My wife has been wanting a Jeep for years (and of course I have always wanted one since the CJ was the current model - LOL!). My wife's stipulation was that it is a 2-door and manual transmission. She's one in a million!
This silver 2017 Rubicon rolled onto our local car lot in July of 2023. She immediately went to look at it, but we were not yet in position to buy it. We would see it almost daily as we drove by the lot, and every few weeks if we were driving by on a Sunday, she would have us stop and look at "her" Jeep. A few weeks ago, it was STILL there. Dozens of four-doors had come and gone, but this 2-door 6-speed was still hanging around. We decided to make the dealership a low-ball offer so that they wouldn't have to take it to auction. Well, they agreed with my logic, and didn't even try to get more than I was offering, so about an hour later, she was in our driveway:
I usually stick to the "built, not bought" mentality and buy something closer to stock and add my own upgrades, but the previous owner had installed quite a few upgrades that were pretty much what I would have done anyway, so I didn't feel that bad. We're not going to do any hard-core offroading and rock crawling, so the Rubicon package is perfect for what we want to do. We did immediately replace the "Angry Birds" grill, although I know the PO put a bunch of money into the DV8 hood and Topfire grill, plus have them paint-matched.
The Hooke Road winch bumper and matching rear tire-carrier bumper are decent economical options that are probably what I would have gotten myself. The front bumper lights were missing, but a quick email to Hooke Road customer service, and I was able to buy replacements at a very reasonable cost.
The 315/70/R17 All-Terrain K02's are a little big for the current stance, and with the stock Rubicon rims the tires were rubbing horribly on the frame and front sway bar in tight turns, but a quick install of 1.5" wheel spacers has fixed that. You can definitely feel the sidewalls flex on the highway with the narrow 7" rims. Although my wife and I both love the style of these stock rims, I am afraid we will eventually have to upgrade to some 9" wide aftermarket rims with the proper backspacing. I am thinking a 2.5" lift should give us plenty of height for these 315's or 35's in the future.
Based on Hooke Road's customer service, I purchased a set of their tube-style nerf bar/side steps. Once again, while they are not rock-crawling durable, they look great and will definitely meet our needs of helping my wife climb in after the lift is installed.
With summer fast approaching, and the North Carolina Outer Banks calling, we need to quickly get some sort of soft top. It looks like the MasterTop bimini top is a reasonable option, and it is available with the windshield header bar for installation. Plus, MasterTop makes a matching windjammer rear window addition and a tonneau cover to add a little protection from an occasional rain shower.
I'll post some more photos as we add more upgrades, but here's a look of the new front:
Cheers!
P.S. If anyone wants a pre-painted silver Angry Birds grill, let me know.
This silver 2017 Rubicon rolled onto our local car lot in July of 2023. She immediately went to look at it, but we were not yet in position to buy it. We would see it almost daily as we drove by the lot, and every few weeks if we were driving by on a Sunday, she would have us stop and look at "her" Jeep. A few weeks ago, it was STILL there. Dozens of four-doors had come and gone, but this 2-door 6-speed was still hanging around. We decided to make the dealership a low-ball offer so that they wouldn't have to take it to auction. Well, they agreed with my logic, and didn't even try to get more than I was offering, so about an hour later, she was in our driveway:
I usually stick to the "built, not bought" mentality and buy something closer to stock and add my own upgrades, but the previous owner had installed quite a few upgrades that were pretty much what I would have done anyway, so I didn't feel that bad. We're not going to do any hard-core offroading and rock crawling, so the Rubicon package is perfect for what we want to do. We did immediately replace the "Angry Birds" grill, although I know the PO put a bunch of money into the DV8 hood and Topfire grill, plus have them paint-matched.
The Hooke Road winch bumper and matching rear tire-carrier bumper are decent economical options that are probably what I would have gotten myself. The front bumper lights were missing, but a quick email to Hooke Road customer service, and I was able to buy replacements at a very reasonable cost.
The 315/70/R17 All-Terrain K02's are a little big for the current stance, and with the stock Rubicon rims the tires were rubbing horribly on the frame and front sway bar in tight turns, but a quick install of 1.5" wheel spacers has fixed that. You can definitely feel the sidewalls flex on the highway with the narrow 7" rims. Although my wife and I both love the style of these stock rims, I am afraid we will eventually have to upgrade to some 9" wide aftermarket rims with the proper backspacing. I am thinking a 2.5" lift should give us plenty of height for these 315's or 35's in the future.
Based on Hooke Road's customer service, I purchased a set of their tube-style nerf bar/side steps. Once again, while they are not rock-crawling durable, they look great and will definitely meet our needs of helping my wife climb in after the lift is installed.
With summer fast approaching, and the North Carolina Outer Banks calling, we need to quickly get some sort of soft top. It looks like the MasterTop bimini top is a reasonable option, and it is available with the windshield header bar for installation. Plus, MasterTop makes a matching windjammer rear window addition and a tonneau cover to add a little protection from an occasional rain shower.
I'll post some more photos as we add more upgrades, but here's a look of the new front:
Cheers!
P.S. If anyone wants a pre-painted silver Angry Birds grill, let me know.
