2023 Earl JLURD AEV JL370 Build

[bobholthaus]

Well folks, since I apologetically hijacked RATBERTs build threads, I thought I’d start my own thread, as mine will be just slightly different in options. I think I’ll have the first Earl AEV build on this forum, so my hunch is that some of you may want to see it when it’s done.

I’m wordy, but I’ll try to keep these posts as short as possible. You’ll all laugh about that in the end!

In summary, I bought my Earl Rubicon Diesel from Devin Arnold at Dan Cummins in Georgetown KY. They gave me the 4% under invoice deal (with the 1% Tread Lightly inclusion). It was a seemless process, and I flew to Lexington yesterday where one of their drivers picked me up at the airport and took me the 25 min to the dealership. I had told Devin that I needed to be out the door as quickly as possible, due to my 5 hour drive up to AEV in Detroit (Wixom, which is 25 min NW of downtown Detroit). Devin honored that request; we presigned everything we could online; he got the SiriusXM Guardian stuff set up the day before (so that I could lock my key in the Jeep if needed a; I signed the title work when I got there (handling my own taxes in the state of Missouri); and I was on the road in less than 25 min. I’d use Dan Cummins again in a heartbeat; even the porter who drove me from the airport said he loved working there for the 3 years he had been there.

Side note: this is my 6th Jeep vehicle; I am loyal to the brand. And, I read the entire owner’s manual every time. This one is 369 pages, and I read 180 of them on my flights yesterday! My last keel was a JK that was basically a piece-mealed JL370, so I am very familiar with AEV gear and outfitting a Jeep (I had that vehicle for 10 years). This time I want AEV to do it all for me quickly; as you’ll see, I have plenty of wiring projects and other things to add.

So I was pleasantly surprised to read that the diesel engine doesn’t have a recommended break-in period.

So I set the cruise at 80 and made the 5 hour trip north to AEV without issue, averaging 23 mpg. I drive a Grand Cherokee Ecodiesel as my daily driver, a vehicle I bought new in 2014. It has 110,000 on it now, and I simply love the torque of the diesel. After 5 hours yesterday, I am convinced it’s the perfect engine for the Wrangler. This is truly my dream Jeep build.

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[bobholthaus]

Okay, here’s where I am:

Jeep is well optioned:

- LED lights
- cold weather
- safety group
- advanced safety (laser cruise is amazing and I can’t live without it!)
- saddle leather interior
- trailer tow
- dual top color matched
- colored fender flares
- front camera
- headliner
- auto transmission
- diesel engine

My AEV JL370 package will be their standard package, with these options:

- 37” KO2s on Onyx Borah wheels
- front 7000 lights
- front camera mount kit
- Warn Zeon 10s winch
- Factor55 expert winch thimble
- Baja Designs Squadron Pro reverse light with diffused lens (I think they call it work/scene)
- AEV diff covers front and rear

And here is where I am switching things up a bit:

Fog Lights: I am replacing the OEM LED fog lights with Rigid 360 Dual Color SAE legal units that have both selective yellow and white light output. I have these on my Grand Cherokee (the Dually model), and I run the yellow as DRLs and turn on the whites each time I get in at night. It’s two lights in one, and they have a perfect cutoff beam, so they don’t blind people. I can’t say enough good stuff about these lights and their output.

https://www.rigidindustries.com/360-series-sae-fog-yellow-white-pair-36122.html

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AEV Front Skid ‘Lightbar’: the AEV skid plate on front is provisioned for a 20” Baja Designs lights bar; most guys run a 20” wide/driving combo in amber, which is too bright to use on the road. Although I haven’t made my final decision, I am considering stacking a few different Rigid SAE fog lights in amber on a custom 20” aluminum mount. There are three openings on the grill, so I may put a 6” in the middle opening, and 2 SRM 3” lights on each side in the other two slots (these would need amber covers as they don’t come in amber. Because I live in Missouri, I would like to have more usable “everyday” light that I can use on rainy nights, which I have way more of than anything else. My 50 year old eyes don’t work like they used to, so more “light on the road” is more ideal than me than a light I will only use off-roading. Stay tuned for more on what I end up doing.

https://www.rigidindustries.com/sr-...lective-yellow-surface-mount-pair-906704.html

https://www.rigidindustries.com/sr-m-series-sae-fog-light-pair-902533.html

https://www.rigidindustries.com/sr-m-series-cover-yellow-301933.html

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Switch-Pros Switching System: after careful consideration of this vs. an SPOD setup, I am going with a Switch-Pros 9100 setup using this JL mount, which will put the panel on the A-Pillar to the left of the steering wheel, right at my fingertips. I run one of these in my Grand Cherokee, and I love it. It has two “trigger inputs”, so I will use one for the high beams and one for reverse. I will have the ability to have any lights I run turn on automatically with the high beams (need to find a tap for this under the hood if anyone knows where one is), and I will be able to face the rear bumper light go on in reverse. I had this setup on my JK and it worked flawlessly. AEV will not do my wiring for me; I will terminate all of my own wiring and will add the Switch-Pros in myself. And of course I’ll be using the correct legends by brands for my lights (yes, I am anal retentive!! )

https://store.switchpros.com/sp9100-switch-panel-power-system/

https://store.switchpros.com/jeep-jl-jt-mounting-kit/

https://store.switchpros.com/switch-pros-x-baja-designs-legend-kit/

https://store.switchpros.com/switch-pros-x-rigid-industries-switch-legends/

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Paddle Shifters: I have paddle shifters on my Grand Cherokee, and I used them all of the time. I was delighted to learn on this forum that I could add oem 392 paddle shifters to my steering wheel. I bought a set from threedom, a supporting vendor on this forum. I may end up buying the thicker 392 steering wheel as well.

I do a lot of back road driving in rolling Missouri, and this Jeep will see its fair share of the mountains of Colorado, and the hills of the Smoky Mountains. For me, the paddle shifters are critical, especially when towing a trailer, which I will do. I use them just about daily in my Grand Cherokee.

https://mythreedom.com/products/392-paddle-shift-kit

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Weathertech Liners: I will use the tan Liner HPs in the front, rear and as a trunk liner. I also plan to add the mopar trunk liner for leather seats, the one that covers the back is the rear seats with black rubber (to keep dog hair off of those seats, and to protect them when they’re folded down.). My plan before seeing it all is to cut the black trunk pad off of the mopar liner and just use the tan Weathertech back there. I choose tan to match the saddle seats, and it shows less dirt. I have the HPs in my GC and I love them.

https://www.moparonlineparts.com/sk...cjOzdBGI9qvdapaJnXMvB3xXC9si9E2kaAvleEALw_wcB hi I

https://www.weathertech.com/jeep/2023/wrangler-unlimited/floorliner-hp/

https://www.weathertech.com/jeep/2023/wrangler-unlimited/cargo-liner/

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Trailer Brake Controller: I am going to use a RedArc Elite trailer brake controller. It will be mounted over on the left side, out of the way of my knees, like another forum member did. It would be awesome to be able to mount it between the oem headlight knob and the dimmer vertical wheel, but I’m guessing there’s something behind there that will be in the way (I saw this morning that there’s a perfect spot that is flat there - where the blue arrow is in my pic (mine does not have two vertical wheels there). Now I see that that entire unit is one piece.) With the oem hitch package, there is a plug and play harness for the JL/JT.


Elite Controller: EBRH-ACCV3-NA
JL Harness: TPH-022

https://www.redarcelectronics.com/us/tow-pro-elite-electric-brake-controller

https://www.redarcelectronics.com/u...able-tow-pro-brake-controller-harness-tph-022

———————-
Other mods I have planned:
- RhinoRack backbone system - I kept my RR Platform from my JK, and the backbone has already arrived. I’m hoping that it’s a simple solution to alter that JK platform to the JL
- ASFIR slid plates
- ARB on board air (likely the Epic Kraken system)
- stubby antenna
- wireless Airplay system (Carlink 4 interface)
- ARB outlet in the trunk (likely will just tap OEM outlet back there)
- Goose Gear tailgate table
- some kind of overhead light for the cargo area (suggestions?)
- Midland GMRS radio and Ghost antenna, which I will mount to the top of the tower on the AEV tire carrier.
- Rival HoodLift struts (ordered from Quadratec - lifetime warranty)
- Airlift Airbags in rear springs (coming soon - AEV has asked me to report back to them on which part number works with a diesel JL370)
- phone mount (I’ve scoured this forum - I want to maintain my center dash tray for sunglasses, and I want to also have a MagSafe wireless charging solution. I may go with 67Designs and see if I can just use 3M VHB tape to stick a MagSafe charger into the unit and still have the arms of the 67 hold it solidly enough for offroad use. Thinking about Bulletpoint too.)
- I need a mount for my Midland GMRS handle, something to the left of the grab handle bolt (which is too far away in my opinion. I’m leaning towards a Bulletpoint ball mount at that bolt with a little stubby arm that brings a mount closer, something designs for radio handles (I need to find brands and parts for this))

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It took me almost 10 years to get my JK dialed in the way I wanted it; this one will go much faster. And then I’ll get to enjoy it for years and years to come.

If any of you have any thoughts/ideas that I’m missing, the table is open for discussion. Thanks.

 

[KevinC11]

Looking forward to seeing and hearing about the competed build when you get it. Sounds like you spared no expense in the extras.

KevinC

 

[bobholthaus]

Thanks KevinC11; this is a passion of mine. But damn does it add up quickly.

 

[bthomp]

Going to be awesome, I’m looking forward to seeing the final build. Great details above, gives me some ideas for sure!

 

[Fouts]

It took me almost 10 years to get my JK dialed in the way I wanted it; this one will go much faster. And then I’ll get to enjoy it for years and years to come.

An old saying but for me it is the journey not the destination. I always find myself wanting to do more.

 

[bobholthaus]

An old saying but for me it is the journey not the destination. I always find myself wanting to do more.

This is so true. The fun of all of my add-ons is what I am most passionate about. Those hours and hours in the garage, trying to dial it in perfectly. I don’t want to do the bumpers and big stuff; but all of those little add-ons that I mention above will take me weeks and weeks to complete, and that will be some of the most fun I have with this Jeep. It’s fun to have it “all done” at the end, to be able to use it, but the build, the journey, sometimes seems more satiating than the destination. Thank you for the reminder.

 

[Tredsdert]

Earl sure is a pretty color!

 

[m(a)ce]

congratulations and looking forward to the build!

that color will look good built- especially with some AEV goodness

for your GMRS- here’s an option that worked for me. maybe some parts may work for you. I use a Carolina Metal Masters grab ball mount connected to 67 Designs carbon arm to 67 Design Magnetic Mic holder to a Magnetic Mic holder. it’s been rock solid and I wouldn’t hesitate to run it again.

 

[bobholthaus]

Okay, I’m going to do this setup, but I will use the Bulletpoint mic holder on a 67D arm with the CMM ball (which I literally learned about today). One less mic to mic piece. Thoughts? Your last link isn’t working btw. Also, if you want to hide the main box, you can tuck it behind the glove box and use one of THESE for stealth mic mounting.

 

[bobholthaus]

congratulations and looking forward to the build!

that color will look good built- especially with some AEV goodness

for your GMRS- here’s an option that worked for me. maybe some parts may work for you. I use a Carolina Metal Masters grab ball mount connected to 67 Designs carbon arm to 67 Design Magnetic Mic holder to a Magnetic Mic holder. it’s been rock solid and I wouldn’t hesitate to run it again.

Wait, now I see the magnetic mic mount. Do you have to gently guide it in to get it to magnet on? Can you do it without looking?

 

[bobholthaus]

Just got this kit in, and swapped the lights from it for the Dual Color 360s. This allows for a direct install into the AEV bumper with no custom mods.

 

[Dlit]

Just got this kit in, and swapped the lights from it for the Dual Color 360s. This allows for a direct install into the AEV bumper with no custom mods.

Those look great……what’s the cost if you don’t mind me asking? I assume you can toggle between wht and amber.

 

[bobholthaus]

I had to buy the JL kit from Rigid, which they have a few left for $136 (marked down from $650 - that's the mounting bracket and the white SAE light - text or call me at 314-680-2624 if you want to get one of these last sets from Rigid). Then I bought a set of SAE Dual, and swapped the dual light into the JL bracket (Rigid doesn't sell the brackets separately, you have to buy the entire kit). So with the set of Dual's and the JL Kit, I'm at like $650, and I'm trying to sell the white SAEs (without the JL brackets) for $350.

The white and selective yellow in the dual are switched completely independently. My yellow turns on with my ignition as DRLs, and I flip the white on when it gets dark. 3445 Lumens when run together, and I can tell you that they are awesomely bright and have a perfectly level cutoff of the beam, so they do not blind oncoming traffic. I have mine aimed a little higher to supplement my low beams, and it works flawlessly.

 

[m(a)ce]

Wait, now I see the magnetic mic mount. Do you have to gently guide it in to get it to magnet on? Can you do it without looking?

I don’t have any problem putting it back- it just needs to be in the range of the super strong magnetic. If anything it takes a little effort pulling it off lol. I’ve had clips before that require too much eye diversion and not a fan.

*also updated/fixed broken link.

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