Nice Little Jeep

[Nice Little Jeep]

Exhaust skid plate fixed and was back on before the big trip to Rubicon Trail and Sierra trek (Fordyce). The new modifications made the skid plate hold up nicely.

[Nice Little Jeep]

The welder is mounted at the usual location for the light controller.

I used the metalcloak brackets for both the welder, light controller and marine fuse box.

I had to change the fitting for the wires that go into the VO Switch controller. I’m happy with the vo switch controller. It’s not a high dollar controller but it works really well so far.

The big brake booster doesn’t give you a lot of room.

These grommets definitely make a clean install. Time will tell if the grommets will keep water and dirt out.

The marine Fusebox cleans up the battery area. It’s like a sub panel on a house but for your Jeep.

I didn’t go with the high dollar lights, I went with Rigid look-a-likes. These lights are gonna get damaged and replaced more often. I don’t wanna spend all that money.

I installed eight, they do a really good job. They worked really good on the Rubicon trail going down Cadillac Hill at night.

 

 

if anyone would like to know all the products I used to put this together, I can send you the information.

[Nice Little Jeep]

Lights on Rubicon Trail going down Cadillac Hill. Good times

[Weebz]

I used those same lights in white.  Pretty durable and no complaints.  Looks good man. 

[Nice Little Jeep]

On 6/25/2022 at 6:51 PM, Nice Little Jeep said:

This build came to be a reality after the Sierra Trek Fordyce trip August 12 - 14th of 2021. I’ve been doing pretty much seven years of research of what I wanted and finally came to this build with the help of Jim and Jerry I pulled the trigger to put 40s under the Nice Little Jeep. I’ve always wanted a hood similar to the Rubicon Hard Rock hood because I wanted to buy the Rubicon Hard Rock version but I did not want the leather seats. That’s where the AEV heat reduction hood came in. I always loved the front and rear factory metal bumpers of the Rubicon Hard Rock, That’s why the AEV’s tire carrier was picked, it can hold up to a 40” tire. Gorilla corning windshield; I had a cracked windshield and I wanted the new gorilla corning windshield from Jeep that’s where the windshield came into the picture. The rims probably was the most difficult decision, so many different styles and looks out there I wanted to go with the newest style rim and with race-line. The reason I chose the race-line is because they have replaceable nut inserts for the bead lock rings. Coilover from EVO: EVO came out with this coilover package in December 2015, I absolutely loved the design and engineering behind this coilover package and I love the fact that Mel called it the weekend warrior kit. That’s what I am, I’m a weekend warrior 4X4 person. Give me a destination I will get there and get back in one piece. The long arm high clearance kit; I’ve always wanted a long arm kit on this Jeep from the get-go I knew I would be getting a good ride if I put a long arm system on this Jeep and EVO has a great system for the weekend warrior. The PSC steering system I was not going with the hydraulic ram I still don’t think the ram is needed but I went with the full package the full deal and it works phenomenally well, but PSC installation instructions absolutely sucks. UD60; I love Dana Spicer a great manufacturer for many many years in the United States. I’ve had Dana’s in almost every four-wheel-drive I’ve owned, other than my Toyotas so why would I pick anything else. Elocker; I went with Elocker because that’s why I spent the extra money on the Rubicon package if jeep went with air lockers and stayed with air lockers I probably would have an air locker in this vehicle. Jeep moved away from the air lockers and went with Elockers because of the reliability and consistency of a Elocker, that’s why I went with Elockers. Adams driveshafts that was what was recommended by Dana Spicer and it looks like the industry holds them very highly respected so I stayed with Adams driveshafts. The Nemesis package; i’ve always like the flat fender look on a Jeep I wanted fenders that were tough and can handle some impact I ran stock fenders for seven years looking for the right package and the nemesis package is not cheap, this package is a well-built product hands down. The onboard welder premier power welder; I won that at Sierra trek, I was not gonna put it on the Jeep I was gonna build it for a JK and sell it, until I found out who owns Premier power welder. Ace alternators out of Yucca Valley is the same company and they have put alternators on all my builds and everything that I can remember since I was 16 years old. Having this welder on the Jeep it’s like finding an old friend you have lost contact with and ran into at the park or grocery store. Greg at Premier power welder’s took care of me and now I have an onboard welder. So that’s the build now I will show how I put this thing together.

I didn’t discuss this in the original build post. I’m not sure in my original description of this build, I put enough emphasis in the time I took to cycle the suspension and adjust the shock bump stops so that the suspension wouldn’t bind.

You can see in this picture that my fender insert was hitting the bump stop and I still have more adjustment to go.

I cycled the suspension a lot before I got to my final adjustments.

The Tire was rubbing quite a bit at this point.  I didn’t want the tires to rub a lot, because it can eventually tear off the fender or inner fender liner.

after cycling the suspension, and making sure that the suspension wasn’t gonna bind or bottom out my coilovers, or damage things. I barely had enough adjustment left on the top of the bump stops. 

The next major adjustment was the rear shock bump stop installation. Along with the front, adjusting the rear shock bump stops so the coilovers don’t bottom out and at the same time not bind the suspension.

These bump stops are harder to install than the front bump stops because these are welded in with no adjustment once they are completely installed.

I probably cycled the suspension three times more than I did the front before welding.

These were locked in at this point no more adjustments can be done.

Needed to create clearances with the inner fender liner.
 

A lot of work went to installing these shock bump stops. I believe that’s why my suspension system doesn’t bind because I limit the travel.
 

Keeping the stock bump stops installed with this suspension system creates the suspension to bind and over flex. That is my belief.

 

[AJK]

Looks great  Dennis. You can only test cycle so much. Real life cycle always going to push it a little more. 

[Nice Little Jeep]

7 hours ago, AJK said:

Looks great  Dennis. You can only test cycle so much. Real life cycle always going to push it a little more. 

Thank you, Yes you are correct, that’s why I measured my setup by the high desert Roundup trip.

 

 I drove it home 70-75 miles an hour.

[Nice Little Jeep]

Installing EVO’s bolt on coilover kit and high clearance, long arm kit with UD60s axles.

 

I did this build all at one time, bought all the parts and started with the body stuff first.

After the new tire carrier, fenders, rock sliders, wheel well inserts and PSC power steering system were installed, I moved to the axles. I install the UD60s to my original 3-1/2” lift kit and moved to installing the coilover kit. 
 

 

I think for the Bolt-on coilover kits, the hardest is mounting the reservoir and the hose. There is not a lot of room in the area to prevent rubbing of the reservoir hose.

I picked the nemesis fender inserts, I wanted to cover up all this engine crap and prevent mud and derby getting in the engine compartment.

 

I just really like these fender inserts anytime I get a chance to show them off, I take extra pictures.

 

You can see the short arm angle, that’s why I’m really glad I went right to the long arm instead of messing with the short arm kit on this upgrade.

 

Trying to do this setup with the short arm and later move to the long arm. Thinking about it now I am so glad I went straight to the long arm kit. Watching other people do it with the short arm kit

Moving to the rear suspension, I didn’t want to install the rear coilover kit onto the UD60 axles with the short arm kit. the lower control arm brackets needed to be cut off the axle to attach the long arm brackets. I could’ve installed the rear coilover kit, but it felt like I was gonna install it all and then take it back part again.

 

The long arm kit from EVO is made for a stock D44 axle, so with that being said during the installation process you need to remember that.

I needed to increase the radius on the brackets for lower control arm brackets to fit the UD60.
 

Very close tolerance so the Johnny joint of the control arm doesn’t rub on the axle housing.

 

You can zoom in to this picture and see how close the tolerance is once installed.

the notch is important as indicated in the installation instructions.

 

 

The frame high clearance brackets have changed over the years, I have pictures of both styles.

I definitely like the current bracket, I don’t know why they had a bolt through the frame. That bolt would squeeze the frame together and creating flex.

 

you can see the difference, that cut out that exposes the old control arm bolt hole is a great addition. You weld that up and that stops the flex in the plate. Zoom in and you can see the gap in the lower picture.

 

I took a scrap piece and filled in the void right there, so when we welded the are there will be no flex in the bracket.

I forgot to take a picture, of the other side, picture of opposite side. You can see the step in the weld.

The key is full contact weld all the way around this bracket, there should be no flex.

Welding the top of the bracket is important. I know a lot of shops are not doing this work. I had to lift the body off the frame 6 to 8 inches to get most of these welds.

After installing the long arm, I had to notch around and change the mounting for the nemesis sliders I installed.

I took the 1 inch spacer out of my nemesis sliders, so that the slider would be tight to the bottom of the frame and have the clearance at full flex.

next is the rear track bar bracket.

I trimmed back the UD60 rear track bar bracket and installed the EVO rear track bar bracket. Not sure if this was necessary but it seems to work really well. I don’t have anything to reference if I didn’t do this work. supposedly the UD60 rear track bar bracket is raised to accommodate this lift kit.

I install the synergy rear track bar along with the frame reinforcement bracket. The rear end is done.

 

moving back to the front suspension system, the front long arm kit, look at this crazy bracket, the instructions indicate to weld bracket wherever bracket touches the frame.

These brackets are difficult, you might not see it in this picture but the body is off the frame about 6” here.

how I did this I used a silver magic marker and trace the bracket out on the frame and started removing paint and cleaning up the frame.

There was gabs that needed to be cleaned up, excess material on the top created gaps at the bottom just had to work through each bracket individual.

 

I had to shim this bracket to make it square with the frame, and one side of the frame is not the same as the other side. Both of these brackets were designed the same but mirrored. 

hard to take a good picture, imagine welding these spots. The artist that did all the welding took 35 to 40 minutes to do these top welds.

OK making sure the bracket lined up to the transmission cross member bracket. These holes are the bolts for the transmission crossmember.

several installs that I’ve looked at, this weld is missing. This weld is crucial for removing the transmission crossmember and then re-aligning the crossmember after working on the transmission.

 

we also cleaned up some existing welds since they attach to the new long arm brackets.

last upgrade I did on the front suspension, was adding Johnny joints to the front axle at the upper control arm. Allan was the driving force behind this one. For me it worked out really great.

 

That’s everything that I can think of on the Installation of EVO’s bolt on coilover kit and high clearance, long arm kit with UD60 axles.

#nicelittlejeep, #JeepPope

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MIOffroadCustoms]

Looking good

[Weebz]

Nice work!   Looks really good.  

[KevinG]

Nice job!

[Nice Little Jeep]

https://fb.watch/oenQZYEr9h/?mibextid=K8Wfd2

[Nice Little Jeep]

Second pass on the waterfall 

https://www.facebook.com/100062930996093/posts/pfbid02JEXMTn4LuW5fz2FoZhzhqftoE7oqKX6rQrnwmb8F7ju8BoV3rXFn8AkmbjwEu8oTl/?mibextid=K8Wfd2

[Nice Little Jeep]

Well, NLJ is sitting on all four bump stops, I now understand why some of you have said EVO valving sucks. I’m glad, I kept my coilovers in my own valley instead of sending them down south learning a lot!! I think, I will have the best set up for me at the end of the day, when I get these coils back on the Jeep and I use the words “I think” because I shouldn’t of went with this coilover system. These are not a true anything they just look good. So my suggestion is not to buy a bolt on coilover package from EVO  for a JK. I will be changing this out in the future. The sad thing is I’ll need to sell the kit.

[Jdofmemi]

48 minutes ago, Nice Little Jeep said:

Well, NLJ is sitting on all four bump stops, I now understand why some of you have said EVO valving sucks. I’m glad, I kept my coilovers in my own valley instead of sending them down south learning a lot!! I think, I will have the best set up for me at the end of the day, when I get these coils back on the Jeep and I use the words “I think” because I shouldn’t of went with this coilover system. These are not a true anything they just look good. So my suggestion is not to buy a bolt on coilover package from EVO  for a JK. I will be changing this out in the future. The sad thing is I’ll need to sell the kit.

The funny thing is that it is still taller than Vengeance was at ride height with 40s, back when I first got it

[Weebz]

Damn. Sorry to hear this.  It’s always a staged process with these jeeps getting them where you like them.  

[Nice Little Jeep]

42 minutes ago, Weebz said:

Damn. Sorry to hear this.  It’s always a staged process with these jeeps getting them where you like them.  

I agree, but at the same time disagree, this kit is just a bad product and I should’ve seen it and I’m disappointed in myself for purchasing it. I’m just glad that Jerry saw it, and we are getting vengeance and white Jeep in the right direction for him. I’m not looking for a king of the hammers jeep but I am looking for a complete product. The JL kits from EVO are a lot better than the JK kits.

[Nice Little Jeep]

1 hour ago, Jdofmemi said:

The funny thing is that it is still taller than Vengeance was at ride height with 40s, back when I first got it

Well yeah, I have bump stops!!! if you don’t install bump stops you don’t have to worry about ride hide

[Jdofmemi]

Well, EVO just used the frame for a bump stop, so technically it did have them

 

The dents are still there for the proof! 

[Nice Little Jeep]

5 hours ago, Nice Little Jeep said:

Well, NLJ is sitting on all four bump stops, I now understand why some of you have said EVO valving sucks. I’m glad, I kept my coilovers in my own valley instead of sending them down south learning a lot!! I think, I will have the best set up for me at the end of the day, when I get these coils back on the Jeep and I use the words “I think” because I shouldn’t of went with this coilover system. These are not a true anything they just look good. So my suggestion is not to buy a bolt on coilover package from EVO  for a JK. I will be changing this out in the future. The sad thing is I’ll need to sell the kit.

the difference between EVO 12” coilover and a standard 12” coilover. The black coilover is the front 12” coilover from the EVO Bolt on kit. The blue coilover is a standard 12” coilover that comes from any four-wheel-drive shop.

 

[Nice Little Jeep]

On 12/23/2023 at 2:11 PM, Nice Little Jeep said:

the difference between EVO 12” coilover and a standard 12” coilover. The black coilover is the front 12” coilover from the EVO Bolt on kit. The blue coilover is a standard 12” coilover that comes from any four-wheel-drive shop.

 

read this and put in perspective that these are not 12” coilovers in the bolt on coilover kit.

 

and I’m gonna emphasize “legendary, spec, valving, and spring rates” now look at this valving chart and EVO’s valving fall under standard valve. That’s the valving that was in my coilovers!! standard!!

 

i’m gonna show in another post regarding the coilover housing design. showing that these are not standard coilovers that you buy off the shelf. The coilovers are modified, they’re not a 12” and they’re not a 10”.

[Dave]

1 hour ago, Nice Little Jeep said:

they’re not a 12” and they’re not a 10”.

That's what she said.

[Gruff]

21 hours ago, Nice Little Jeep said:

 

and I’m gonna emphasize “legendary, spec, valving, and spring rates” now look at this valving chart and EVO’s valving fall under standard valve. That’s the valving that was in my coilovers!! standard!!

 

 

 

lol

 

[Nice Little Jeep]

15 hours ago, Gruff said:

 

lol

 

You can’t see the picture it’s grainy?

[Gruff]

2 hours ago, Nice Little Jeep said:

You can’t see the picture it’s grainy?

 

Oddly enough I can read it fine on my office screen - I was looking at it on my laptop & couldn't read it at all. I enlarged it and it went totally south.

 

Operator error I'm sure!