What did you do to your JK today?

[Danarch]

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.

Sell the Lexus! Just kidding. We‘ve had two Suburbans and loved each one. Still have the one, it sits idle most of the time. Each has basically been trouble free except for one thing. The first one we had started loosing coolant, mechanic couldn’t find it. The longer the trip the less coolant it lost. It seemed to loose more driving around town on short trips. It was 2005 close 100K on it. I did some research and discovered there were some blocks in that year with hairline cracks which caused coolant loss. We finally traded it in on a used 2013 Suburban. It now has close to 100K and runs like a champ. I keep thinking about selling it as the only time we “really” need it is a family vacation, but that is even starting to become less of a need as kids grow, move out, work etc.

Good luck in your decision making. You are certainly correct the JK couldn’t tow and do some of things you are considering.

 

[WestCoastDan]

Spent a couple of hours playing with wires tonight.
Connectors are crimped, soldered, 'heat shrinked', and run through silicone gaskets to ensure the inside of the relay box is as dry as an English scone (or sense of humor).

I need to add the ground wires and the output leads from the fuses next. Then button it up and install it to the fender.

Then it's time to complete the trigger-wire routing through the firewall and up the A-pillar, install the circuit breaker, #8 power wire & bus bar.
Then I should be ready to connect some lighting.

Things take effort and thought to do right, and time spent now should avoid trouble later.

 

[Speartip]

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.

Are you going with the same bumper ?
Did the grill get a lot damage as well ? Will it have to be replaced ?

 

[Speartip]

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.

Selling a vehicle can be a tough decision. We sort of form a bind with our wheels especially if doing the work ourselves , busting knuckles , blood & sweat . I can tell you honestly , personally , it will be super hard for me to sell my Jeep .
More because it has taken me places I would have never seen if it wasn’t for the Jeep .
That said in about a year I will upgrade to a newer JK .
Probably around a 2015. Staying with a JK so can transfer many mods over to the newer Jeep . The JL has many of its own issues so not worth it IMHO.
If you decide to sell hope you will stay around on here . I think I can speak for most when I say , enjoy reading your posts and value your input .
But you gotta do what’s best for yourself & family .

 

[Anybodyhome]

Well, the good news is the wife came to me this morning and said, "I don't want you to sell your Jeep for me."
I didn't say anything, but I'm happy I can keep her for a while longer. Better order some more stuff and start on some more mods before she changes her mind...lol

 

[Speartip]

Well, the good news is the wife came to me this morning and said, "I don't want you to sell your Jeep for me."
I didn't say anything, but I'm happy I can keep her for a while longer. Better order some more stuff and start on some more mods before she changes her mind...lol

Cool Glad your keeping the Jeep .
Women, change their mind?
I don’t know what you speak of . Haha

 

[Anybodyhome]

Women, change their mind?
I don’t know what you speak of . Haha

This was just one chapter of a 3-part conversation we had this morning. The other 2 had to do with a couple home improvement projects- tearing down the deck and adding a completely enclosed sunroom and getting plantation shutters on all of the large south-facing windows on the back of the house. We're on the same page with the sunroom, but when I told her the windows are getting measured for the shutters Tuesday, she acted like it was the first time she heard about it..... oh, boy.
All good though.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Spent a couple of hours playing with wires tonight.
Connectors are crimped, soldered, 'heat shrinked', and run through silicone gaskets to ensure the inside of the relay box is as dry as an English scone (or sense of humor).

I need to add the ground wires and the output leads from the fuses next. Then button it up and install it to the fender.

Then it's time to complete the trigger-wire routing through the firewall and up the A-pillar, install the circuit breaker, #8 power wire & bus bar.
Then I should be ready to connect some lighting.

Things take effort and thought to do right, and time spent now should avoid trouble later.

So your system is bus bar ground? So is my Voswitch. Part of me wishes the grounds were integral, too. Because the bus bar is more exposed to the elements. In my head, I know that water on the ground can't really hurt anything (what's it going to do, ground it more?) but it just feels wrong somehow.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Are you going with the same bumper ?
Did the grill get a lot damage as well ? Will it have to be replaced ?

I like the bumper, and it matches the one on the other Jeep, so yes.
The grill got some minor damage on the corner. I don't think it needs replaced, just a little bondo and some paint.
The flare has a small bend in the front lip. That won't need replaced. I've made enough blades to feel confident I could have it perfect with 5 minutes on an anvil. I will probably take it off and do that before it goes to the body shop.
The fenders are tweaked, as is the frame, but not badly. I suspect that the flares are tweaked by the same amount, but, again, those will be easy to straighten. There isn't much easier to do than make a piece of metal flat.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Today was maintenance day.
I put hers in the garage and did oil, oil filter, air filter, wipers, and topped off fluids. Installed one of THESE while I was under there, to make future oil changes easier. I used them on projects in the past, and was reminded of their existence by a conversation here. Nifty things, really.
I did the same things to mine, two days before I wrecked it.

I've always used full synthetics in everything I build. I changed her Jeep over to THIS last year and that's what's in both now. I'm thrilled to only need to do oil changes once a year.

 

[BigAL07]

Mobil 1 is damn good oil. For some reason my Rubi only likes royal purple. Guess it has expensive tastes just like my wife

 

[WestCoastDan]

Today I finally attached the shackle-mounted license plate bracket, complete with wiring routed through the hole plug via a “waterproof” loom (not split loom).
Power is not connected yet.

 

[JeepJeezy]

@WestCoastDan Thank you for your service!

 

[BigAL07]

X2. Thank you

 

[WestCoastDan]

Much appreciated, guys.

When my wife said that, I replied “Thank you for your cervix.”

She didn’t think it was very funny, but I’m still laughing.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Much appreciated, guys.

When my wife said that, I replied “Thank you for your cervix.”

She didn’t think it was very funny, but I’m still laughing.

Thank her for her "service" and see if she thinks that's funny.

It looks to me (at least in those photos) like that mount will interfere with your lights. Do you not use them often enough for that to be an issue?

 

[WestCoastDan]

There is a very slight overlap on that inboard light, but probably not enough to be an issue.
Since I don’t have power to the lights yet I can’t confirm it.
If it does create a blind/dark spot, I’ll adjust the angle of the outer light to compensate; basically crossing the beams to get a wider pattern.

 

[Dirty Dog]

There is a very slight overlap on that inboard light, but probably not enough to be an issue.

Probably just the angle of the photo then. It can be difficult to judge.

Since I don’t have power to the lights yet I can’t confirm it.

Well that would seem to be the bigger issue.

If it does create a blind/dark spot, I’ll adjust the angle of the outer light to compensate; basically crossing the beams to get a wider pattern.

I thought crossing the streams was bad?

 

[WestCoastDan]

"Beams, sir... B E A M S.
BEAMS are OK to cross; never "streams" or "swords".

 

[mrjp]

"Beams, sir... B E A M S.
BEAMS are OK to cross; never "streams" or "swords".

Jim Beam