JKAnimal
Caught the Bug
My Jeep story starts with my "friends"... I have several buddies with Jeeps and every year they go to Colorado for 7 days to run trails. They camp in the mountains and only come back to civilization for gas and groceries as needed. In Sept. of 2011 I was a ride along passenger/driver on one of these trips. That was my first time to ride or drive in a Jeep. The entire trip everyone was joking about how long it would be before I had a Jeep and I was very adamant I didn't need another vehicle.
As fate would have it, in November of 2011 I had to trade in my F150 Platinum company pickup (which I loved!) and get two high mileage 4x4 crew trucks for my guys working in WY. This left me without a vehicle and on the search. Of course I knew immediately what I was going to get :yup:.
After a lot of searching I found a Jeep I wanted and made it happen. I bought the Jeep December 18th and have never looked back.
The first mods I bought were armor and bumpers because I knew I would be headed into the mountains in Sept. of 2012. I debated a lift but felt recovery tow points and associated recovery gear was more important. I figured I would give the Jeep a run through the trails at stock height and see how it went. There is still a running joke about how I got my lift on Upper Reno Divide. I gained 2" of clearance I didn't have before the trip. There is a particularly rocky section in the middle of a skree field. While going over the obstacle I hung the resonator on it and yanked the exhaust loose at the engine. :doh: $800 to fix.
I also ended up going all overlander
cheesy and getting a roof rack. It has honestly been great for hauling just about anything I need to haul and it's almost as good as a pickup truck bed. The roof rack also provides a great place for my Rigid LEDs.
So here are some pics of the progress.
Special Jeep Parking here
Stock Flex
So far the Truck-Lite LED headlights, the Rigid Industries LEDs and the Rugged Ridge Billet hood latches are my favorite mods.
Edit: Scratch the above. The Enforcer and 37s is definitely the best mod yet!!
In hind sight I'd have done a couple things different if I had been more informed about where I wanted the Jeep to end up I'd have bought EVO instead of Smitty but it's done it's job.
So Now It's lift time! And since I am now more informed I went with the Enforcer 4" 37" package with the 2.5" Kings and red shiny knobs. :wings:
More to come soon. Next I need to get my C gussets welded on and make sure I have what I need to put the lift on.
Edit: This is how it sits now. Fenders trimmed and up on 37s.
As fate would have it, in November of 2011 I had to trade in my F150 Platinum company pickup (which I loved!) and get two high mileage 4x4 crew trucks for my guys working in WY. This left me without a vehicle and on the search. Of course I knew immediately what I was going to get :yup:.
After a lot of searching I found a Jeep I wanted and made it happen. I bought the Jeep December 18th and have never looked back.
The first mods I bought were armor and bumpers because I knew I would be headed into the mountains in Sept. of 2012. I debated a lift but felt recovery tow points and associated recovery gear was more important. I figured I would give the Jeep a run through the trails at stock height and see how it went. There is still a running joke about how I got my lift on Upper Reno Divide. I gained 2" of clearance I didn't have before the trip. There is a particularly rocky section in the middle of a skree field. While going over the obstacle I hung the resonator on it and yanked the exhaust loose at the engine. :doh: $800 to fix.
I also ended up going all overlander
cheesy and getting a roof rack. It has honestly been great for hauling just about anything I need to haul and it's almost as good as a pickup truck bed. The roof rack also provides a great place for my Rigid LEDs.So here are some pics of the progress.
Special Jeep Parking here
Stock Flex
So far the Truck-Lite LED headlights, the Rigid Industries LEDs and the Rugged Ridge Billet hood latches are my favorite mods.
Edit: Scratch the above. The Enforcer and 37s is definitely the best mod yet!!
In hind sight I'd have done a couple things different if I had been more informed about where I wanted the Jeep to end up I'd have bought EVO instead of Smitty but it's done it's job.
So Now It's lift time! And since I am now more informed I went with the Enforcer 4" 37" package with the 2.5" Kings and red shiny knobs. :wings:
More to come soon. Next I need to get my C gussets welded on and make sure I have what I need to put the lift on.
Edit: This is how it sits now. Fenders trimmed and up on 37s.
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