Budget practical adventure build

[entropy]

Alright time to post about my Jeep. I am pretty new to this, first jeep wrangler, relatively young and have too many hobbies!. So I have to be careful not to overspend when building my jeep but still make it practical for my needs. Mods will come as my confidence and skill grows. I intend to grow with the Jeep to build better skills.

This is my adventure vehicle. I need it to take me to remote campgrounds and to carry my kayak fishing gear. As well as any other gear I might need for a trip, be it offroad camping, hunting, climbing, backcountry skiing, hiking, mountain biking, or even regular campground glamping. It needs to take me alone, or me and my wife, or me my wife and my future kiddo.

I've been growing with it, taken it offroad stock until the stock suspension started giving up on me a bit, thats when the mods started. Main thing is to keep it budget friendly, light and practical. Keep in mind this is a 2 door, and a smaller lift and tires should suffice. I take weight and price into consideration with all my mods.

Stock:
2019 Wrangler sport S 2D
V6 pentastar, 8 speed
Rear dana 44 with LSD
Hardtop
A/T Goodyear Wrangler with Kevlar tires.
A bunch of useless but comfy interior upgrades.

Build (short term):
- Rubicon spring and shocks from fully loaded 2D. (installed)
- JKS quick disconnects (installed).
- Hardtop exposed racks (installed).
- Rugged Ridge Arcus front bumper (installed).
- Smittybuilt SRC frame attached steps/slidetd (installed)
- Rugged ridge towing hitch receiver (installed)
- Rancho front diff skid (installed)
- Smittybuilt XRC gen 3 synthetic 9,500lbs winch (installed).
- Rugged ridge arcus rear bumper (installed).
- Rubi wheels/tires takeoffs. (when my 32s start failing on me or tread goes, so far theyre good).
- ARB rear locker (If my LSD craps out or if it starts failing on me).
- Hiker 5x8 mid-range offroad trailer camper (order placed 2021).

Build long term:
- ARB front locker (maybe, we will see).
- Fox shocks. When rubi shocks need be replaced.

stock:

After rubi suspension and quick discos:

After bumper install:

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[entropy]

Rancho front diff skid plate

Rugged ridge rear arcus bumper. Had to zip tie the license plate to stay legal while I wait for my relocation bracket. Wife says I need bigger tires, and I 100% agree.

Pretty excited about the progress. Next step is the winch and next year ARB lockers!!!. The Arcus bumpers are super light, my suspension didnt even notice them. the difference between plastic rear + metal brackets felt negligible compared to the arcus, it is so light.

 

[entropy]

Here are some new pictures I took of the Arcus rear bumper with my license plate relocated. I love the bumper, very light, looks nice, fits my goals pretty nicely. I bought it through Quadratec on a flash sale, came packaged very very nicely and in mint condition.

 

[Heimkehr]

@entropy
Source for the RotoPAX mount? TIA.

 

[entropy]

@entropy
Source for the RotoPAX mount? TIA.

custom made by @Blu bi Kong. Not sure if he has any left.

 

[Blu bi Kong]

custom made by @Blu bi Kong. Not sure if he has any left.

I have 1 left

 

[Heimkehr]

I have 1 left

If for sale, please PM the details. Thank you.

 

[Wobblenuts]

What rear license plate relocation kit is that?

 

[entropy]

What rear license plate relocation kit is that?

It is a magnetic license plate holder by rugged ridge. It was so cheap and simple that I decided to give it a try,and it works just fine.

The light is made by quadratec. It is plug and play and pretty cheap. The light is a bit weak but it works.

 

[entropy]

The jeep keeps evolving. Installed the smittybilt winch yesterday and put an order for a 5x8 hiker mid-range camper!!!

I chose the SB due to its low weight, just like the Arcus bumper. There is absolutely no front sag with the winch and bumper installed.

 

[entropy]

Got new shoes today. I feel ready for some real Jeep tires. And the stock tires starting to became an eyesore.

I am happy and feel at peace. My build is "finished" until something breaks. I played plenty with it stock and as I slowly upgraded it and I am sure with these tires the 2 door is gonna be a beast for anything I want to do. Time to enjoy the trails. Wife was very happy when I said I am at peace lol.

I didnt expect it, but the rubicon suspension rides a lot better with these tires. They are absolutely phenomenal.

Ill post trail pics whenever my newborn girl gives me a chance to play outside.

 

[blnewt]

Looking good! Looking proper w/ the new shoes for sure!

 

[entropy]

Some have asked me to share what I did relocating the rear license plate. Well I looked up rear relocation brackets and they were way overpriced. So I ended up buying "rugged ridge magnetic license plate holder" for like $22, and the plug and play license plate light from quadratec for about $30. You can place your lic plate anywhere theres metal. What I did was to hide the wire inside the bumper and I run it on the bumper. When I go offroading I unplug the license light and store the whole assembly in the trunk. I like to have it on the bumper because if there is dirt on magnets or jeep, the paint can get scratched. It is fine if jeep is clean, keep that in mind.

 

[blnewt]

Some have asked me to share what I did relocating the rear license plate. Well I looked up rear relocation brackets and they were way overpriced. So I ended up buying "rugged ridge magnetic license plate holder" for like $22, and the plug and play license plate light from quadratec for about $30. You can place your lic plate anywhere theres metal. What I did was to hide the wire inside the bumper and I run it on the bumper. When I go offroading I unplug the license light and store the whole assembly in the trunk. I like to have it on the bumper because if there is dirt on magnets or jeep, the paint can get scratched. It is fine if jeep is clean, keep that in mind.

Looks good and handy that you can remove it easily.
I put mine in a different place just so it doesn't hang outside the body panel. A bit more work to wire it up, but like you I wanted something affordable, works great thus far (if you never use your rear gate keyhole)
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/license-plate-relocation.62772/

I must say, those Wildpeaks made for a dramatic upgrade sir, superb!

 

[entropy]

Looks good and handy that you can remove it easily.
I put mine in a different place just so it doesn't hang outside the body panel. A bit more work to wire it up, but like you I wanted something affordable, works great thus far (if you never use your rear gate keyhole)
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/license-plate-relocation.62772/

I must say, those Wildpeaks made for a dramatic upgrade sir, superb!

Thats a really neat solution. I just didnt want to spend much time/effort dealing with a license plate. Kind of annoying Jeep shouldve left the lic plate like it was on the JKs.

And yeah I agree the Jeep looks amazing. Unfortunately all I can do is look at it with the new tires. It is a pavement queen right now. Ive been dealing with a 2 month baby and a cranky wife lately. Hopefully things would get more stable here soon lol. That Jeep deserves dirt and rocks.