2012 Nissan Juke AWD/CVT

[JaxxaLuca]

Hello Overland Bound! It's been quite a while since I've been on. The Juke CVT handled my first set of tires extremely well, so I decided to push it further to utilize the maximum amount of space my wheel wells have to offer. I went from a 1.5" spacer lift to a 2.5" custom coilover lift from Silver's North America, modified my front control arm mounts to push my axles 1.5" forward, and went from a 29.5" tire to a 285/65r18, 32.5x11.50. I call them my Jeep Killer tires, because they are meatier than most people's Jeep wheels . It's now a monster at basically everything, I can even blast around in the sand with the tires still at 30psi, so it's VERY overkill for this vehicle.
The tire and lift combo gives me a minimum ground clearance of 12 inches, but for most of the driving I do, I really don't need that much, so I've been thinking about trading out some of my suspension lift for body lift, so I can reduce my control arm angles and set up my suspension for longer wheel travel. The subframe on this car is tied in at a few places, so it would take some figuring out, but that might be my next major suspension upgrade.

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[tjZ06]

There's a thread here about "oddball rigs"... I think you win! Tip 'o the hat for trying something unique and making it work for you. And, like you said your tires are actually bigger than what I'm running on my Jeep (for now). I promise I can out-articulate you though, so I'm not convinced on the "Jeep Killer" part just yet. ;)

-TJ

 

[JaxxaLuca]

With axles like those, I don't stand a chance!
I'm thinking with the right shock and spring setup I could max out at 10" of travel, but I would need like 3 or four inches of body lift to accomplish that. Right now I have about 6.5" of travel which is pitiful, but Florida is pretty flat, so I can't really complain

 

[CR-Venturer]

This is a sweet rig. Driving, as I do, the grandaddy of all crossovers, I have a soft spot for your Juke. Can't wait to see what else you'll do. Winch? Skid plate? Roof rack? Jerry cans? Oooooo rear tire mount....awww yiss.

Keep up the good work!

 

[JaxxaLuca]

This is a sweet rig. Driving, as I do, the grandaddy of all crossovers, I have a soft spot for your Juke. Can't wait to see what else you'll do. Winch? Skid plate? Roof rack? Jerry cans? Oooooo rear tire mount....awww yiss.

Keep up the good work!

All of the above! hopefully... eventually. I already have a fabricator on board to help me with a swing-out tire carrier, but we're still in the mockup stages. I'm also working on learning some plastic fabrication techniques to modify some fender flares and create a custom side skirt, so hopefully it will be legal to drive in most states soon and I can take longer trips!
I have a 3D model that I work on that helps me prototype things, so my end goal right now is something along the lines of this:

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[CR-Venturer]

All of the above! hopefully... eventually. I already have a fabricator on board to help me with a swing-out tire carrier, but we're still in the mockup stages. I'm also working on learning some plastic fabrication techniques to modify some fender flares and create a custom side skirt, so hopefully it will be legal to drive in most states soon and I can take longer trips!
I have a 3D model that I work on that helps me prototype things, so my end goal right now is something along the lines of this:

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Sweet. Can't wait!

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

Holllllly hell mate! Sooo bad ass! I’m in love [emoji7] looking amazing!! Stoked for the build

 

[JaxxaLuca]

Holllllly hell mate! Sooo bad ass! I’m in love [emoji7] looking amazing!! Stoked for the build

I love coming back every now and then and checking in on your Mitsubishi. I love how we've both been going pretty equally insane with our setups, though I am jealous of the amount of pure overland swag you have on your SUV! I'm sure if I had a welder and a garage to work in, I'd be right there with you.

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

I love coming back every now and then and checking in on your Mitsubishi. I love how we've both been going pretty equally insane with our setups, though I am jealous of the amount of pure overland swag you have on your SUV! I'm sure if I had a welder and a garage to work in, I'd be right there with you.

Dude your Juke is straight sexy. I’m in love. I’m more of a sleek body and thick tire vibe. Stealthy with some chunk [emoji38][emoji848]. You may have to take a trip to WA and we can bang out some bumpers lol [emoji23]

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

I forgot to ask how your performance was affected? Is the CVT doing ok with that large of a tire setup? And your Jukes a 4 cyl yeah?

I’m looking to do 30x9.5-15’s soon so smaller than what you have but was a bit worried about the extra weight.

 

[JaxxaLuca]

I forgot to ask how your performance was affected? Is the CVT doing ok with that large of a tire setup? And your Jukes a 4 cyl yeah?

I’m looking to do 30x9.5-15’s soon so smaller than what you have but was a bit worried about the extra weight.

Washington is like a 3000 mile trip from me, lol. I'm sure there are a couple people on this forum who would do double that, but I'm not up for that yet. I would love to plan a west coast trip at some point though. Maybe meet in Oregon one year for a Gambler 500? That's a bucket list for me for sure.

I didn't realize the Outlander had a CVT too. The Juke is a 1.6L 4 cyl turbo. I think I'm at about 85lbs/wheel including rim and spacer, which is like 10lbs heavier than I was aiming for on this setup, but it isn't too noticeable on the road or hard-packed trails. I felt it get a little bit bogged down in some soft sand pits, but the flip side of that is it pretty much floats on that surface with that much tire under it, so it never gets stuck. And of course, the larger diameter makes better work of big obstacles, but of course isn't much of a climber because it has no low range.

I think if you're used to airing down already, a 9.5 is really all you need, and I think 30 is a good compromise to maintain a sportier feel offroad. Personally, I went 11.5 because I liked the proportions of it, which has some drawbacks. But for general overlanding, I don't think I would sacrifice on diameter, because it really does make a lot of things easier. In fact I might still daily it on larger tires, and I'm still thinking of moving to a 33 or 34, because I think it would handle them just fine, but if I ever want to rip around some trails rally-style, I'll definitely keep a smaller lighter set just for that.

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

Washington is like a 3000 mile trip from me, lol. I'm sure there are a couple people on this forum who would do double that, but I'm not up for that yet. I would love to plan a west coast trip at some point though. Maybe meet in Oregon one year for a Gambler 500? That's a bucket list for me for sure.

I didn't realize the Outlander had a CVT too. The Juke is a 1.6L 4 cyl turbo. I think I'm at about 85lbs/wheel including rim and spacer, which is like 10lbs heavier than I was aiming for on this setup, but it isn't too noticeable on the road or hard-packed trails. I felt it get a little bit bogged down in some soft sand pits, but the flip side of that is it pretty much floats on that surface with that much tire under it, so it never gets stuck. And of course, the larger diameter makes better work of big obstacles, but of course isn't much of a climber because it has no low range.

I think if you're used to airing down already, a 9.5 is really all you need, and I think 30 is a good compromise to maintain a sportier feel offroad. Personally, I went 11.5 because I liked the proportions of it, which has some drawbacks. But for general overlanding, I don't think I would sacrifice on diameter, because it really does make a lot of things easier. In fact I might still daily it on larger tires, and I'm still thinking of moving to a 33 or 34, because I think it would handle them just fine, but if I ever want to rip around some trails rally-style, I'll definitely keep a smaller lighter set just for that.

Sweet. Thanks for the info mate. I just watched all your videos of your subframe setup and gave me some good ideas.

Yeah my Outlander is a 4 cyl. 2.0 but no turbo [emoji58] I do plan on a V6 outlander motor swap in the future though or an Evo swap [emoji1]

I’m gonna look into that Silvers company and see about a setup too. Looks like great quality shit. Thanks for all the info. Looks like your mods are working out man! Crazy seeing a Juke with near 33’s. That’s what I had on my Xterra!

 

[JaxxaLuca]

There's somebody on the Juke Forums who found a manual trans with a transfer case that should fit the Juke engine. With mods, people are saying ~230 whp through the CVT is about the safe limit, but the engine can put out 300+ hp through a stock manual transmission. They never shipped a Juke with AWD manual, but I'm crossing my fingers that guy figures it out one day.

 

[Overland_Mitsu]

There's somebody on the Juke Forums who found a manual trans with a transfer case that should fit the Juke engine. With mods, people are saying ~230 whp through the CVT is about the safe limit, but the engine can put out 300+ hp through a stock manual transmission. They never shipped a Juke with AWD manual, but I'm crossing my fingers that guy figures it out one day.

Dude that’d be sweet! I can turbo my CVT setup but don’t wanna chance it. I could do around 4 psi of boost which is pretty low. I may do a 2.4l outlander sport motor swap too down the road. Well glad to hear the CVT isn’t too affected by the larger tires. I’m hoping to do 31’s.

 

[JaxxaLuca]

I’m gonna look into that Silvers company and see about a setup too. Looks like great quality shit. Thanks for all the info. Looks like your mods are working out man! Crazy seeing a Juke with near 33’s. That’s what I had on my Xterra!

Oh, and the only thing about Silver's is that they are more of a racing coilover company, so the largest shock/coilover they make only has 6" of travel, which will only translate to about 6-8" of travel at the wheel depending on your suspension geometry. I've been bouncing around the idea of adapting fox shocks with a sleeved strut to try and get a longer travel strut, because I have seen a few Subarus with that kind of long travel setup. So if you are getting confident with your fabrication skills, you could try that option as well.

 

[JaxxaLuca]

Hello Overland Bound! It's been a while. I haven't been able to put aside much time to do camping or overlanding since I last posted, but I just got back from attending the Florida Gambler 500 Rally, and this was the first event I participated in that really combined camping and off-roading in a way that's relevant to this forum.
In a lot of ways, the Gambler 500 tends to be way gnarlier than the usual trail riding most people would be comfortable with, mostly because the event is really centered around buying a car for $500 and seeing how hard you can send it offroad.
One day I realized my short self could actually comfortably lay down in the back with the seats folded down, so I bought some 2" thick foam and laid a quilt over top of that and it turned out to be incredibly comfortable.
Not only did I make it the whole 3 days without getting stuck, I actually became a surprise recovery vehicle when our actual recovery vehicle got stuck. So, despite people constantly saying my CVT is gonna explode if I take it offroad, it actually turned out to be pretty capable, and dare I say reliable as well.
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[Dilldog]

It's very cool to hear that CVT is holding up well. Some friends of mine had a first gen Rogue and it nuked 3 CVTs in 100k miles, so I naturally was sceptical. Again great to hear its holding up well, and keep showing the 4x4 snobs that XUVs can get it done too!

 

[CR-Venturer]

I think probably what this represents is the way time and technology march on and things improve and bugs get worked out.

Long ago, people used to slag automatic transmissions as unreliable and prone to failure, as well as being prone to running away on steep descents, and while that was true of some early autos, nowadays automatics are considered the better choice generally because of the high level of smooth throttle control that they can achieve. Who knows, maybe CVT's will become so good they'll become the gold standard for off road some day.

 

[DocMartin]

We are in Ocala and head out to the ONF on occasion. Let us know if you have plans to come down and maybe we can hook up.