[tribal4krawler]

Taking out the carpet and airbags will cut quite a bit of weight. There was an article in JP where some company made a lightweight 2dr JK. Sweet concept. I'm still skeptical of the whole alum fenders tho. Might as well run cut fenders. Or no fenders.

 

[ALASHA]

Taking out the carpet and airbags will cut quite a bit of weight. There was an article in JP where some company made a lightweight 2dr JK. Sweet concept. I'm still skeptical of the whole alum fenders tho. Might as well run cut fenders. Or no fenders.

Your thinking of Porkchop.

And you are seriously suggesting removing the airbags?

 

[mgoony]

You picked a Jeep. You missed all three, so what point are you trying to make?

The point is sure you can save weight at the expense of either cost or durability. And yes since we are talking about Jeeps, the question of why bother certainly comes into play...

What? are we going to lower our 0-60 time to 10.5 seconds?

I mean a weight listing is cool and all but I'm not sure of the usefulness. If someone wants to spend 50% more for and aluminum bumper to save 15 lbs I guess thats good...

 

[tribal4krawler]

Your thinking of Porkchop.

And you are seriously suggesting removing the airbags?

For a dedicated trail rig? Absolutely. In fact I would rather take my chances with a well built cage and 5 point harnesses over air bags in a daily driver.
.
And Yup its porkchop. That thing is bad ass!!!

 

[BADGER]

The point is sure you can save weight at the expense of either cost or durability. And yes since we are talking about Jeeps, the question of why bother certainly comes into play...

What? are we going to lower our 0-60 time to 10.5 seconds?

I mean a weight listing is cool and all but I'm not sure of the usefulness. If someone wants to spend 50% more for and aluminum bumper to save 15 lbs I guess thats good...

If you're asking about the usefulness of staying lightweight, you're never driven difficult trails in your rig.....and then driven the same trails in your rig again after it's lost 500 pounds. There is a BIG difference. Climbing, descending, traction over difficult obstacles, even the performance, effectiveness, and wheel/travel control of your suspension are all much improved when you're a bunch lighter.

Plus, you run a much lower risk of breaking shit. Weight = broken parts. And a vicious cycle of adding stronger parts, which are heavier, which cause breakage, which needs stronger parts, which are heavier, which cause breakage....

I'm not the only one who has been down this road. Light = better, in EVERY way both off road and on.

 

[.7834]

I'm not the only one who has been down this road. Light = better, in EVERY way both off road and on.

Mhmm. This is why buggies are not Bradley tanks.

 

[mgoony]

500 lbs you will not lose changing thing to lightweights stuff. That number is not achievable. Yes yanking carpets and seats and other stuff but not simply changing stuff to aluminum.

 

[mgoony]

There comes a time where the cost far outweigh the benefits, obviously buggies are not tanks. Thanks for that...

 

[.7834]

Look this is not the thread to discuss how much you can lose. Start your own thread to discuss that. The difference between full outfitting with lightweight parts and steel aftermarket parts is over 1000 lbs.

Sent via Marty McFly

 

[mgoony]

Btw I'm not trying to be a jerk about this but bringing up serious discussion...that's cool bro. I guess you can have a 1000 lb lighter JK.

 

[HOOLIGAN]

500 lbs you will not lose changing thing to lightweights stuff. That number is not achievable. Yes yanking carpets and seats and other stuff but not simply changing stuff to aluminum.

I disagree. That number is very achievable.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[mgoony]

I disagree. That number is very achievable.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Ok fine I'll give you the 300 lbs for light tires.

You are correct.

 

[gcologne25]

Honestly from where I am at with my JK I could easily loose 500-1000 elbees haha. I just went with everyone else a few years ago and added steel everything to protect my jeep but now I want to strip all of the steel and go aluminum. Thanks for the great thread!

 

[ScaleJK4x4]

Great thread......

 

[inline6]

Good info

 

[tribal4krawler]

Weight makes a huge difference. Personally I'm not sold on using aluminum for "protection", but simply deleting things doesnt cost anything, and the performance gains can be huge. my 1986 Mustang GT weighed about 3000lbs full weight, and after I got done completely stripping the car of anything not needed, and added a roll cage, the car weighed right at 2450 and some change. losing that 550 lbs gave me almost a full second off my ET, and went from being a 13 second car to a 12 second car for NO money out of pocket. Of course, this was for drag racing, and irrevelant to offroad/JK's, BUT, losing 400-500 lbs would make a huge difference in how the jeep handles/accelerates. you know what it feels like when you load the car down with 3-4 adults.. now imagine the opposite. Not to mention less weight=less stress on components.

 

[spedly]

A 2wd front axle is lighter then a 4wd front axle plus you could eliminate the transfer case and front driveshaft. That is a whole bunch of weight.

 

[ALASHA]

Just for reference, Porkchop shaved 850 pounds off of the stock vehicle wait. Sure thats an extreme once you read what it took to get there but shaving 500 pounds from a JK with comparable steel add ons (armor, suspension etc..) isnt that unreasonable.

 

[Topgun863]

This is a great thread. The 'tricky' part is balancing losing weight on the Jeep with a) convenience for a DD and b) with durability. Sure I could ditch my backseat and carpet but since my Jeep is a DD I'm not so quick to do that. I'd like to go aluminum on some parts but being out here in SoCal, it's hard for me to go anywhere where I'm not playing in rocks so I have to be careful with that too. I guess this then leads to my question, what can one do to save weight for a DD and maintain some durability ie.: for playing in the rocks? I know possibly synthetic winch line is a good option. Any others? (not trying to hijack, I'm thinking this is kind of inline with the OP, and maybe he can put a designation next to parts/ideas that would work well for a DD??)

Forgot about the leave the wifey at home mod. Weight savings: ~120lbs. Cost: a bottle of Jack Daniels and ear plugs when you get home.

 

[JPK]

500 lbs you will not lose changing thing to lightweights stuff. That number is not achievable. Yes yanking carpets and seats and other stuff but not simply changing stuff to aluminum.

Really simple things in a four door - aluminum skids which replce the steel oem center (like RROR) and a synthetic winchline with an aluminum hawse fairlead save close to 150lbs - then go soft top and half doors and you're close to another 150lbs. Ditch the steel wheels, be careful in your tire choice. Not too far from 500lbs trail ready to trail ready (as opposed to stock vs. trail ready) and that is scratching the surface.

Aluminum bumpers ... aluminum rock rails .... Not neccesarily advocating these options, but they are out there, and would save about another 150lbs vs. steel.

JPK