@WhiteBronze392 Build

[@WhiteBronze392]

Installed the Mopar leather wrapped dash panels today. They compliment the new seats nicely. These have been on my list since page 20 or so of What did you do to your Jeep 392 today I had the option of matching the leather to the seats from Katzkin but decided it would be too much.

 

[mmatthie]

Installed the Mopar leather wrapped dash panels today. They compliment the new seats nicely. These have been on my list since page 20 or so of What did you do to your Jeep 392 today I had the option of matching the leather to the seats from Katzkin but decided it would be too much.View attachment 47873View attachment 47874

Part numbers?

 

[mmatthie]

Part numbers?

Guessing it's this one? https://www.moparonlineparts.com/sku/6ac241k5aa-6ac261k5ad.html

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

Guessing it's this one? https://www.moparonlineparts.com/sku/6ac241k5aa-6ac261k5ad.html

Yep that’s them

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

Pulled off the rear GR tube fenders as I am trying to get them modified a bit and installed the GR fender delete plates in the mean time. Also plan on using the forklift at the shop while they are off to see how much I need to cut the body then cut the fenders to match

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

The CV in the front driveshaft was toast and I was getting vibration so after some debate between Tom Woods and Adams I ended up going Adams as recommended by @jeepguru who also got me a great deal on both front and rear.

Install wasn’t bad I watched a bunch of videos first. I did have to remove the TCASE Artec skid to access which was relatively simple.

The part I was unsure of was swapping the pinion yoke on the rear and I managed to screw it up even though I thought I was careful. When I went for a test drive I noticed a whine when I let off the gas from the rear so I must have gotten it too tight. Ron who owns the shop that did the gears and all the other stuff recently said that was probably the case so I’ve got to take it to him to readjust. I probably should have just let him do it in the first place but decided to give it a try

I have not been able to test to see if it took care of the vibration from the front or if I’m gonna need to adjust the caster. I am leaning toward installing the FAD like @EBYCREEK and wiring it to one of my free Aux switches to truly have 2WD

 

[HMB392]

As I research for a future axle swap I keep coming across a dilemma and was looking for input. Air locker or E locker? I read the disclaimer from Currie so got me wondering

Electric Locker & Wiring Notice

Using the factory Rubicon Locker switch with an aftermarket wiring harness adapter does not supply adequate voltage to operate the electric locker and will void the locker warranty.

What’s the work around or is this just CYA?

I have a twin ARB would air lockers make more sense? New territory for me but want to be informed what the best route.

Curious about your shortlist for the future axle swap? I've been looking at Fusion (60/ shaved 14 bolt), Currie (Platinum 70's) and Dynatrac (60/80). I'm leaning towards air lockers over e-lockers despite the installation complexity. I've had good luck with them on previous Jeeps and have read that Eaton e-lockers can be slow to engage, briefly disengage when moving between forward and reverse and are not quite as durable as ARB's.

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

Curious about your shortlist for the future axle swap? I've been looking at Fusion (60/ shaved 14 bolt), Currie (Platinum 70's) and Dynatrac (60/80). I'm leaning towards air lockers over e-lockers despite the installation complexity. I've had good luck with them on previous Jeeps and have read that Eaton e-lockers can be slow to engage, briefly disengage when moving between forward and reverse and are not quite as durable as ARB's.

I’m most interested in Currie Extreme 60 but also reading about Spicer Ultimate 60s have not researched much on the Dynatrac 60/80 or Kingpin setup but will. The Currie platinums were my original top choice but from what I see with them being targeted at the 392 to keep the AWD as they have no locking hubs as shown and would need to be swapped. Not to mention price now MSRP $27k! when I do make the swap I intend to go traditional 2WD with the sport TCASE Frankenstein

I too like the “idea” of ARB air lockers and found some cool switches and stuff to make it look OEM but have not even scratched the surface on pros and cons.

I tend to get something in my head research it for a long time then bam take the plunge (Coilovers) If the stars align it will probably be first of next year on axles.

Please keep this discussion going as I am interested to know what you find.

Edit: when I was at the shop today getting the rear end redone I ask the owner (the guy who will be doing the swap) about electric or air when I order axles. He said electric without question and only do air if you don’t already have an electric setup.

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

I couldn’t find anyone to modify the rear GR flares how I wanted so decided to try the Nemesis flares. I love the look and finish of the GR but after swapping to 40’s I wanted to try more minimal. I like both looks it’s just different

Last year when I went through this process and ended up ordering the GR I had reached out to them and the owner got back to me and assured me that the bare aluminum finish was actually “finished” I can attest yes they are. It is a little different finish than the GR but that’s because of materials used. I have no problem leaving them bare as they look great but I may paint match in the future.

Install was a pretty simple since I already had all of the Rivnuts installed and just needed to add a few. I still need to drill a hole for the blinker/marker light. The come with a bracket that hangs down a bit but I’m gonna flush mount them.

They are also designed to match up to the inners to allow quite a bit of cutting as you can see for tire clearance which I need to find someone to do other than me lol

Sorry about the garage pics it was dark when I finished

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

Finally getting my screw up corrected

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

I swapped out the amber turn/marker lights I had been using with the clear /amber lights included with the flares.

I also used a cut off wheel to remove the included light mounting tab as it was right where I wanted the light and drilled a 3/4 hole and done! Looks much better than the bracket that lets the light hang under the flare.

 

[HMB392]

I’m most interested in Currie Extreme 60 but also reading about Spicer Ultimate 60s have not researched much on the Dynatrac 60/80 or Kingpin setup but will. The Currie platinums were my original top choice but from what I see with them being targeted at the 392 to keep the AWD as they have no locking hubs as shown and would need to be swapped. Not to mention price now MSRP $27k! when I do make the swap I intend to go traditional 2WD with the sport TCASE Frankenstein

I too like the “idea” of ARB air lockers and found some cool switches and stuff to make it look OEM but have not even scratched the surface on pros and cons.

I tend to get something in my head research it for a long time then bam take the plunge (Coilovers) If the stars align it will probably be first of next year on axles.

Please keep this discussion going as I am interested to know what you find.

Edit: when I was at the shop today getting the rear end redone I ask the owner (the guy who will be doing the swap) about electric or air when I order axles. He said electric without question and only do air if you don’t already have an electric setup.

My timing on axles is similar and I'm just starting to do more serious evaluation of the various options.

You're right, the Platinums are optimized for the factory 392 t-case and carry a Currie price premium. They also give up some strength to gain clearance with their rear end because of the high pinion design but you do have that larger 10.5" ring gear of the Dana 70 to compensate.

I haven't made a decision on the t-case yet but have seen some reports of early failures/replacements. Avoiding the uplift for RCVs would cover much of the cost of a t-case upgrade.

I've read that a Dana 60 rear end may not be optimal with 40's and a 392 so I'd likely want something bigger (14B or better) for peace of mind since there isn't much of a price premium. I'm probably leaning towards Fusion all things considered. Their Super60/14B option comes with kingpins, HD steering and big calipers with rotors (Currie uses factory calipers). You can opt for RCVs or standard joints and custom suspension brackets as needed. Pricing is fair (compared to leading alternatives at least) and the 14B offers better ground clearance and significantly lighter weight than the Dana 80 option with massive strength. No e-lockers with the 14B. If that's a consideration, you'd have to go with a Dana 80 instead.

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

My timing on axles is similar and I'm just starting to do more serious evaluation of the various options.

You're right, the Platinums are optimized for the factory 392 t-case and carry a Currie price premium. They also give up some strength to gain clearance with their rear end because of the high pinion design but you do have that larger 10.5" ring gear of the Dana 70 to compensate.

I haven't made a decision on the t-case yet but have seen some reports of early failures/replacements. Avoiding the uplift for RCVs would cover much of the cost of a t-case upgrade.

I've read that a Dana 60 rear end may not be optimal with 40's and a 392 so I'd likely want something bigger (14B or better) for peace of mind since there isn't much of a price premium. I'm probably leaning towards Fusion all things considered. Their Super60/14B option comes with kingpins, HD steering and big calipers with rotors (Currie uses factory calipers). You can opt for RCVs or standard joints and custom suspension brackets as needed. Pricing is fair (compared to leading alternatives at least) and the 14B offers better ground clearance and significantly lighter weight than the Dana 80 option with massive strength. No e-lockers with the 14B. If that's a consideration, you'd have to go with a Dana 80 instead.

Thank you for the information on the Kingpin option. I will definitely look into them. I had not read anything about the 392 and dana 80 rear with 40's I was thinking and 80 was more for 42's and up which who knows I may end up on 42's some day lol.

This definitely looks interesting

Fusion Elite Kingpin 60 | Elite 80 - 40 Spline for Jeep Wrangler JL

Jeep Wrangler JL Axle Assemblies | Fusion Elite Kingpin 60 Front Axle Assembly and Fusion Elite 80 40 spline Rear Axle Assembly.100% bolt-in ready with all Gladiator brackets and OE quality ABS. Whether you're a weekend warrior or off-road racer, these axles provide the performance you need to...

fusion4x4.com

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

I really like the look of the Nemesis flares but I am considering having them powder coated bright white just to change things up not sure about the bumpers. I may also decide to go with RSE steps (as much as that scares me) as the added height makes getting in and out with the little ones challenging View attachment 48269View attachment 48270

 

[Excaliburitto]

I really like the look of the Nemesis flares but I am considering having them powder coated bright white just to change things up not sure about the bumpers. I may also decide to go with RSE steps (as much as that scares me) as the added height makes getting in and out with the little ones challenging View attachment 48269View attachment 48270View attachment 48276

Why would the RSE steps scare you. Just get the additional armor for them and they should hold-up to 99% of what's out there.

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

Why would the RSE steps scare you. Just get the additional armor for them and they should hold-up to 99% of what's out there.

Not so much the armor part but mechanical electrical part and issues of being stuck up or down lol. I know it’s few and far between but I tend be lucky that way

 

[Excaliburitto]

Hey, we have the courage of taking a Jeep made by Stellantis off-road, so adventure and risk taking must be in our blood

 

[guruman]

Not so much the armor part but mechanical electrical part and issues of being stuck up or down lol. I know it’s few and far between but I tend be lucky that way

I had a set on my JK for about 10 years. The gas shock/spring did eventually fail and had to be replaced with the new and improved spring mechanism. Occasionally they would be sluggish and/or not retract, but a little lubrication always straightened that out.

As for being stuck up or down. Stuck up is not a big deal, as you can always just get a running start and jump in, no different than not having steps. Being stuck in the down position, especially if you were off in the rocks might be a bigger deal, but the mechanism is such that Think you could just push them up by hand, and do some creative zip tying to keep them out of the way.

If you get the doorless switch kit, you can run them manually then power them off in the up position, then just turn them back on when you hit the pavement.

I've been running them on my 20a since it was barely new, 2 years now. No issues, and if there are any issues, I'd expect RSE to be helpful as they have been in the past.

The extra skins make them really tough.

They are a bit of a pain to install though.

 

[Excaliburitto]

Get an induction heater bolt removal tool to loosen the notorious body bolts. Use a floor jack to balance and lift each step slider. This is a one person install job. Same for the armor.

I think that the latest version of the steps has a more reliable mechanism.

For me the only problem was due to door magnets misalignment. I wish RSE would use the Jeep’s CAN bus to read door closing, like AMP does, but they use magnetic reed sensors instead.

 

[@WhiteBronze392]

I had a set on my JK for about 10 years. The gas shock/spring did eventually fail and had to be replaced with the new and improved spring mechanism. Occasionally they would be sluggish and/or not retract, but a little lubrication always straightened that out.

As for being stuck up or down. Stuck up is not a big deal, as you can always just get a running start and jump in, no different than not having steps. Being stuck in the down position, especially if you were off in the rocks might be a bigger deal, but the mechanism is such that Think you could just push them up by hand, and do some creative zip tying to keep them out of the way.

If you get the doorless switch kit, you can run them manually then power them off in the up position, then just turn them back on when you hit the pavement.

I've been running them on my 20a since it was barely new, 2 years now. No issues, and if there are any issues, I'd expect RSE to be helpful as they have been in the past.

The extra skins make them really tough.

They are a bit of a pain to install though.

Thank You for the feedback back. I was looking to see if I could figure out how I can tie them to them to a AUX switch to turn them off when off road the doors off kit may be the option but I never have doors off , only half doors so would need another set of magnets. The place where the half door switch is shown to mount is occupied by my ARB IAT fittings.

I have see a few running around here and at jeep beach with them down while driving lol.