tjZ06

The rest? I guess you haven't looked at used truck/trailer prices lately... -TJ

IDK if $120k is a broke man's budget! In sane times, before 2020, I would prob try to find a used late-model F450 (sure, it won't have the 10-speed but still has the updated 6.7 and all the other advantages) and a used Momentum 5'er. 2 years ago that could be pretty easily done for $60k/ea == $120k total. Now? Crap I don't know... prob have to pay $120k just for the truck. 😞 -TJ

At 37"s most don't regear with the JL. 1st gear in the 8HP is 4.71, and 2nd is still 3.13:1 so it really lets you get away with a lot. For comparison, 1st gear in my WJ's 545RFE is 3:1 and a JK's 5-speed auto that came w/ the 3.6 was 3.59:1. Being a Rubicon it'll have 4.10:1s in the axle (unless it's a diesel or 392). With 37"s you'll find you don't get into 8th gear as much though. 4.56s would be a nice choice for the 3.6 or 2.0T and 37"s. The diesel and 392 get 3.73s and still seem to be happy with 37"s. -TJ

I towed a LE3505+2' (about 40' total) and a Genesis Envy 34A (38' 2 or 3" total,. but very heavy for the size) with over 3300lbs pin-weight, might have been over 3500, with my '11 Chevy Silverado 2500HD crew cab standard bed and it worked extremely well. Speaking of beds, time for a TJ rant... a ~6.5' bed is NOT a short bed. It's a standard/regular bed. Most of the manufacturers just label them by length with no short/standard/long "title" but GM does give them a name, the ~6.5' bed is standard: Only the 1500 gets a ~5.75' short bed: Okay, rant over.. The Envy was around 17k lbs loaded. Before buying the Envy I got new wheels/tires for my truck with incresed weight capacity, the wheels are rated at 4,500lbs each, but the best I could do on tires was right around 4k (80psi load range F load range). My truck has air bags, is deleted and tuned. It's also lifted ~4.5" on 35x12.5-18"s. When I had my 5'ers previously I only leveled the truck and stayed with a ~33" tire. However, after the Warriors we went to RVs for a while and I lifted the truck. When we went back to a 5'er I regretted the extra lift and bigger tires *a little bit.* Of course, we then sold the 5'er and went back to an RV, so now I don't regret it at all, lol. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, the point is my truck was way over GVWR on paper with the Envy, and most would say you "need" a dually for the pin weight it had. But my truck did great with it and it towed extremely well, very stable and plenty of power/brrakes. The *only* change I would have made if I kept it would be gearing the truck a bit (still on stock 3.73s) for some of the mountain camping we did. Leaving a particular site we liked there was a stretch several miles long where you don't get enough speed to get up high enough in 2nd for the torque converter to lock, so it built more trans heat than usual (still under 220 degrees). 4.10s or 4.56s would have gotten it into torque converter lock. Now, all of that said, if I was buying a truck specifically for towing a "big" 40'+ 5'er I'd get a dually. I'm just saying it can be done safely with a SRW. If I was buying a truck for a 5'er at this point there's no question it'd be a F450. I like the 6.7/10-speed combo a lot (had it in my '21 Thor Magnitude on a 4x4 F550 platform, and that was the de-rated 6.7, the F450 gets the full 475/1050 HP/TQ) and Ford is the only one putting a pickup box on a greater-than-one-ton truck right now. The F450 costs about the same as F350 but has way bigger axles and brakes, and a much tighter turning radius. It just seems like a no-brainer for a rig specifically purchased for a 5'er. -TJ

He got a Rubicon, e-lockers front and rear (and front sway bar disconnect) stock. They'll do a LOT bone stock. But, they're pretty long and from what I've seen with buddies on the trial they drag belly a good bit (not as much as JTs, of course). Going up to 35"s will buy him a bit of pumpkin clearance, and a 2" lift on top of that gives great belly-clearance (aka break-over). Most ppl go 37"s on a 2" with JLR/JLUR though... but 35"s will be fine. -TJ

You can run 35"s pretty well w/o a lift on a JL, you just have to bump stop a bit... which isn't a big deal if you're not going hardcore anyway. In fact, if you're not going hardcore you can just run the 35"s. That said, a 2-2.5" lift is *better* for 35"s because you don't have to bump stop it out more and you get that extra belly clearance. For your use-case I'd just do the Mopar, but I'd considering adding a beefier front track bar and also Synergy's trackbar/sector shaft brace: https://www.synergymfg.com/synergy-jeep-jl-jt-front-track-bar-and-sector-shaft-brace.html Here's a good watch too: -TJ

Finally got the WJ back out to do some more testing. All-in-all it works great. It's incredibly comfortable to drive on the pavement, cruises along at 80 MPH like a regular soccer-Mom Grand Cherokee, then does stuff like this: To be fair, I didn't drive all the way over right there, I was just using the rock to test flex and clearance. With the fender work we've done, it cleared everything even flexed out: I did drive all the way over that rock too, but a little lower down: Anyway, just some Jeep pics 'n stuff: -TJ

-TJ

He needs a ZL1 1LE! -TJ

Make sure it's all documented well (including duration of stays). It looks like you already have that nailed based on your first post, and a lot of it will be in their records anyway - but you want it all documented and available to you. If/when it comes down to it and you have to go for Lemon Law, it'll make your life way easier. I'm not saying it's a Lemon; or that you even want it to be, just that it might go that way so you want to be prepared. I had a '06 IS250 that ended up being bought back on Lemon Law something like 3 years later. It worked out awesome for me, I got a car for 3 years and basically only paid fuel. -TJ

Wow, looking forward to seeing the fully completed pics. So, this isn't at our house, but on our RV lot (soon to be for sale 😉 ) I probably have some more pics. There are bar stools on the opposite side behind the fire bowl (which was actually a big built-in wok when this was originally built), sink, etc. There's actually also a hot tub back there. Overall, we love it, and it's super useful. About the only thing it is really missing is a) a bigger TV (you can just see it behind the pillar in the 2nd pit, to the right of the fireplace) and it needs an ice maker (how can an outdoor kitchen, aka party area not have an ice maker!?!). We'll prob replace the oven with an ice maker along with a few other tweaks before we list. -TJ PS- shameless plug if you want an AMAZING lot at the nicest luxury RV resort in the US (located in Indio, CA) hit me up. This one was done before rules changed, so the walls are higher than allowed now for more privacy and more secure for your pets (this park also has beautiful water-front lots, but no fencing is allowed, we wanted a convenient place for our dogs to be off-leash).

Also following! A big outdoor kitcken/BBQ/"bar" island is in our future for sure! -TJ

Well, this thread scares the chit out of me! 😉 As I posted in my thread about leaving CA, I'll be having a pool done in the next ~12 months (if that's even possible, lol). When we bought in CA I insisted no pool, just didn't want to deal with it. I actually regretted that. Had a good buddy in the neighborhood, and actually really liked having the pool (obviously a friend's pool is best-case, just like a friend's boat is the best type of boat). We lived up in Lincoln, where it's hot - but not Vegas hot. Going to Vegas a pool became a must-have. The property we got doesn't have one, so we'll be adding a pool - period, no question about it. Now, we can put it off ~6mo probably with the other things going on right now (full house remodel) but it's going to happen one way or another. Ugh... why do I pick the WORST time to do things? -TJ

That's what she said? Yeah, and a Sharks/Godlen Showers game. Tickets are crazy expensive though, that's one big downside because the casinos buy up tons of tickets to give to high-rollers and stuff. The only constant is change! Yeah, man I felt instantly relaxed when I hit the NV border on the trip where I took my pew-pew and freedom seeds. And if I *do* miss it, we'll just take the RV and go see friends/family in CA for a week or two. Of course, for the next ~2 years I'm still here weekly, so I doubt we'll want to come back for vacation (other than Glamis... but Glamis doesn't feel like CA to me 😉 ). -TJ