🛠️ What did you do to your Jeep 392 today?

Please elaborate if you can
The shocks are too short. I got the black remote reservoir shocks for the 3.5" lift. Before I ordered it, I explained it was a 392 (with the longer bump stops), and 40s. My concern was the shocks would be too short. I was told it would be fine. I got the lift, setting the control arms and bump stops with shocks on and coils out. I ended up with 3 inches of bump stop front and rear to keep the tires from contacting. At full compression (stock bump stop compressed fully in the cup) I've got 3" of shock still exposed. And the reality is the springs will probably never allow full compression. Basically I have 3" of usable up, and 6" down in the front, 4" up and 4" down in the rear. Email them back. Now I get an answer yes longer shocks would fit, but I would only get about an inch more droop in the rear because of the arms binding. That doesn't make sense. They sell the 4.5" lift with the longer shocks, why didn't they sell me the longer shocks when I requested it?Now I have less travel than when the Jeep was stock..

I don't like the rear sway bar set up. I followed instructions and flipped it and added the 1" blocks, attached the stock links. The arms are tilted 45 degrees down. Worse case, the arms invert at full droop taking out the brakes. Best case it is limiting droop. I email MC to see if I need longer links. They say no, on the 392 longer links "contact the frame end." No idea what he is talking about. The sway bar is connected to the axle. It is close to the frame end of the track bar, about a 1/4". Longer links would push it further away from the track bar mount at ride height. No idea what would happen with up travel, I can't visualize it without installing the longer links and cycling the suspension. I assume they know what they are talking about, but at this point I don't have much confidence.

I won't go into the poor instructions, piece meal kits made for various models of Jeeps including JKs, trying to figure out what parts you have to get them installed in the correct order.

I probably wouldn't complain about any of this, except the Jeep drives like shit. This is my 4th lifted Jeep, and rides the worst. Even my 25 yo TJ on a Rubicon Express lift rides better. Which is why I said I am still dialing it in. Basically, when I get above 15mph the Jeep starts bouncing. The wheels were balanced yesterday, besides, in my experience out of balance wheels are worse at 45-55mph, not starting at 15mph and getting worse up to highway speed. I have tried changing the air pressure from 25psi to 30. Changed the settings on the shocks, didn't help. It feels like the springs are too stiff and the front and rear are bouncing off one another.
 
You would have to be running 40’s with the 3 1/2 lift to net 5 inches over all un less you just measure at the trailer hitch.
I gained 6.5" with the lift and tire change. Subtract 2.5" for the gain in height from the tires. Add 1.5" for the XR lift I took off. That means that the 3.5" lift I got netted 5.5" over a stock 392.

I get it. You need a huge lift to fit 40s. I could easily drop the springs 2" and everything would still fit. But that would mean the Jeep would be riding the bump stops like when it was stock. Defeats the point.
 
I gained 6.5" with the lift and tire change. Subtract 2.5" for the gain in height from the tires. Add 1.5" for the XR lift I took off. That means that the 3.5" lift I got netted 5.5" over a stock 392.

I get it. You need a huge lift to fit 40s. I could easily drop the springs 2" and everything would still fit. But that would mean the Jeep would be riding the bump stops like when it was stock. Defeats the point.
I measured everywhere hitch,front and rear door lower hinge bolts (easy spot for measuring) both sides , center of front bumper on the bottom. I also measured the spats all four corners at the highest point. This was done all stock before and after the lift same tires I gained 2 1/2 inches in front and sides 5 at the hitch . I did put two MC shims (washers) under the right rear coil spring .(that fixed the gas tank lean . Put in a large metal storage drawer to carry all tools and equipment. That made the Jeep pretty much level front to back . Didn’t like it so I added MC 4 1/2 coil springs to the rear again with two washers (shims 1/8 inch thick each under the right rear) for the Jlu lean .with all the gear in the Jeep that netted me another 3/4 of an inch more . Then added 35’s got rid of the stock 33’s that netted a solid inch . With ADS shocks on all four corners and ADS hydraulic bump stops up front off road is smooth on the street it handles like a slot car.

I don’t know how you are getting so much more lift with your 3.5 MC kit . We have multiple jlu’s in our club many with the 3.5 lift we all measure the same the only difference we have to take into account is tire size.
 
Add 1.5" for the XR lift I took off.
I believe that when manufactures say a lift is 3.5", it is from a base model stock height. Even if you buy a kit for a Rubicon or a 392 that has a factory lift. You wouldn't add the factory lift height in.
 
Today I installed the rear glass rain gutter, passenger side grab handle, 8 5.11 Molle pouches, got new tires and swapped out the chrome lugs nuts for black. Now I've got to order velcro labels for the pouches.
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I finally installed the KC Cyclones I bought last summer as underhood lights. Took me long enough to do it. 🤣

They’re on magnetic mounts, with a tiny patch of PPF underneath each one.

All wiring is run through the hood itself, coming out the bottom on the driver side, allowing them to be tied nice and neat into the Alpha12 power hub which is in the same area.

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Continuing the mods........
......

Sunpie rotating headlights and fog lights
Body color 20a grille slots
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Sequential turn signals
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Sequential tail lights
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Azuto turn signal stalk extention
Body color door handles and tailgate handle from Distinction Applied
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Rockford Fosgate 1800W audio upgrade
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More mods in the works.........................
added new body color mirror covers......
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I measured everywhere hitch,front and rear door lower hinge bolts (easy spot for measuring) both sides , center of front bumper on the bottom. I also measured the spats all four corners at the highest point. This was done all stock before and after the lift same tires I gained 2 1/2 inches in front and sides 5 at the hitch . I did put two MC shims (washers) under the right rear coil spring .(that fixed the gas tank lean . Put in a large metal storage drawer to carry all tools and equipment. That made the Jeep pretty much level front to back . Didn’t like it so I added MC 4 1/2 coil springs to the rear again with two washers (shims 1/8 inch thick each under the right rear) for the Jlu lean .with all the gear in the Jeep that netted me another 3/4 of an inch more . Then added 35’s got rid of the stock 33’s that netted a solid inch . With ADS shocks on all four corners and ADS hydraulic bump stops up front off road is smooth on the street it handles like a slot car.

I don’t know how you are getting so much more lift with your 3.5 MC kit . We have multiple jlu’s in our club many with the 3.5 lift we all measure the same the only difference we have to take into account is tire size.
I made the same measurements. I gained 6.5", subtracting the larger tire size gives me 4" of lift. I had a XR lift on it of 1.5", which means I netted 5.5" of lift over a stock 392.

The difference is probably weight. I have read the MC lifts gain an inch more than the advertised height. I have aluminum bumpers and skid plates. Spare tire delete. I'm guessing my Jeep weighs about 550lbs less than the standard built 392. 5.5" of lift is not out of the realm of possibility.

I've been thinking about it some more. I have a 30lb bumper on the rear. On my '18 JLUR I had a steel bumper, tire carrier and spare tire that weighed about 280lbs. I think the rear springs are too stiff and not compressing, causing the front and rear to bounce off of each other. I think a call to MC is in order to try and figure this out.
 
Today..... just a waiting game, been waiting for the atlas to come in for install. I don't have the skills/tools necessary for install so the rig was dropped off sat for the installs happening this week.
Atlas, psc and other steering components, sliders, front truss/gusset, ball joint delete
 
added Red Tuning hood struts...........these are the best mod I have added to the Jeep..
Makes no sense to me why the factory could not have added these struts to help deal with View attachment 44562View attachment 44563the heavy hood........................
Was there grinding involved? Thought I read somewhere that a bolt was needing to be shaved down. Also, how is it closing, do you have to reach from the side of the hood to close, just wondering how strong it'll be or if I need to attach a hood strap to reach the upper center to close it.
 
Just a little on the passenger side to clear the strut when the hood closes. And a flatter bolt head on the drivers side where the strut mount to the fender. I'll see if I can find my pix.
 
Was there grinding involved? Thought I read somewhere that a bolt was needing to be shaved down. Also, how is it closing, do you have to reach from the side of the hood to close, just wondering how strong it'll be or if I need to attach a hood strap to reach the upper center to close it.
Yes....there is a small amount of grinding required to the ECU bracket on the passenger side as shown below. I don't have a "before" pic.....
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on the driver's side there is an isolation spacer for one of the a/c lines. I just replaced it with 2 plastic flat washers which provided some vibration reduction and lowered the bolt height just enuff to make it fit ok.

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it is a breeze to open now.....typically will raise on it's own once the safety latch is released. holds it's position without any effort. as for closing, just reach up and pull....it comes right down......IMO these are very stout struts and while they might fade some over time, they work great for this application.

I also got the name wrong of the company selling them. It's Redline Tuning......

P/N 21-20007-02. Specifically for the 392.......
 
Well its winter here so the mods will be kepted to a minimum for now. Just under 500 miles on her. Added a Factor 55 up front, went stubby and added the backing plates on the sides to clean things up and protect the wiring (I rinsed out the salt/crap before bolting the plates.) Summer can't come fast enough.
 

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added Red Tuning hood struts...........these are the best mod I have added to the Jeep..
Makes no sense to me why the factory could not have added these struts to help deal with View attachment 44562View attachment 44563the heavy hood........................

added the Oracle LED reverse lights with some light smoke tint to match the DRLs these lights work great. suggest getting the plug and play harness as it makes the whole install easier and cleaner. Good luck trying to install these with the bumper on......i gave up after a few minutes.
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install instructions say...."use light force to snap light into bumper reflector hole"

What they dont tell you is there is a known issue that the driver's side hole is smaller than the passenger side. and this appears to only be on 392 steel bumpers. Oracle is aware of it, but doesn't bother to put any warning on the paper instructions........

goes wo saying that i used more than "light force" and below was the result. this was after grinding on the housing quite a bit, but not enuff. Called Oracle and had to wrangle to get a replacement. they finally relented because they do know about the issue but do not in fact have any warnings on the instructions.......had to grind off quite a bit of the new one to make it fit.
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added the MOPAR brand cargo mat..... I actually like the fit and finish and engineering of most MOPAR add ons......but this one......not so much. it's a good idea in concept .......not so good in execution. the rubber is very stiff and doesn't bend well. so what happens is every time you fold the rear seats up or down one or more of the plastic retainer tabs pops out and you have to fix it. Once you cut your seat backs for the retainers, there is no going back. the plastic retainers don't look bad, but I'm thinking there is a better mousetrap out there....especially for the price. Also...seems MOPAR has stopped using words on any on there installation instuctions and now all you get is pictures. Pay attention to the direction youre supposed to install the retainers.....once inserted......good luck ever getting it back out w/o breaking it. and as an added bonus.....MOPAR does not sell these retainers separately......that i have found.


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