Hodges 2016 Bilstein Build

[hodge-xj]

Congrats man!

Thanks! I'm beyond excited for everything. Hopefully work picks up steam here heading into the spring. I have tons of things I need to catch up on!

 

[hodge-xj]

So it's been way too long since I updated. First off, I had a baby girl in August so that's become priority.

Truck has 197,500 on it. Spent 7k dealing with a ton of motor work. Things are growing a little long in the tooth so I'm gonna start buying things for a refresh.

Dropping a little lift out of the truck just for convenience sake. Lowered the front down to 22-22.5" hub to fender and am looking at carli rear 1/2" coils to drop the rear while retaining these 28" fox shocks. Rear sits about 2- 2.5" (24-24.5) higher currently and honestly just aesthetically bugs me. I run unloaded 100% of the time now with strollers and stuff in the bed so I don't need the capacity of the gladiator coils. I lifted the front to match initially but the ride suffered to the point I would rather reverse level it.

Otherwise it's just basic nonsense for 200k refresh. UCAs/LCAs, Track Bar, rear arms, sway bushes etc. I still like to burn down access roads etc so I do plan on adding icon 2.5 PBs this year since these foxes just get overwhelmed when you get going. As always I have tons of plans, but reality is who knows.

 

[czervika]

Congrats on the addition!

 

[hodge-xj]

198k Maintenance Notes:

Front/rear Pads
Air/Oil/Fuel Filter
Oil Change

Icons :
+1 turn from factory
23" hub to fender

Rear Gladiator 2" coils:
24.5" hub to fender

Bilstein Coils:
19"/19.25" Free Length.
24" Hub to Fender


Swapping to Bilstein coils today. "Reverse Level" If you wanna label why. Purely aesthetic for running unloaded. With the addition of the baby im driving about 2.5-3 hours after work to pick her up from in-laws. Considering a drop in tire size to 285/70s as well just to pick up some mpgs. Nothing exciting but being an adult never is. Updated measurements will be added later.

 

[hodge-xj]

10mm Old Man Emu Spacer ordered to correct drivers lean. With a full DEF tank (7gals) and a full fuel tank (26gals) I have about 250lbs extra driver side. Of all things this stupid driver side lean drives me crazy.

I also am going to be shopping for a tonneau so I can keep the stroller and things out of the elements. Rough country has an interesting trifold, but admittedly I know nothing about it. Also eyeballing their flares since I never did pull the trigger on replacements and they're cheap, but possibly quality enough to avoid QC/fit issues.....maybe?

Lastly I'll be dropping back to 285 70 series and likely going with Michelin Defenders. These Toyos went from awesome to some of the worst wet tires I've had. It sucks in general but since I'm getting my daughter 3 days a week I need to go with something that I know has a solid reputation for the driving I'll be doing. It's a shame as the toyos are near 1/2 tread from the looks, and still have decent siping but seem to have hardened or something.

No particular order on any of it. Just as funds allow and deals present themselves. Tires are likely gonna be sooner than later.

 

[czervika]

I can highly recommend Smitty M1 flare if you can find them. However they tend to be pricey these days. I think there's one more set on eBay new at $200 if I recall. But they're Tan and you'd have to be willing to repaint. Mine fit perfect right off the bat.

 

[hodge-xj]

I can highly recommend Smitty M1 flare if you can find them. However they tend to be pricey these days. I think there's one more set on eBay new at $200 if I recall. But they're Tan and you'd have to be willing to repaint. Mine fit perfect right off the bat.

I'll check em out!. Paint is alright as I'd hit them with bedliner or something. Still on the fence if im gonna do any at all. My last set really messed up the paint. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[hodge-xj]

@mrack

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

Congrats on your Daughter!

We do not offer RC but if you are interested in any other brands let me know. For a hard tri fold I like BAK MX4 and the Lomax

 

[hodge-xj]

Congrats on your Daughter!

We do not offer RC but if you are interested in any other brands let me know. For a hard tri fold I like BAK MX4 and the Lomax

Thanks Nick! It's the best thing ever. Only downside is I'm currently driving a crap load, but it avoids us needing to use daycare so it's worth it overall. Once I get on a different job site location it will be better but right now I'm buried an hour and fourty five mins in the wrong direction. Lol.

I'll check out those tri folds thanks for the suggestions. My immediate need is tires. These Toyo At3s have transitioned into some of the worst wet tires I've ever drive.

 

[czervika]

I'll check em out!. Paint is alright as I'd hit them with bedliner or something. Still on the fence if im gonna do any at all. My last set really messed up the paint. Thanks for the heads up!

Yeah I'm forever stuck with flares now. Not so much the arch where they rubbed, but where the bolts hit the paint. It's ugly. At least until I pop for flared fenders and bedsides, then it's all moot. However, I feel your pain.

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

Thanks Nick! It's the best thing ever. Only downside is I'm currently driving a crap load, but it avoids us needing to use daycare so it's worth it overall. Once I get on a different job site location it will be better but right now I'm buried an hour and fourty five mins in the wrong direction. Lol.

I'll check out those tri folds thanks for the suggestions. My immediate need is tires. These Toyo At3s have transitioned into some of the worst wet tires I've ever drive.

Daycare can be super expensive so I totally understand that. That is a ton of driving. Try to find some tires that will do what you need to do but weigh a little less. You can gain a little mpg back just by shaving some weight off your rotational mass.

 

[hodge-xj]

Daycare can be super expensive so I totally understand that. That is a ton of driving. Try to find some tires that will do what you need to do but weigh a little less. You can gain a little mpg back just by shaving some weight off your rotational mass.

Yea daycare is bonkers! Ill have much less driving once im on a different jobsite. Murphy's law has me an hour in the exact opposite direction of everything/everyone that's helping us. Not anything to complain about tho! It gives me an excuse to mess with the truck!

Ill be dumping these toyos, dropping to a 70 series Mich- Defender and grabbing a tune for the truck. Figure that should get me back to 25-27 mpg.

 

[hodge-xj]

Yeah I'm forever stuck with flares now. Not so much the arch where they rubbed, but where the bolts hit the paint. It's ugly. At least until I pop for flared fenders and bedsides, then it's all moot. However, I feel your pain.

I remember you mentioning that! Thank god you don't have road salt lol. My truck always looks dirty but I have fluid film or something similar pretty much on everything. I'm bipolar with how I like flares etc, but they'll keep the truck clean and right now that's all I want.

 

[hodge-xj]

199,398 on odo.

tire rotation front to rear. 9mm Front/7mm Rear depth

truck is gonna need some TLC soon. UCAs/LCAs + Rear arms, track bar. I'm sure a fresh suspension or at least rebuild will be in order and God knows what else. This is in addition to CVs again, a tune and tires.

 

[hodge-xj]

Fresh Front Cvs for the 4th time and an extremely overbuilt phone mount.
200k on the odo.

 

[hodge-xj]

So With the front end done im picking away at a few things. Ordered a tonneau cover since my toolbox has a leak I can't find and its wreaking havoc on my tools. Everything is soaked, frozen and rusted to hell. Made a 2x12 pressure treated bed divider so ill be able to keep a few things stowed in crates at the back of the bed and This also allows me to keep bags, strollers etc safe from the rain and eyeballs. The Spare will likely need to go back under the bed but it is what it is for now. Im Looking into the RC paint matched flares as well as bumper options. Full on refresh in the works.

Suspension falls into here this spring/summer as well. Another undecided avenue ill venture down later. Icons have 50k on them so....rebuild or go another route.....hmmmm

Tune will be next, as I need to clean up the way this little 3.0 runs and at 200k I want to get as much life as I can from it after spending 7k on the top end/intake nonsense. I procrastinated this after losing my last tune and the egr killed the intake so I need to rectify that while that's brand new.

I'm still hung up on tires. Some days I insist on being a reasonable adult and getting something better for DD. And others I wake up spicy and wanna get silly. I'm fortunate these are my pressing issues lol.

Looking at cooper xlts in 285/75 or the new falken at4s if I stay with this current size. The 34s have been great blend of reasonable mpg and looks. If the tune turns out to bump me significantly in mpg/power and I get greedy I'm actually eyeballing falken rubitreks in 285/70/17 SL rated. This choice is purely for price at 230/ea and what would be the maximum DD/MPG/DAD-Mode combo. The idiot in me REALLY WANTS the 255/85/17 Baja Boss Ats. I just drive so much it would be purely aesthetic based with no other positives. Second to them is 315s in the cooper At3s. 354s/35s look great but 33s would be mint for DD. Price is frustratingly close on all LT choices so it makes it that much harder.

I don't really do much beyond bomb gravel roads here and there anymore so LT tires are more a safety net vs requirement. Aside from the Rubitreks in SL being 51lbs all these others are within a few lbs either way of 6Olbs each so not sure any of it ends up mattering. The cost on tires is just so ridiculous, except for the rubitreks, that I just haven't really done much more than read. Wet traction being priority #1 and my current aggravation with my toyos has me apprehensive to jump at anything right now.

Overall just slowly putting some money into the truck since its cheaper than replacing it and will kick start me back into being excited on it.....hopefully.

 

[czervika]

Ditto but 35-37's...

My neighbor has the Baja boss on his jeep. Nice tire. But it's not a daily more of a trail bomber so there's that.


On a sidey.. since we've talked about Maxxis.. $184.

Robot or human?

 

[hodge-xj]

Ditto but 35-37's...

My neighbor has the Baja boss on his jeep. Nice tire. But it's not a daily more of a trail bomber so there's that.


On a sidey.. since we've talked about Maxxis.. $184.

Robot or human?

I don't know how you guys find these deals. ALL my personal searches give me prices starting at 206/ea on these. Either way they're in my cart, 796 for 4 shipped. Wtf!

43lbs each too. Granted they spec a touch small at 32.6" and 12/32 to start, but......at that price.......I'm hard pressed to care to be honest. I'm gonna think about it and decide before next year!

 

[hodge-xj]

Well it's been almost a year so I should really update this.

Current setup
Bilstein 4600s
Eibach Front coils
Rear Synergy Gladiator coils
Stock 17" x 7 5 spoke Wheels
285/70/17 Michelin Defender LTX MS2
24.5" rear / 23.5" front hub to fender

Truck needed a bunch of TLC once I got to around 200k. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this prior but the truck needed like 7k in repairs from the dealer for emissions stuff as well as some normal maintenance whilst the cab was off.

Once that was done I took the truck in for an alignment and both the uppers and lowers were cooked. So in an attempt to save some money I went with mevotech TTX series replacements for upper and lowers. Icons needed a rebuild so I pulled them and grabbed a full set of 4600s with eibach level coils out front. The toyo at3s also were at the end of their serviceable life and had become dangerous in the wet. Rims needed some attention as well with rock rash and chipped paint on the "faux lock" ring.

As it sits the icons still need a rebuild and I need to get around to spending some time fixing and painting the wheels. The plan is to get icons rebuilt locally and I'd still like to get some of their 2.5 rears. I'm still hesitant to run them without UCAs considering they are a solid 1" longer than stock struts but haven't seen anyone with real world problems running a stage 1 on road so I might see how the angles look than decide.

Boring nonsense at this point and I pretty much just tinker with it to keep me busy in between house stuff.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.