Well I see people doing a build thread and now I feel left out cause I didnt start one when I first got my Jeep, I'm just glad I took pictures of everything I have done to it. So this is it, it will be an on going process and likely it will nener end lol. But I knew that when I bought the Jeep.
Heres what I started with on 4/15/2011:
The only Issue I had was that it was basically set up as a 2 seater, tho I liked the look it wasnt going to happen for me since I have a wife and 2 kids that ride in it almost daily. So the first thing to go was the top. I went with the Rampage frameless top since I loved the frameless "Fastback" look and the fact that I can take the windows off and store them in the top and bring them with me.
Next was the Lift. Stupid me I went the cheap route and got a skyjacker 4" budget lift $499 was a good price but you get what you pay for >< Not that I hate the lift but the components feel kinda wishy washy to me.
That went on 4/23/2011:
Theres my buddy Sean Rieder putting the lift on while I polish his boat. Isnt bartering a great thing? We had alot of trouble with the drop pittman arm, and now that I found the forums and started reading them most people say dont even change it out... oh well lesson learned I guess.
Yea ikr lol. That didnt last long May 11th 2011 and $1100 later I got my new Mickey Thompson MTZ 35x12.5x15's I was lucky enough to get a blemished set from Fortec 4x4 here in Pompano Beach FL If you ever go there talk to Matt Meyer, he is a great guy and goes way out of his way to make everyone happy.
Saw my Jeep like this and glad i snapped a pic cause it makes me laugh every time I see it lol:
Huge difference in lift just from adding the tires. heres a full pic of all 4 tires on:
After adding the tires and lift I had to change the name to (Not so) Lil' Yeller lol
BTW the "Ambulance" in the background is the company I work for called the Boat MD. We do yacht detailing, polishing, and waxing. Yea, working outside in South Florida is rough and I'm super gald I got a Wrangler, it gives me a chance to air out a bit before I get home.
Next to go on were the Bumpers. Picked up the Smittybilt SRC front and rear with tire carrier. I liked how the tube style bumpers look and didnt want anything that was plain and simple, cause thats just not how I do things lol. Also got the Hi-Lift at the same time and was going to put it on my hood but I bought the dern 60" jack and it was too big so I built a mount for it on the front bumper using the existing fog light tabs.
on 6/5/11 it went from:
To:
From:
To:
Was very glad to get that heavy 35 off my tailgate before it did any real damage to it.
I was looking for an Orange one but if I brought home an Orange vehicle I would likely be sleeping in it also lol. Now tho, I am really glad I got Yellow and wouldnt have it any other way.
7/24/11 Spray on bedliner for the handles, Turned my slotted headlight covers into "Angry Eyes", took off rollbar padding (not the ones near driver/pass heads tho).
Hey lilyeller, I'm glad you started your own thread, I will keep tuned, my Jeep looks up to yours...By the way, I gotten alot of info from you. Thanks...unk:
Decided to try out soft doors for a while I hated them... They were a pain to close and didnt keep water out. Plus they didnt really work with the styling of the Jeep imo.
I suppose they looked ok but not my cup of tea. Got the eagle eye driving lights around the same time with the rugged ridge windshield brackets and RR quick release mirrors. I decided to make the mirrors permanent cause I broke the driver side mirror off the hard doors, and before you ask yes you can see perfectly out of them with the doors on.
Now for the biggest thing that changed the entire look of the Jeep. I got tired of all the dark grey inside it and wanted it to be all black and yellow. So I went online and searched the forums and found Krylon Fusion... Great stuff when used properly, anyone who has issues with this stuff didnt prep very well cause I painted my entire interior with this stuff and I only have a few minimal scratches. I wanted 2 tone interior but didnt want to rice it out with too much. Some might say I did too much yellow but I think that Wrangler engineers must have had something similar in mind when they built the interior cause all the lines matched up perfectly.
10/28/11
Then added the seat covers from IGGEE customs. Simulated leather, Waterproof, Great fit and finish, and easy to clean. No complaints as of yet and dont expect any, havent faded or loosened up at all since the day I got them. Very happy with this purchase and would recommend these to anyone looking at seat covers, DONT GET NEOPRENE!!! they fade fast and actually retain water.
And yes I painted my sons car seat to match as per his request. He loves it now and wont let me use his other smaller seat in there ever again.
As for the prep work I did on the interior, All I did was pull out all the pieces that were easy to get out, door panels, center console, radio dash bezel, glove box, grab handle, and the panel under the steering wheel. Washed everything with soap and water, then wiped it all down with acetone to make sure all the leftover armor all was cleaned off of it, masked off everything I didnt want painted and went to town with the krylon. I wanted to make it look more like it came that way so I removed all the small items like the handles and the rubber piece under the steering wheel. left all that stuff black and painted the rest.
Edit: DONT use the krylon fusion on the grab handle cause it will never dry, it stays tacky. I used plasti-dip on the handles but that stuff wore off in a matter of a day or so. I guess I didnt spray it on thick enough so what I ended up doing was Dying it with a sharpie lol. Shhh... dont tell anyone i cheated lol
In December Santa brought me a winch for Christmas. I hate to admit that its a HF 12k winch but it does its job and looks damn good in the big open area of the front bumper. Once again Matt from Fortec hooked me up and while he was on vacation with his family in Atlanta (where the main Fortec warehouse and R&D group is) He went to the warehouse and got me the raised winch plate and personally brought it down to the shop in Pompano so I didnt have to pay shipping. Nice guy I tell ya.
I put the solenoid box under the hood cause I dont want it to get wet and ran some controlls into the cab for it. I can either use the in cab controls or plug in the hand control and use that one.
IGGEE customs, got them from ebay for $270 for the whole set. They were the only waterproof seat covers I could find at the time that came in 2 tone black and yellow.
haha, yea thats my sons booster seat lol. It used to be red and he asked me if I could make it match the Jeep. I had some left over yellow krylon fusion and gladly color matched it for him. Might have to do one for my daughter now since I dont like looking at a pink flowery seat in the back...
not really a fan of yellow, but you have changed my mind. Nice looking jeep.Btw my buddie use to live near pompino. Ever got to Crabby Jacks? or the Gold Coast Ice Arena?
I live around there, Crabby Jacks "burned down" the police think it was an inside job to get insurance money though.
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