Silver Bullet 2017 JKU

arcjeeper

New Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2022
Messages
12
Location
Castle Rock, Colo
Well I bought Silver Bullet in Jul of '17. I bought a no frills Sport model instead of the Rubicon. Seriously, no frills, I don't even have power locks/windows. My reasoning was most of the stuff I pay extra for on the Rubicon I would either be taking it off when doing a lift, or I just didn't care. I figured I saved myself at least $10K by going this route.

Well life happened and 5 years later I am finally pulling the trigger, no pun intended. Here's the plan so far:

Metalcloak 3.5" game-changer suspension w/ 6Pak shocks
Patagonia M/T 38X13.5R17
Ion 171 Matte Black 17X9 alloy wheels
Replacing the front Dana 30 axle w/ a Dana 44 Ultimate
Hooke Road Tubular Fender Flares
Smittybilt Pivot HD Tire Carrier

After all the above is done, here's my plans for the cosmetic changes slowly over time:

Magnaflow Overland Exhaust
Rugged Ridge Arcus Stubby Front bumper and Spartacus Rear
JW Speaker front and rear lights
Winch (I have no idea what to get)
Rock Sliders
Air scoop Hood
Front shark grill

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Sounds like some decent plans. A few things;

What is your ratio? With 38” you will most likely need to change the gearing to have decent performance.
You’ll need either correction brackets or adjustable control arms.
I believe with the 3.5” lift you might need a new front driveshaft, not sure. If not some minor exhaust mod’s would be needed.
Pretty sure you will need either spacers, or different wheels for the correct offset.
 
Nice! I have the 3.5” gamechanger and love it. Keep us updated! Milestars we’re great off-road except snowy conditions but wore out so quickly 25k and 24k (I ran two sets in the 38”) and their later life got a lot of vibration from the lugs under 20mph.
 
Sounds like some decent plans. A few things;

What is your ratio? With 38” you will most likely need to change the gearing to have decent performance.
You’ll need either correction brackets or adjustable control arms.
I believe with the 3.5” lift you might need a new front driveshaft, not sure. If not some minor exhaust mod’s would be needed.
Pretty sure you will need either spacers, or different wheels for the correct offset.
Thanks Danarch

I am re-gearing to 4.88. Thankfully I only have to re-gear my rear axle since I bought the Dana 44 Ultimate already with 4.88 gears.

The lift kit comes with adjustable control arms.

The lift kit also comes with exhaust spacers, that will solve my driveshaft problem until I am ready to upgrade.

My wheels are a 4.5" backspace. From everything I've read that should be good. If not I'll get some spacers.
 
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Thanks Danarch

I am re-gearing to 4.88. Thankfully I only have to re-gear my rear axle since I bought the Dana 44 Ultimate already with 4.88 gears.

The lift kit comes with adjustable control arms.

The lift kit also comes with exhaust spacers, that will solve my driveshaft problem until I am ready to upgrade.

My wheels are a 4.5" backspace. From everything I've read that should be good. If not I'll get some spacers.
I have 1.5” spyder spacers and 4.5” backspace. Didn’t clear for me. I have flat fenders too.
 
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Well I bought Silver Bullet in Jul of '17. I bought a no frills Sport model instead of the Rubicon. Seriously, no frills, I don't even have power locks/windows. My reasoning was most of the stuff I pay extra for on the Rubicon I would either be taking it off when doing a lift, or I just didn't care. I figured I saved myself at least $10K by going this route.

Well life happened and 5 years later I am finally pulling the trigger, no pun intended. Here's the plan so far:

Metalcloak 3.5" game-changer suspension w/ 6Pak shocks
Patagonia M/T 38X13.5R17
Ion 171 Matte Black 17X9 alloy wheels
Replacing the front Dana 30 axle w/ a Dana 44 Ultimate
Hooke Road Tubular Fender Flares
Smittybilt Pivot HD Tire Carrier

After all the above is done, here's my plans for the cosmetic changes slowly over time:

Magnaflow Overland Exhaust
Rugged Ridge Arcus Stubby Front bumper and Spartacus Rear
JW Speaker front and rear lights
Winch (I have no idea what to get)
Rock Sliders
Air scoop Hood
Front shark grill

View attachment 121064

View attachment 121065
Nice Ride I agree with your plan . Once a guy gets into wheeling and modding it s an extensive list . Many Rubicon owners end up replacing Just about everything except transfer case .
 
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Them shocks are tits. What if you raise it and it won't fit outta the carpot? jkjk, pun intended; you could always put small tires on it to get in & out. Them shocks cray though.
 
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Them shocks are tits. What if you raise it and it won't fit outta the carpot? jkjk, pun intended; you could always put small tires on it to get in & out. Them shocks cray though.
Lol. When we had our house built, specifically had them do a 9ft garage. After the lift, still room for a rooftop rack if I want.
 
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Man I've been too busy! Completed the suspension upgrades end of June. Since then, been trying to diagnose some death wobble and alignment issues. Anyways, here's a pic! I love the height. Love the look.

View attachment 122154

Looking really good with 3.5 " Metal Cloak Game Changer.
You went with MC track bar so I would assume wobble is probably worn
ends in either drag link or tie rod.
Being 3.5 lift will you also have to do a drag link flip? Or is geometry still
good ?
 
Looking really good with 3.5 " Metal Cloak Game Changer.
You went with MC track bar so I would assume wobble is probably worn
ends in either drag link or tie rod.
Being 3.5 lift will you also have to do a drag link flip? Or is geometry still
good ?
Before I was complete with the suspension upgrade, I also upgraded to the MC steering linkage (drag link and tie rod). Literally everything up front is brand new. So that's why I'm thinking the wobble has to be because of the ball joints just not being beefy enough.
Can I just take my current tie rod and flip it to the top of the knuckle? I haven't noticed any bump steer, so I don't think I need to do that. The track bar (axle mount) and the drag link (knuckle mount) seem to be in parallel, or close enough. But that shouldn't contribute to any wobble, right?

PXL_20220907_141404103.jpg


PXL_20220907_141356149.jpg
 
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Before I was complete with the suspension upgrade, I also upgraded to the MC steering linkage (drag link and tie rod). Literally everything up front is brand new. So that's why I'm thinking the wobble has to be because of the ball joints just not being beefy enough.
Can I just take my current tie rod and flip it to the top of the knuckle? I haven't noticed any bump steer, so I don't think I need to do that. The track bar (axle mount) and the drag link (knuckle mount) seem to be in parallel, or close enough. But that shouldn't contribute to any wobble, right?

View attachment 122167

View attachment 122168
Ok wasn’t aware you already replaced tie and drag . Looking at pics your drag link & track bar look bang on parallel so don’t think that’s an issue either .
Possibly got a bad ball joint but I’ve never heard of ball joints not being beefy enough TBH . If your ball joints are the adjustable type . Possibly wasn’t adjusted correctly
Before I got my Jeep did a ton of research on the suspension and lifts etc . You have good gear .
Castor or toe could be the issue . But generally DW is linked to something being loose or worn . Everything is new .
First thing I world do is double check torque on everything up front including the new shocks .
It all checks out next I would bring to alignment shop .
Your looking for 4,5 ish degrees of Castor .
Once that all checks out maybe steering box issue or one of the end joints is faulty

Here are 3 utube links to diagnose DW . Very informative .

.




Keep us updated . Good luck man . Hopefully nothing to major .
 
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Here's my alignment info. I plan on correcting the camber issue with shims (jeep pulls to the right). Another member mentioned to me in another thread that my castor is too positive. Two offroad shops in my area both said they thought my caster was fine. Wouldn't changing my caster less positive make wobble more likely?

PXL_20220907_225933070.jpg
 
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Sent a response to your other thread . Ball Joint delete . So if anyone is having same issues
will be easier for them to find or stubble across .
 
What is your caster? I was reading yesterday on another thread regarding a wobble on a new front end and I think the owner was at 6.5, which is way too much. If you keep it around 4 to 4.5, try that.