IntrepidXJ's Adventure Weblog

Well, my new license plates finally showed up today

Well, it ended up taking me a little longer than I had planned, but I just buttoned everything up on the front of my JK this morning. Got the ExpeditionOne front bumper and Rubi Skid installed, and then got my Warn 9.5ti bolted into the bumper with the synthetic rope from my XJ.

The ‘before’ picture…

Front air dam thingy removed

Stock bumper gone

‘Bash bar’ cut off. I guess I am crazy enough to cut a piece of metal off of my 2 month old Jeep….

Front bumper bolted on

Winch in

Rubi skid installed

Lights and rope on…all done!

Now that that’s done, I’m hoping to take it out exploring tomorrow….just not sure where yet….

I headed down to Moab right after work today so I could pick up my new ExpeditionOne front bumper and Rubi skid

If all goes well, I hope to have the bumper, skid and winch on before the weekend!

Seat covers were something I was thinking about adding to my Jeep to help protect the stock seats from rain, dirt and UV rays, but I really hadn’t been planning on buying them anytime soon. That was until I found a pretty good deal on the Smittybilt Neoprene seat covers. They look to be a pretty good deal and have all of the features I was looking for including the headrest pads (to cover up those hard plastic headrests), map pockets on the back, and they are even compatible with my side airbags.

When they arrived yesterday, I wanted to test just how waterproof they were and dumped some water onto one of the covers. It pooled up and I let it sit there for at least 30 minutes and it never soaked through to the other side. I had time after work today to install them. They were a little tricky to install, but not too difficult. The quality seemed to be pretty good, as I found no issues with any of the seams and the fit was pretty good overall. I guess we’ll see how well they hold up to the elements when I start running around with my top down more often…

Front covers just out of the box. (Yes, I got the black and charcoal color.)

Drivers seat on

Compared to the stock seat

Fronts done.

Back seat done

Done.

I’ll be picking up the new front bumper and front skidplate next week in Moab during EJS. Then I can install both of them and my winch and my JK should be pretty much done for a while

Managed to get my soft top on today. Unfortunately the dealer cannot get the parts I am missing until Thursday, but they were not 100% necessary to finish the install of the top. I probably won’t be opening the top until the parts arrive, though

The weather was very nice today. I can’t wait until later this week when I can actually take the top down

Since the weather has finally started to warm up and get nicer around here, I figured it would be a good day to take off the hard top and install the new soft top I bought and finally received a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite workout as I had planned. It appears that my soft top is missing a few parts, so I was unable to finish up the install. Looks like I’ll be driving with the top off until I can get the parts I need from the dealer…

Freedom panels off

Top off, with Amanda’s help

Looks good

Hard top storage, for now

Then to figure out this mess

With the warmer weather getting here, it’s almost time to put the soft top (which arrived on Tuesday) on my Jeep. With the soft top on, I was in need of finding some solution to help keep some of my gear more secure in the Jeep. During my searches I came across the Tuffy Security Deck that seems to be the perfect solution for me. Not only does it give me a second shelf in the back of the Jeep to help organize my gear on trips, it also is a steel enclosure that will help protect my gear when I am away from my Jeep. The nice thing about this security deck is that the top and the front of the enclosure quickly comes out if I need to put big and long items in the back of my Jeep (or if I want to sleep in the back).

The back of my Jeep to start with

The package from Tuffy that showed up yesterday. It shipped from Cortez, CO which is only 200 miles from here, however it traveled over 1800 miles to finally get here…

I didn’t take any pictures during the install, but here is the completed deck. The enclosure is completed when the tailgate is closed. The top deck cannot be removed while the tailgate is closed, so as long as the tailgate is locked, the enclosure is pretty secure.

Here’s the front of the enclosure. It matches the backs of the rear seats.

Top deck lifted up, and you can kind of see the side of the enclosure on the passenger side.

Drivers side support.

The enclosure also has these nice storage trays on each side for smaller items.

The top of the security deck meets the tailgate nicely when closed.

Since the first XJ I built up, I have always liked the Warn 9.5ti winch and wanted one, but for some reason I never ended up getting it. Well, that has finally changed, since I received the winch for my JK yesterday

Now, I just have to wait for Easter Jeep Safari, where I will be picking up my ExpeditionOne Trail Series front bumper so I can install both of them!

Since the Poison Spyders skid didn’t take me very long to install, it was time to move on to my Ruddge Ridge Muffler skid. This is another part of the JK that is vulnerable to getting smashed up, especially with all the ledges around Moab that you need to drop off of.

Low hanging muffler in the back, that I want to keep in good shape:

The Rugged Ridge skid:

Ready to install:

The muffler should be protected:

The install on this skid did not go quite as smoothly as the first one. I’m not sure if there are differences between the 2010 JK and previous years, or the 2-door, but I was missing some studs underneath the Jeep that the instructions said I was supposed to use. Instead, there were holes there. Luckily I was able to find some nuts and bolts in the garage and used those instead. Other than that, the install did go pretty smoothly

After installing the fan in our bedroom this afternoon, it was time to get started working on my JK. I had a few parts sitting in the garage that have been waiting to be installed. I started out with the Poison Spyder Customs Evap. Cannister skid.

Just look how low this plastic box hangs under the Jeep. It definitely needs protection!

The skid only took me about 30 minutes to install, and that was taking my time. Not only is the Evap. Cannister protected, this skid also raised it about 3/4″ for a little more clearance.