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Building the Wee Beastie

aphillips76

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Hey all,

My wife and I have been wheeling all over colorado for about 14 years now on and off. We mostly been in Jeep’s (99 XJ, 97 TJ, 2 2007 JKURs, 1946 CJ2a, and a WK2 or 2) and a Time or two in a Taco. We didnt wheel for a while To to some anxiety issues my wife has. Who knew that hanging off the side of a Mountain off camber could exacerbate anxiety?

Well, a little over a year ago my wife gave me the go ahead to do a search for a new rig. The idea was that we would head to the mountains, get off the beaten track, but the purpose was to see places, not to flex climb the biggest rock. The build would be about making sure we could make it out of some really pretty places. i was all in...

First, some of the old rigs...
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 1B06FEF0-5BE2-4A6C-B896-C75E1A24C7CA

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 9D82E799-31F8-4684-BFEB-6F58A22BF30A

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 0657F3FF-E0EA-4D89-82C6-251CC4391D46

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 4FC01FA6-DF49-4508-A93D-D4FD7452430C
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Now enough of the intro crap, let’s get into a real build thread...

We bought this 2018 JL Rubi 2 door last year used with 4000 miles on it... The dealer got jipped at auction because the PO had removed some stuff that it was sold as having based on the vin like the 8.4, color top, led headlights and the hitch... Let’s just say I got a great deal on it...
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 8B33DBD5-6307-41AD-806D-01954005A057
 
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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First thing we did was take the top off and threw a Jeep Girl sticker on the passenger side. After a couple of hail storms while out and about, we quickly bought the soft top. Mopar...

The halogen headlights were a no go for me so I got some LEDs for her too..

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 49BFAF47-DBDA-421B-BD14-D18B8A115C1E
 
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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It took a while for us to come up with a name for her but my wife, being a fan of Outlander (books and show) told me the story of how, in the show, the dr lady was looking at male reproductive cells in a microscope in 1770 and the scotties guy said, those are my ‘Wee Beasties’. Given this this is a little 2 door rubi, we decided it fit. Upon ordering some decals from @pixeldecals , we decided to rebrand from spermicide to the fighting pug since we also have 3 of those..,

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie CA8E845A-A078-4A46-902F-97929169BA93


Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 3BA965AF-6266-4246-8DDB-FF6972D759DA


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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Well, this year we’ve gotten a little more into the build of the Wee Beastie... Step 1 wheels and tires. A few criteria...

1. No lift. We’re not doing hard core trails. 5 level at most. The rig must drive well. Lifting invariably comes with compromise. Also, I really like the look of big tires but low slung. I hate wheel wells a lot. Lastly, I like a challenge. I’m willing to do the work if i end up needing to do fender or wheel well work...

2. Not black and silver. I’ve been there and done that. I want something not too many people have...

3. I don’t need or want road noise. I’m not doing hard core trails. ATs will be fine for me...

Ordered the KM717 with 0 backspace on 315 70 17s. Love them so far...

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie A9DC4B30-398F-47D2-9FCC-468CD5D0FF48


oh yeah, got EAG tube doors at the same time!
 

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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Added the DV+ to help with throttle response. Not gonna lie. I’ve loved the power of this Jeep. I notice very little from this particular upgrade...
 
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Added the @Springtail tailgate table with bags. Love this upgrade a lot! Easy install and is solid as a rock!
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie C52F8CFC-588B-42B9-A7C0-F2CBAAFA264F

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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Continued with the organization theme and added the fishbone saddle boxes. At first I wasn’t a fan because they had big gaps in the bottom but in the end, they’ve been really useful.
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie B9DBF558-FC89-4649-8C52-FBC881111F39
 
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Took her out today for the first time since getting the wheels and tires on for a little dirty fun and to test as much as we could to see if there are obvious rubs. I didn’t get it crazy flexed out with full lock but honestly, with what we did i was surprised to not rub once today. Wee Beastie did great!

This is Old Flowers Road in Northern Colorado west of Ft Collins. The last time I did this trail was over 10 years ago in the TJ. There had been a fire since then so it looked way different. Ironically, there is a fire not far away right now so you can see it is very Smokey..

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 1BB04FDF-8DFE-4D95-98AB-A4950DD9B622

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 4831C9F7-824A-4FE2-AC68-A41D38624F95

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 4EAA9D12-73CE-4650-B888-24E8B7BA58F4

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 81174448-6AD6-4167-BA79-36324BA3D65E
 
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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And last post for today... In my garage is a new Smittybuilt Stryker Stubby bumper, a Gen 3 Smittybuilt 9.5k winch and a @Rough Country Suspensions 22 inch light bar. I started putting the bumper on tonight. Hope to finish tomorrow.
 

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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Got the Smittybuilt bumper, gen 3 xrc winch and @Rough Country Suspensions light in tonight. As with most people, the Smittybuilt directions have a LOT to be desired and i put the thing on twice...

I still have to get the cable installed, and contrary to popular belief, the fog lights from the stock steel bumper do not fit so I have some big round holes for a week till my Oracles come in...
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 47864676-7358-4EDB-A293-7A0F36C0DB20


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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Added the Oracle halo fogs on this past weekend. They are a sweet looking product for sure.
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie A3EEA6E9-BA36-4C82-8F62-F28F512B698B

Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie 1F3D680B-25D0-494C-BBA2-F64E40A4CFFF
 
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Minor update. I added the Mopar door sills today. In addition, I added the red letters to the door sills and the passenger grab handle...
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie CB25539D-7D86-433F-8223-2BD3F851EE78
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie F6B6D573-46B8-426C-961E-2225DCEE9BEE


I like the red letters much more than I am willing to admit. They look really good. Oops, I admitted it.
 
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Ordered the Oculus headlights from Oracle today. The ones I have on there are a world better than the halogen, but I got them (on eBay) before some of the better ones were released. Excited to have adjustability without washers and less glare on on coming traffic.

not excited to remove my winch to add the headlights....
 
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aphillips76

aphillips76

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Installed the @ORACLElights Oculus Bi LEDs and they work great. Install was a little tougher than the old lights since I now have a winch. The halo works great with using one side of the OEM wires for the stock halo. The low beam line is crisp. Probably as crisp as I’ve ever seen. And they look great with the Oracle fogs.

on a side note, the vanity plates came in :)
Jeep Wrangler JL Building the Wee Beastie D8BA94C5-162F-4838-8B54-A17DD20DB3EE
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