My build, My Story

[west tex]

I like the way you removed the decals. Looks clean.

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[xaugievike]

I like the way you removed the decals. Looks clean.

thanks. I've always done that on my vehicles...agree that it is a clean look.

 

[Levin_tom]

So thats where we are today.

In the spirit of bringing things full-circle, this Jeep has awoken my more primitive camping instincts. I intend to take a few shorter jaunts and would love to do some dispersed camping.

My gear-acquisition syndrome of course is drawn to the roof top tents. My hangup with that right now is the roof rack. I lean towards the rhino rack b/c it's more removable, but I dont like how the mounts remain. The Maximus looks better with it's mounts, but looks like a PITA to take off when I want to. Im curious to see the ARB mounting solution to their newer rack (I havent seen that yet). I might eventually get over the desire to want the rack to be removable.

In the meantime I may snag a gazelle tent as a cheaper, but not cheap, solution as I see how much I do the camping thing. Im really drawn to the winter camping idea though. I havent found a hot tent option I really like yet (a gazelle tent with a stove jack would be perfect).

Here are my future mod thoughts, in no particular order:

Exterior/Appearance:
Rear bumper - probably LOD
AAL fender lights - this may be the next mod. I love the look.
I'd like a soft-top. removal and storage is an issue. the TLP solves it, but I cant justify that one quite yet.

Protection:
At least dif skids.

Interior:
Tailgate table. Probably outback adventures.

Camping:
tent story above
some sort of portable water/shower solution

Keep going man! The build is coming along nice. Lots of similarities with mine. I have the Metalcloak 2.5 GC with 35s KO2. I went with with the Rhino Rack. Really satisfied with the quality and looks of it. I will mount the ARB RTT this week. I can see what you’re saying about the mounts remaining. I don’t plan on taking the roof out so for me it wasn’t a problem. Good luck with the rest! Will be waiting for updates.

 

[xaugievike]

Wheels and tires!

Had a bit of a snag here, another retailer just couldn't get the wheels I had ordered due to backorder after north of a month (I get it....nobody's fault, just a sign of the times). Huge shout out to Matt @Discount Tire for hooking me up and working with my local shop to get the Pro Comp 69's and the 315 KO2's. Love it! Now I feel like it's my Jeep.

 

[nyvisual]

At last. The Mods.

My wife is short. really short. So I thought I'd help her with a better step into the Jeep. Seriously. It was for her, not me.

I kept coming back to LOD. I looked at a lot of bars/steps. LOD just does it for me. So the first real mod to the Jeep was a set of signature sliders. Had no trouble getting around the body mounts, install took 30 minutes.

Getting the damn things out of the box took an hour! Serious credit to LOD on their packaging.

What size impact and socket needed for that install?

 

[xaugievike]

What size impact and socket needed for that install?

Oh man, I dont remember off the top of my head. no crazy sizes that required a trip beyond what I had. there was a mix of metric and standard also.

 

[Discount Tire]

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to help @xaugievike!

Your rig looks fantastic - we appreciate the shoutout!

 

[xaugievike]

Returning to some more positive programming after running into a gremlin this week. I wont rehash all that in this thread. A link to that issue is here if reference is needed in the future. The worst part of that ordeal was the freaking minivan loaner I had to putter around in for a week. A piece of me died every time I got in that thing.

So I got back around to putting on the Teraflex alpha HD tire carrier.

I was on the fence about this modification. Some said it was needed with any aftermarket wheel combo mostly so that the spare would fit tightly against the tailgate (without home center furniture parts to make it so). Others said it was not needed. I bought it for insurance b/c I didnt want to find I needed it after the fact given the delays I've had getting parts for the last few months. Im glad I got it - here's why.

So the new wheels and tires fit the stock carrier just fine and were held tightly to the tailgate as well. However, I find the T-Flex carrier a worthwhile mod to consider anyway. first of all the camera relocation does restore a view through the video that is clear of the edges of the wheel and tire. Beyond that, the brake light relocation is, I think, the most important improvement for a couple of reasons. A close following vehicle, with the stock light location, may definitely have an impeded view of that 3rd light. both the new height of the jeep along with the width of the new wheel definitely can take that light out of view from behind. More importantly, to me, is how much visual room is restored by removing that light from it's stock location for me. I feel I have a clearer view behind me now even with the larger tire back there. I didnt really notice how much room the brake light assembly occupied until it wasnt there any more.

Here's the assembly post-install....and obviously the recent weather has already done what it does. I hate winter.

One more thing to add. the camera relocation required a 1.5mm hex driver that I had to order. I have a pretty good selection of tools and bits, but that 1.5mm was something I didnt have. Worth remembering if you're doing this mod. I had to order the tool off of amazon that was delivered next day.

 

[xaugievike]

Cleaned winter off of her a bit today.