What did you do TO your Jeep JL today?

mini_cal

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Thoughts so far? I'm considering these vs the Weathertech ones. Do they have one continuous tab that mounts them, or are they several small tabs?
front ones have a tab that goes between the door trim and weather seal by the mirror. One long one on top that goes in channel and one down the back that goes in channel.

Rear ones have 2 tabs that go in channel and at the back one tab sticks on the outside against the rubber track

they seem pretty solid. I’ve used AVS products in the past and they last really long. Plus the in channel ones are clamped down most of the time by your windows.
 

Blanco802

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I got a pair coming tomorrow. I think the clear reflectors look much better, especially on yours.
Thanks! Good luck with the install. Make sure the T30 torx you use is skinny enough to get through. Looks very clean and a great product by Diode.
 

omnitonic

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I was curious about your choice, but I never said you were crazy. ;)
You might as well. If going with that setup wasn't crazy, putting it back together was. I expected to get up early, slap that back together, and go wheeling today. Not remotely true. A trip to Tractor Supply for longer bolts. A trip to Harbor Freight for a C-clamp. On and on. Here was the pile of tools at the end of the day:

Jeep Wrangler JL What did you do TO your Jeep JL today? 1627959014310


You know what you don't see there? A soldering iron. I went with the heat shrink butt connectors. When I turned the compressor on, nothing happened. :angry:

So now I guess I'm going to grab the lanterns and the head lamp, and go solder those connections in the dark. Yee ha!

So I guess now we should take bets how long it will be before I nail that drain nipple and have to unbolt all of this shit in order to fix it. If that becomes necessary, I will probably ditch this whole thing at that point. Also, the front bracket is very bendy after its trip through my forge, and I figure if this thing takes one more shot, it's gone. I guess it's time to look at a skid plate to protect my skid plate. Lift, wheels, and tires are just going to be too much, even if I sell my truck. I've decided to look at body armor instead.

Jeep Wrangler JL What did you do TO your Jeep JL today? 1627959296294
 

LittleDog

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Looks like the people who thought I was crazy for mounting my compressor and tank in a Hauk MULE skid plate were right. That ugly clunk I heard halfway through that deep mud puddle was apparently me bashing the shit out of my compressor setup.

a.jpg


b.jpg


I only notice this, because I was going to change the drain valve again. That pull cord style I put on a few weeks ago just sucked. I replaced it with a quarter turn ball valve style. Since the powder coat was forked anyway, I used my die grinder to carve out an exit for the nipple. This will help me drain the tank more completely (and it was full of rusty muck water, so this was a necessary mod).

1627873330391.png

1627873357582.png


I got the bracket straightened out pretty well. I destroyed the powder coat in so doing. The best way I could figure was to just throw the sucker in my forge, and hammer it out on the anvil. (I made those tongs, by the way.)

1627873475508.png


Here's another view of my tongs. I've made a lot of tongs that sucked, but I nailed it with this pair. They're very useful.

1627873542681.png


So now I've quit early, and I'm drinking some booze while waiting on the paint to dry. I guess I'm going to have to get up early tomorrow to get this back together in time if I want to go wheeling, and I do want to go wheeling.

1627873600434.png

1627873637933.png


Also, I ordered differential skid plates tonight. Yeah, I could easily hit one of the pumpkins, and if I peeled the cover back and let all the slippy juice out, I would be totally screwed.

I have also re-evaluated my decision to stay with the Rubicon takeoff lift. I don't think it's enough to run 35s, and under the circumstances, this trail may be green, but it's obviously bad enough to do some very serious damage. I don't think settling for 33s seems like such a good plan now. This also means I need a regear. Probably 4.56. I have no idea who I can get to perform the regear in a reasonable amount of time, and I need to figure that out next.

Oh, I'm selling my truck to pay for all this. It's time to let it go. I have another truck. It will be okay.

Ha, noticed the anvil in the photos before you even mentioned it. Neat tongs. Much cooler than the c-clamp locking pliers or marring pipe wrenches I use in my cold forge. (Read: general area that I use for hitting stuff with large hammers)

Must have been a big hit to dent that MULE skid. That sucks. Thought that it was a neat install when you posted it. I wanted to use one to hold a water tank.

I'm jealous of your forge and other tools, and therefore have no sympathy for your selling a truck. Looking forward to your fix.
 

Some Random Guy

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Looks like the people who thought I was crazy for mounting my compressor and tank in a Hauk MULE skid plate were right. That ugly clunk I heard halfway through that deep mud puddle was apparently me bashing the shit out of my compressor setup.

a.jpg


b.jpg


I only notice this, because I was going to change the drain valve again. That pull cord style I put on a few weeks ago just sucked. I replaced it with a quarter turn ball valve style. Since the powder coat was forked anyway, I used my die grinder to carve out an exit for the nipple. This will help me drain the tank more completely (and it was full of rusty muck water, so this was a necessary mod).

1627873330391.png

1627873357582.png


I got the bracket straightened out pretty well. I destroyed the powder coat in so doing. The best way I could figure was to just throw the sucker in my forge, and hammer it out on the anvil. (I made those tongs, by the way.)

1627873475508.png


Here's another view of my tongs. I've made a lot of tongs that sucked, but I nailed it with this pair. They're very useful.

1627873542681.png


So now I've quit early, and I'm drinking some booze while waiting on the paint to dry. I guess I'm going to have to get up early tomorrow to get this back together in time if I want to go wheeling, and I do want to go wheeling.

1627873600434.png

1627873637933.png


Also, I ordered differential skid plates tonight. Yeah, I could easily hit one of the pumpkins, and if I peeled the cover back and let all the slippy juice out, I would be totally screwed.

I have also re-evaluated my decision to stay with the Rubicon takeoff lift. I don't think it's enough to run 35s, and under the circumstances, this trail may be green, but it's obviously bad enough to do some very serious damage. I don't think settling for 33s seems like such a good plan now. This also means I need a regear. Probably 4.56. I have no idea who I can get to perform the regear in a reasonable amount of time, and I need to figure that out next.

Oh, I'm selling my truck to pay for all this. It's time to let it go. I have another truck. It will be okay.
Glad I went ARB twin instead of trying to save a few hundred with Viair and the bottom mounted tank. Now that I have locking whips, any extra fill time doesn’t bother me because I’m sitting in the A/C drinking/snacking.
You might as well. If going with that setup wasn't crazy, putting it back together was. I expected to get up early, slap that back together, and go wheeling today. Not remotely true. A trip to Tractor Supply for longer bolts. A trip to Harbor Freight for a C-clamp. On and on. Here was the pile of tools at the end of the day:

Jeep Wrangler JL What did you do TO your Jeep JL today? 1627959296294


You know what you don't see there? A soldering iron. I went with the heat shrink butt connectors. When I turned the compressor on, nothing happened. :angry:

So now I guess I'm going to grab the lanterns and the head lamp, and go solder those connections in the dark. Yee ha!

So I guess now we should take bets how long it will be before I nail that drain nipple and have to unbolt all of this shit in order to fix it. If that becomes necessary, I will probably ditch this whole thing at that point. Also, the front bracket is very bendy after its trip through my forge, and I figure if this thing takes one more shot, it's gone. I guess it's time to look at a skid plate to protect my skid plate. Lift, wheels, and tires are just going to be too much, even if I sell my truck. I've decided to look at body armor instead.

Jeep Wrangler JL What did you do TO your Jeep JL today? 1627959296294
I’m still jealous of your handiness and design ideas. I’m confident the next iteration will be better if it does come to that!
 

calemasters

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Dropped it off at the dealer to get my rear camera replaced.
 

SurfMacJpMtb

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first oil change, five tire rotation, new spare scrub, a little dusting under the hood....back to enjoying the jp
 

omnitonic

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Thoughts so far? I'm considering these vs the Weathertech ones. Do they have one continuous tab that mounts them, or are they several small tabs?
I can tell you about the Weathertech ones, if you're curious. The fronts have a nearly continuous mounting tab, and stay in place by spring tension. The rears also have a continuous mounting tab, but they require the installation of two metal clips per side.

I was pretty put off by the metal clips, and delayed installation for a long time. In the end, it was pretty easy, and I am happy with them.

I'm not trying to talk you out of purchasing some alternative. Best of luck!
 

omnitonic

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Glad I went ARB twin instead of trying to save a few hundred with Viair and the bottom mounted tank.
You definitely made the right call. The compressor kicks on halfway through tire #1. Each subsequent tire is filled more by compressor, and less by tank, until the final tire, which is all compressor. It's slow. This kit is "FOR UP TO 37" TIRES WOO WOO WOO LOOK HOW AWESOME WOO WOO WOO 37S BABY 37S!" but my tires are only 32", and I only air down to 20 psi, and I'm only trying to air back up to 30 psi. This would be miserable with 37s, VIAIR marketing not withstanding.

By the time I paid $300 for the damn mounting plate, because the VIAIR tank wouldn't fit under my back seats with all the dongles installed, I ended up paying just as much as the ARB twin. If I could roll back the hands of time, I would just get the ARB twin, and consider it a bargain. If I hit this skid plate again and screw it up, I'm going to throw all of this on the failure pile and buy the ARB twin.

Though I actually DO like the clean elegance of having my air hose in that cubby in the back. If I had the ARB twin, I would end up mounting it there, and then where would my hose, air chuck, and deflators reside?

Still, if I had it to do over again.........
I’m still jealous of your handiness and design ideas. I’m confident the next iteration will be better if it does come to that!
I've made some drawings and sent them to HAUK Offroad. They seem pretty cool, and might even take some of my suggestions to heart. This M.U.L.E. skid plate is pretty fragile. Whatever I hit can't have been THAT bad, because I see bone stock F150s and Tacomas running these same trails every fricking day.

Also, follow up to my earlier post: I cut out the butt connectors and soldered everything up. The compressor still didn't run. Turns out one of the spade connectors had come undone. See, I wired it up to be able to remove the compressor, with spade connectors. The only reason I had to cut into the wiring, was because I felt like the way I routed the wire was too vulnerable, and I wanted to add 12" of wire so I could route it away from the driveshaft. Splicing in that 12" of wire is what caused all the mayhem and frustration today.

Oh well. All's well that ends well. Maybe I will get lucky and HAUK will fab up some of my ideas and send them to me as thanks. Otherwise, I get to sit through the exciting jubilation of chop sawing through 1/4" steel plate. (It takes two wheels and about 90 minutes per cut. My chop saw DOES NOT like 1/4" steel plate! And/or maybe I got ahold of some serious military grade plate or something.)
 

Rhinebeck01

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I got a pair coming tomorrow. I think the clear reflectors look much better, especially on yours.
@W4ZWA

Be sure to watch this video before your install.. this video has spot on info regarding the install... other older videos / videos, you do not want to follow regarding this install.

 
 
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