4xFish 2014 JKUR Build
- Thread starter m(a)ce
- Start date
i'm imagine you need to call them -
m(a)ce
Adventurer
Thank you.
I totally agree- AEV does s solid job of building it beefier but with clean lines that look OEM.
yup- from OK4WD. It does close with red switch key in place. We're running the same setup & winches on both Jeeps.
Ranger Steve
Adventurer
Nice rig!
m(a)ce
Adventurer
thanks!
Winter romps & early Spring additions
It was a long snowy winter in the Northeast.
While it doesn't lend itself to being outside working on the rig its a good time to layer up and head out for some fun. Locally we explored snowy backroads & covered bridges.
We also headed back to VT for some snow activities & good eats. Snowmobiling, ice fishing, snowshoeing & beer hunting topped the list.
When the weather broke I took the opportunity to upgrade my fogs to JW Speakers.
Their headlights were a marked improvement and the fogs compliment them nicely. Even with this rough winter I didn't experience them icing over or degradation in performance.
The next addition was an sPOD. Its our 3rd time buying one and definitely won't be our last. John, Cinde & the sPOD crew make a solid, easy to use product. I went with the double LED switches this time so I wouldn't have to fidget around finding the correct switch at night.
I also installed the Bluetooth remote control power module that was on the 4Runner (runs through an iPhone app). It came in handy to remotely light up camp from the RTT (when things go bump in the night) or when we found ourselves getting back late in the evening from fishing.
OTRATTW switches to finish the install.
With the sPOD in place it was time for additional lights. On the front the JW Speakers work quite well for DD duty. To add a little more light & fill the hoop on the AEV bumper I went with the classic looking IPF lights (901XSD). They throw decent light and they're not a fortune to replace if they take a hit.
For the rear I liked the single IPF light look on the AEV builds but I wanted a little more oomph. The Rigid duallys on the 4Runner did well so I mounted a 6" diffused Rigid LED on the AEV mast.
While running wire through the tailgate I mounted up my Firestik & additional power for a work light.
The work light is a marine mini LED goose neck light on the AEV mast. The goal was to add a little light over the Trailgater for cooking or a rigging up fishing gear. We're big fans of headlamps but its also nice to have some stationary auxiliary lights.
When not in use the goose neck tucks away behind the Rigid loom. We'll see how version 1.0 of the light holds up.
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m(a)ce
Adventurer
Thanks Bob- hope so too! at very least I'll see you in October!
Thanks Rin! I'll touch base soon about getting the Jeep up to OK for lift & tires ;>
delivered by winged monkeys
m(a)ce
Adventurer
Springtime fun
Apart from spring fishing one of our trips took us to Wharton State forest.
We both added some pinstripping on the tighter trails- haha. It was rather dry but its always fun to get into the Pines & stop at the Pic for a beer after.
The next mod was an AEV rack. We were missing the ability to easily throw our fishing yaks on top and this seemed like a good opportunity to try something new. I've had 2 Gobi racks and both were solid. I know some people in the NE have said they had serious rust issues due to the salt but ours held up well. The Gobi's are quite functional and beefy but the tradeoff is some extra weight & hit on MPG. Our friends at OK4WD allowed us to help with the install which consists primarily of popping roughly a thousand rivets haha. Okay maybe not THAT many but its a good work out.
The low profile streamlined rack offers a lot of flexibility. Once mounted I hardly noticed it was up there. Road noise is less than the Gobi.
Kayak strapped on top:
OzTent fits perfectly too!
For our next trip we were fortunate enough to be invited by Mountain State Overland to join them on a trip through Appalachia with Blue Ridge Overland Gear, Venture4WD and Rick Stowe.
OK4WD generously allowed us to borrow a James Baroud RTT for testing. Initially we tried to mount our ARB Kakuda RTT (from our Manley trailer) on the AEV rack but it didn't sit flush with the slats. Thankfully we could snag the JB RTT and it mounted up in minutes. We were excited to try a new RTT and this trip would put it through its paces.
Our 4 states, 4 days trip was an adventure on old, outdated off road trails and dirt roads covering West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee & North Carolina. The route was created by MSO but never pre-run. We'd be the guinea pigs! The track varied from some technical (sketchy sections) to fun wheelin' to scenic dirt/grave/tarmac.
The trails reminded us how capable a stock JKUR is. We did our fair share of bushwacking on this trip.
It also provided a shakedown of our current setup. We were quite pleased with most aspects but like everyone its a work in progress.
We were thoroughly impressed with the James Baroud tent. After lots of miles it set up in seconds after pulling 2 latches. Closing took little time as well. The mattress was noticeably more comfortable than our ARB's. While we hadn't thought too much before of set up/breakdown times - on a trip when you're covering lots of ground and reestablishing camp daily, extra time becomes a luxury. We were aware of a roof load with the RTT (not a shocker) but off road - when things got technical - it really wasn't a concern. I thought it would be but was thankful it wasn't. We pulled the JB through tons of tight trails - smacking it with limbs and branches (sorry OK4WD!) but no damage apart from pinstriping. We thought in a couple instances that we damage the shell but it was resilient. FWIW with the JB RTT our loaded (but stock tires/suspension) JKUR with 2 people averaged 17.5MPG at 70MPH on the trip down and back.
As you can imagine MSO (thank you Jamie!) kept us well fed. :chef: Seriously - they dont' mess around!
Through teamwork and positivity we worked through the challenges and obstacles we encountered on this trip. We thoroughly enjoyed our traveling companions & our adventure. We left Appalachia filled with wonderful memories & new bonds of friendship... we look forward to future trips with this crew.
:beer:
If you're looking for more pics of this trip check out all participants Instagram & Twitter feeds for photos. The #4states4days trip will appear in an upcoming MSO web video and they're planning to post trip details as well.
Apart from spring fishing one of our trips took us to Wharton State forest.
We both added some pinstripping on the tighter trails- haha. It was rather dry but its always fun to get into the Pines & stop at the Pic for a beer after.
The next mod was an AEV rack. We were missing the ability to easily throw our fishing yaks on top and this seemed like a good opportunity to try something new. I've had 2 Gobi racks and both were solid. I know some people in the NE have said they had serious rust issues due to the salt but ours held up well. The Gobi's are quite functional and beefy but the tradeoff is some extra weight & hit on MPG. Our friends at OK4WD allowed us to help with the install which consists primarily of popping roughly a thousand rivets haha. Okay maybe not THAT many but its a good work out.
The low profile streamlined rack offers a lot of flexibility. Once mounted I hardly noticed it was up there. Road noise is less than the Gobi.
Kayak strapped on top:
OzTent fits perfectly too!
For our next trip we were fortunate enough to be invited by Mountain State Overland to join them on a trip through Appalachia with Blue Ridge Overland Gear, Venture4WD and Rick Stowe.
OK4WD generously allowed us to borrow a James Baroud RTT for testing. Initially we tried to mount our ARB Kakuda RTT (from our Manley trailer) on the AEV rack but it didn't sit flush with the slats. Thankfully we could snag the JB RTT and it mounted up in minutes. We were excited to try a new RTT and this trip would put it through its paces.
Our 4 states, 4 days trip was an adventure on old, outdated off road trails and dirt roads covering West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee & North Carolina. The route was created by MSO but never pre-run. We'd be the guinea pigs! The track varied from some technical (sketchy sections) to fun wheelin' to scenic dirt/grave/tarmac.
The trails reminded us how capable a stock JKUR is. We did our fair share of bushwacking on this trip.
It also provided a shakedown of our current setup. We were quite pleased with most aspects but like everyone its a work in progress.
We were thoroughly impressed with the James Baroud tent. After lots of miles it set up in seconds after pulling 2 latches. Closing took little time as well. The mattress was noticeably more comfortable than our ARB's. While we hadn't thought too much before of set up/breakdown times - on a trip when you're covering lots of ground and reestablishing camp daily, extra time becomes a luxury. We were aware of a roof load with the RTT (not a shocker) but off road - when things got technical - it really wasn't a concern. I thought it would be but was thankful it wasn't. We pulled the JB through tons of tight trails - smacking it with limbs and branches (sorry OK4WD!) but no damage apart from pinstriping. We thought in a couple instances that we damage the shell but it was resilient. FWIW with the JB RTT our loaded (but stock tires/suspension) JKUR with 2 people averaged 17.5MPG at 70MPH on the trip down and back.
As you can imagine MSO (thank you Jamie!) kept us well fed. :chef: Seriously - they dont' mess around!
Through teamwork and positivity we worked through the challenges and obstacles we encountered on this trip. We thoroughly enjoyed our traveling companions & our adventure. We left Appalachia filled with wonderful memories & new bonds of friendship... we look forward to future trips with this crew.
:beer:
If you're looking for more pics of this trip check out all participants Instagram & Twitter feeds for photos. The #4states4days trip will appear in an upcoming MSO web video and they're planning to post trip details as well.
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Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
Great mods, and an AWESOME trip report! :ylsmoke:
m(a)ce
Adventurer
thanks fellows!
The Good Stuff
Well it was time for more mods. This round was suspension, tires, wheels & armor.
On my last JKUR & on our current JKR we run the AEV 2.5. It never disappointed us so we naturally thought we'd run the same on the new rig. But being intrigued by the AEV 3.5 we decided to try something slightly different. We thought the extra height would come in handy once we loaded the Jeep for longer trips. Also if you're comparatively shopping it seems like the 3.5 offers more for the money. Yes it's more but almost everything you need comes with it.
OK4WD did a great job installing the kit. On road manners are everything you'd expect from an AEV kit... it's sporty and sometimes too easy to forget you're pushing 35" mud tires. It seemed perfectly dialed in from day 1.
It's not been in low range yet but soon enough. For tires we're running 35" KM2s. We like this tire and have had good experiences with it on a couple rigs now. So far we're seeing 17.5 mpg on mixed driving (not much highway, a little hilly & soft on the skinny). We weren't initially sold on the Salta wheels based on some of the photos but in person their clean modern lines pop.
For armor we opted for some Rock Hard skids. We ran them in steel on our last Jeep and they took lots of hits in the rocks. Lots!
Since we're trying to keep this truck lighter we opted for their aluminum skids. Not sure of the true weights but they're light!
Time & trails will tell how they hold up. But for overland travel they seem to be a nice mix of protection for the weight.
This round of mods has put the most smiles on our faces! It definitely is the good stuff :beer:
delivered by winged monkeys
The Good Stuff
Well it was time for more mods. This round was suspension, tires, wheels & armor.
On my last JKUR & on our current JKR we run the AEV 2.5. It never disappointed us so we naturally thought we'd run the same on the new rig. But being intrigued by the AEV 3.5 we decided to try something slightly different. We thought the extra height would come in handy once we loaded the Jeep for longer trips. Also if you're comparatively shopping it seems like the 3.5 offers more for the money. Yes it's more but almost everything you need comes with it.
OK4WD did a great job installing the kit. On road manners are everything you'd expect from an AEV kit... it's sporty and sometimes too easy to forget you're pushing 35" mud tires. It seemed perfectly dialed in from day 1.
It's not been in low range yet but soon enough. For tires we're running 35" KM2s. We like this tire and have had good experiences with it on a couple rigs now. So far we're seeing 17.5 mpg on mixed driving (not much highway, a little hilly & soft on the skinny). We weren't initially sold on the Salta wheels based on some of the photos but in person their clean modern lines pop.
For armor we opted for some Rock Hard skids. We ran them in steel on our last Jeep and they took lots of hits in the rocks. Lots!
Since we're trying to keep this truck lighter we opted for their aluminum skids. Not sure of the true weights but they're light!
Time & trails will tell how they hold up. But for overland travel they seem to be a nice mix of protection for the weight.
This round of mods has put the most smiles on our faces! It definitely is the good stuff :beer:
delivered by winged monkeys