My Lil' Mule

Made some progress on the corner armor. Picked up the steel from my supplier. They also put a small bend/radius at the top of each of the long ends that matches the bend on the AEV corner. I used the template I made to mark out where I needed to cut and cut them rough. Once tacked up, I could put them on the Jeep to get a more accurate cut line.

Next step will be the finish welding and grinding of the seam, some mounting holes and they’ll be ready for powder coat.

I used a piece of aluminum to make sure the new steel matched up with the AEV corner.

Here you can see the rough cut.

And then the finish cut after I re-installed the JCR rear fender flares.

I’ve been waiting to get these finished before I put the rear bumper and tire carrier back on the Jeep.

Got the bumper and winch installed yesterday. Added a Factor 55 Prolink to the mix this time. Had issues with my Smittybilt winch. Called them and they sent me a whole new winch. I’m not sure I would recommend this winch again, but the customer service is outstanding.

I installed the lower bumper skid today. Both the bumper and the skid were part of what I had blasted and powder coated. The color and texture is a perfect match to the coating from JCR.

Added a little blue accent behind the JCR logo on the bumper. Hard to see from a distance, but I know it’s there. 

A little closer to being trail ready.

Got the rock sliders re-installed. The powder coater did a great job on the stuff that was blasted and coated.

The JCR Offroad Fender flares had also been installed – here’s your obligatory poser shot. 

I also installed these marker/turn signal lights in the flares.

These actually have three wires coming off of them. One ground and two for the LEDs. You would think the black wire was ground, but you’d be wrong. The White wire is ground, the Black wire is for the parking light and the Red wire is for the turn signal. The Jeep should be stock with this feature. I tied these wires straight into the front turn signal wires. The OEM marker light plug was removed. On the Jeep turn signal lights, the black wire is ground, the middle wire is park and the wire furthest from the black wire is the turn signal.

Finally, the JCR fender liners. I painted the mesh blue before installing it. These were a little challenge to install. You either need 10″ long fingers or a really long and crooked wrench.

Getting closer and more ready for Freak Fest daily.

Made some progress on the Jeep this week. Took the rear flares off in prep for getting the corner armor done. Looks weird.

I have all of the cage pieces out now and they are ready for powder coat. But it was bothering me that Rock Hard 4×4 doesn’t finish weld the overhead bar.

I decided to place a couple beads of weld material and grind it smooth. I like it much better. I also tapped the plate for a couple of speakers that will be mounted for the GMRS and the CB radios.

I needed to get the JCR Offroad rocker armor installed before making a template for the rest of the corner armor.

I had bought one of these nutsert tools by Smittybilt from 4 Wheel Parts. Well worth the money.

They aren’t as scary as I thought. LOL.

But no matter how hard I tried to get the nutserts in exactly the right spot, there were always a few that seemed out of place by just a hair. I used a tungsten carbide bit in a rotary tool to adjust the location of the hole in the armor. That bit makes a whole bunch of little tiny needles. They get everywhere. I then touched them up with some paint. All of the bolts had anti seize applied on them.

I put a patch of blue decal material behind the JCR logo to add a little accent.

I could then spend some time making a template for the extension of the corner armor. I ordered the steel and asked for them to bend the edges to match the AEV corner.

Lastly, I spend some time getting the JCR fender flares mounted (no pictures yet). The fronts are mounted, and the rears were mounted temporarily. I still have to wire up the front marker light and install the fender liners. The rears will go back on and come off repeatedly while I am fitting up the corner armor.

Started woking on my corner armor. These started life as a set of AEV 2-door corners. I picked these up for a STEAL.

I would have started with 2 door builder blanks, but AEV doesn’t make them anymore. Nobody makes a 2 door corner that I like. What I like about the AEV version is they have that nice bend at the top of the armor, plus they cover the hinges as well. Rumor has it that Poison Spyder will be making something similar for a 2 door, but I am not holding my breath.

I knew I was going to modify them, so I had them media blasted to bare steel.

I had already busted a tail light on a tree, so I knew I wanted some kind of protection. I needed to figure out what to do about the tail lights. I had bounced around a few ideas, including filling in the opening in the AEV corner, but since it was a compound curve, it would have been very challenging to say the least.

Warrior Products makes a steel tail light replacement for the JK that I thought might be a good start.

I contacted the company and they agreed to let me buy a set BEFORE it went to powder coat. Saves me the hassle. And I also wanted them completely blank.

They line up pretty good with the AEV corners. I’d have to fill in a bit of a gap, depending on how these ultimately fit.

I got started by trying to see just where the steel tail light housing should meet the corner armor. Turns out my original assumption was backwards, the gap that would need filled would be on the inside and not the outside.

Once I welded in a small piece of filler and ground it smooth, I had to do some adjusting on the fitment of the tail light housing. Took my time grind away little bits here and there. When I liked how they sat, I tacked them in place.

I need more practice with the MIG welder before I feel comfortable enough to finish weld these in place. Since the welds will be as they end up, I want to be a little better.

I also intend to extend the steel down the side of the Jeep to the rear of the door. I need to find someone local that can recreate the bend at the top of the new steel.

Took advantage of some decent weather. Finally! Got up in the 60s, maybe even the 70s this afternoon.

I needed to wrap up a few things with the cage. When we first put the cage in for fitment, on BOTH the driver and passenger side uprights, the lower hole in the door seam did not line up. I can only assume that I screwed up in drilling the holes, or the upright didn’t sit in the Jeep as expected.

I contacted Rock Hard 4×4. I was a bit disappointed in their response. The suggested I make the hole bigger. Nope. That wasn’t going to work. I’d have to make it too big, plus the tapped part of the upright was so far forward that the bolt head would be in the corner.

My solution was a little more drastic, but better, in my opinion. I plug welded the original lower holes, ground it smooth and put the upright back in. This let me locate the correct position, I drilled and tapped a new hole. Success!

I also took the time to cut the corner trim to fit around the cage. I tried to follow Rock Hard’s instructions (and the video), but frankly, they suck. I did the passenger side first. But I cut out too much material. It doesn’t look bad, but there was no way I was going to be able to get it around the cage unless I cut a lot out.

Or so I thought. On the driver’s side, I tried a different approach. I took the upright out and fit the trim on the work bench. I cut out a lot less material. It’s a little harder to get around everything, but I think it looks better. I may get some kind of weather stripping to clean up the edges of the plastic.

I also trimmed the roll bar pads that go above the doors. I forgot to mention that when we did the original install, I had to trim the door surrounds to fit around the header bar. I’ll clean up the rough edges of the door surround with some sand paper next time I take the top down.

I was hoping to get a little more done. I still need to drill and tap the overhead center bar for two speakers. Then it can come out and get powder coated.

With the help of TJ and Rob, we got the Rock Hard 4×4 Sport Cage installed, or at least fitted. Mostly. Once I get the trim and the roll bar pads and covers cut to fit, I’ll disassemble it and get it powder coated.

I still have to figure out one issue. Neither of the lower bolts on the door seam are lining up properly in the tapped holes in the uprights. I need to shoot an email to RH and see what my options are. I may have to plug weld the old hole in the upright and drill/tap a new one.

You can see in this photo where the hole isn’t lining up. I double and triple checked the location of the drilling template. Unless I did something wrong, or the template is off, or something. If the hole was in the “right” place, there wouldn’t be any way to get the button head screw in there, it will be too close to the corner.

Picked up some of the parts from the powder coater. They look factory fresh! They were media blasted and then coating with a zinc rich primer first, and then top coated with a layer of textured black.

The rock sliders were the worst of the bunch. All that salty slush that sat on them last winter just ate away at them. I’m doing things differently this winter. I’ve actually considered taking the steel off again in the fall and storing it in the basement. I wish I didn’t feel like I have to resort to such measures.

They screwed up on the rear bumper and tire carrier a bit. Even though it was clearly marked in photographs, and I masked these areas with blue tape, they powder coated part of the spindle and the machined bearing races in the carrier. Ugh. They’re fixing it, which means I have to make yet another 45 minute drive each way to pick them up.

I can’t wait to get this all (and more) back on the Jeep.

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