44's front/rear with electric lockers, inline 6 and 5spd, 4 to 1 low transfer case, both hard and soft tops...

Something new to spend money on. Laughing

So.. if anybody is needing a 70 chevy pickup let me know. Smile

aaron_sK · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:12 pm Post subject:

Well I'll be damned. B with two not-Chevy vehicles.

But in truth it was inevitable. Eventually everyone here will buy either a Jeep or a diesel. Cool

iansane · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:19 pm Post subject:

Nice rig!

chevymad · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:21 pm Post subject:

QwkTrip · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:23 pm Post subject:

Nice, Jeep! Cool

I'm getting pretty close to selling my Jeep, I think. It just sits all the time. Nice having an extra vehicle, though. I've got the 4.0L in my Jeep Cherokee. It's the only engine I've ever had where it seems to be less powerful as it revs up. Laughing

Dang reliable though.

QwkTrip · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:27 pm Post subject:

aaron_sK · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:31 pm Post subject:

iansane · Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2012 10:36 pm Post subject:

Richster · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 8:01 am Post subject:

Beauty Dude! Cool

My neighbor scored the new bright green color, really nice indeed!
That's cool man and a great purchase!

chevymad · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:07 am Post subject:

Well got a chance to jack up the front. As good as can be expected. Smile

One upper ball joint with a slight amount of play and the axle joints are on their way out, typical mopar product. I see the Rubicon has a SYE (jeep guys like acronyms too. Slip Yoke Eliminator) on it allready which is nice. Shocks are a bit weak.. think thats an excuse for 2" lift? Laughing

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:20 am Post subject:

SYE I've never heard on a stock TJ. It's aftermarket. And the driveshaft length is then dependent on ride height.

How many miles? I've got 90k and nothing in the front of mine is worn out?

aaron_sK · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:35 am Post subject:

chevymad · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 9:45 am Post subject:

Rubicon has a 241OR transfer case instead of the 231. They dont come with a slipyoke. So the SYE is stock. Also has the really low 4:1 low range. Another rubi benefit! Smile

Just had to check that info with the wrangler forum too. It's got miles... But not beat up so I'm not too worried.

I guess technically its not an eliminator since it never had it.. but same end result.

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 10:16 am Post subject:

aaron_sK · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 10:19 am Post subject:

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2012 10:28 am Post subject:

That's what the difference basically.

If I ever get around to lifting mine more, I'll need to go SYE and CV shaft. $800 ontop of the lift isn't appealing lol.

chevymad · Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 5:08 pm Post subject:

Well I just drove 1800miles in less then a week. Shocked

We just got back from Glacier Montana. Kinda ballsy taking a vehicle that I hadnt even had a chance to look over yet, but it ended up being the perfect rig for the trip.

On the way home with it from Puyallup last saturday I discovered that even though I'd taken it up to 60mph on the test drive, It shook to beat hell once I got over 70. Since we were leaving Sunday morning I couldnt do anything to fix it. So Sunday I drove all the way to Spokane at less then 70mph. Gas mileage amazed me! Even going over White Pass I still managed 20.3mpg, next tank was 20.7 mpg. Been filling up at just over 1/4 tank = 200miles and 10gals of gas.

In Spokane I got Schwabs to balance the tires Monday morning. Was worried there was something bigger wrong, but turned out to just be very unbalanced tires. 6oz off!! If I remember right 1oz = 50lbs @ 50mph approx. So no wonder it shook!

Now that I was able to go 80mph + the gas mileage dropped. I've never had a rig that speed changed the mileage so much before. Actually the 87 it gets better the faster you go. Closer to 3k rpm the more it likes it. Anyway, the one tank I used on I90 doing 85mph +, I got 17.3mpg. Still better then the government rating. @ 85mph I'm doing 3k rpm. After lots of other fillups the rule holds. Just running around here at 60mph I should be fine. Tires are the stock size/type/brand as the Rubi came with, 4.10 gears and a 3550 5spd.

Something I discovered thats kinda cool, it's like I joined some kinda brotherhood or something. Every jeep guy waves as he goes by! Cool

Rigs that are all set up for 4xing honk and wave as well. Not like they thought I was a local or anything, this happened the whole trip.

Oh, and 85mph in a jeep.. when you pass a semi truck you start to wonder which part is going to fly off first! Laughing

The hood starts pulling against its rubber bands and the roof flaps so hard(hardtop too) that it smacks the roll bar.

The only thing I wish was different so far is that it had AC.

Al Hasse · Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:18 pm Post subject:

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:51 am Post subject:

Make sure the roof is latched in the front. I did 90+ down to Bend, OR one time and never had any issues with the hardtop like that.

Lots of Wrangler waves. It's a Wrangler thing, not Jeep. Never got waves in the Cherokee and don't get waves from anyone not in a Wrangler.

What tire size? Didn't the Rubi's get 32s? Or they got the 31s I think. Don't remember.

Must be nice to have the extra gear ratio. At 60 with the 33" tires I can use 5th.

chevymad · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 10:07 am Post subject:

You still have 3.73 right? I can see that wouldnt be optimum with 33s. Rubi's have 31s. Too early to tell where I'll go with this thing, tires are all brand spanking new Wrangler MTR"s so I wont be changing them for quite awhile. I'm thinking of only 32s someday. My shocks are pretty soft, so If I go to replace them soon I'll probably add 2" lift to it too.

How did you lift yours? Spacers? Control arms? 4"? Full of questions here. I can buy Rancho stuff from work. Looks like rancho 9000s are good shocks for wranglers too.

I had this brilliant idea last night that a Rubi rear could be used in a 3d gen. That way you'd get a Zexel type limited slip with a full air locker option, dana 44, 4.10s and rear disc brakes. Then I checked part.com.. $2700 for a jy rear in WA !!!! Guess that idea is out LOL. Probably would have worked too, rubi rear is 1.5" narrower then a 3d gen rear.

Oh the roof thing. Did you have your window open on your trip? I think you have AC, I don't so windows were open. Air comes in pretty smooth until you get behind a truck, then it starts gusting hard and flapping the roof until you get past it.