What did you do to your JK today?

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Speartip said:
Looks like a D ring mount
Actually looks like quite a
nice bracket . I’m assuming the LED is a plate light
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Yes, it’s a “shackle mount” and the LED is for the plate. I MIGHT cut that off… haven’t decided yet.
I definitely don’t like the mounting bracket; it’s a couple of cheap L brackets and a long bolt through the shackle.
It sticks out too far and has the wrong angle.
I also don’t like the power wire routing so if I keep the light it’s getting modified.
 
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Modified the relay mounting plate to work with my preferred relay box. Had to bend the plate to make room for the taller box under the hood.
My bend was off by the thickness of the plate, so I had to notch out for the plug to make it sit flat.
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Just need to make the notch on the corner so it sits flat, trim off that extra tab, cut out the hole in the middle for the wiring, then paint.

I just ordered 60A circuit breaker, #8 power & ground cable, along with the + & - terminal blocks.
This project is moving along quicker than expected. Still slow, but there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle.
Not yet addressed is mounting & wiring for the trail cam.

All in good time.
 
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WestCoastDan said:
Yes, it’s a “shackle mount” and the LED is for the plate. I MIGHT cut that off… haven’t decided yet.
I definitely don’t like the mounting bracket; it’s a couple of cheap L brackets and a long bolt through the shackle.
It sticks out too far and has the wrong angle.
I also don’t like the power wire routing so if I keep
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Have you considered just making your own from scratch?
 
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Danarch said:
Looks great. How does that think fold down / collapse?
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The windows slide out and I do have to take 2 nuts off to remove the back window and the top flips back like stock. To completely remove the top would be more work than I will do probably. I don't have a back seat anymore, so I think from the front it will feel the same as the top being off.
 
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Dirty Dog said:
Have you considered just making your own from scratch?
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I dismissed that idea pretty early on for a few reasons.
1- Cost. I simply cannot make what I want ‘from scratch’ for anything close to the cost of modifying an available ‘kit’.
2- I don’t weld. Not even a little bit. The effort of building one from scratch would also include outside costs for welding, powder coating, etc. These would triple or quadruple the cost.
3- Time. To modify an existing kit to my liking is far less time consuming than making one from scratch.
 
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Today, I took it to the body shop.
As expected, the frame is tweaked a little. Happily, it still drives just fine, but sadly the body shops here are all booked out. They're thinking February.
Guess we will just have to use the other Rubi and leave this one in the garage for the most part.
 
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Dirty Dog said:
Today, I took it to the body shop.
As expected, the frame is tweaked a little. Happily, it still drives just fine, but sadly the body shops here are all booked out. They're thinking February.
Guess we will just have to use the other Rubi and leave this one in the garage for the most part.
Click to expand...
I lived in Edmonton , Alberta for 30 years .
Once the snow came , the bumper cars began
on the streets . It was common for people to have to
wait 3-4 months before their was vehicle was been
worked on by a body shop.
Totally sucks and I feel for ya DDog.
I'm thinking since the frame is tweaked
can't even add a new bumper till things
straightened out.
Gives you some time to shop around
for a bumper and look at different options .
 
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All true, @Speartip. I don't think my choice has changed any in the less than 3 months since we bought this Jeep and started building it. :)
I've already ordered the replacement bumper. It will be here next week.
Still waiting on pistons for the Vette, too. But it's getting too winter to be driving that. So it'll likely be spring before any vehicular fun.
 
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Giving serious consideration to putting my JKU on the market. Granted, the used car market is beginning to soften, but she's in excellent condition for an 8-year old JK with 115k miles.
I'll probably be researching how much I can realistically ask versus how much I'd take while trying to keep the emotions out of it. It'll be a difficult decision, because the it'll probably be another couple years before I can get into another, if it happens at all.
She's been awesome- couple little issues here and there, but doesn't throw codes and hasn't required any major work since the warranty expired years ago. I consider myself extremely fortunate that I got a good one.
 
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Anybodyhome said:
Giving serious consideration to putting my JKU on the market. Granted, the used car market is beginning to soften, but she's in excellent condition for an 8-year old JK with 115k miles.
I'll probably be researching how much I can realistically ask versus how much I'd take while trying to keep the emotions out of it. It'll be a difficult decision, because the it'll probably be another couple years before I can get into another, if it happens at all.
She's been awesome- couple little issues here and there, but doesn't throw codes and hasn't required any major work since the warranty expired years ago. I consider myself extremely fortunate that I got a good one.
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Any particular reason? I know we probably hear more about the problems people have compared to all the JK’s that run fine. But someone did make the comment “if you find a good one that doesn’t have problems, hold onto it”. I think about that statement every now and then when I think about getting rid of the JKU and looking for JK instead. Also have toying with the idea of TJ Unlimited. I picked up my 2015 Rubi used with under 15K miles on it, only has 30K but not problems to date. I admit I don’t like the engine temps but just seems to be nature of the beast. Anyways good luck in whatever you decide. I have a YJ for about 10 years, so good to be back in a Jeep!
 
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Tough call. We have 3 vehicles right now, and the 2 my wife has are not comfortable for me to drive. Matter of fact, the Benz 350SLK, which she got when her Mom passed, I don't even fit in unless it's warm enough to put the top down, much less try to drive it. Her Lexus RX350 has all the bells and whistles, but in 4 years I've never been able to get the seat in the right position and the side of my right knee hits the console enough to be a major annoyance. So, 3 cars for 2 of us, and I only like mine. The Jeep gets our 2 big dogs and seems to do the majority of short trips- but let's be honest, I'm not doing a cross country trip in it.

I need something that is comfortable enough to drive for 8 hours, has some towing capacity and can haul the dogs and/or some luggage. I've been toying with the idea of starting my own gig, which includes a 12-14' enclosed trailer, which the JK won't tow, so there's that as well. So, yeah, it's going to be a Sequoia, Tahoe, Suburban; something along those lines.

I'd love to keep the JKU, just because I've made it mine, but 4 vehicles between the 2 of us... unless I could get her to sell the Lexus.... hmmm.
 
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