Vader - 2013 Oscar Mike JKU - Trail Rig Build

[Speartip]

Especially if you can do the rear seat delete. Or add a roof rack. I've seen spare tires mounted up there, but I don't care for the idea. Primarily because (A) I don't want to lift anything that heavy alllllll the way up there (I don't really want to lift the spare as high as the tailgate mount, to be honest) and (B) I don't want to shift the center of gravity higher than it already is. Because rolling down a hill will scratch the paint...

Don't think anyone running 42" is doing the roof rack spare .
Be practically impossible to take down or put one up there without
a forklift or 3 guys. Most def raise the centre of gravity to where you don't
want it .
It'll be interesting to see direction @Qaddiction goes with the spare.
Happy Building

 

[Dirty Dog]

Don't think anyone running 42" is doing the roof rack spare .

I've seen some awfully large spares mounted up high... But I suspect they were mall crawlers and unlikely to ever be needed. Either that, or the owner of the rig was a MONSTER!

 

[Speartip]

Here's your solution .
Haha

 

[Qaddiction]

Had some time available this weekend. First I removed the factory sliders. While doing so I started thinking again! I thought I should just go ahead and start trimming the back wheel opening. Grabbed the Sawzall and started hacking away. Not sure if it's enough, but it's a start. I sanded down the rough edges and hit it with some paint. That allowed me to justify mounting the back fender flares.

I know I mentioned hating that silver grill, it was almost warm enough to paint so I gave it a try. While waiting between coats of paint, I installed the JW Speaker headlights and Pro 6 accessory lights. The Pro 6 aren't hooked up yet, but are mounted. That's when things came to a halt. Daughter was sick all weekend and I started feeling bad Sunday. I mustered up enough energy to re-install the grill just in case it needed to be driven. Unfortunately, the paint job didn't turn out as well as i had hoped. Probably a touch to cold outside. It will work for now. Again, not a show car and it looks OK from a few feet away. I can always repaint it this summer. That's it for now, we will see how long this cold keeps me down.

 

[Speartip]

Looking good brother
That “rail” that runs towards
the rear tire . Don’t even know why it sticks out so far towards the tire . Think most have to cut off when you get larger than 35”.
Fenders look awesome .
JW’s are the bomb . Will light up the road that’s for sure

 

[Dirty Dog]

That little area looks weird when you open up the flares, and I think it's probably where my wife rubs with her 35's on a 3" lift. It's too cold to paint right now, but come spring, I think I'll be breaking out the angle grinder and doing some trimming.

 

[Qaddiction]

Took me long enough, but I finally got the VKS rear bumper installed. The frame chop bumper said that the stock exhaust could be in the way. A quick pre-fit made me realize the stock exhaust needed to go. I didn't look around comparing as much as I usually would, but I ended up going with an AFE Rock Crusher system. I removed the stock exhaust right after the Y pipe. Removing the stock exhaust was 80% of the job. Installing the new exhaust was super easy. I guess it helps when the Rock Basher exhaust turns down before the rear axle. It's definitely louder. We will see how annoying it is as time goes by. I never had a chance to drive it, just started it to see.

 

[Speartip]

Took me long enough, but I finally got the VKS rear bumper installed. The frame chop bumper said that the stock exhaust could be in the way. A quick pre-fit made me realize the stock exhaust needed to go. I didn't look around comparing as much as I usually would, but I ended up going with an AFE Rock Crusher system. I removed the stock exhaust right after the Y pipe. Removing the stock exhaust was 80% of the job. Installing the new exhaust was super easy. I guess it helps when the Rock Basher exhaust turns down before the rear axle. It's definitely louder. We will see how annoying it is as time goes by. I never had a chance to drive it, just started it to see.

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Looks really good !!
Hopefully exhaust isn’t to annoying on the trail .
If memory serves Flowmaster makes a decent muffler that’s inline .
If the new one is annoying check out the FM.
Jake @ JK Gear & Gadgets did an install & review on his UTube channel .

 

[Qaddiction]

This weekend I replaced my front fender flares. Ripping off the stock flares didn't take much time. I cleaned up underneath, then started to figure out how to mount the new Nemesis Crawler fender flares. Fairly easy install overall. Even for a hack like me with limited ability! Mark 4 holes and drill. Then use the drill to enlarge several existing stock holes. Mount 2 provided brackets and finally the fender flare. I can tell already my rattle can paint job isn't going to hold up to well once rocks start flying up. Oh well, at least they are aluminum. I'll just have to touch them up often, or eventually have them sprayed professionally.

I have some Artec inner liners, but with anticipation of an upcoming lift, it will be one less thing they have to mess with removing.

 

[BLACKJKU]

This weekend I replaced my front fender flares. Ripping off the stock flares didn't take much time. I cleaned up underneath, then started to figure out how to mount the new Nemesis Crawler fender flares. Fairly easy install overall. Even for a hack like me with limited ability! Mark 4 holes and drill. Then use the drill to enlarge several existing stock holes. Mount 2 provided brackets and finally the fender flare. I can tell already my rattle can paint job isn't going to hold up to well once rocks start flying up. Oh well, at least they are aluminum. I'll just have to touch them up often, or eventually have them sprayed professionally.

I have some Artec inner liners, but with anticipation of an upcoming lift, it will be one less thing they have to mess with removing.

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I like those fenders, do the stock tires stick out past them much?

 

[Dirty Dog]

Looks good. But I wouldn't bother having them painted. Powder coating is a much better option.

 

[Qaddiction]

I like those fenders, do the stock tires stick out past them much?

I took a couple pictures. I placed the level in the center of the tire. The stock tires stick out 3.75" past the Crawler fenders. The crawler fender flares are about 4.5" wide in the middle of the fender well. Nemesis makes 3 different widths of flares. These Crawler flares are the narrowest. The Notorious are middle of the road and the Odessey are the widest. I have a set of Odessey flares on my 2016 JKU. I believe I have a picture of those on stock tires as well. I'll see if I can find it and attach it here.

 

[Qaddiction]

I found these side markers a couple weeks ago. I must have had them leftover from Detonator, my 2016 build. I set them aside figuring I could use them on Vader. I had to drill out the holes slightly in the flares, but they fit like a charm after that. It didn't take too long to wire them up. I cut the wire at the marker lights on the stock fenders so I could just use the stock connectors.

I also installed a Superchips TrailDash 3 Programmer. I will use this to change the gearing, tire size, etc. once the time comes. Someday I plan on this being attached to a Genright cage, but for now a suction cup to the windshield will have to do.

 

[Qaddiction]

Last night I took the time to wire up the Switch Pros - RCR-Force 12. This is what I will be using to connect all of my accessories (lights, lockers, compressors, winch, etc.). The install was fairly straight forward. I need to research a little more on how to start programming the switch panel now. The only accessory I have mounted at the moment is the JW Speaker Trail 6 Pro lights. Looks like those will be my test subjects!

Its amazing at how small the complete package is. I just have the switch panel laying loose for the moment. I'm not certain on exactly where it will be mounted yet. I'm thinking it will be off of the roll cage which doesn't exist yet. The only pictures I got were while mounting the controller; before I started wiring...