Ryan: I'm Ryan from extremeterrain.com, and in this episode of "Throttle Out," I have
a couple of friends here with me.
This is Ed and James.
Ed was actually the winner of our $6,000 sweepstakes on the website back in May.
He won himself a boatload of parts.
Congratulations, Ed.
Ed: Thank you.
Ryan: And he was nice enough to give them to James, his nephew.
So James is getting a little bit of a shopping spree for his Jeep, which is what you see
behind us here.
It is a great looking Jeep.
Can you tell us a little bit about what's done to it so far?
James: Yeah.
Right now, I just have some upgraded headlights and fog lights, and I'm riding a 32-inch tire.
But besides that, it's stock.
Ryan: Stock with those bigger tires.
It actually gives it a really cool look.
I dig it.
It's pretty rust-free, it's a great looking Jeep, and a great Jeep to start a build on.
So now that you have a little bit of money, what are you gonna do to it?
James: Definitely some new rims and a lift kit.
I gotta keep these tires from rubbing because right now I can hardly turn.
New soft top, some new bumpers, a winch, and an air compressor as well.
Ryan: Well, we have a big pile of parts staring at us from the corner over here.
We're gonna start turning some wrenches and then definitely get out on the trail.
Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel.
You can check out other great builds like this and other great Jeep content.
But for now, time to start turning some wrenches.
Let's get to it.
So we do have a couple more things left to do on James' Jeep, I wanna wait until we get
this thing on the ground to make a couple of adjustments on the sway bar end links as
well as the track bars.
But for the most part, the lift kit is completely installed, and that is the biggest piece of
what James did with those winnings.
So what James decided to go with was the Rough Country two and a half inch X-series lift
kit.
And that kit is going to be very complete, including all eight adjustable control arms,
as well as an adjustable track bar.
Those control arms are going to allow you to set your caster and pinion angles front
and rear, the track bar is going to allow you to center the axle, so it is going to
be a more complete kit than Rough Country's standard two and a half inch lift kit.
This thing is going to have a lot of components that make it work really, really well off-road,
so I cannot wait to get it out and actually hit the trails with it.
Now, even though James is going up with the lift, he is gonna stick with the 32 by 11.50
tires that he already had on the Jeep.
They were a little bit too big for that stock suspension.
If he tried to go off-road, he'd have a lot of rubbing.
With this two and a half inch lift, 32-inch tire is going to be just right.
Now, of course, with two and a half inches of lift, you could always go with a smaller
tire, a 30, a 31, even smaller than that if you wanted to, however, you're gonna have
some pretty big wheel arch openings and it might look a little bit funny.
Of course, going up from a 32 is not recommended, and squeezing a 33 under here you could probably
do if you're staying on the road, but certainly not a 35-inch tire with two and a half inches
of lift.
That's just going to be way too big.
Now, even though James is going with the same tires on this Jeep, he's gonna be changing
out the wheels, and for a very good reason.
He was running those 32 by 11.50 tires on a stock wheel with, of course, stock backspacing.
And when he's moving around in parking lots or in tight spaces like here in the shop,
we had a ton of rubbing.
The tires were rubbing on the sway bars, on the control arms, on the frame.
Pretty much anywhere you could have a tire rub, these were rubbing.
So by swapping out to a set of Mammoth wheels, you're going to get 3.7 inches of backspacing,
which is gonna push that wheel and tire away from the Jeep just enough that you're not
going to have any clearance issues.
I cannot wait to see what improvements this makes on this Jeep when we actually get it
out on the trail.
So the next big upgrade James made on his Jeep was to swap out the front bumper and
also add a winch.
And up here he went with the Barricade Trail Force HD front bumper, which in my opinion
is an excellent choice.
It's not gonna be an over the top, flashy bumper, but it is going to have a lot of functionality
that he's definitely gonna be able to use now that he's taking his Jeep off-road more.
One thing it has is this bull bar up top with a couple of leg mount tabs.
That's going to allow him to reuse his factory fog lights that he already had on the Jeep.
It's also going to have a couple of D-ring recovery points so you can attach a snatch
strap, a toe strap, whatever you might need to get yourself out of a tough spot.
Now, moreover, as far as recovery goes, you have a spot to mount a winch right in the
center here, without the need for any additional hardware.
This is a winch-ready bumper, just bolt your winch right up to it.
And for that, James went with the Smittybilt X20 Winch, which is a new line from Smittybilt.
This is going to be a waterproof winch solenoid box, so he can dunk it under water, get it
muddy, not have to worry about the thing quitting on him.
It's also going to be a wireless winch, which allows you to get far away from the winch,
get yourself in any position you might need to, keep an eye on your rigging, winch from
inside the vehicle.
You have a lot of options without having to worry about dragging that wired lead around.
And finally, this is a synthetic line, which in my opinion, is always a great upgrade if
you can afford it on your winch.
It's going to be a lot easier to use and also a lot safer.
But he did not leave the back untouched.
Back here, he went with the Smittybilt XRC Rear Bumper.
Now, for the time being, James just has the rear bumper on this Jeep, however, this is
upgradeable.
You can always bolt one of Smittybilt's XRC Tire Carriers on here and get the spare tire
off the factory location.
Being that he's only running a 32-inch tire, having it on this factory mount is gonna be
just fine for now.
This is going to be functional for us off-road.
Of course, you're gonna have a couple of D-ring mounts here.
Just some additional recovery points if we do end up getting hung up on something.
It's gonna have a two-inch receiver in the center that is going to be tow rated, so you
can do a little bit of towing.
Not that a TJ is ever going to be a tow horse, but this will be able to move around a small
trailer for you.
And it also does have a little bit of a drop down in the center here, so you can mount
a larger tire, for instance, James' 32-inch tire, in the factory location and not have
to worry about having any clearance issues between the tire and the rear bumper.
So a ton of function built into both the front and the rear bumper, and the winch on this
Jeep.
This is definitely going to perform way better off-road.
For the side of his Jeep, James chose to install these RedRock 4x4 three-inch round sidesteps,
and these are gonna help James and his passengers get in and out of his now taller TJ.
And they're also going to provide some very light protection against brush on the trail,
door dings on the road.
But again, this is not going to be hardcore armor.
If you end up dropping the Jeep off a ledge onto a rock or a stump, do not expect these
to protect against any sort of damage to this rocker area.
Now up here, we have a set of Bushwacker Trail Armor rocker guards, and this is going to
look almost like the factory Rubicon rock sliders.
It has that diamond plate texture in it, but this is a plastic piece.
What that means is it keeps the cost down considerably, it's a very easy install, it's
gonna add some style, and it also has some function.
So when you're stepping on your new side step here, the toe of your boot's gonna be hitting
this rocker, scratching it up.
Now you have that plastic to protect it.
The next part that we installed you see right up here, the RedRock 4x4 Flat Style Fender
Flares.
Now, on a TJ, a flat style flare is more of an aesthetic item than it is a functional
item, even though it does provide a little bit more up travel before the tire gets into
the fender flare.
So you have a larger opening here, makes it look like you even have more lift than you
do, and these are gonna be a little bit wider as well than those factory flares were, giving
you some additional coverage.
This has a built-in LED turn signal marker light up here, so it's a very complete setup.
And in my opinion, they really finish off the look of the Jeep, especially compared
to James' old, faded out, factory flares.
Now, speaking of the additional tire coverage that you get, we finally got our wheel and
tire package back from mount and balance, so these are the actual wheels and tires that
are gonna be on James' Jeep.
Before, we just had 'em rolling around on a set that we had, just to continue working
on this thing.
And because of the backspacing that we talked about before, the wheel tire package that's
out further, these are still gonna provide some coverage, so you're not gonna have a
bunch of junk flinging up from the tires onto the side of the Jeep.
And if you live in an area where you need full tire coverage in order to be legal, like
we do, these have you covered there as well.
We're just finishing up the install of James' ARB High Output Air Compressor.
We have a couple of wires to tie up out of the way, but other than that, this thing is
ready to go.
Now, James wanted this air compressor because it's going to help him air up his tires when
he's done with the day of wheeling.
Instead of having to go to the local gas station and pump quarters into a compressor, he's
gonna be able to do it right here, self-contained, with his vehicle.
This is gonna put out a little over 2.3 CFM, air up those 32s at a fairly reasonable rate.
Now, the last piece that we already have installed on his Jeep is what you see up here, and this
is a Bestop Trektop NX.
Of course, this is a spice top, as opposed to the factory top James had which was black.
And I really like the contrast that the spice gives with the black everything else.
It really breaks it up nicely.
Now, he got this top for a couple of different reasons.
One, the factory top was starting to look a little bit worn.
But even more than that, the plastic windows were scratched beyond repair.
You couldn't see a thing outta the top, day or night, so this is going to be a huge upgrade
for him.
Now, for those of you that don't know, the Bestop Trektop NX is a little bit different
from a factory top.
It's going to give you that slant back, that fast back styling, and it's going to have
a feature almost like the Sunrider feature on the newer JKs, where this front portion
of the top will flip back very easily.
However, it's not going to fold completely into the trunk like a factory top, so there's
a little bit of give and take there.
James likes this style, he likes the color, and he likes the fact that he's gonna have
some windows that he can actually see through now.
So we got that top on there.
The last thing we have to do is throw a couple of Husky Floor Liners in this thing, help
to keep the carpet a little bit cleaner when we're out on the trails.
And we are going to be completely buttoned up.
I can't wait to get this thing outta the shop, get it up to the trail where we're gonna meet
James, show him his Jeep for the first time, and then take him out on the trail so he can
actually see how this thing handles with all of the new parts.
James: I can't wait, I'm so, so excited.
Oh wow.
That looks so good.
I can't believe that's mine, honestly.
It looks so different.
Ed: This is...
James: Whoa.
Ed: ...nice.
And that top.
Right...you made the right choice.
That's a great color.
James: Look how tall it is.
Ryan: So there it is, James.
What do you think?
A little different than when you gave it to us, huh?
James: It looks so good.
I can't wait to drive it.
Ryan: It drives awesome.
The lift kit, it felt really good coming up here.
Obviously, we only came over that little hill there, but it feels like it's really gonna
work out well for you.
I don't know if you noticed coming around the corner, no more rubbing, which I know
James: I noticed that.
Ryan: ...what you wanted to get rid of.
James: I'm so excited.
Ryan: What do you think about the way it looks?
James: I like it a lot.
Ed: I think it looks perfect.
Yeah, this is great.
James: It looks so aggressive.
Ryan: Especially with the flat fenders, it really opens up the wheel wells a little bit.
I think that that was a great choice as well.
The side steps make it a little bit easier to get in and out of the thing, now that it
is lifted up.
The top really changes the look of the thing too.
What do you think?
James: I love the top.
Ed: I think that color looks perfect.
Ryan: A lotta really good choices, a really nice build list.
I think it came together awesome.
I'm excited that you're excited, and to finally hit the trails with it.
Ed: I'm glad I entered that contest.
James: Yeah, me too.
Thank you.
Ryan: I think we all are.
So James, finally got this thing out on the trail with the new lift kit.
How does it feel?
James: It feels great.
I love the extra clearance.
I'm really excited to see what I can do with it.
Ryan: Yeah, it's gonna be a lot more capable off-road, even with just the two and a half
inches of lift.
It might not seem like a lot, but it is gonna be a huge increase.
You're gonna have greater ground clearance when you're going over obstacles, and you're
gonna be able to articulate a lot more with those 32s without rubbing.
This thing's gonna be great on the trail.
If you were to compare it to your stock suspension, how that feels, does this feel about the same,
does it feel like it's a little stiffer?
What do you think?
James: I did a little off-roading with the stock suspension that I had and, I mean, I
always had...the wheel was really jerking my hand around.
This feels a little more tuned.
Even on the road, I would, you know, certain turns, if there was a dip in the road and
I was turning at the same time, I would actually hit the top of the fender.
Ryan: And now we hit what was pretty much just a dirt road.
We're gonna give this thing a little bit more of a test.
There's a little bit of a washout on the right-hand side here, a little bit of a rock.
Give the suspension just a little bit of a flex.
Nothing crazy, but a little bit more than what we did back there.
Let's see how it handles it.
James: Ah, that is cool.
Ryan: There it is.
James: That's awesome.
Ed: Couldn't have done that with the old.
James: No, definitely not.
Ryan: No, you probably woulda had a little bit of rubbing with the 32s and the stock
suspension.
But this handled it really well.
James: I agree.
Ryan: And the other nice thing about a lift kit like this one is it's complete enough,
you put it on, you can go wheeling like we're doing today.
If you do end up going with a taller spring and shocks, you can leave the control arms
in place and you have the adjustability to set your pinion angle and your caster angle
and get everything reset without having to change those.
So it is a really good building block as well, and a good starter lift.
And this time there's gonna be a little bit more of an obstacle to go over, flex the suspension
out a little bit more.
Still nothing crazy, but get a little bit more of a feel for it.
Kinda building, building up one after the other.
James: Oh man.
I guess that was my bumper.
Ryan: Yeah.
That's what that's there for.
So we're just about wrapped up for the day.
Had an awesome day out on the trail.
Really happy with the way your Jeep performed.
How did you feel about it?
James: I felt great about it.
It's really overperformed anything that it's done in the past.
Really excited about the mods.
Thank you guys again.
Super excited about it.
Ed: I just wanna say thank you to everybody at ExtremeTerrain for allowing me to give
this to James and, I mean, and for doing such a great job on.
I'm beyond words how good it looks.
Thank you.
Ryan: Thank you for letting us work on the Jeep, for letting us be part of the build,
and come out here wheeling with you for the first time.
Had an awesome time.
So congratulations, Ed, again, on winning the sweepstakes, and James, for having such
an awesome uncle that helped you out building your Jeep.
Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel to check out other great builds like this
one, and other great Jeep content, right here at extremeterrain.com.