Halley - '17 WK2 Trailhawk Overland Build

[BenHedrick]

Just checking in. I'm digging this build...

Ben

 

[2180miles]

Just checking in. I'm digging this build...

Ben

Appreciate you stopping by! Won't happen quickly, but should be somewhat entertaining nonetheless.

 

[2180miles]

So the weather in New England has been crazy, so you'll have to forgive the exterior of the car being a mess.

Last weekend my buddy Rob and I (check out Rob's tear-drop trailer build) drove out to Central MA to meet a guy from Craigslist who was buying Rob's Audi A3. I thought it was a great opportunity to check out the GC's long distance highway handling, as I'd yet to really take it that far outside the city since purchasing. Needless to say, it drove beautifully. While we alongside each other on the way out, he made a comment to me that the 2' antenna was leaning backwards, which surprised me; I really would have thought that an antenna that small would have enough drag to bend the spring mount, but alas it did. I ordered an HD stud mount while the Craigslist transaction took place, and finally had the chance to replace it.

Minor change, but it now stays perfectly vertical while driving, which is what the OCD in me strives for.

Last photo is one I took on I-95 last Thursday during the gigantic snowstorm that went through the area. I was completely, completely alone on the highway, snow blowing sideways, and at times impossible to see, so I naturally pulled over to take a photograph. Then I realized it would make a great shot of the Jeep itself, so I backed up a few feet to snap that. Good news is that this thing did amazingly well in the snow.




Firestik Medium vs HD Spring by 2180miles


Firestik HD Antenna Spring by 2180miles


New England Whiteout by 2180miles

 

[2180miles]

Had a great time last weekend heading up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to do some photography and hang out with my parents at their vacation house. My goal of the trip was to spend time on Friday and Saturday nights getting time-lapses of the stars and moon over Mt. Washington and the regionally famous Crawford Notch. It was a great weekend, albeit exceptionally cold on Friday night with temperatures reaching 5 degrees below zero with 20+ mph winds. The camera sat diligently and took just under 300x 30 second photos of the sky moving overhead as I lay in the back of the Grand and stared at the stars through the panoramic sunroof. It was kind of awesome to have owned the Jeep for just over a month and already be out using it for the exact purpose I hoped to.

Here's a three hour time-lapse of the moon rising over the 6,289-foot summit of Mt. Washington:



And a photo stack of 178 frames of that video (with geometric correction that I didn't do before making the time lapse):


Mount Washington Moonrise by 2180miles

 

[2180miles]

One of the best takeaways I got from the weekend with the Jeep was the fuel economy potential for it, at least as a base measurement. I was traveling solo with minimal gear, and no wind drag of roof crossbars or a rack, but with the combination of highway and mountain driving, I averaged 24.5 miles per gallon over the course of my 391 mile weekend. I'm stoked with this... I know there will always be the Prius mileage (my dad drives one and reminds me all the time) but for a two ton SUV I think it's pretty damn good.

With a mixture of sun, snow, and rain throughout the weekend the roads made a mess of the Grand, so I went ahead and washed/waxed her once the temperatures warmed up in Boston. We broke records by having 3+ days in a row with high 60s and low 70 degree temperatures, which made for perfect car washing situations. Love how it drives, love how it looks dirty, love how it cleans up. I also made full use of the air suspension and dropped it to the "park" height to have better access to washing the roof... neat trick.

I've got some cool new stuff coming in for it in the next week or two, a new Factor 55 hitch link and some shackles for rear end recovery. Should be delivered by the time I get home from this current work trip where I'm being reminded regularly how terrible Florida is with its humidity and sunlight and blah.

Please don't mind the abandoned house next door in the background. Guy died in it 10 years ago and the family refuses to do anything with it, but also refuses to sell it.



400 miles of Winter by 2180miles


Washed & Waxed by 2180miles

 

[Comanche Scott]

Love the color choice, and your adventure pictures! :beer:
This will be a fun build/adventure thread to follow along with.
I really like the G.C. platform, and the aftermarket seems to be embracing it well.

 

[rob cote]

Pictures look awesome, Jeep looks awesome.

That time lapse, though...amazing. :Wow1:

 

[2180miles]

Love the color choice, and your adventure pictures! :beer:
This will be a fun build/adventure thread to follow along with.
I really like the G.C. platform, and the aftermarket seems to be embracing it well.

Thanks Scott! Ideally there are going to be a ton more adventure photos to come... feel free to look at more on my website, www.2180miles.com - there's a link for my professional stuff on there too.

There's a decent amount of stuff on the market for these, but coming from a Wrangler and Audi background it pales in comparison. Definitely looking forward to seeing where I get with it though while keeping it as tasteful as possible.

Pictures look awesome, Jeep looks awesome.

That time lapse, though...amazing. :Wow1:

Thanks buddy. And thanks in advance for the work you're going to help me with on it ;-)

 

[CCH]

Looks great so far. We recently bought a low mileage 2014 GC Limited with Hemi and the air suspension for my wife to tow "her" trailer that was straining my JKU a bit on long highway trips. I have to say I've been really impressed with it so far. Having a lifted JKU, it seems like a street car, but is really capable despite the refinement. I know which one everyone else likes to get in now. Looking forward to your adventures in yours.

 

[Rumblefish_Pro]

Congratulations! I made the same decision to go from my 2014 JKUR to a WK2TH. I went with the 5.7 Hemi over the 3.6 for towing purposes. The Granite color is amazing! Thanks for posting the writeup on radio install, I am trying to figure out where to put my dual band radio and antenna from my wrangler.

I look forward to watching your build develop!

 

[2180miles]

Looks great so far. We recently bought a low mileage 2014 GC Limited with Hemi and the air suspension for my wife to tow "her" trailer that was straining my JKU a bit on long highway trips. I have to say I've been really impressed with it so far. Having a lifted JKU, it seems like a street car, but is really capable despite the refinement. I know which one everyone else likes to get in now. Looking forward to your adventures in yours.

Congrats on the Limited! I weighed the idea of getting a JKUR instead, but at the end of the day really wanted the refinement the GC offered. I chose against the 5.7 since I won't be towing a LOT, but do hope that it'll have enough uumph to tow the TJ around if ever necessary. Thanks for stopping by!!

Congratulations! I made the same decision to go from my 2014 JKUR to a WK2TH. I went with the 5.7 Hemi over the 3.6 for towing purposes. The Granite color is amazing! Thanks for posting the writeup on radio install, I am trying to figure out where to put my dual band radio and antenna from my wrangler.

I look forward to watching your build develop!

Are you happy you made the switch? as noted above I had debated a JKUR instead, but am happy I went with the Grand. When I was shopping I knew the Granite was the only color I wanted... white is too common up here and I didn't want my OCD to be dealing with constant pin-striping if I got black. This was a decent middle of the road option, and is drop dead gorgeous when clean.

Glad the radio install was helpful. I'm also struggling with where to put the rest of the radios... I've got a Uniden 996XT scanner and will eventually be adding a 2/70 HAM rig once I get around to taking the exam. The center of the dash is hugely open, which would absolutely work to get one remote head in there, but I don't know about the second. Definitely recommend that ProClip mic mount I used... there's a link further up in this thread for it. Nice and clean, keeps it out of the way but readily accessible.

As far as the antenna, here was my thought. I assume you use a NMO mount whip? In looking for my own benefit last week, I noticed that the last 12" or so of headliner in the tailgate area is actually a plastic trim piece. I believe if you popped that down, you could easily drill through and install a NMO mount near to the satellite radio antenna, on either side, then run cabling down the trim of the D-pillar, then probably follow the route I used for my CB coax. I haven't decided if that's what I'll do with my additional antennas, but I think it's pretty reasonable without pulling the fabric headliner (an idea that scares the crap out of me). I might also use that same D-pillar route for wiring up aux. lighting to the roof in the future. The other thought would just be to do a lip mount on the hood.

Definitely post back when you add the radio and antenna, as I'll be very interested to see how you end up going about it.

 

[Rumblefish_Pro]

Ryan,

I am as happy as anyone could be with a spanking new vehicle. Let me explain, I really loved my JKUR, but its tow ability is lacking. I work with a veterans non-profit and sometimes need to drag a trailer with motorcycles in it. Let me tell you that there are some really long climbs between where I live in Colorado and California. It took several months for me to finally decide on changing vehicles. I totally understand that I lost a significant amount of off-road capability, but gained some significant on road drive ability and comfort as well as tow ability with the Trailhawk.

As far as radio installation goes, I have seen a couple of threads that discuss installing a radio face in the cubby at the bottom of the dash, in this case it would block the power outlets and SD card slot. Another challenge is finding a place to hide the external speaker, in the JKUR it was simple to run the cable through the sport bar cover and just cut out the foam for the speaker, in the WK2TH the challenge is drilling and mounting stuff in the new interior.

Thanks for the heads up on the rear of the headliner, I will have to check that out. It sounds like a viable option, now to get a shorter antenna.

 

[2180miles]

I am as happy as anyone could be with a spanking new vehicle. I totally understand that I lost a significant amount of off-road capability, but gained some significant on road drive ability and comfort as well as tow ability with the Trailhawk.

As far as radio installation goes, I have seen a couple of threads that discuss installing a radio face in the cubby at the bottom of the dash, in this case it would block the power outlets and SD card slot. Another challenge is finding a place to hide the external speaker, in the JKUR it was simple to run the cable through the sport bar cover and just cut out the foam for the speaker, in the WK2TH the challenge is drilling and mounting stuff in the new interior.

Thanks for the heads up on the rear of the headliner, I will have to check that out. It sounds like a viable option, now to get a shorter antenna.

As someone with a TJ locked on 35s, I totally understand the loss of off-road capability. On the other hand though, I think the limitations of its capabilities will keep me from getting me in over my head off pavement. It took me 7 months to fix the Wrangler after the last river crossing I thought she was going to make it across - four and a half feet of water later (no hydrolock, thank god)........ The Cherk will get me to enough places without letting me get stupid. The on road drivability continues to impress me, especially against others in its class.

I too have seen the remote head in the console lid, but as of now I'm not willing to lose the functionality of the SD card/charger/usb port. I think the included swivel bracket with a HAM or scanner remote head would be small enough to mount on the dash over the 8.4 display, then drill a tiny hole and grommet it into the display cavity, then run the wiring down through the dash to the floorboard and back to the radio under the passenger or driver's seat. That's how my mind envisions it, anyway. For the speaker I'd just rivet a standard external CB speaker to the plastic compartment tray under either seat. The sound wouldn't be direct but the ambient reflection would be enough to outperform the stock speaker of the unit.

The drilling/cabin installs make me nervous too... at some point here I've got to sink a switch panel into the left dash piece where the fuel door button is - don't hold your breath for that :snorkel: lol

 

[2180miles]

Next up... recovery points for the rear end of the rig.

While the forward bumper of the Trailhawk is adorned with red powder coated tow hooks, a large part of the aggressive appearance of the vehicle's front end, the back has nothing readily available but a trailer hitch receiver. In the interest of being ready for things like trail recovery scenarios, I wanted to put something in the hitch to allow for being yanked backwards if ever necessary. While Harbor Freight has their classic $19 option, but obviously it isn't really an option at all.

After scouring the internet I recognized a name from the ExpoOverland guys front bumpers - Factor 55. A product by the name of "Hitchlink" caught my eye as the perfect solution to my needs for a rear recovery point. A block of aluminum weighing in at just under 2 pounds and rated to 9,500lbs , this thing is a beast. Their website depicts the ultimate failure point at 51,000 pounds... a point by which the trailer hitch and frame would have been yanked out from underneath the WK2. With a multitude of color options I rolled the dice for the dark grey to match Halley, and was quite pleased to find that it did. I bought some powder coated red 3/4" shackles to add a nice accent to the back of the Hitchlink, keeping with the grey/red theme of the entire vehicle. A few minutes on Amazon found me a locking hitch pin, since I've now got nearly $120 into my rear recovery point... not something I'm ready to have stolen off the back end of the Jeep.

While on Amazon I also picked up a 125-piece first-aid kit for a whopping 20 bucks. Never a bad thing to have, and it even goes so far as to include a glow stick and space blanket. Hopefully never are needed, but for now they're stored in the nifty zipped up kit in the trunk's spare tire organizers.

Pictures, cause that's what people care about...



First Aid Kit by 2180miles


125 Piece First Aid Kit by 2180miles


Factor 55 Hitchlink w/ Pin Lock by 2180miles


Red Shackles by 2180miles


Factor 55 Hitchlink by 2180miles


Hitchlink Street View by 2180miles

 

[rob cote]

That receiver tow hook is $$$. I wonder if you should put any grease inside the key slot on the pin lock. I see it has a nice cover, but if you don't touch it for a year or two it would suck if it seized up on you.