Mini Seats
In your M-715 buildup, "M-Truck To Moab, Part II: Seating And Safety," who makes the smaller grey child seat you used? Where can I buy them?
Robin Randolph
Raleigh, North Carolina
Those are the "Race Trim" line by Empi, empius.com. They're more common with the VW and sandrail crowd, but I've found them to be a very well-built product and my kids like 'em.
JK Shaft Play
I just got done reading "Shafted," (May '09) in which you guys needed to replace the driveshaft because of a 4-inch lift. I will be putting a 3-inch lift on my JK. Will I need to make this change also, and do you know what those driveshafts cost?
Melissa Schieffer
via e-mail
Cappa replies: "I'd say you'll be okay for a while if you have a four-door, but not the two-door. I think it's mostly the suspension droop that will kill the boot on the T-case end with a 3- to 4-inch lift. Road-running just speeds up the wear afterward. Either way, you should add at least a rear driveshaft and cam bolts or adjustable upper arms to the shopping list when purchasing a lift of 3 inches or more to any JK. Call the manufacturers for current up-to-date pricing."
Fortune of Soldier
My husband is an infantry Marine in Afghanistan right now. Even when he is there the only thing he'll read is y'alls magazine. He drives a Jeep Rubicon and I think it's one of his main motivations for getting back here stateside! Just to come home and hit the trails. I really wanted to do something special for him and his Jeep. I was wondering if you had any suggestions for something I could do for him. He will be in Afghanistan until the summer, unfortunately, and I feel like every little positive thing helps him everyday to keep motivated. Thank you so much for making a kick-ass magazine that my husband loves.
Meagen Mitchamore
Hurst, Texas
For starters, please pass along our very sincere thanks to your husband. We correspond with a lot of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and realize what a tough job they have-especially during the down time. It seems like if they're not fighting insurgents, they're fighting boredom. I'm glad he's got this kind of support from home.
Thankfully, Rubicons are pretty well set up from the factory, so they only need minor tweaking to be a very competent off-road machine. I'll assume it's stock and will lay out a nice little setup that won't kill you with cost and that will allow the fitment of 33s:
Rubicon Express PN RE7030 2-inch budget lift kit; includes front and rear coil spring spacers and new longer shocks for about $239.95 (rubiconexpress.com)
Currie Enterprises PN CE-9300 1-inch body lift kit for about $109 (currieenterprises.com)
Mountain Off Road Enterprises PN JM600L 1-inch lift "Bombproof" motor mounts (lifts engine for body lift and better rear driveshaft angle with lift) for about $139/pair (mountainoffroad.com).
The parts I outlined above will allow you to put larger 33-inch-sized 285/75R16 tires on the factory Rubicon wheels. I really like the stock Rubicon wheels-they're stronger than most aftermarket wheels, good looking, and come free with a Rubicon, so why get rid of them? If your husband lives to wheel, I'd suggest a nice radial mud terrain. Your local Discount Tire Store (discounttiredirect.com) should be able to give you a very good price on a set locally, or you can check out The Tire Rack (tirerack.com) for some mail-order tires.