2011 Jeep Jk Sleeper Part 2 - gatemount Kit Hardware - Photo 32580775

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The stainless GateMount bracketry is bolt-on, with no drilling required. It can be mounted on either side of the spare, or a bracket can be mounted on both sides if you’re using CB and ham radios. The bracket can be flipped over if antenna height is an issue.

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Once it’s modified with larger tires and low gears and with weight added, the JK Wrangler doesn’t return good fuel economy. We’re seeing between 11 to 16 mpg. With the two-door’s small 18.5-gallon gas tank, that equates to not much range in the backcountry. It’s hard to beat the old NATO Jerry Cans. They don’t leak, but are large, heavy, and need large brackets to carry them. In keeping with Sleeper’s mission to be relatively lightweight and not have equipment permanently hanging from it, we needed another solution for carrying extra gas. Rock-Slide Engineering (R-SE) has developed their EZ Rack that carries RotopaX gas cans, as well as other equipment, by using the spare tire as the mounting point. RotopaX gas cans are roto-molded in the USA, are easy to carry, and don’t leak. R-SE’s new EZ Rack carries the RotopaX on slick plates that locate against the spare, held tightly by a ratchet strap. It works, even on a flat tire. You just ratchet the strap tighter on a flat spare.

The EZ Rack’s equipment and can brackets are strong, lightweight aluminum. The black mounting brackets for the RotopaX cans mount in seconds. Not shown here, the EZ Rack is available with an aluminum top piece that can carry all kinds of gear. The ratchet is supposed to be on the bottom of the spare, but in our application, using the stock spare on the stock carrier, the ratchet hit the bumper. As we’re not carrying anything on top of the tire, the ratchet works fine up high. We’ll be trimming the excess strap, but not until we’re sure we’re staying with the stock spare and carrier.

RotopaX included its aluminum LOX Mounts for our 2-gallon cans. The mounts lock securely, protecting your valuable fuel. These aren’t needed on the EZ Carrier, though, as all a thief would have to do is release the strap ratchet and pull the cans, still locked on their brackets, off the tire. RotopaX has other mounts available that don’t lock.

Everything fits well. The RotopaX cans don’t leak, there’s no gas smell, and can lock together if needed to work with other vehicles or applications.

Cool Tech's GateMount Kit is a smart, complete solution that includes everything needed to mount a CB or ham antenna to the Jeep Wrangler JK. Besides the bracket, the GateMount Kit comes with a Firestik 4-foot CB antenna, mount, and 18 feet of coax. Because radio mounting points are nonexistent inside the new 2011 Jeep Wrangler, we chose to use a Cobra 75 WXST CB that incorporates everything in the microphone. Cool Tech carries the Cobra CB, too, so it's a one-stop shop for all the parts needed.

The stainless GateMount bracketry is bolt-on, with no drilling required. It can be mounted on either side of the spare, or a bracket can be mounted on both sides if you’re using CB and ham radios. The bracket can be flipped over if antenna height is an issue.

Nick at 12-Volt Solutions was doing some other wiring on our JK, so he mounted this, too. He chose to drill a hole through the middle of the Cool Tech bracket so the coax could have a straight run through the OE rubber tailgate grommet.

Once through the tailgate grommet, the CB antenna wire can be snaked through the tailgate and run with existing OE wires past the subwoofer. The stock trim piece clips over this wiring.

There’s a place to mount the Cobra’s microphone/antenna junction box under the driver’s seat, up off the floor.

Since there’s no place to mount or hang the Cobra WXST microphone, we drop it in a cupholder on the trail.

When the CB isn’t in use, we hang the microphone in the center console. Jeep kindly designed a place the mic wire can go through with the console lid closed.

PSC’s ram-assist steering kit for the JK Wrangler includes almost everything needed for a successful installation. The pump uses GM internals and comes with a smaller pulley, as well as the larger idler required to run the OE belt. The new reservoir with integrated filter doesn’t leak and holds plenty of fluid. The only other part required is a power steering cooler. We installed the Currie finned aluminum cooler last month.

Here’s our OE steering gearbox shown above PSC’s. As of 2010, Delphi no longer builds the JK Wrangler gearbox. Jeep outsources it to China now. We talked Tom at PSC out of one of his very last Delphi boxes, although the Chinese box doesn’t look to be any worse (or better) than the Delphi box it replaced. PSC deals with both Delphi and Chinese JK gearboxes. As many know, the JK’s sector shaft isn’t supported well and can twist or snap. PSC offers a sector shaft brace that works if you have more lift and a frame-mounted track bar extension bracket. We don’t have that, so couldn’t use the brace. We installed the PSC box and are running it without the ram for a while, so we can report on the difference once we install the new pump and ram.

When we turned the JK to the stops either way, we noticed the U-joint knuckle bind felt in the steering wheel as it moved back and forth a little. No harm was being done, but it was annoying. RCV Performance’s Ultimate JK Rubicon 44 front axle set utilizes CV joints instead of U-joints. CVs are smooth at full lock with no knuckle bind. The RCV kit comes complete, ready to install. RCV includes a tool to help with the installation of the orange urethane boot that protects the CV from debris and water.

As mentioned, CV joints are smooth, even at full lock. There are no C-clips, no yoke ears to break, and the only maintenance required is to make sure they’re packed with grease. The RCV Performance axles are strong, too. In testing, the OE JK Rubicon U-joint axle’s yoke ear failed at 3,872 lb-ft. The RCV Ultimate Rubicon axle failed at 7,604 lb-ft, and that failure wasn’t the CV, the shaft twisted off! That’s as strong as a Dana 60 axle shaft.

Here’s the RCV Ultimate JK Rubicon 44 axle installed in the Trailrunner JK. They’ve been pounded and abused, but stay smooth and reliable.