I have been a Jeep fan for a long time. I am on my fourth Jeep, but third wrangler. Started with a used '98 Grand Cherokee Laredo until it started costing me more money to fix it up than it was worth. I traded it in for an '06 Jeep Wrangler Sport in Silver just prior to the JK's coming out. It was the last 06 they had and I got a great deal on it. Initially I was not a big fan of the JK's. They were too big and the interiors I thought were very ugly. On Christmas Eve of 2010 I totaled my beloved Wrangler during a snow storm when an idiot pulled out in front of me and when I swerved out of the way through the ice and snow I ran directly into a telephone pole. I had to make a decision quick on if I wanted to stay in the Jeep family or go with something else. Once I took a test drive in a JKU I was hooked. Bought a 2011 Mango Tango Sport Unlimited off the lot within a week of getting my insurance claim. Three years later, after a lot of fun in it, and a gorgeous trip to Colorado I was ready for a change. I really liked my Mango Tango, but when they released the Amp'd color in '14 I knew I had to have one. So, after much thought I ordered a 2014 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited with just about every option they had. I had always wanted a Rubicon and decided that since I was ordering one, due to no dealership having Amp'd anywhere near me, I'd get what I wanted. I placed the order at the end of May and took possession of it around mid June.
The following two pictures are of my newly ordered 2014 Rubicon with only 1 mile on the odometer when I took possession of it. As well as a picture of my old Mango Tango Sport next to my new Amp'd Rubicon.
After about 500 miles my ordered AEV Heat Reduction Hood and Black AEV Pintlers with 285/70R/17 Goodyear Duratrac's were ready to go on. I also put my old Truck Lite headlights from my Mango Tango Sport in.
Since I was effectively broke from the new Rubicon and AEV toys, I decided to plasti dip a few things like what I had done on my old JKU. Door hinges, door locks, and the cowl on both sides. I think it looks good and makes it stand out a little more with the Amp'd and black highlights I was looking for.
I had kept my old 2011 soft top and was told that it would still work on the 2014's. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it did work very well. Plus it saved me around $1000 on my ordered Rubi.
I had previously built a "storage cabinet" in my garage to keep my hard top from getting damaged. My ceilings are not very tall to hang it from above, so this was my only option. I found a cool video online of a guy who built a little cart to keep the hard top on which was really easy and only cost around $40 to make. The two hooks in the center of the hard top attached to the wall hold my soft top in the winter. I also put a small shelf on top of all of it to hold other Jeep stuff.
Expedition Overland / Overland Expo East / New hobby found!
In the mid to late summer of 2014 I was just screwing around watching Youtube videos like most people do when they are bored, when I stumbled across a video series called Expedition Overland: Alaska/Yukon. If you have never heard of it I highly recommend watching it. Anyways, after watching the whole series multiple times and talking to a friend of mine about it a lot we discovered that Overland Expo was going to put on their first ever East Coast show. We immediately signed up for the 4 day event in October 2014 in Asheville, NC. It was an 11 hour drive from Central Illinois, but totally worth it. Being a former Boy Scout and attaining the rank of Eagle Scout I have always been in to camping and being out doors. I had never heard of Overlanding before watching that show and my interests were highly peaked. Overland Expo was one of the most amazing trips I had ever taken. The amount of eye candy for offroad vehicles of all sorts and all the crazy things everyone had was overwhelming. I had never intended on meeting anyone out there that I would be friends with afterwards. However, after 4 days of camping near two total strangers who were also from different states and didn't know each other either. We discovered that we all had the same interests, all had a love of Jeeps, and had a great time telling stories around camp. It is safe to say that my buddy and I met really good friends who we are still in contact with regularly today.
The four days were full of Overlanding style classes on numerous subjects such as winching, highlift jack usage, photography, orienteering, etc. We walked the vendor area numerous times talking to the owners of some of the companies that I had dream't of buying things from for a long time. We even got to meet the entire group from Expedition Overland who had both of their vehicles set up for display. The food was great, the weather was cold, but the fun and excitement were everywhere.
On the way home my friend and I made the decision that this would be the beginning of a new hobby and interest that we could really get in to. The only thing in the way was convincing the new fiance. Ha Ha Ha.
Here is a picture of our set up at Overland Expo East 2014. As well as what my Jeep looked like after the off-road driving coarse we took.
First thing is that I am getting married at the end of October 2015 to a great girl who luckily loves Jeeps as much as I do, ok maybe not as much as I do. We are going to Hawaii for our honeymoon to have a much needed vacation away from everything and to each check that off of our bucket list of things to do. On the top of our list of must haves while we are there is of course a rental Jeep Wrangler to cruise around Maui in. The highly scenic "Road to Hana" is planned for one of the days while we are there too.
After that my newly ordered Gobi Stealth roof rack should arrive sometime in either November or December. I'd really like to get a roof top tent by next spring to go with the rack, but we'll see what happens. The plan now is to get everyone back together again from Overland Expo East and road trip across the country to Overland Expo West in Arizona in May of 2016. It is still a work in progress, but I am hopeful it will happen. The goal for next fall is to do our one year anniversary in Colorado. I am very fortunate to have family in Ouray, Colorado. My fiance and I went there in 2012 for a week and we have both been very homesick to go back. The most beautiful place I have ever been, highly recommend planning a trip out there!
I have a wish list of mods as tall as I am, who doesn't? They will come as I can afford them. It will take some time to get my Jeep to where I want it to be, but I'd also like to go out and explore and not spend all my time and money saving for mods either. However, the top things on my mods list currently are either a Tepui Autana Ruggedized RTT or CVT Mt. Shasta RTT (any recommendations?), AEV front and rear bumpers, an as yet undecided rocker or slider that has a good step on it, a cb radio in which I know very little about setting up (help please?), an AEV 2.5" lift, sPod and external lighting, etc etc...
Any suggestions for cheap easy mods in the way of Overlanding, or small weekend trips in the area of Illinois would be much appreciated as well.
Very nice amigo! Didn't know you had so many jeeps prior to the Amp'd, sheesh!
Your jeeps purddddy. Best color too! Ha. Wish you lived near me so we could go camping.
As for small mods I only can suggest what I've done with the Rugged Ridge hood cowl thingy, and UFO hood plugs.
Personally I think AEV bumpers are overpriced. You can do better! Maybe check out "Mule expedition " I think it's called. American made and priced very well. Another bonus is I've never seen it on anything. Keep up the good work!
Told you the Gobi takes forever! Let me know how the install goes. The windshield bar was a SUPER tight fit. Took me and a buddy on each side to spread apart to install ha.
Also curious if the windshield stoppers touch the jeep. Mine don't :/
I was notified yesterday by the company I ordered my Gobi through that it will ship next week. Great news except I am getting married and then leave for my honeymoon next week. When I inquired about when exactly, Gobi couldn't guarantee that it would be here by Friday. Soooooo I had to make the decision to have them hold onto it until the first week of November. Hopefully it'll get here on the 5th or 6th which will still leave me a couple days to install it before I go back to work.
I really don't have any Jeep experience to add, but as a camper whenever I can, I like the thought of keeping the stock rear bumper and turning it into a non-potable water holder. Cheaper then a new bumper and built in water storage to boot.
It took my friend and I around 4 hours to install everything but the wind deflector before we ran out of light. It is a very strong rack and it looks like it will be well worth the money. I also got the front "basket" area above the freedom panels as well, but I didn't put it on just yet. The packaging said that it weighed in at 150lbs, I'll keep an eye on the MPG to see if that affects anything. The quick disconnects were a bit confusing to figure out how they worked, but after we got it they are a pretty ingenious system.
Well, here are the pics!!
Nope they both stick up off the windshield about 1/3". After I put the light bar on I read in the instructions that you are supposed to lightly hand tighten the bolts and then pull the light bar tight against the windshield then have another person tighten the bolts. I did not do that so maybe when I get bored again I'll take it back apart and try that.
I've been keeping an eye on it every couple days. My electronic mpg gauge in the Jeep shows me at 16.3 mpg and I was right around 17 prior to the rack. I really want to give that thing a months worth of running to get a better all around average, but it looks like I didn't lose much. I put the wind deflector on last night. No whistling at 55mph like some have said. I'll have to get it out on the interstate and see what 70 is like. I do feel like I notice less drag with it on than I did with it not attached, but it could just be my mind messing with me?
If it helps any, there is one bolt on each side of the Gobi in the rear and two on each side in the front unless you get the quick disconnects then it's even easier. It wouldn't be too difficult to remove the rack part when you didn't need it. This is how I plan on swapping between the hard and soft tops each season. The front light bar would always stay on and still look good.
Very tempting Black Friday sale for JW Speaker 8700 Evolution J headlights for only $569. Do I buy those or an sPod? Choices choices...... My vote is the headlights because I'll use them a lot more than an sPod, but do I buy them hmmmm?
Are you unhappy with your current headlights? Good looking Jeep! Congrats. A little long on "looks" for me - but that's me. Now, go out and use that thing. Spend a week or two on the trail with it - I think you're going to love it. Oh, and congrats on marrying someone who will (hopefully) enjoy your interest in the great outdoors as much as you! Regards, CW
Thanks CW! I've seen many of your posts and love vicariously following you on some of your trips.
I did sell my trucklites recently so I'm back to stock halogens and I hate them.
I have several trips planned for next year. Winter kinda shuts the camping option down with the Mrs. So I'm paying off some debt and getting supplies in order for next years trips. Hopefully it all works out and I can start the adventures as soon as it starts to warm up a bit.
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