Crawl2Camp’s 2014 JKUR Build(s)

[Crawl2Camp]

15 hours ago, fiend said:

Thanks for the additional information Kevin. Very helpful.  You would think they would have the measurements on their website. Anyway, I like those a lot. Quality looks excellent.  I’m fairly certain I’ll go that route before long. 

No problem Greer, glad to help out where I can.  It’s a husband and wife venture and their only product, so I actually talked to them to get more info.  

I’m sure you’ll see it sooner or later in my Jeep.  I have another surgery on Friday for more work on my foot. I’m hopeful the recovery process this time should be quicker than before, as this is just an exploratory clean up.  

[Crawl2Camp]

So I did a thing a few weeks ago..
I have a 3 link long arm front setup on the way from Don at RPM, which should take care of a few issues in my current setup. (Yeah it all pretty much sucks right now)
I plan to address the rear suspension as well as transition to coilovers down the road, but that probably wont be for a year or so I'm guessing.  But who knows, things change fast in this crazy world. . 
 




 

[AJK]

Awesome. You doing yourself?

[fiend]

42 minutes ago, Crawl2Camp said:

So I did a thing a few weeks ago..
I have a 3 link long arm front setup on the way from Don at RPM, which should take care of a few issues in my current setup. (Yeah it all pretty much sucks right now)
I plan to address the rear suspension as well as transition to coilovers down the road, but that probably wont be for a year or so I'm guessing.  But who knows, things change fast in this crazy world. . 
 




 

What's wrong with your current set up?

 

That RPM kit looks very cool. I am happy to see that it includes cross-member strengthening brackets, unlike Barnes and some other kits.  

[702Jeep]

Thats gonna be sweet.Looking forward to install pics.

[Crawl2Camp]

5 hours ago, fiend said:

What's wrong with your current set up?

 

That RPM kit looks very cool. I am happy to see that it includes cross-member strengthening brackets, unlike Barnes and some other kits.  

My current suspension geometry sucks quite a bit right now, and as a result the Jeep isn't that great on the highway.  Im on a fresh set of 4.5” coils with 1” spacers added on all corners but the drivers rear right now, so it’s got a bit of height.  You have to know what im talking about to some degree with Bender.  

Yeah there were some things that I liked with the RPM kit, and the added support of the crossmember was definitely one of them. I plan to have some of those welded in place, with the ability to still pull the crossmember out of course. 

The rear I will have more options.  I can either use the rest of the RPM kit or I can also use Brian’s (Hepta’s) or even Motobilt’s rear brackets and then just build out the links and axle side brackets. All of these should be pretty much interchangeable to some degree, with maybe an exception with the skid plate.  Honestly I hope I’m back to work by then so I can just make my own custom belly skid and other cool things.. 
 

[Crawl2Camp]

5 hours ago, AJK said:

Awesome. You doing yourself?

Yeah the plan is to do everything but the welding of the axle side upper link mount myself.  

[fiend]

4 hours ago, Crawl2Camp said:

My current suspension geometry sucks quite a bit right now, and as a result the Jeep isn't that great on the highway.  Im on a fresh set of 4.5” coils with 1” spacers added on all corners but the drivers rear right now, so it’s got a bit of height.  You have to know what im talking about to some degree with Bender.  

I don’t have any complaints with my suspension set up, but I confess I haven't driven other rigs with fancier suspension systems. So maybe it’s a case of I don’t know what I’m missing. Probably best to keep it that way.

[Crawl2Camp]

31 minutes ago, fiend said:

I don’t have any complaints with my suspension set up, but I confess I haven't driven other rigs with fancier suspension systems. So maybe it’s a case of I don’t know what I’m missing. Probably best to keep it that way.

I’ll be sure to let you know how things work out with the change.  

[Weebz]

Well that looks nice.   Anxious to see what you think and how then install goes.  What are you going to use for joints and links or did I miss that?

[Crawl2Camp]

4 hours ago, Weebz said:

Well that looks nice.   Anxious to see what you think and how then install goes.  What are you going to use for joints and links or did I miss that?

Im going to be using the narrow Johnny Joints with 7075 links with 2.125” lowers and 1.75” uppers. (I upsized +1/8” on the lower links)

[Crawl2Camp]

Here’s a few shots of the rest of RPM’s system for reference. 
I’ll be using a Motobilt rear tank, as it works in conjunction with their frame chop rear bumper that I have without modification. (Thank you Motobilt). I also ordered a TMR rear truss/pinion guard setup as well as a pair of their upper link mounts, as I liked that their units had two adjustability holes for further suspension tuning. 

 

[fiend]

Cool. Will the motobilt tank present any problems when it comes time for SMOG testing/inspection?

[AJK]

1 hour ago, fiend said:

Cool. Will the motobilt tank present any problems when it comes time for SMOG testing/inspection?

Good question for us in Cali.

 

For @Crawl2CampI have been going back and fouth doing the HEPTA or Genright rear. They close to the same price, mainlly because I want to get rid of the stock tank. How does the RPM kit compare?

 

Also, dose the front 3 link connect to diff or pass side mount. It looks like both are showen in the pictures above, or does it even matter.

[Crawl2Camp]

2 hours ago, fiend said:

Cool. Will the motobilt tank present any problems when it comes time for SMOG testing/inspection?

That was honestly my only concern moving this direction, but after talking to Don I have a proven plan to address that at the go. 

[fiend]

40 minutes ago, Crawl2Camp said:

That was honestly my only concern moving this direction, but after talking to Don I have a proven plan to address that at the go. 

Care to share? Inquiring minds want to know.  

[Crawl2Camp]

1 hour ago, AJK said:

Good question for us in Cali.

 

For @Crawl2CampI have been going back and fouth doing the HEPTA or Genright rear. They close to the same price, mainlly because I want to get rid of the stock tank. How does the RPM kit compare?

 

Also, dose the front 3 link connect to diff or pass side mount. It looks like both are showen in the pictures above, or does it even matter.

All of the new current rear 4 links available have better geometry than Genright.  (Motobilt, Hepta and RPM). Genright chose to go with a flat belly which resulted in the frame side brackets not having enough separation, and the result is compromised anti squat.  All of the other kits keep with the stock crossmember drop in order to have the most frame side separation without going below the skid or into the tub.  Those roughly 2” of additional separation go a long way.  Think of it this way, an anti squat of around 150 compared to 90. I hope that helps in your decision making. IMO the Hepta and RPM are both good, although Hepta does have some very nice bracing and those dimes he puts down.. . Honestly love his stuff but I liked RPM’s front better. The nice thing is that I can put either an RPM or Hepta rear.  

So they have passenger JK 3 link front connection and the JL is a driver connection.  I didn't ask Don about that, but I will when I talk to him.

[Crawl2Camp]

48 minutes ago, fiend said:

Care to share? Inquiring minds want to know.  

The Jeeps really not driven much on the street anymore, just to and from trails and camping trips etc.. The plan is to keep it at either my aunts in Cave Creek (N of Phoenix) or at my uncles place in Casa Grande (S of Phoenix).  They are both older and retired and my aunts husband just passed away last year.  She’s been really asking for visits etc and it’s a win win all around.  I also plan to take advantage of some of that awesome Arizona wheeling. 

[Crawl2Camp]

Just edited added to both of the above posts.  

[AJK]

41 minutes ago, Crawl2Camp said:

All of the new current rear 4 links available have better geometry than Genright.  (Motobilt, Hepta and RPM). Genright chose to go with a flat belly which resulted in the frame side brackets not having enough separation, and the result is compromised anti squat.  All of the other kits keep with the stock crossmember drop in order to have the most frame side separation without going below the skid or into the tub.  Those roughly 2” of additional separation go a long way.  Think of it this way, an anti squat of around 150 compared to 90. I hope that helps in your decision making. IMO the Hepta and RPM are both good, although Hepta does have some very nice bracing and those dimes he puts down.. . Honestly love his stuff but I liked RPM’s front better. The nice thing is that I can put either an RPM or Hepta rear.  

So they have passenger JK 3 link front connection and the JL is a driver connection.  I didn't ask Don about that, but I will when I talk to him.

That is great information right there. I'm shocked to hear that about Genright. They talk highly of their anti-squat numbers so I figured they had the better system.

 

Gonna learn me something today.

[Crawl2Camp]

29 minutes ago, AJK said:

That is great information right there. I'm shocked to hear that about Genright. They talk highly of their anti-squat numbers so I figured they had the better system.

 

Gonna learn me something today.

That is ABSOLUTELY no knock on Genright or their kit, without them we wouldn't have any of this IMO.  Genright made that kit quite an few ago and it was leaps and bounds better than anything on the market.    You have to remember what they were competing with for the past 10+ years in terms of a “kit”.  It (the flat belly) was a design aspect that was important to them and they went with it.  Only recently have people been looking at improving what they put out. Tony deserves all the credit and has done so much for the sport/hobby we all like. 

[Crawl2Camp]

Another thing on anti squat I’ve come to realize..  It’s a bit of a personal preference as to how you want your rig to react.  I started to pick into the “optimum” anti squat number and saw quite a bit of feedback.  It seems before people were trying to target a “neutral” suspension where numbers were around 100.  Now people want their rigs to crawl up obstacles better so they are seeing better performance in the 70-80’s.  
Pretty cool getting some insight into how people are constantly pushing the envelope and trying different things.  Watching the KOH races this week really made me realize how things are constantly pushed and changing.  FYI I was getting some info from people with basically Jeeps converted to half tube buggies, so frame side mounts could really be moved all over compared to us (more upward than we can without going through the floor)

[Weebz]

As an FYI, I have no issues with emissions or Evap system with the Motobilt tank.  Not sure how you are tested for Smog but I don’t throw any codes.  

[fiend]

38 minutes ago, Weebz said:

As an FYI, I have no issues with emissions or Evap system with the Motobilt tank.  Not sure how you are tested for Smog but I don’t throw any codes.  

It's a California thing.  They are very strict about emissions, vapor recovery, and related issues. 

[Jdofmemi]

I'm looking forward to seeing you out on the trails again, so we can compare. 

 

I get the improvement in antisquat, but the flat belly and 3" of added ground clearance factors into the decision for me. 

 

It will be nice to compare and contrast the difference between the two.