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What's the first thing you added/changed/did to your Jeep?

9K views 98 replies 65 participants last post by  Eagle71 
#1 ·
Hey Guys,

Ordered a 2dr Sport about a week ago. Had to have it sent from the factory with the options I wanted. So I've got about a month of waiting ahead and that means lots of time to plan what I'd like to add to it.

Just wanted to get a feel for what people are doing to their Jeeps right off the bat.

I won't be lifting it in the immediate future but I do want slightly larger tires. Right now, I'm looking at tires, tubular doors, a soft top, flood lights. I have no idea about performance parts since I haven't taken it out yet. Anything I should be looking at straight away?

Any opinions or input would be hugely appreciated!

Cheers
 
#2 ·
Welcome Welcome!

While some folks are pretty hardcore with initial mods (due to excitement and "visions") - I took a smarter approach that made me far superior than anyone else on this forum (sarcasm)

1. Debadge the car. Removed the stickers/emblems with some dental floss and goo remover. If this is something you may want to do - do it now, while the paint is fresh. Don't wait until the sun fades your paint.
2. Drive the car. Take it places. Blare the radio. Live with the car for a month or two. Start a collection jar on your kitchen counter, cause trust me, you're gonna need it. Proceed to step #3.
3. Make a list of wants vs. needs. Prioritize.
4. My needs: new headlights. (headlights suck). Quadratec stealth or JW Speakers ($700). Step bars ($200)- even at 6'4", I can get in fine, but my friends can't. So, I ordered some step bars.
5. Regret the step bars. Should have bought something more "hardcore" that provided armor protection. Oh well.
6. Remove hardtop and realize you have no place to store/put it. Research online for a simple DIY cart made from 2x4's. ($40) Make it and store soft top in garage.
7. Have OCD kick in and realize the fog lights don't match the headlights. Buy a pair a led fogs ($179).
8. Enjoy car for a month or two. Then, see one parked at gas station with fancy 50" led bar and dually lights. Drool. Order online the follow day, while at work. ($900)
9. LED bar/dually lights arrive in mail. Realize you didn't really need them, but might as well install it. Once installed, go to home depot to buy door trim to make the led bar whistling sound stop ($17).
10. While driving home from Home Depot, you see a wrangler with impressive tires/wheels. Appears they also have spacers. Drool while waiting at red light.
11. Come home, place home depot bag (door trim/foam) in a location that you'll never find it again. Jump online and research tire/rim packages. Have wife come downstairs and yell at you for being online "researching" for nearly 4 hours, as you've hemmed and hawed over 9 different options.
12. Rationalize that with new tires, should come a better suspension. Hmmm..
13. Look at collection jar on kitchen counter (part of step 2) and realize $57 in change doesn't buy much for suspension.
14. Lay in bed, staring at ceiling, agonizing over 2.5 vs. 3.5 lift with 33 or 35 inch tires. Toss and turn. Think back to step 1, the simpler days - where your "Big Mod" was simply removing a badge and that was free. Now, you're looking at $3,000 in suspension/tire upgrade.
15. Wake up the next day, groggy and confused. "What should I do?" you may ask. Here's my advice. Go outside, wash and wax your jeep. Detail it - inside and outside. Stand back, crack a beer, and realize you're driving one of the coolest vehicles out there - and you don't need to follow trends/be influenced at every new mod that comes out. Things will happen in time, so space out your decisions and gradually build your jeep over time. Besides - no rush, right.
16. After 3rd beer - jump online and order that $3,000 lift/suspension/tire package.
 
#5 ·
06040 ... That made me laugh ... Absolutely relate to the "itch"

To the OP (original poster) ... Welcome!

The first thing. I did was remove decals and badges.

Then all hell broke loose, but I (mostly) researched here first, and PMed anyone that seemed to really know what they were doing. That ended up being one of the best ways to learn, BTW.

At some point very early on, I joined a local Jeep club too ... That was really helpful.

Have fun :welcome:
 
#30 ·
Thank you! Yeah I've already learned quite a bit from lightly browsing threads on here. Everyone is super helpful.

Jeep club would be a great idea. Thank you!
 
#10 ·
I think the first thing I'll do is get real paranoid after signing the papers. Yes, it's a Jeep, but I don't subscribe to the "chicks dig body damage" way of thinking. I'm married, so I could care less what "chicks" think of my Jeep. I also just paid a bunch of money for something I don't want all banged up!

That said, I plan on bringing the door sill guards with me to the stealership and applying them while things are still clean, and before the two kids have a chance to climb in a mess things up. I want to add some protection on the side to aid in preventing door dings, as well as provide a step for the kids so they'll stay off the aforementioned door sill. I'll also throw in the cargo slush mat from Mopar, with the subwoofer cut-out. I also want to add the switch pod, I don't know what I want to run off the switches, but I do know that I want a switch that has an alien spaceship and mentions landing lights...

I plan on solving the problem of removing any dealer placed material by asking them not to put anything like that on the Jeep. License plate bracket is fine, but nothing on the paint!
 
#22 ·
3. Mopar Headliner or Quadratec Stealth next... or maybe an Apple watch, I can do two of those three!!!
My wife is getting me an Apple watch for our anniversary. New JKUR and another gadget that I don't need. I'm a lucky guy!

Remove and toss the ugly dealer license plate frames.
I've asked them not to put them on with other vehicles, telling them if they want me to advertise, it'll be $jeep_payment a month for me to do so.
 
#13 ·
My first mod session included removing the dealer plate wrapper and the taillight guards and adding my GraBars™! They were the ONLY thing I ordered before my jeep got here. :thumb:
 
#14 ·
First thing I do with all new vehicles/motorcycles is get a fresh set of tires. OEM rubber has never been something I'd buy given the choice so I usually swap them and sell the take-offs.

Next is dealer tags and stickers and any decals I want removed.

Next is a full detail inside and out. Dealer prep leaves a lot to be desired and if its black I go as far as to ask them not to clean it. I don't need their swirl marks making my job harder.

Then make sure you put in a decent set of rubber mats. The Mopar ones actually aren't half bad and you can find some great deals from parts departments on ebay. Lots of options here.

Here's the rest of my initial shopping list. Half of this is already ordered and all of it will be before the JKU arrives.
-LED Headlights/Fogs
-Rock sliders with steps
-Wheel Spacers (keeping stock wheels and suspension for now)
-Spiderwebshade (skin cancer sucks)
-Seat Covers
-Door sill covers
-Rear seat recline mod
-Antenna-x stubby
-LED bulbs for reverse lights
-Grille insert
-Safari mirrors
-Splash Guards (yeah.. I did...)

That's my watered-down, heavily trimmed list. There's other stuff that didn't make the first cut.
 
#31 ·
This is really helpful! Almost everyone mentions adding rubber mats, something I've honestly way overlooked.
So when adding LEDs, are you needing to convert anything so that they are compatible. (Sorry I really have no idea if that makes any sense)
Rocker panel guards sound like a pretty good idea as well.

Thank you so much for your reply. Really helped.
 
#15 ·
1. Turned off the annoying seat belt chime.
2. Added paracord grab handles.
3. Added Mopar slush mats.
4. Added the black Mopar Jeep Grill Badge.
5. Added the front bumper Mopar light bar, and then put 2 KC lights on it and put 2 more on my Jeep with windshield mounts.
I'm saving up for tires and wheels now.
 
#74 ·
Car was first thing I noticed as well.

I made a plan 4 months ago to keep stock suspension and then run 315's with flat fenders. Then altered that last month with a leveling kit. Friday I bought a 2.5" MC GameChanger. Next week I'm getting 37" KO2's. Shit, I'm scared to see what pops into my head next!!
 
#19 ·
had fuel door installed before I left dealer...
 
#20 ·
Well I have stuff for the Jeep but not actually on the Jeep yet. But the very first thing I put on the Mystique was the Jeep Wave decals on the driver's side mirror and back window. Second item was replacing the dealer tier cover for a more subtle black on black Jeep logo one, which I love.

The third thing, will be installing the black metal license plate holder to replace the cheap plastic dealer one.
 
#33 ·
I've been shopping around for a soft top, I opted with the hardtop at the dealer. They're pretty expensive and every other cool brief or bikini top requires the mounts that come with the factory soft top. I dropped the ball, it seems.

Slush mats seem to be on everyones list. It's a great idea that I overlooked. Headlights too. I'm glad I read on.

Thanks for the reply!
 
#24 ·
I think the first 'real' mod I did was Plasti-Dip the grille.
 
#26 ·
@06040 lesson learned ... NO 3rd beer near internet. That's a funny post and one I completely understand.

I got a list a mile long and I don't even know what some of that stuff is. I have never been a Mod person on any vehicle until this Jeep. My depth of knowledge is basic maintenance is oil change, fluid check, tire rotation, and the odd part or two (wipers, fuse). But the mod list keeps growing and I keep giving myself a headache reading all these mechanical posts. Options for absolutely everything and I have absolutely no idea what will be first. Scared to start because not sure I will be able to quit. What if I do A first and really need to do B first. Now I cant even have that 3rd beer with the internet around. Not sure whether to laugh or cry.
 
#28 ·
I just got my 2015 JKU Sport S on Friday and I've already ordered a receiver hitch/wiring harness 4 x grab handles and front & rear door entry guards from Quadratec.

Next I want to get slider bars (nerf/rocker). I have it narrowed down to a few I really like...just have to decide and click the order button. :)
 
#35 ·
I ordered some "hory sheet" grab bars too. What are the entry guards you mentioned? Are they for the door sills?
I'm looking into rocker guards too. Seems like a solid way to go about it!
Thanks for your reply!
 
#37 ·
Thank you to everyone who replied! Help really put into perspective that I don't need to drop $5000 on the first day of owning it. Gonna start slow. Take it for a good drive and see what I need or want to change.
 
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