tcampbe6

I installed some new parts on my 2012 JK this weekend and thought I'd share my thoughts with you guys.

List of new parts:

• Evo D30/44 C Gussets
• Nitro Pound in Sleeves D30/44
• Rock Hard Oil/Tran Pan Skid Plate
• TeraFlex HD Ball Joints
• Fox Racing Steering Stabilizer
• Nitto Trail Grappler M/T 35x12.5r17

I purchased all of these parts except for tires from Northridge 4x4 and included free shipping and 10% off via coupon I found on the web.

The tires I purchased through Discount Tire Direct for $1,316 with free shipping. ($329 per) I did not find anywhere else that could compete and I looked all over the web and locally. Locally they were $40 more a tire.

Off Road Evolution C Gussets

I started with the C gussets. Although I own a Miller 135 welder and can make 2 pieces of metal stick together, I opted to have a local certified welder weld these gussets on for me. I took my jeep in to him at 8am and picked it up at 10am. Cost me $150 which was well worth the piece of mind that I got a good weld. These gussets fit very well out of the box, no modifications were required. I strongly recommend installing these if you can't afford a new axle.. Cheap insurance! Especially with 35's and up. And the sleeves go hand in hand with the gussets.
Attachment 615571

Nitro Pound In Axle Sleeves

I put the two sleeves in the freezer for 3 days thinking that I was going to pound them in with a dead blow.. think again I removed the axle shafts which is a very simple procedure for anyone thinking about attempting this. I then cleaned the axle tubes the best I could with my shop vac and some rags. Be sure not to push anything into your carrier housing. Since my jeep only has 28k miles on it they were still fairly clean. There are some good videos on YouTube on how to clean them even better. https://youtu.be/BOnQ8uLnTOw . This is one I found that gave me the idea of the tool I needed to drive the sleeves in to the axle tubes after failing with the dead blow. With the dead blow I was able to drive the shorter sleeve in about 2 inches. I also tried a 2x4 and larger hammer.. still no good. That's when I went back to my local weld shop and had him build me a driver out of 2 inch pipe by 2 foot long and 4in x 4in 3/8 plate (1/4 inch would be better) with a 2 1/2 x 1/2 inch bolt welded and sticking through one plate. I then rented a bearing race driver kit from Oreillys and purchased 10x 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 in O.D. washers. See pic below. The total cost of the tool was $20 for me. I then used my 16 pound sledge and buddy to hold the driver for me while I beat in the sleeves. Once I had the driver, these sleeves went in with little effort. Most effort was from swinging the 16 pound sledge hammer.
Attachment 615573

Rock Hard Skid Plate

This thing is beefy. I like all the added protection it provides for my front undercarriage. I haven't tested it out yet but I think it's going to hold up just fine. The instructions kind of suck but both front brackets install to the motor mounts through existing holes. I loosely hung the two front brackets first. I then removed the more forward cross member (this can be donated to the scrap bin). Next loosened the 2x rear bolts on the factory T-case skid and removed the front 2x bolts. This allows room for the RH Skid Plate to slide between the cross member and T-case skid plate. To install the new skid plate, I laid on my creeper with the skid plate on my chest. I then slid the rear edge of the skid plate between the cross member and the factory skid. This helped hold the rear edge of the skid plate up while I loosely bolted the front up to the brackets I had installed previously. Before tightening any bolts be sure to loosely install all of the hardware. I then tightened the front first and then the rear. The large cast washers provided did not sit flush on the factory skid plate so I took a grinder and cut off wheel to remove the lips on the factory skid located around the forward 2x bolts. Overall the install was pretty simple and I believe it was money well spent. I will be installing a Fumoto oil drain valve next oil change.


TeraFlex HD Ball Joints

Since I installed the C Gussets and was still running the factory ball joints, I was worried that the heat may have damaged the nylon in the factory joints. Plus it was a good time to install them as I already had the axles out anyways. These are the first ball joints to go in my jeep so I decided to go with the smooth ball joints that TeraFlex sells. They also sell knurled for guys that have changed ball joints multiple times or have used knurled in the past. In my case the smooth worked fine. Be sure the four set screws on the lower ball joints face outward in order to access them. I ran into clearance problems once I reinstalled my axles. The yokes on the would come into contact with the lower ball joint. I had to bust out the grinder again. I grinded just enough to provide about 1/8 inch of clearance.


Nitto Trail Grappler M/Ts

I haven't gone out on the trail yet but I can tell you these tires are damn heavy. 75lbs a piece before mounted on wheels. I can definitely feel the difference in my steering coming from 35 inch duratracs. I'm sure my MPG is going to go down but that's fine by me. I look forward to trying them out.



Hopefully you guys find some useful info in this post. I tried to attach more pics but I must have met my limit.

Jonny K's JK

Thanks for the details! Bookmarking this for later

if you can read this, my Jeep is broken....