We had made some huge progress and knocked out the majority of the smaller items but our list wasn't finished yet and the last items were going to take a little more time.
ExpeditionOne generally uses the Rotopax style gas cans on their bumper setups, however I've got a fleet of Scepter MFC's I utilize for trips and my other carriers are setup for the Scepter can. On top of that, while the Rotopax would have been a clean install (they are a neat product) it wouldn't give me an option for the license plate mounting. I could easily make a bracket that mounts to the jerry can swing carrier or bolts to the tire but I wanted to re-use the stock "Toyota 4WD" trim and light assembly that was removed from the door. We were looking around for jerry can holders online when it dawned on me that I had a handful of the Adventure Trailer can carriers left over from a previous project. Olly pulled one down from it's dusty hiding spot on the top of the pallet racking and we started sizing it up, this was going to be slick!
Rough mounting the AT can carrier
Mocking up the license plate setup
Sure enough it worked out near perfectly, mounting to the ExpeditionOne carrier with 2 existing holes and by adding just 2 additional holes to the can carrier, we had a nice secure fit to the bumper. The license plate mounting was the next stage and it proved quite simple. We removed the welded studs on the factory light as they would protrude too deep and interfere with a MFC in the carrier. Instead we drilled the hole and mounted it with some low profile screws and nuts. We added a few additional holes for the license plate itself and for zip tie holes to secure the extended wiring which was plugged back into the stock harness. Very happy with the result.
Wiring secured
Plug harness extended and tidied up.
Finished product
I've always been a 'W' guy and I'm still a big fan of their proven product line however they left me wanting in the 24V division and I had to scramble to find a solution. I attended the Easter Jeep Safari show a few weeks back and had the chance to chat with several different winch manufactures. A few had 24V options but nothing was shining as a front runner, really we just wanted a Warn M8000 in 24V but it was becoming impossible to source. Fast forward a few days and I contacted ComeUp, they had reached out to us in the past about their product offerings and they came highly recommended from a friend in the industry familiar with their product line. Not only did they have a 9k 24V non-integrated winch in stock, he could ship it that same day and we would have it in just 2 days, deal. Sure enough it arrived as planned and we spent some time inspecting it here in the shop before and during the install, I'm absolutely thrilled with the craftsmanship and material selection, finish, etc. We modified the supplied power cables slightly to allow for a particular solenoid box mounting, in the end it turned out fantastic and looks right at home in the bumper. Time will tell how it holds up under loads but I'm excited to put it through the paces in the future.
Winch Time
Shortened cables & mounted solenoid box
Finished product, just need to run the main power cables
Next up: Tie up loose ends and head to Cruise Moab
Knocking them dead
