SoCal Expo JKU in the making

[B 1000]

Hey everyone. Not exactly a brand new Jeep, but I never got around to doing a progress thread about my JK

2012 Sport S JK unlimited.
First thing I did to the JK was the OR-Fab tire carrier with the Rotopax mounts. Had to do that for the Mojave Road trip I had planned two weeks after I bought the Jeep. Then mounted some Rubi rails and I was off









Then came the wheels and tires. ATX Mojave Teflon wheels with Toyo Open Country MTs in 285/75R17





Then after throwing in a Rubicon Express 3.5" lift, it was off to Pismo





New bumper and 10k winch


Had to pick up a soft top, right? I mean it's a Jeep after all.







Mojave Road trip - Round #2



Time to bump up in tires and go to a lighter wheel: 35" Goodyear MTRs on Method Double Standards


Bestop Trektop NX and off to go camping again









Finally able to get some nice adjustable control arms. These are the Metal Cloaks with the Duraflex joints in them. Set of 8 of course, but two were getting test painted




Current set up
-Rock Krawler coils
-OME nitro sport shocks
-Detroit TruTrac locker up front
-Eaton E Locker in the rear
-4.10 gears
-Chromo axle shafts
-Bullydog tuner
-Expedition One front bumper with Smittybilt 10k winch (synthetic line)
-OR Fab rear carrier
-Bestop rack over the the spare
-Bestop Trektop
-Rear seat pulled out; DIY tool box / ice chest platform in it's place
-ARB air compressor
-and a whole bunch of interior storage bags, hidden knives, under seat safe, flash lights all over the place and other camping & survival stuff.

Future plans

-coilovers of some type, as soon as possible
-maybe supercharge it down the road (Done as of Jan 2014)
-possibly do a sport roll cage
-.... who knows? Jeeps are never "done"



I'm open to constructive criticism and new ideas for this thing.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Nice jeep. Can you give me a short review of the winch and in one picture I saw you had the best top over the spare tire rack on. How did you like that?

Thanks,

John

 

[B 1000]

Nice jeep. Can you give me a short review of the winch and in one picture I saw you had the best top over the spare tire rack on. How did you like that?

Thanks,

John

Hey John,

The winch actually works better than expected, and hasn't even had a hiccup. Just to test it out, I hooked up my buddy's 4Runner (or 2Runner is it's only RWD) and pulled him up an incline in the sand while he had his brakes applied and parking brakes on. It worked just fine. As far as weight, it really is less than half the weight of a cable winch of the same class. Fit & finish were maybe better than I expected with a Smittybilt product, so that was kind of nice. All in all, I bought it because at the time I was on a budget. I was going to look into replacing it with something American, but I might as well do that when it fails..... if it fails.

As for the Bestop rack, there was only one disappointment about it. I thought that is was able to mount over the spare OR inside above the cargo area. Well apparently that's only for the two doors. On a four door it can only mount above the spare. It is capable of only holding 70 pounds, but I use it for firewood so that my camping stuff doesn't get splinters. Keep in mind, any rack that mounts to the tailgate can only hold certain weights before the tailgate fails. If you plan to use it for an icechest or something heavy, I would get one that mounts directly to the tire carrier itself.

 

[EXPO08JK]

Great build! All nice quality parts. Good luck with it. Do you remember what the 285s measured out at mounted?

 

[B 1000]

Hey EXPOJK, thanks for the compliment. Sorry for the late reply, but here you go:

The 285/75R17s actually measured about the same as most 35" tires. They're just around 34" tall, but I don't recall the actual width. Maybe 11.5" or so? But keep in mind I'm talking about the 285/75s and not the popular 285/70s

 

[Willman]

Great looking Jeep. Love to see more shots of the new wheels!

 

[B 1000]

Great looking Jeep. Love to see more shots of the new wheels!

Thanks!!! I'll see if I have any more close up shots of the wheels and tires

 

[B 1000]

Better pics of the wheels and tires.

 

[Mowgli]

You took the rear rack off? Any chance you would sell it?

 

[B 1000]

You took the rear rack off? Any chance you would sell it?

I just took it off till my next trip. But they aren't really that expensive

http://www.quadratec.com/products/product_search.php?mn=Bestop&cn=Jeep+Cargo+&+Sport+Racks&c=46

 

[B 1000]

New stuff!

So I added a little bit of horsepower to the 2012JKU. RIPP makes a really nice kit, and has been easy to deal with so far (though I haven't had any problems with it at all).







A buddy and I decided to go play and make sure everything works as it should





And my buddy's 2013JKU

 

[Longtallsally]

Is that thing CARB approved? How are you gonna pass smog?

 

[ih8philly]

Is that thing CARB approved? How are you gonna pass smog?

Some of the RIPP superchargers are certified as being CARB Compliant.

 

[B 1000]

Is that thing CARB approved? How are you gonna pass smog?

Right now, all the JK kits that ripp make are carb compliant up to 2012. But with this being a cleaner engine than the last, they shouldn't have an issue getting this one compliant as well. RIPP is already in the process.

I don't have to get smogged till 2018, so I reeeeeaaaaaally hope they have it done before then. Haha