The adventures of a Jeep and its driver.
It didn’t take long to find JK Freaks and some other JK forums and I found my first mod!
12 days after bringing her home, I did the grill mod. I used wire lathe painted with black plastic-dip I bought from Lowes. I couldn’t find any progress pics or finished pics except for this one.
I wanted something to protect the rocker panel under the door, so I picked up a set of Smittybilt side steps from Amazon. They also help my vertically challenged wife get in the Jeep. 😉
Peeled off all the Wrangler/Sport decals off the sides of the Jeep.
Ordered a set of Smittybilt SRC Side Armor/Steps from Amazon.
Took a drive out to the 4 Wheel Parts year end sale in Columbiana, Ohio and ordered some new tires and wheels. Had them installed at the 4WP on Brookpark Road.
Mickey Thompson ATZ P3
285/70/17
Rugged Ridge wheels.
Ordered a pair of OR-FAB bumpers from Northridge 4×4. I was really excited to see how they looked on the Jeep once they were installed. Too bad I can’t see them!
Got an AWESOME deal on a set of Bushwhacker flat fender flares from the JK Freaks forum. There was a little missing hardware, but I was able to find it easily enough at O’Reilly’s auto parts. Bushwhacker even sent me a whole set of replacement weather stripping free of charge.
The hardest part was getting up the courage to rip the old flares off! Did this in my Dad’s garage as it was a little chilly that day. Took me 9 hours. But, a bunch of that time was spent trying to figure out just how to do the “Marker Light Mod.” I rewired the marker lights, so that they also act as turn signal indicators.
Removed my chrome Jeep grill badge. I taped around the old one before removing it. I used dental floss to cut the adhesive and then some Goo-Gone to get rid of any residual adhesive. I added a black one I picked up on the eBays.
I built a bracket to attach my CB antenna to the space behind my license plate bracket. I modeled it after something I saw on the interwebs. I had just picked up a welder and I wanted to try my hand at fabricating something small.
Added a matte black JK Freaks Ohio sticker to the Jeep. Keeping in line with the blacked out theme. Not sure how much longer this will last. 😉
Added my Mag Light to the side of the driver’s seat. This was a pretty easy addition. Picked up the Mag Light mounting kit and screwed it to the plastic trim on the side of the seat. I also added the Mopar door sill guards. Stepping in and out of the jeep with mud and rocks on my boots was sure to scratch the sills up.
I decided to go to the 2014 JK Freak Fest at Rausch Creek. But I want to add a little additional protection to the underside of the Jeep. The stock skids (as if there is such a thing) just don’t protect enough. I didn’t have the money for a full set of Rock Hard skid plates. I heard some buzz about an engine skid plate from the same people that make the cheap knock off bumpers, e-AutoGrilles. This were priced for $109, which may have been a mistake on their part, since I see they are now going for $200.
It came packed fine and went in fine, except one of the bolt holes didn’t line up on the transmission cross bar. I might take it off next spring and fix that. Should be easy enough.
