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Hydrobrute is driven to adventure!

driventoadventure

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I can distinctly remember when I was a child, when I would see a meteor (AKA shooting/falling star) - my wish would be to some day own a Jeep. As I grew older and became mechanically knowledgeable, I further refined that ongoing dream to be that I wanted a diesel-powered jeep. As a few life-changes happened over the last year and a half I could finally justify getting a fun car, instead of something that was just as fuel efficient and cheap (due to long commutes in lots of traffic) as possible. That's when I found that Jeep was now providing a diesel in the Wrangler, and even if it is a four-door, I knew that I was going to do anything to make that happen.

So, without further adieu, I present to you Hydrobrute!
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211023_173242


For my job, I travel a lot (think elite status on two different non-complimentary airlines and >200 hotel nights a year.) Because of this I have had many extended test-drives of JLs thanks to National carrying them until the COVID-19 pandemic. For that reason, in May I took a 10 minute test-drive and from there I knew that I was going to wind up in a JLURD. After a couple months of planning, I custom-ordered exactly what I wanted in August. In October, it arrived while I was on a trip and after landing in Denver at 2:30 and getting home at 4, I rushed over to the dealer to pick it up.

Next day, I took it out on a simple trail, as just a spur of the moment thing.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211024_133519

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211024_142032

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211024_141318


I mainly plan to take it on as many trails as I can and record the whole trail in VR - YouTube link to come shortly once I play around with time compression etc and start posting. I also plan on towing either a higher-end tent trailer or one of the micro travel trailers whose weight is towable by the jeep.

One thing to know with the mods and guides I will do / post is that I am keeping an eye to minimizing 'permanent' modifications - meaning every modification made will be done without permanently altering any part of the vehicle or mod itself. This is so that if I ever have to undo a mod for any reason, I can.

Mods Installed:
  • Rugged Ridge Arcus Stubby Front Bumper with 12,000lb winch.
    • I chose the Arcus over the HD because the Arcus has an actual winch plate.
  • Rugged Ridge HD Rear Bumper.
    • I chose the HD because it was small, tight, held from the bottom and sides of the frame to prevent it from moving and contacting the body, and because it has jack points.
  • Badlands APEX 1200# Winch. (Had to modify the power wire location to make it fit with the Arcus. See post.)
  • VIOFO A129 pro Dashcam (install pics coming this spring after I take off the top and finish running the wire to the rear cam cleanly.)
  • BulletPoint METAL dual universal mount with MagicMount base.
  • Rough Country Spare Tire license plate adapter (Install pics coming after I finish wiring the light - Check out the 3D Printed bracket I had to make so that the mount would be nice and flush with the spare tire.)
  • Threedom Caps.
  • Topsy Brackets.
  • Boom Mat Headliners
  • Redarc trailer brake controller.
  • Boom Mat Headliners on the hard top.
  • Smittybuilt shade top and master tech tonneau cover for topless season.
  • Hood blackout from @pixeldecals.

Mods planned:
  • Wiring winch cutoff to a solenoid instead of manual disconnect.
  • A lift of some kind... Really having a hard time deciding which lift.
  • Synergy track bars front and rear. (With the lift)
  • Synergy Steering reinforcement.
  • 37" or 40" Tires and Possibly XD Wheels - the wheels are TBD when tires are purchased, based on weight more than anything.
  • Some form of supplemental oil cooling for when towing... Hopefully utilizing active venting from the Rubicon vents (will be available eventually).
  • Dual Battery pack - possibly Genesis if they will ever get back to me on some questions...
  • Shaved fenders.
  • Slim DRL/Turn lights similar to the Quake or Rugged Ridge ones.
  • Metal fender liners.
  • Outdoor Adventures tailgate table.
  • Full under body pan, hopefully aluminum to save weight since I can't seem to save it in the driver...

Possibly more?
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driventoadventure

driventoadventure

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Rear Bumper Mod:

Rugged Ridge HD Rear Bumper.

Installed this afternoon, took about 3.5 hours total, with the biggest time consumer being going to the hardware store to get nuts for the towing kit, and removing the parking sensors from the plastic bumper.

I removed the plastic bumper, and found (as expected) that if you have the plastic bumper, there is a bracket that interferes with aftermarket bumpers.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211029_125632


Unlike others, I didn't want to cut this, because I want to retain everything so I can put it back to stock if I need to for any reason. The solution - this bracket only utilized the outside two nuts to hold it on. I removed those two bolts - the driver side was hard because of the DEF tank. Luckily I had a 18mm Craftsman ratcheting box wrench that made it less difficult.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211029_164223


Once off, I got some M12-1.50 nylock nuts and washers. and put those on.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211029_164627


After that, I took apart the plastic bumper to get at the parking sensors. A shortcut that I highly suggest, is to use a drill with a 7mm socket bit, since there are 36 screws (and six clips similar to the ones holding on the fender flares) that you have to remove to take it apart.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! plastic bumper screw locations


Once the parking sensors were installed, I made sure that the wiring was nicely run on the bumper. I wish that RR would have had some provision for cable management, they could have welded on like 6 small nuts that someone could use with screw-eye zip ties or similar, but I made do, again keeping the harness in factory restore-able condition.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211029_165825

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211029_165821


After that, it is a matter of mounting the 8 bolts that hold it down.

[PROTIP] If you have any RTV or silicon sealer, put some on the side that mounts between the nut plate and the frame. As you tighten the nuts they will form a bond that will hold the nut plate in place any time you unmount or remount the bumper in the future.

[PROTIP] If you use Loctite, do not use Red 271 !!! I see many threads where people tell you to use this - it is a permanent bond that will require heating it with a torch to remove the bolts. Don't do it! Use Blue 242, that will lock it and from much professional experience I can guarantee that it will hold.

Anyway, the new rear bumper looks great and I expect will serve me well on the trails.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211029_180517


I did reinstall the bottom splash guards from the OEM plastic bumper, I kind of like them looking almost like mud flaps.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211029_180527

Although I might revisit that or install actual mud flaps after I install metal wheel wells.

Hope that some of this info actually helps someone - I now have to figure out why two of my sensors think something is at the closeness limit...

(Edit 1) I rotated the passenger side sensors 180° and that seemed to help a little for my rear sensor issues, but didn't solve the problem.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_204213


After 3 months with this bumper - a full reset of the truck (disconnected batteries for several hours) seems to have improved the ParkSense response, but I still will get false indication that the two middle sensors are at minimum distance to an object on about 20% of the time. My suggestion - if you plan on getting this bumper, don't plan on getting or using your ParkSense.
 
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driventoadventure

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Front Bumper Mod:

Rugged Ridge Arcus front bumper.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_190840 (2)

The day after installing my rear bumper, I installed the Arcus front bumper. This took me considerably more time - about 5 hours, despite being an easier install. The reason it too me more time is I hem-hawed for a couple hours on what to do with my winch.

Removing the front bumper was easier than the rear for two reasons - one because it didn't have the bracket that the rear plastic bumper had, and two because taking apart the plastic bumper to get at the fog light wiring harness is much quicker and easier than taking apart the rear plastic bumper.

The fog lights are removeable with the 8 bolts circled in blue. I personally would have opted to get a new wiring harness if I hadn't been quoted a 25 day lead time when I remembered to look at ordering it, but taking apart the bumper to get at the OE harness is only 8 pop-up trim buttons and 24x 7mm screws (circled in yellow). Like with the rear, just use a drill with a 7mm bit, because that makes it super quick. You do not need to remove the metal support or recovery hooks as others suggest - it just makes it about 5% harder because you have to slip the plastic cover over the hooks.

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! front plastic bumper screw locations
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_104612

Once off, the clips are easy to remove with the same trim removal tool you will need to get off the bumper anyway.

Installing the winch tray was harder because the brackets on mine weren't bent enough and were wider than the frame opening. This is approximately 1/8" thick metal, so I had to use pry bar to pinch it against the frame enough to hit it into place with a rubber mallet. (Sorry, didn't have a fourth hand to take pictures.)

Once the plate was installed and I tried to install my Badlands Apex 12000# winch, I found a MAJOR problem that hindsight found has been mentioned a lot. I had originally planned on a SmittyBuilt, but was able to get the Apex for $512, as well as have heard a LOT of very good raves about the badlands, so I "Omaha'ed" over to the badlands without proper planning. After a couple hours of hem-hawing, I decided that the easiest thing to do (even versus returning it) was just to drill a hole in the case on the side. Apparently this is common to do? I removed the control board with 4x T30 (only took pctures of the wiring and have included them for reference, sorry for not getting the rest of the modification process) screws and used a 5/8" socket to mock up the approximate hole size and location. I then center-marked that location, and used a 1/4" bit to drill a location hole. I then used a 1/2" bit to widen the hole and then a step drill bit to widen the hole to approximately 3/4" (If you do this, err on the side of smaller, just get to the step down and ream it until the cable and its protection just barely fit through). The metal seems to be sintered, so this was a VERY easy process... The pictures below will show the wiring in case it helps, the problem with clearance and the solution I implemented.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_123345
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_194434

(You can see it is VERY tight on the body. Long term I expect there to be rubbing damage to the plastic bezel on the bottom of the grille.)
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_155015

You can see the <3/4" hole is about as perfect a fit as one can expect. I still expect to surround it with some black silicone or RTV to ensure minimal water intrusion. The original exit hole I covered with consecutive layers of electrical tape. I highly suggest Scotch 88 because it is thicker and in my experience, adheres better even when exposed to rain and the elements.

Instructions will come soon on replacing the (included) manual battery disconnect with a solenoid wired to my aux switches - after I get and test my chosen solenoid.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_165602

It's really nice to be able to rest the hood on the windshield when doing work in the engine bay. I just used a moving blanket to protect the paint...

After the winch was mounted, wired and tested, installing the bumper was easy but decidedly inconvenient. If you have no help (I had difficulty tearing my boy away from AoE4 since it was release weekend) then I suggest removing the top brackets for the overrider and using zip ties to hold on the tow hooks and inner nut plate. You have to remove the top brackets to get the bumper to arch over the tow hooks...

[PROTIP] For the nut plates that mount behind the frame, use some RTV or silicon to 'glue' it to the frame. I have since removed this bumper twice to install a license plate mount and realign the winch faring, and having those plates glued in place is really convenient. Plus, you can still easily remove and clean off RTV if you need to.

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_155418

(Trust me, I tried with those brackets installed, I am glad I didn't experience how much those hooks hurt when they land on sandaled feet...)

As an aside - those tow hooks are absolute units. They are approximately 2/3rds of the entire packages weight.

Once on, you will need a T55 bit (I had a T55 socket bit thankfully) for the front bolts. RR didn't include a torque spec, so based on bolt size I torqued them to 57 lb-ft. I will let you know if I get a spec from RR.

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_170431

I found that the LED fog lights did not require any aiming or modification to provide proper illumination.

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211030_170735__01

I did reinstall the protecting plate for now - I will install the RR front skid plate this winter...

Below is a pic of what the front camera shows with the over-rider bar etc showing that they don't really obstruct the view much. Forgive the black censored area - the tandem/4th space of my garage is very messy.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211031_111537 censored



Overall, I really like this bumper. It is inconvenient but still easy to install, and does a really good job of getting out of the way without totally jeopardizing protection.
 
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mikem20

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Nice build plans and already good looking Jeep! 👍🏻 I hope to get a small TT someday as well. GL on the build.
 

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Question about your front bumper. I have a 20” light bar. Does it have space to mount the bar on the bar in between the bar and the winch?
 
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Question about your front bumper. I have a 20” light bar. Does it have space to mount the bar on the bar in between the bar and the winch?
Yes it does, however I am not sure a 20" would fit width-wise. I will post some pictures with dimensions on Friday when I get home from my current business trip.
 

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driventoadventure

driventoadventure

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Thank you kindly
Okay, so below are the measurements of the area between the grille and the over-rider bar. It looks like a 20" light bar will actually fit width wise.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211105_130711

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211105_130718

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211105_130820

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211105_130756
 

Sargeoverland

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Okay, so below are the measurements of the area between the grille and the over-rider bar. It looks like a 20" light bar will actually fit width wise.
Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211105_130756

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211105_130756

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211105_130756

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! IMG_20211105_130756
Thank you. I’ve been looking for someone whos done one in there. So again thank you
 
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driventoadventure

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Thank you @Threedom for making Alaska Key and Wiper caps! They make me quite happy.

The Key caps nice! They are very tight, so if you have something where a bad alignment will bug you (like it did me) be careful when installing.

The Wiper caps are especially nice. Their height and tightness are a perfect balance where I am not worried they could accidentally come off, but they will still not be annoying to remove when I put down the windshield.

The rear door keycap though - well, it's hard to install one when you don't have a keyhole back there heh.

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! Alaska Wiper Ca

Jeep Wrangler JL Hydrobrute is driven to adventure! Alaska Key Ca
 
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Thank you @Threedom for making Alaska Key and Wiper caps! They make me quite happy.

The Key caps nice! They are very tight, so if you have something where a bad alignment will bug you (like it did me) be careful when installing.

The Wiper caps are especially nice. Their height and tightness are a perfect balance where I am not worried they could accidentally come off, but they will still not be annoying to remove when I put down the windshield.

The rear door keycap though - well, it's hard to install one when you don't have a keyhole back there heh.

Alaska Wiper Cap.jpg

Alaska Key Cap.jpg


View attachment 566252
@driventoadventure

They look good on your JL... Glad we could get those Alaska caps available for you in a timely fashion...

Thanks much for your purchase .. and for tagging Threedom so we'd come here to your thread to take a looksee..

YES, both the key hole caps and the wiper arm caps are designed to fit very tightly/securely..

Did you notice the "finger nail ring" on the key hole caps.... that finger nail ring will make getting the cap off a tad easier.

That extra cap you have..... glue it to your tool box... makes great decoration ..
 
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driventoadventure

driventoadventure

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@driventoadventure

They look good on your JL... Glad we could get those Alaska caps available for you in a timely fashion...

Thanks much for your purchase .. and for tagging Threedom so we'd come here to your thread to take a looksee..

YES, both the key hole caps and the wiper arm caps are designed to fit very tightly/securely..

Did you notice the "finger nail ring" on the key hole caps.... that finger nail ring will make getting the cap off a tad easier.

That extra cap you have..... glue it to your tool box... makes great decoration ..

I didn't notice that, wound up rotating it with my channel locks and some shop towels. heh.

The other cap will probably be glued to my recovery gear box for that very reason - it IS a great decoration!

Thanks again for the timeliness - and the coincidental timing of them being done the week I got back from out-of-country was extra beneficial. A nice little bonus to come home to.
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