Dragoneggs Build Thread

[dragoneggs]

It’s been a little more than a year since taking delivery. It’s about time to document my build albeit a bit in retrospect. Please bear with me as I post the journey over the next few days.

Day one…. Picking up my 22 JLR (2dr) on March 19, 2022. Ordered at my local dealer mid December 2021. Yep, she looks a little slimy… i guess it is the tire treatment. Went in sold on another shade of gray and in this case it was going to be black. All of my vehicles for the past 25 years have been some sort of silver, gray, black. My salesman said you might want to take a look at Snazzberry Pearl… okay show me! None on the lot… apparently a limited offering. So… hell why not sight unseen.

On the way home we stopped at Costco and got ducked! Didn’t know what the hell that was all about?

Got her home…. never spent this amount of coin on anything other than a house! Over $50K!

Little did I know this was just the start of something I had no idea was inevitable.. The simple plan was to tow this little guy behind our Class C RV for trips throughout the west. Oops!

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[dragoneggs]

Only once ordered a vehicle before and as such, had a lot of time on my hands. Not good. Lots of research. A buddy advised not to buy the OEM bumper and tailgate upgrades. So I started looking at my options. And of course, little bling accessories while I am at it...

 

[dragoneggs]

Okay, first legit mod. My front bumper. I went with the plastic OEM bumper knowing it would be a throw away. Knowing that my JLR would also be a toad behind my Class C RV, I had and still have a strong desire to keep the weight (and volume) to a minimum. Weight and miniaturization comes at a cost…. In this case, I am willing to pay for it.

Selected Rockhard4x4 Patriot Series mid width aluminum bumper. Biggest selling points were…. Light weight and integral tow points that tie directly to the frame ends!

Before….

During…

After… well not with all the goodies…

 

[dragoneggs]

The bumper/winch install was a battle. Lots of grinding on the frame ends and creative ways to get on the bolts/nuts made this a test in patience. Finally got it fitting right. Very snug fit! Finally installed the Warn Zeon 8S and Factor 55 Flat Link E shackle.

 

[dragoneggs]

After going ‘under the hood’ a few times, I realized the prop was 19th century. Do yourself a favor and get these struts…. ‘Redline tuning’.

 

[dragoneggs]

Weathertech mats. I went with the HP version….these have high sidewalls and just fit!

And the rear cargo mat with back seat removed (Day 1). In fact that waS my first mod/delete.

 

[dragoneggs]

The next mod was getting the 67Designs Series 55 rail mount system. I started with just one arm and the clamshell holder for my iPhone Pro Max. I got tired of it being a two hand operation to mount/dismount the phone. So moved to a mag mount. That posed its own issues with wireless charging at night because the magnet on the back of the protective case didn’t allow charging.

The original clamshell was mounted directly to the arm attached to the rail. I subsequently added a knuckle and another arm to lower the phone to improve my view and get it closer to my right hand for operation.

I finally found a slim case that could take a wireless charge and was magnetic but once on the trails I found it was not strong enough… dammit.

Only recently did I add a slim piece of metal below the magnetic charge ring that solved all of my issues!

The other 67Designs add was a custom 3D printed bracket for my iPad. Now I can have the phone function as a phone, the OEM screen display music or OffRoad pages, etc. and have a dedicated map (GaiaGPS). And I can easily swing away the iPad mount when not in use and thus not blocking the passenger airbag.

Still need to prove it out on rough trails but okay so far. The portrait orientation is not recommended by 67Designs but I’m sure I can figure better retention if necessary.

 

[Flip]

The next mod was getting the 67Designs Series 55 rail mount system. I started with just one arm and the clamshell holder for my iPhone Pro Max. I got tired of it being a two hand operation to mount/dismount the phone. So moved to a mag mount. That posed its own issues with wireless charging at night because the magnet on the back of the protective case didn’t allow charging.

The original clamshell was mounted directly to the arm attached to the rail. I subsequently added a knuckle and another arm to lower the phone to improve my view and get it closer to my right hand for operation.

I finally found a slim case that could take a wireless charge and was magnetic but once on the trails I found it was not strong enough… dammit.

Only recently did I add a slim piece of metal below the magnetic charge ring that solved all of my issues!

The other 67Designs add was a custom 3D printed bracket for my iPad. Now I can have the phone function as a phone, the OEM screen display music or OffRoad pages, etc. and have a dedicated map (GaiaGPS). And I can easily swing away the iPad mount when not in use and thus not blocking the passenger airbag.

Still need to prove it out on rough trails but okay so far. The portrait orientation is not recommended by 67Designs but I’m sure I can figure better retention if necessary.

Nice job!

 

[dragoneggs]

A little more on the bumper… the aluminum midwidth bumper comes with a bull bar. I didn’t want the bar for two reasons… first, it impaired the view of the front trail cam, and two, it freed up valuable mounting space for Baja Designs Amber LP4 lights.

A phone call to RockHard4x4 was all it took to delete the bar. I saved some weight and they lowered the price of the bumper without me saying a word. Really liked working with those guys!

Here is the result. Wired the lights up to one of Aux switches. So glad I added that option…

The lights are mounted with Click Bond adhesive bonded studs and the wiring for the OEM fog lights are attached using Click Bond cable tie mounts. So, no drilling, tapping, or welding!

Looking at the backside of the bumper for the fog light wiring…

 

[Flip]

A little more on the bumper… the aluminum midwidth bumper comes with a bull bar. I didn’t want the bar for two reasons… first, it impaired the view of the front trail cam, and two, it freed up valuable mounting space for Baja Designs Amber LP4 lights.

A phone call to RockHard4x4 was all it took to delete the bar. I saved some weight and they lowered the price of the bumper without me saying a word. Really liked working with those guys!

Here is the result. Wired the lights up to one of Aux switches. So glad I added that option…

The lights are mounted with Click Bond adhesive bonded studs and the wiring for the OEM fog lights are attached using Click Bond cable tie mounts. So, no drilling, tapping, or welding!

Looking at the backside of the bumper for the fog light wiring…
View attachment 756447

Just curious, what was up with all this? Did you let Rockhard4x4 know who won the war when you called them?

Quote: The bumper/winch install was a battle. Lots of grinding on the frame ends and creative ways to get on the bolts/nuts made this a test in patience.

 

[dragoneggs]

Next added Baja Designs Squadron Sports and a stubby antenna. The ditch lights are also wired to an Aux switch.

 

[dragoneggs]

The next big mod was the GMRS radio. I waited until the Midland MXT-575 released. Decided to mount it under the driver’s seat. Went with the Ghost antenna and American Adventure Labs cowl mount. I might relocate the base unit under the steering column at some point especially if I need to free up that space for an amp or ???

Found a convenient place to mount the remote mic and ran a cat 5 plug from the base unit to the pax side of the center console for easy disconnect when not in use…

 

[dragoneggs]

By this point, was getting annoyed with some of the factory settings and knew I had other mods that would appreciate a Tazor Mini. A real bitch to remove the wires so I bought a holder and extension cables to make a swap out painless if going to the dealer. It mounts just behind the close out panel below the steering column.

 

[dragoneggs]

Decided to add some ‘bling’ that maybe has some functional value in the Threedom key caps, wiper caps, door and hood hinges in my ’Dragon’ Theme…

Liked them so much, I recently added the door handle covers….

 

[dragoneggs]

While doing these showy mods I was also on the hunt for better steering/handling. Finally came across the Exact Center steering stabilizer. Wow… what a difference. No more wandering side to side looking like I was drunk. The stabilizer forces the wheel back to center when you let go of the wheel. Easy installation and adjustment. Also got the Synergy relocation Bracket to get it tucked up higher.

Drives so much straighter and truer now. One of my favorite mods…

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