Ratio of Mechanical/performance upgrades vs cosmetic/practical upgrades - what’s your priority?

[grimmjeeper]

Everyone has different priorities when building their Jeeps. I even have different priorities depending on which Jeep I'm building.

My Wrangler is a daily driver that came with a ton of options from the factory. And I added 35" tires at the dealership but I left the stock wheels because they work and they're just wheels. I'm doing basic functional mods right now. Armor, radios, winch, etc. Enough to make it useful off road but still be a good daily driver. I don't put a lot of flashy attention grabbing mods on my Jeep.

My 87 Comanche is entirely different. It's being built for the "oh hell no" end of the trail rating scale. It's getting pure functional mods so I can tackle the near buggy trails. The suspension is being custom built for trail performance. I don't care what it drives like on the highway as I will tow it if I go anywhere. The beadlocks are going to get abused so I'm not spending money on pretty wheels. I may slap a coat of paint on the body once I fix the rust but only as a rust preventative coating. I'll have heavy duty bumpers, body armor, a roll cage, a bed full of gear for field repairs. Stuff like that.

But then there are people who have entirely different plans for their Jeeps. They want something else entirely. They may want a show car. They may like the visual appeal of some mods. Or their Jeep is just for handling bad weather driving and won't go off road. And I say more power to them. Build your Jeep the way you want.

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[KSwilly]

I appreciate all the comments here. Totally agree with the “Your Jeep, Your Way” philosophy. And I want to stress that not everyone was like that at the Jamboree. It was a good mix of people. Just a couple of hard core folks from the upper divisions. One of ‘em may have even gotten a little karma for it - dude broke a knuckle on “little” John Bull coming back from the bigger JB trail, and needed towing out. Even our group’s stock TJ made it through little JB.

 

[_olllllllo_]

I have slowly added predominantly performance upgrades over two years of ownership. Front bumper, winch and KC lights, rock rails, skid plates and an air compressor. I have the JTopsUSA shade and it is awesome. I have a Racor lift for the hard top and brackets to hang the doors in the garage. No lift or wheels yet, but in the plans. I am going to install a mobile ham radio and trailer brake controller in the next couple weeks. Will go to 35" KO2s and a 2.5" game changer lift. May get a new tie rod and drag link, but that will probably be the end of it.

 

[BDinTX]

I appreciate all the comments here. Totally agree with the “Your Jeep, Your Way” philosophy. And I want to stress that not everyone was like that at the Jamboree. It was a good mix of people. Just a couple of hard core folks from the upper divisions. One of ‘em may have even gotten a little karma for it - dude broke a knuckle on “little” John Bull coming back from the bigger JB trail, and needed towing out. Even our group’s stock TJ made it through little JB.

We've done mostly performance mods but kind of the basics and probably not really required for a rubicon to begin with (bumper winch, lift, wheels, tires). Did you enjoy the JJ and did those folks make you feel like you didn't belong? I haven't been to one yet, haven't done much with others yet at all, but have experienced that nonsense in other arenas in the past and it kinda sucks... Don't like having to buy my way into acceptance.

 

[wv18jl]

Decorate construction.
Never construct decoration.

 

[Outrun]

I mostly move forward on beefing things up or adding protection.

 

[omnitonic]

I thought about this again, and realized I did do one totally cosmetic upgrade. I put a Borla S-type exhaust on it. It's probably even worse than the factory exhaust in terms of ground clearance, and it's a totally "mall crawler" feature, but I like it. The black pipes are more in keeping with the aesthetics of my Jeep, and it sounds good.

I will never get six blonde Jeep girls hula hooping on my hood anyway, so I can't tackle that hard rock crawler trail. I can live with the compromise, and put form ahead of function for once.

 

[aldo98229]

Tip: if you leave the exhaust pipe alone, it eventually turns black from soot, mud and rust; free of charge.

 

[JimmyB]

When someone buys me a Jeep they can suggest to me what I should do to it...

Now that we know that isn't going to happen and it's something I paid a shit ton of money for I am going to do what I want to it - it's pretty simple to me in that I really don't care what other people think. I do however come over here to see what other people are doing to get ideas for things I would consider worth spending money on =)

FYI I got 35's for my Jeep because the Jeep looks better with 35's to me than it does with 33's...I am sure the 33's would perform just as well as the 35's in most offroad situations...

 

[rcadden]

This is one thing about the Jeep community that cracks me up. The Hardcores get so worked up about "Mall Crawlers" and "Pavement Princesses" but then turn around and make their Jeeps look like absolute shit to be what I call "Rock Humpers".

WTF cares? Unless they're paying for your Jeep or your mods, their opinion is worth nothing.

Build however you like. I just got my Sahara Altitude - spent what most people call "Rubicon Money" on it. But here's the thing - I looked at the Rubicon, obviously. For one, I despise the red accents, but I also just don't need the extras. It's my first Jeep, I've never been offroading, and never owned a 4x4 *anything* in my life. And I'll use my Jeep to drive my daughters to school every day, and take my family on road trips. So yeah, a Sahara with creature comforts is worth way more than a Rubicon to me.

But I still have a mods list - it's a mix of comforts (sunrider, aesthetic stuff like hinge covers, stubby antenna, etc) and performance (bumpers, winch, etc), and I'll do them as I'm likely to use them.

Comparison is the thief of joy - I'll make my Jeep look/perform the way that I'm going to get the most out of it, and I assume you'll do the same. It would be weird if they turned out the same.

 

[ThirtyOne]

My philosophy is aesthetics are as important as function. Most of my mods are functional and i get quality stuff. But they have to look good to me or I’ll look for something else.

 

[DadJokes]

I like the way my Sahara came aesthetically for the most part. Everything done to it serves a capability purpose as my stock Jeep is comfortable enough for now. I might try different than stock Rubicon shocks later.

From front to back it’s a

-Extensive recovery kit
-winch capable bumper that I thought would be lighter. (probably not)
-Winch
-Wide cornering lights IF I’m caught out roaming after dark.
-Rubicon suspension up front with 3/4” spacer
-Apex Autolynx sway bar
-Motobilt Diff Cover for protection/prevention of oil loss
-RCV axle shafts for better 4x4 tight turn stability and to strengthen the front M186 which should be good to go for us and what we’ll do.
-Aluminum engine/transmission skid
-Mopar longer LCA’s
-Rebel blackout kit to carry 3.8 gals off additional fuel using underutilized space
-nice First Aid Kit, some beyond my knowledge but there in case others with more knowledge are near
-XG Cargo Gama storage utilizing underutilized space.
-Synergy 1” springs to be level when fully loaded with Rubicon shocks
-Electric/cable actuated Ox locker with manual backup. Switch hidden behind OBD port.
-4.56’s
-34.5” tall MT Baja Boss AT’s
-basic black plastic, non LED Rubicon Fenders
-FULL tool bag

Really nothing aesthetic.

 

[Shark01]

Have a 392 on order so you can figure performance is WAY more important to me than convenience mods.

 

[_olllllllo_]

I have slowly added predominantly performance upgrades over two years of ownership. Front bumper, winch and KC lights, rock rails, skid plates and an air compressor. I have the JTopsUSA shade and it is awesome. I have a Racor lift for the hard top and brackets to hang the doors in the garage. No lift or wheels yet, but in the plans. I am going to install a mobile ham radio and trailer brake controller in the next couple weeks. Will go to 35" KO2s and a 2.5" game changer lift. May get a new tie rod and drag link, but that will probably be the end of it.

So the best laid plans in 2021 ...

So I added a 3.5" Rock Krawler X-Factor No Limits lift, Adams 1350 front driveshaft, 5.13 gears, Motobilt diff covers, Rancho diff skid plates, Flowmaster resonator to remove the stock muffler and resonator, a mobile ham radio and antenna, replaced the plastic oil cooler housing with the Dorman aluminum version and the stock radiator with the Cold Case all-aluminum radiator. The last two were just proactive upgrades to avoid the inevitable failure of the OEM components. The only other planned upgrades are installing the Centerforce Dual Friction clutch kit (gen 3), installing a tailgate reinforcement, and a steel rear bumper.

Then I am really done!!

 

[3TV]

My 392 XR is my daily driver. It came pretty well equipped from the factory, so all I have done so far is a Warn 12K winch, 37s, and RSE rock sliders. And I just got some lighting from Baja Designs on UPS yesterday. I'm not sure much else is needed.

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