2010 2 Dr JK Trips and Build

[Septu]

Hi.

This thread is just to keep track of the build and trips.

In Jan 2019 I sold my 2012 JKUR. I found I wasn't wheeling as much as before (like barely going out at all) and decided to be responsible and sell the toy to fund a house purchase. So I sold the JKUR delivering it to someone in Prince George BC, then hopped on a plane, flew to Calgary AB and bought a 2010 2dr JK and drove it home. My only requirements when looking were for a 2dr (keep the cost low), hard top, manual (missed that in the 2012), and AC. The one I picked up cost me 10k and had 201k KM on it. Unfortunately it has 3.21 gears... but I expected that. Overall it was in pretty good shape... and because it's also silver, I don't have to repaint my trailer to match it (yeah that's absolutely something I would do). I quickly changed out the headlights (JWSpeakers) and bought a 10A bumper cheap and had a shop mount the bumper and a winch on it before driving home - only because there wasn't room in the back for the bumper and the 32" BFG MTs I bought cheap in Edmonton. First thing I noticed... about a 30% increase in fuel economy over my built 2012 (3.5" lift, 35s, etc).

Nothing happened to it last year other than having it haul my trailer camping a bunch of times. However this year I decided to get it much better setup for camping and road trips. My camping for the most part is in government campgrounds. There's a bunch of them, and damn near free ($50 a year for unlimited camping and unlimited firewood - just no power/water). Plus my friends haul 30ft trailers and have kids... so I don't usually get too remote.

So far I've swapped out the stock headunit to one that had a rear USB port so that I can keep my ipod in the glove box (really my only requirement - rear USB and able to control my ipod off the headunit). I ordered the Genesis Dual Battery kit and had that installed a few weeks ago with a pair of Optimia batteries. The 7 pin trailer harness was finally wired out. Lastnight I started on wiring up the kill switch (see Dan Grec's Write up). I'm going to do it a little differently - more along the lines from what this guy did (I stole this idea from Wrangler Kill Switch). It won't be perfect and would still allow me to start it in 4low which means if something goes wonked I'm not stranded, but it should give my jeep better odds of staying where I parked it. I still need to mount a pair of USB outlets with the battery voltage so I can see what each battery is doing, run some wire for my fridge, tap the high beams for a quick and dirty lighting setup (that will get re-worked after I'm back and have more time - and an idea as to how to do it the way I want to).

One of the things I'm considering while on my trip is picking up a bigger fridge. I can get a 35L or a 45L unit for $600-$700. Not sure about the quality... but buying a larger Dometic/ARB would cost 1,500-2k and that's not in the budget right now (I bought the 25L one for ~$650 almost 10 years ago).

Edit. Found a used Engel MT35 that will be waiting for me when I get down south. After scrambling to find a 12v DC plug total cost is ~880. A little more then I was hoping... but overall too good of a deal to pass on.

List of things done:
JW Speaker LED headlights and fogs
10A Mopar bumper and winch (smittybuilt 10k?)
Genesis Dual Battery Kit (2 Optima Batteries)
Window Tint (20% on sides/rear, 80% on front window - protect me against sun burns - I'm crazy susceptible and the police up here don't care)
New Stereo headunit
Kill switch (HERE)
New to me Engel MT35
USBs w/ 12v display


List of things to do:
re-gear (long way off)
rear bumper setup so that I can carry my Titan Tank fuel cell (also a ways off)
wire up inverter
wire up remote on/off switch for inverter
install switch pod
wire up lights (light bar and HIDs)
wire up rear outlets
wire out the fridge
Figure out storage for my water pump (shower setup), buckets, food and clothes.


Current Picture:

 

[Septu]

1. Kill switch added. Good luck guessing the right switches and getting the right pattern. Not fool proof... but at least this way I don't have to hide it or give it's location away when the vehicle gets serviced. Will also give me a little more peace of mind when on road trips and parking it in various locations. And if it still goes missing... that's what insurance is for.

 

[Septu]

Got lucky and managed to solved my fridge dilemma... Had been really going back and forth over getting a cheap one in the $700 range (CND) that would be available to me for this trip or going with a Dometic/etc in the $1500 range that I wouldn't receive for at least 3-4 weeks (aka basically good for summer of 2021 as my camping is done by mid Sept)... only to come across a used Engel MT35 for $750 that's right in the area I'm headed to next week. Sent the guy a deposit and he'll be dropping it off to my buddy next week who I'll be hitting a trail with. Win win. Now I do not have to stress about the build quality or the price.

 

[Septu]

I always knew that I hated doing wiring. What's worse is I've only done a small fraction of what's needed. Was kind of all over the place tonight. Wired up part of my switch pod - source side (not SPod as they couldn't be bothered to respond to an email asking questions), then realized that wiring up the lights using the mounting brackets was going to be a major pain in the ass because I can't fit my fingers in there due to the winch. So skipped over that and decided to wire up my USB/12v display outlets. I have two, with the idea that they would be wired directly to each battery thus giving me a display of the voltage in each. Had a plan on how I was going to mount these (bought a rugged ridge lower switch panel and was just going to drill out what was needed... however it turned out that I received a panel for a 11+ and not a 7-10. So new plan... Then I was going to say ******** it and just mount it where the window switches are... but turns out I didn't have the right adapter for my drill bit (one of those hole bits). Now I was getting frustrated. Then decided that since my fridge and inverter will both be wired directly to the batteries that I didn't need 2 12v lighter outlets, and with a bit of work my USB ports would fit right in where the lighter port was (drivers side). Ran the ground to one of the switches I installed up above so I don't have to have it on 24/7 and then ran the power directly to my house battery.

USB Ports



Still to do before I leave.
- Wire out fridge
- Wire out fridge temp display (new Engel doesn't have a temp display)
- Wire out inverter
- Wire out switch unit
- Wire out switch to trigger off of high beams

Most of that I'll grudgingly do tomorrow.

Edit.
Lots of rain today... but got some time to go and run some wiring in for the two fridges (Dometic CF25 (current) and Engel MT35 (new one I'll be getting next week)). Still such a pain in the ass to do it correctly, but at least I'm making progress. Need to find some better connectors (disconnect plugs?) then what I had. But that's all that's left to do for the frigdes - well that and hack up my DC plug for the last little bit.

Going to ask one of the guys at work if there's any chance I can borrow the shop at work after hours for a couple evenings to finish up the wiring as it's supposed to rain all week.

 

[Septu]

Well finally decided to aim my fogs (needed to remove part of my bumper to access the aiming screw). Also successfully tapped the high beams lastnight and ran the wiring to a switch. Unfortunately I also managed to break the retaining clip in the stock drivers side headlight holder. Used some bailing wire to keep it in place for now, but suspect I'm going to have to get that fixed sooner rather then later. Doubt my local dealer will be able to squeeze me in before I leave on Friday, so will hope it holds up and that I can book something in a shop downsouth for early next week. The downside to how I tapped the highbeams was due to having very limited access, I tapped the cable on my JWSpeakers, NOT on the stock side... meaning if I'm driving at night and that rattles loose... no aux lights and no drivers side headlight. Sigh.


Edit.
Local dealer had a headlight plug in stock... so will get that repaired tonight. Lighting is not something I'd be comfortable messing around with and having it go out at an inopportune time. So will suck it up. Oh well.

 

[Septu]

Will have a bunch of pictures later once I get organized. But Dan Grec and myself finished doing Whipsaw trail and made it back to Nelson lastnight. I think it's fair to say that we both ended up with a lot more then we bargained for in this trail... but at the end of the trail the only damage done was to a drink that froze in my new Engel MT35 fridge... so overall it was a pretty good, if frustrating trip at times. I do have to say however that I can't believe how the jeep with the trailer handled things. I was kinda nervous at first and was really paying attention to what the trailer was doing... but by day 2 I was more or less ignoring it while just focusing on not getting the jeep stuck and the trailer faithfully just bounced along. And of the two times I needed to winch, I think it was only responsible for one of them - and even then if I'd bothered to attempt it again with a little more speed, I probably would have made it.

Dan has given me a trip that I need to do, and I think I'm going to poke about southern BC for the rest of the week and take advantage of the sun and the ability to wander about with no schedule.