theksmith 5,874 Posted January 21 (edited) 20 hours ago, SonoranWanderer said: I'm interested in how you feel the difference here. My (JLUR) perspective with AEV 3" springs vs my original 3.5" Rock Krawler X-Factor springs is that I gained a lot of stability and weight bearing capacity, but at the cost of flex. The don't compress as much and don't stretch anywhere near as much. But I expect that's the trade off to be heavy. I also am running AEV HD on all for corners and just gave up the 1/2 inch. I don't carry (I think) anywhere near as much as you and I'm overloaded (GVRW and GAWR-R, maybe part of why I tore the OEM rear spring buckets). Despite being overloaded, I have a slight rake without my trailer (recovery gear loaded) and run level with my trailer attached (340 lb TW plus 180 lb weight shift from front to rear axle). good info your experience with the HD coils. i had actually canceled my order for the AEV HD rear coils yesterday before i saw your post - at least temporarily. i just really like how the Jeep flexes and the clearance i have right now. i may still end up having to lower her but i realized i could try one more thing first... i have the non-adjustable Falcon shocks (3.1 series), so i ordered the upgrade cartridges that convert them to the 3.3 series with adjustable compression so i can play with that to see if that has any noticeable affect. after @Bradywgn71 upgraded to high-end ADS shocks, he said his WJ was considerably more stable, like a whole different Jeep. this is why i was thinking the shock adjustment might make a difference for me. however, i think his shocks were valved specifically for his heavy WJ on tons (i.e. compression and rebound setup). so only being able to change a single compression setting might not make a big difference for me. we'll see! EDIT: oh FYI @SonoranWanderer, Gadget is currently 6,230 lbs for typical local trail setup (NOT including my weight). that's with a full tank of gas, 5 gallons of water in the onboard tank, all my typical tools/spare parts/recovery gear, an empty fridge, my custom drawer/fridge slide/sleep platform, the rear cargo area Front Runner shelf, subwoofer, my bugout bag, and of course the full size spare. Edited January 21 by theksmith 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SonoranWanderer 720 Posted January 21 4 hours ago, theksmith said: EDIT: oh FYI @SonoranWanderer, Gadget is currently 6,230 lbs for typical local trail setup (NOT including my weight). that's with a full tank of gas, 5 gallons of water in the onboard tank, all my typical tools/spare parts/recovery gear, an empty fridge, my custom drawer/fridge slide/sleep platform, the rear cargo area Front Runner shelf, subwoofer, my bugout bag, and of course the full size spare. I need to do a "clean weigh", two actually, one with nothing in the Jeep and one with my standard recovery kit (trail ready). I recently weighed mine on the way to camp for the three-day weekend, so I had more in the Jeep than just my standard recovery gear. With that full load (trailer detached) the Jeep came in at 6200 with 3360 on the rear axle. I have the Falcon 3.3 shocks. Under "normal load" I run them at 2-6 on pavement and 1 on dirt. When I attach the trailer I push the rear up to 3. Road wise, it drives great. No issue up to as fast as you want to move (faster than I'm going to admit to on a public forum). I do think with just the recovery kit I'll still be over GVWR (5800) and GAWR-R (3100). 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,874 Posted January 22 this morning i dropped the fender flares off to get sandblasted and powder coated. i was able to sand most of the deep gouges from Rocker Panel Pass out of the one flare beforehand. the last time i painted them i used a 2 part epoxy clear, and then coated them partially with PPF. they stayed looking pretty decent longer thanks to all that, but still eventually started to look shoddy with all the rock chips. i'm really hoping the powder coat resists chipping a lot better. of course no paint is going to be granite boulder-proof, so i gotta work on picking my lines better ;) one more early morning shot from a few days ago 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,874 Posted January 24 caution! XXX rated! ...Gadget's a bit naked! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
4WLNRN 797 Posted January 24 2 minutes ago, theksmith said: caution! XXX rated! ...Gadget's a bit naked! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stacey and Scott 1,407 Posted January 24 5 hours ago, theksmith said: caution! XXX rated! ...Gadget's a bit naked! Here I thought this was a family site 😬 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,874 Posted January 26 worked on the shock upgrades this morning: 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,874 Posted January 28 while i had the fender flares, wheel well liners, and shocks off - i touched up all the black stuff with my most often used paint, Krylon Satin Black! then i figured it was a good time to have the carwash do a light buff and wax too! hopefully will get the flares back from the powder coat shop this week. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,874 Posted February 5 (edited) got the flares back from sand blasting and powder coating. the match to my OEM Granite Crystal Metallic isn't as good as i'd hoped, but not terrible. it was a 2 step powder coat (metallic color + clear), which i didn't even know you could do with powder before! anyway this Prismatic Powders "Jeep Granite Crystal" PMB-11625 is a darker, much cooler grey, and has more rainbow flake than my 16 JKU. it actually matches Aimee's 2021 WK2 very well even though both of our Jeeps are the PAU paint code. if i ever powder coat anything else, I'll try this "Granite Crystal" from All Powder Paints. they say it's "lighter and matches some of the older faded Jeep parts from over 10 years ago" versus their match for newer PAU vehicles. it doesn't look bad from a few steps back. the whole reason for this is that hopefully the powder coat doesn't chip as easily as my previous OEM matched spray paint plus 2-part epoxy clearcoat job. i did apply some XPEL PPF to the front face of the rear flares again. that area takes the biggest beating from the front tires kicking up rocks. Edited February 5 by theksmith 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
