Buy Once, Cry Once Mojito

[AlrightAlready]

A little History: ***JL Pics start on post 2***

My first vehicle ever was a 2001 TJ Sport in Dark Blue. ( I will find a picture when I visit my parents place.) I err... parents bought it bare bones at the ripe age of 16. It was a 5 speed manual which is what I learned on. If that Jeep could talk, I would probably have to kill it for incriminating evidence :-D! That being said, If I find that VIN pop up for sale again, I would buy it instantly. After driving it into a tree and almost totaling it after some time, I kept it, lifted it with some budget crap spacers and a 1 inch body lift. I then slapped some Cragers and 33x12.50's on it with a Detroit Tru-Trac in the rear Dana 44 (axle was an option back then as well as 3.73's) and switched for 4.10's. I proceeded on driving that for many years. I test drove a JK during ownership and was overwhelmingly disappointed in it's power stating that my TJ would rip it a new one in a race. Dealership said no way (we all know the 4.0 would destroy the 3.8 sooo...) That ended up being sold by my parents when I was away at school because they thought I only wanted to keep my truck(s10) aka Not that cool. That was a rough, rough experience to hear.
Played with some CJ's here and there but nothing major. In October of 2014, had a motorcycle accident that had me laid up good for a year and then some. I decided to get out of bikes for a while and started looking at vehicles to replace it. Found a 2013 JK in Dark Blue with AEV everything on WranglerForum. I sent the guy a message saying I'm sure he had sold it already and if not, I wouldn't be able to offer him exactly what he wanted but I had to try and to please don't be insulted. Explained why I was getting into jeeps and it boiled down to the same reason as he was when he bought it. Here is the picture of me buying it in Virginia after flying up from FL:

Drove it for about 50,000 miles and did minor mod's such as a twin screw supercharger, 40's and flat fenders!

Said I would never get a 4 door or anything with 2 pedals... After my trip to LA Auto show for the JL release, I knew I wanted a 2 door, 6 speed red rubicon! Time went on until I borrowed a buddies JKUR on 37's in Texas with an auto for the COTA races. Started falling for the extra space and driving characteristics. Some time later, this happened:

View attachment 218049

Sponsored

 

[AlrightAlready]

I spoke with Craig Brenner @Koons of Tyson Corner. What an unbelievably simple vehicle buying experience. Called me when it was ready after I ordered it, Flew up, drove over, spent 20 minutes doing paperwork, 20 minutes oogling over some hellcats, and I was free to go.

I stayed with my Cousin in DC then ventured home the next day. Everybody swoons over a nice Sunset Pic, yes?

Stayed at a hotel about 3/4 the way because I got a late start. Of course... there's a picture of that. Poor Girl sitting lonely in the corner spot but my Room had a view of her! Also felt super fancy with automatic locks being able to lock it from afar!

After Driving the rest of the way to Florida, the second I got home, there was only one thing left to do like any sane person would understand...

Mock up!!!

I ordered the RC 2.5 inch spacer just because I already had the stock rims and tires spoken for. I wasn't a fan of it but I was still undecided on lifts and which route I wanted to take and just needed something cheap I could sell later and fair pretty well. This was after that install:

I can't find the install pics as it's on an old hard drive somewhere but I had installed the RSE step sliders the 2nd day of ownership and they are well worth the price of entry in my opinion. I actually had them arrive about 2 weeks prior to my Jeep delivery.

A nice 4:30AM Pre-Gym Picture

I took a stroll out to St Pete to watch a good friend throw down some hammers on the kiteboard and his kid loves Monster trucks (specifically Grave Digger) and when he saw my jeep, he went nuts and started climbing all over it!

 

[AlrightAlready]

I set my mind on going all out one time and went with the EVO King Coilover System and Evo High Clearance Long Arms. It was between that and the Rebel Coilover system and I got a better price on the EVO through a friend. Still, $$ OUCH $$. After looking at the cost of Long arms, and a coil system with shocks, the price difference to just go coilovers seems like a bridge that wasn't too long to cross. I bit the bullet and while it hurt initially, the feeling of not having regret is TOTALLY worth it. I will be making more in-depth write ups of all my installs but this is just to catalog the process.

I Ventured up to Jacksonville to scoop some misc. components needed to install the lift, grab some dinner with a few friends, and then head home... BUUUUUUUUT some 17 year old girl had a different plan.

And as I was only running the plastic bumper and my drop hitch (never again) this was the result:

I guess there are some perks to working in a body shop although I still felt like I got hosed on the deal. Only new vehicle I've ever bought and within a couple thousand miles, damage. Made out with getting it fixed, grabbing a PSC bumper, making a car payment. I was dead stopped at a DUI checkpoint and I will say I was seriously impressed with how little damage there was. She made up some stupid excuse but all I heard was *I was on my phone and not paying attention to the mass of Red and Blue lights everywhere that could be seen from a mile away.*

 

[AlrightAlready]

Now, THE GOODIES!!!!

Step 1: Lift Jeep, Remove Big Rolley Poley Rubbery Thingies

Eww, Stock Components.

Step 2: CUT THE SHIT OUT OF EVERY BRACKET. Also get a VERY aggressive Grinding wheel as that was a pain in the D*ck. Take Picture with shock as your like, "how the hell is this going to fit?"

Step 3: A bunch of stuff I'll write up later but for now, rear was done:

Big Shoutout to Mr Slick Rick for his help and/or his need to "Marine the shit out it" which more or less means aggressively using all tools/welders/plasma cutters/Grinding wheels while laughing maniacally when it was no longer my turn to destroy something beautiful.

 

[SABLE RHINO]

Great post! Great looking ride X 2!!

 

[AlrightAlready]

Much appreciated! I'll get back on the ball after work tonight and keep it going. Should be able to catch up or get close to where she sits now.

 

[AlrightAlready]

Well, I'll just say insert finished picture of Coilovers here: (Will have to pull from Ricks phone)

One of my favorite cars my buddy let me whip around. If you watch Vinwiki, he was the knucklehead whipping this Mclaren around doing donuts in the rain on the Rally video. He is a dealer so he never has the same car lol. Pretty sure it's still the 12c 1/4 Mile record holder. Straight piped with Bigger Turbski's sounds like a jet engine.

I purchased some of the MoriMoto Sequential Signals to replace in my fenders just before Brit @ American Adventure Lab released his high clearance prototype light. I sent him money to be one of the first in line. Took some time to receive and when the package arrived, it was absolutely destroyed in transit. His packaging was impressive but unfortunately, the lights came in with some cracks in the lenses. **Brit has the best customer service I've experienced in so long** More on this later. You can also see a good shot of the front Coily boi's.

I have a video I will post up in the write up later.

After removing the inner structure, the cheap clips were not up to snuff for speeds over about 50 which created some active aero which turned into passive aero (just trying to be like the 12c.) I rigged it with some zip ties for now but plan on using nylon nuts and bolts to keep it tight while still having the ability to just rip out without damaging the body.

As a HUGE FAN of Baja Design lights as I run them on all my motorcycles, When they did a big sale with rebates, coupled with my giftcard and the discount, I bit the bullet and ordered some LP9s. Installed these bad boys on my Modified JK AEV bumper from Ol' Blue and here are some Naked shots of her outside work. Also pictured is the 3d printed lense vs the Injection molding lenses that AAL overnighted me the day it finished the production because he felt bad for the broken lenses. Love that guy! You can see the different between left and right a little bit.

View attachment 218347

Little Peek at the Artec rear liner install which was a PITA as well as a great door-less mod of the Carolina Metal Masters mirrors. These things are sweet. I'll end this post with a little flex shot from my day clearance testing

View attachment 218354

 

[AlrightAlready]

The more recent mod's I've completed in the past couple weeks apart from the CMM mirrors and some tube Doors from Jeep Beach were to flip the sway bar motor to get some more clearance as well as getting the EVO-kit Specific Inner liners from AAL. The CMM kit was super easy. Just pop out the upper bolt cover, slap some blue loctite on there and screw it in. Very nice CNC work.

The plan was to get some tube doors. I bought a set at Jeep Beach for what I thought was a good deal but it was Meh at best. Free TJ mirrors included which I'll never use with them lol.

Tube doors are SOLID. Really hoping they release the Mesh they had on the Orange one at the event... I actually have not looked lately so may call on that tomorrow.

The motor flip was just a single bolt from Metalcloak if my memory serves correct. I purchased it from a member on this forum. Pictures don't show exactly how well it gets up and out of the way.

Before:

After: (night Pic on phone so enjoy this super duper high resolution artistry)

Lastly, this is my most recent addition and one I've been anxiously awaiting for quite some time to protect all those electrical bits on the firewall. I originally purchase Artec Inner liners with the thought that I would just chop them up to fit my coil overs. Yeahhhh, that plan was going to fail for sure so I decided against it and was going to go back to oem plastic set that I would cut for now and fab my own eventually. About that time, Brit from AAL emailed me saying he was going to produce a set of liners nobody was making... After some peer pressure to tell me and some groaning of my issue, he mentioned a quick turn set, one with a panel specific for EVO. As a motorcycle guy who loves 1.4 turn dzus for tearing down bikes quick, it definitely had my attention. They arrived last week and I just installed them a couple days ago. 100% easiest install I've ever done on any vehicle. I mean seriously, every liner should be made like this, it was freaking awesome. Took not even an hour of me working at super snail pace while checking my Tinde... I mean Emails.

The tires rub the liner at full lock. I am going to pull out the back section, toss it on the brake and bend it back into the body towards the bottom. Might stretch the front a little as I need to replace the driveshaft anyways and that should alleviate most of my issues. That's pretty much where I stand right now. I'll grab some pictures tomorrow of my accidental DIY clearanced corners via the flex/crunch method with 40's... oops. I plan to throw on the Jtop Sunshade when I get a break from the rain which is a no-go right now.

Most intriguing things on my list right now are the Bestop Sunrider, removing rear muffler and doing something in the middle of the body to clean up the rear end while keeping it silent, better spread reverse light(s), trailer plug solution, drilling bumper to add back up sensors again.

I am really hoping I can come up with a solid system for fitting my winch plate/winch in this bumper without cutting the grill to clearance it. It's too tight of a fit currently but I really don't like how far most JL bumpers stick out from the body so I WILL make this bumper work. Who else will be running a JK AEV Stubby on their JL? Hope everybody reading this has enjoyed the pictures so far. Feel free to ask any questions and I will post up more soon! Going to Hardrock Asap, Jasper Jeep fest for labor day weekend in ATL, then Windrock in Oct.

 

[TCogs1]

Hey Brother Mojito!

Thanks for all the mod pics... after running Rubicon and Coyote trails.. I really need to get serious about rear inner fendors...

Did you do yours yet?

Mine rub at full flex, even with adding 2000LBS Airsprings… (not as bad as before)..

Thoughts..?

Thanks..

TC

 

[AlrightAlready]

In terms of "Inner Fenders," I am running Artec liners. They are not necessary but I think they compliment the look quite well. I took some pictures to show the areas where I run into clearance issues. They include the rear inner wheel wells along with the long arms up front. There is some rubbing on the front liners that I plan on fixing this upcoming week with some trial and error.

Apart from the recently installed inners, up front, the main thing I rub on is the long arms.

I consider this very minor among the things I normally mess up on my Jeeps haha. I really need to get out the measuring tool and see where it moves while flexing but the main issue is hitting the bottom of the inner at full lock: (I think this will be an easy fix once I use the break and bend them back to tuck them in. I also think you would only have this issue with 40's. I think even 38's or smaller would fit fine.)

Now, the real fun stuff comes with my *Custom* and 100% intentional clearance tactics which resulted in the following:

Nothing to fear, Right?! The other side did just as....

Ooof!! Lol. Well, I did have quite some fun ripping up and down Hardrock Trails in Ocala, so I was actually surprised this was the worst of it. A little side shot will give some better detail although it's pretty much what you would expect:

Nothing a sawzaw, angle grinder, and some seam sealer cannot fix!! Not exactly sure what angle I will cut but my plans include keeping and *reinforcing* the stock fenders as I think they look amazing. I plan on doing that this week after work. I want to swing by a buddies shop and toss it on his fork-lift to hopefully make this a one-cut ordeal after some measuring.

The Big question is:
1. Do I fabricate some Aluminum spacers to push front bumper further forward to fit winch plate/winch? (which goes against my whole idea of compact aesthetics and clearance)
2. Cut the bottom of the grill so I can retain clearance and stuff that good ol' winch behind it. Enjoy clean flush look and good clearance.
3. Hope one of you is more creative and has a better plan to fit winch without cutting up a grill.
4. CUT EVERYTHING, GET WARN 8274 AND STUFFFFFF IT! WINCH SPEED OVER 9000!!!

I think I may be able to fit the spool/motor without cutting the grill (may require winch plate cuts) but I would have to find a separate place to mount the control box such as under the hood. I've seen it done before.

Rained AGAIN today so no luck installing my JTops Shade.

 

[AlrightAlready]

Did you do yours yet? Mine rub at full flex, even with adding 2000LBS Airsprings… (not as bad as before) TC

Are you rubbing in the same area as my jeep that the pictures show or is it somewhere else? What Lift height are your running? Unless it's a lower height build, with 37's, I'm surprised your having issues as my buddy is running them on 3.5 inch lift and it clears perfectly fine in the rear. I am not familiar with running the airsprings assuming it is similar to pressurized airbags within the coils to reduce or slow compression? The main issue if I am not mistaken would be correcting your bump stops to limit travel to the point of touching the body.

Correct me if I was wrong in interpreting your issue!

 

[BajaDesigns]

As a HUGE FAN of Baja Design lights as I run them on all my motorcycles, When they did a big sale with rebates, coupled with my giftcard and the discount, I bit the bullet and ordered some LP9s. Installed these bad boys on my Modified JK AEV bumper from Ol' Blue and here are some Naked shots of her outside work. Also pictured is the 3d printed lense vs the Injection molding lenses that AAL overnighted me the day it finished the production because he felt bad for the broken lenses. Love that guy! You can see the different between left and right a little bit.

View attachment 218347

Wow! The Jeep is looking great

Thanks for sharing some pics and build info with us

Baja Designs
www.bajadesigns.com

 

[AlrightAlready]

I appreciate that @BajaDesigns ! I plan on swapping some squadron sports into the front bumper eventually. I've got a little project in mind to run a cornering lense in a squadron for one reverse light in bumper and use the 2nd light hole for a flush trailer wiring setup. Conteminating combo lenses for lp9 as the current ones go so damn far down the road/trail, it's comical. I'll post up a picture of the motorcycle setups. Roommate boutand I are about to order your ktm450 kits for our Supermoto's.

 

[Minty JL]

Solid build!

 

[melendez69]

I Ventured up to Jacksonville to scoop some misc. components needed to install the lift, grab some dinner with a few friends, and then head home... BUUUUUUUUT some 17 year old girl had a different plan.

Is it me, or is there a smile on the driver side?

Sponsored