BeeBee's Build Journey

[MeatRack]

Very well thought out, thanks for sharing ?. I've got a long Amazon wish list for the little stuff.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what size of winch I should be getting (ie, what is the load limit?). I've heard a few different numbers be tossed around, but I'd like some input on this.

As a newbie, I struggle with this too. I'm not planning on heavy rock crawling (certainly not right away) so I could probably get away with 8,000lbs. On the other hand if you're out somewhere and need it, you don't want it to fail so 12,000lb is attractive. The marginal price increase on a bigger winch is not bad.

I was thinking of just splitting the difference and going with 10,000lbs. It will cover the 1.5x vehicle weight rule of thumb. Since I don't have to decide for a while, I'm planning on checking out as many builds as possible and asking around.

For sure I'm going synthetic rope for weight.

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[M_Pluto]

Wooo! Got a VIN yesterday!! (posted elsewhere, but I'll post here for posterity's sake as well.

 

[M_Pluto]

For posterity's sake, I'm posting here to say my Jeep is in JS status (shipped to storage) and is currently waiting to hop on a train from Belvedere, Illinois to come home to Momma.

So tldr; my Jeep exists, but she still needs to be sent on her way to me. ??

 

[M_Pluto]

So, my Jeep now has a build sheet and is supposedly going to start making her way here on Dec. 23. Once that happens my dealer will be able to give me a ten day window in which it will arrive.

 

[M_Pluto]

Hahaha, looking at my last thread, with all of the excitement & stars I had in my eyes..... Welp, it is currently day 162, and my jeep has yet to arrive, and there is not even an ETA of its arrival in sight. My last update from the dealer was that my jeep was in KZ LD status, aka "transit delay" with an "ETA TBD". There are definitely days when I wonder if this jeep will ever actually arrive, and did I just put a deposit down just so these guys could yank me around? The sales experience with this dealership hasn't been all that great, which is not endearing me to them when it comes to wanting to take my jeep back for service. Or spend the exorbitant amount of money they are asking for an extended warranty.

Anyways, giving some further thought to this build, and that I am hoping to go on a trip to Moab come April (???? BeeBee arrives in time before then....) I'm gonna be switching up some priorities as I'm gonna be doing a long haul road trip sooner than I had originally expected, and will need some trail goodies. My shopping/to-do list for that trip currently is:

• Recovery Gear Kit (I'll need to figure what different things I need to source to have a good kit ready.... or if someone wants to do the mental load for me on this and just give me a shopping list, that would be handy......)
• Winch - Currently looking at getting something with 5,500kg/12,00 lbs rating (I always think it's better to be over than under and need it).
• Will definitely need to get 35s for the trail (at this point, I'm not even sure if I'll need to buy a set of winter 35's, as the legal date for switchovers is in March....), running stock tires & wheels on the trails in Moab will definitely make my clearance much. more dicy.
• Will definitely need a couple more tools for the off chance of a breakdown..... A breaker bar being one of the ones that comes to mind for sure.
• If there is time (as it will be a 3 day job, minimum) I'll be getting the lizard skin sprayed in before the trip if I can swing the $$ for it (the labour will cost about 4x as much as the material....), as it will make life a lot easier.
• Inflatable mattress that fits in the back of the jeep with the seats flat.
• Li-ion battery bank/battery booster for the jeep ($450 for a high wattage one)
  • solar panel charger for this and/or my phone
• tailgate table
• grab handles
• propane tank
  • how am I going to pack this or attach it to the jeep somehow? Gotta figure that out.... Might end up needing to go with Terrraflex hinge reinforcement for the mounting points after all, though I'm not keen on spending the $$
• tabletop grill
• level 3 first aid kit
• might need to seriously look into a rooftop rack for packing big gear, especially if I'll be sleeping in the back of the jeep.
• big ass cooler, might look into an electrical one that can be plugged into the 12V socket? Might just be trying for fancy results with that idea there though....
• Give my boyfriend more driving lessons in driving stick.... I really don't wanna be doing all of the the driving down to Moab and back on my own.....
• door bags to take off the doors from my jeep, thinking of running without the front doors on the trails in Moab, but I'll need to figure out a way to safely store the doors from getting damaged, I figure specialty storage bags for them would be a good start.....

This is not a complete packing list, there's a fair bit of camping gear that I already have or have easy access to borrow if need be, so that is all excluded from this list. Also, the idea behind this trip to Moab is to run BeeBee stock, so I can get a good idea for what I will actually need for wheeling, so I definitely will be leaving any drivetrain type mods for after this trip. . I'll likely come back and add things as needed or as they come to me.

 

[M_Pluto]

Hahaha, looking at my last thread, with all of the excitement & stars I had in my eyes..... Welp, it is currently day 162, and my jeep has yet to arrive, and there is not even an ETA of its arrival in sight. My last update from the dealer was that my jeep was in KZ LD status, aka "transit delay" with an "ETA TBD". There are definitely days when I wonder if this jeep will ever actually arrive, and did I just put a deposit down just so these guys could yank me around?

Haha, welp I guess I spoke too soon. I just got the following email giving me an update on my jeeps ETA!!

Good afternoon [MYNAMEHERE],

Jeep is showing Delay still but this ETA Window has updated…

TOLEDO, OH SPLC_CODE Railcar Released by Consignee 01/10/23 07:40 AM
ETA WINDOW 02/08/2023 - 02/22/2023

Hope to see movement by the weekend!

Thanks

 

[M_Pluto]

For posterity's sake: I got news today that my jeep has been off-loaded from the train & is currently awaiting it's truck transport ride, which is about 4-5ish hours drive on the highway from the dealership. When that trip will happen is anybody's guess. Even the dealership is unsure as when I asked if they could even call to get an estimate as to when it would get on a truck, they said they would get some lip service, followed by a lot of inaction.

Anyways, getting the ball rolling on financing, and ? that it arrives before I go on vacation to Belize on the 9th!

 

[M_Pluto]

I took delivery yesterday on Saturday Jan 28th, girl is a beaut and a little beast. I'll post some first impressions here later, but for now here are the pictures I took when I got my first look at her!

.... Also, my dog just happened to jump in without any prompting when I opened the door to take a look inside.... ??

 

[blnewt]

Wow, very nice Rubi, and the dog looks pretty awesome too! The wait was worth it I'm sure.
Well done girl!

 

[MeatRack]

You got BeeBee!!! Congrats!!!

 

[The Chubbernaut]

Congrats! Part of me wishes I had factory ordered instead of buying from a lot, but that wait wouldve been hard for me.

 

[TheBirdie72]

Congrats! New Jeep looks great! ?

 

[wibornz]

Very nice. Let the fun begin.

 

[Billy]

I took delivery yesterday on Saturday Jan 28th, girl is a beaut and a little beast. I'll post some first impressions here later, but for now here are the pictures I took when I got my first look at her!

.... Also, my dog just happened to jump in without any prompting when I opened the door to take a look inside.... ??

Congratz!!!

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