FuelandFire
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So late last year my wife and I decided to purchase an RV - well what goes best with an RV?! A JEEP!!!! A family of 4 we wanted to get our kids out in the wild and out from in front of the TV. We always wanted a "Toy" Jeep, and we finally decided to pull the trigger.
Well, that started a long journey... I come from High-Performance Cars and Fabrication but the extent of my offroading was limited to Dirtbikes (rode for 20 years) and some light messing around on trails. Well, that was about to change.
So first off, finding the Jeep - This is our first so I had to wrap my head around naming conventions, and options, etc. Landed on a new JL (after drooling at @tgoss JL) and the search began, while putting together our parts list.
The Goal here was to make it basically a "light" DD, that was good for long trips (being towed as well) but built out pretty well to get in and out of most trails with ease. I wanted something that could "do it all" and would help us build skills and possibly get us out of stuff that we shouldn't be in... Most of our offroading will be Solo as we travel around with the RV.
Since I'm pretty familiar with suspensions, etc I started with my normal routines when starting a build - work on suspension, wheels, tires, protection, and overall comfort - then work our way up to Brakes and Power Adders. So after diggin a bunch on here, and talking with a few folks, all arrows were pointing to EVO. Once I did some digging on them, and their offerings we put together the parts list...
EVO/King Pro Long Arm Coilover Kit
Raceline 17" RT260 Avenger Beadlocks powder coated Aluminum Ring Black.
Nitto 37" Ridge Grapplers
Rock Slide Engineering Side Steps with Extra Skid Armor
Evo Protek Skid/Shock Skids
Evo Tire Carrier
Maximus-3 Tow Loops
Warn Zeon 10-S Winch
JE Reel Front/Rear Driveshafts
Evo/King Airbumps
Yeti Adjustable Trackbar
King 2.0 Steering Stabilizer
Advantek Front and Rear Diff Covers
Baja Designs Squadron Pro-R Fogs (in factory steel bumper)
Baja Designs XL80 with Evo A Pillar Bracket
ARB Dual Compressor with Tank
GPCA Grab Handles
So now we needed to find a shop - Called everyone within 100 miles, and to be honest was a bit disappointed with what we found. So after asking around, I was referred to a brand new shop that just opened in Glendale CA - Offroad Customz. After the first email, I knew I found my shop - Joe the owner was fast, responsive, and overall a great guy. On top of that, they were actually excited about the build and were eager to get started - all the other shops seemed to be "meh" about the work and it felt like I had to convince them to take my hard earned $$.
So with all the finalized, we needed to find the Jeep... That was probably one of the more difficult things. I wanted the proven 3.6, which was hard to find with 2.0 everywhere. We also wanted it basically fully loaded... Contemplated ordering but just as we were about to place our order a Stingrey Showed up with the Exact Specs we wanted - called up the dealer while it was in Transit and locked it down!!!
So we picked up the Jeep and two days later we hit the Dirt! (Last Chance Canyon in So Cal) to test it out before going under the knife. Was a BLAST and we were really blown away with the out of the box capabilities.
Then next week it was dropped off at Offroad Customz and Two weeks later it was DONE! Was very happy with timing, and constant updates/pictures, etc. Joe never failed to respond to all my questions, and even came and picked up the Jeep (over an hour away) to save us the long drive. So far their work has been great, and clean - really happy with those guys, and how everything turned out, wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone in the So Cal area.
So... After that LONG post here's what you've all been waiting for. PICS!!!
Here's us picking it up from the dealer.
Our first trip with the Stock Jeep
Work Begins.
New Wheels
Cutting off Stock Brackets.
Burning on the New EVO Brackets
and the Finished Product
At Home in the Driveway
Will be taking it back out in the Dirt Tomorrow to test it out. Will post some Pics.
Obligatory RV being built pic - should be delivered in about a month. This thing is getting the Full Blackout Package - Caliber 9 Black Grills, Mirrors, Steps, and Blacked out ATX Wheels.
Well, that started a long journey... I come from High-Performance Cars and Fabrication but the extent of my offroading was limited to Dirtbikes (rode for 20 years) and some light messing around on trails. Well, that was about to change.
So first off, finding the Jeep - This is our first so I had to wrap my head around naming conventions, and options, etc. Landed on a new JL (after drooling at @tgoss JL) and the search began, while putting together our parts list.
The Goal here was to make it basically a "light" DD, that was good for long trips (being towed as well) but built out pretty well to get in and out of most trails with ease. I wanted something that could "do it all" and would help us build skills and possibly get us out of stuff that we shouldn't be in... Most of our offroading will be Solo as we travel around with the RV.
Since I'm pretty familiar with suspensions, etc I started with my normal routines when starting a build - work on suspension, wheels, tires, protection, and overall comfort - then work our way up to Brakes and Power Adders. So after diggin a bunch on here, and talking with a few folks, all arrows were pointing to EVO. Once I did some digging on them, and their offerings we put together the parts list...
EVO/King Pro Long Arm Coilover Kit
Raceline 17" RT260 Avenger Beadlocks powder coated Aluminum Ring Black.
Nitto 37" Ridge Grapplers
Rock Slide Engineering Side Steps with Extra Skid Armor
Evo Protek Skid/Shock Skids
Evo Tire Carrier
Maximus-3 Tow Loops
Warn Zeon 10-S Winch
JE Reel Front/Rear Driveshafts
Evo/King Airbumps
Yeti Adjustable Trackbar
King 2.0 Steering Stabilizer
Advantek Front and Rear Diff Covers
Baja Designs Squadron Pro-R Fogs (in factory steel bumper)
Baja Designs XL80 with Evo A Pillar Bracket
ARB Dual Compressor with Tank
GPCA Grab Handles
So now we needed to find a shop - Called everyone within 100 miles, and to be honest was a bit disappointed with what we found. So after asking around, I was referred to a brand new shop that just opened in Glendale CA - Offroad Customz. After the first email, I knew I found my shop - Joe the owner was fast, responsive, and overall a great guy. On top of that, they were actually excited about the build and were eager to get started - all the other shops seemed to be "meh" about the work and it felt like I had to convince them to take my hard earned $$.
So with all the finalized, we needed to find the Jeep... That was probably one of the more difficult things. I wanted the proven 3.6, which was hard to find with 2.0 everywhere. We also wanted it basically fully loaded... Contemplated ordering but just as we were about to place our order a Stingrey Showed up with the Exact Specs we wanted - called up the dealer while it was in Transit and locked it down!!!
So we picked up the Jeep and two days later we hit the Dirt! (Last Chance Canyon in So Cal) to test it out before going under the knife. Was a BLAST and we were really blown away with the out of the box capabilities.
Then next week it was dropped off at Offroad Customz and Two weeks later it was DONE! Was very happy with timing, and constant updates/pictures, etc. Joe never failed to respond to all my questions, and even came and picked up the Jeep (over an hour away) to save us the long drive. So far their work has been great, and clean - really happy with those guys, and how everything turned out, wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone in the So Cal area.
So... After that LONG post here's what you've all been waiting for. PICS!!!
Here's us picking it up from the dealer.
Our first trip with the Stock Jeep
Work Begins.
New Wheels
Cutting off Stock Brackets.
Burning on the New EVO Brackets
and the Finished Product
At Home in the Driveway
Will be taking it back out in the Dirt Tomorrow to test it out. Will post some Pics.
Obligatory RV being built pic - should be delivered in about a month. This thing is getting the Full Blackout Package - Caliber 9 Black Grills, Mirrors, Steps, and Blacked out ATX Wheels.
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