Here's our Brutus, ordered and built for my wife @SportyGirl1969 .
Ordered 01/23/14
Frame 02/24/14
Shipment 02/25/14
Home 03/27/14
9 weeks total.

Here's a chronological list of what we've installed (and links) along with my impression of how the mod held up.


March 2014: (Pictured below)
Smittybilt XRC Front & Rear bumpers (Front bumpers been good, rear bent into the body)
Smittybilt rock crawler side armor (Not good, bent into the body)
Bestop security box (good stuff)
AntennaX 5" shorty (not great reception, swapped for 12")


April 2014: LINK
Mopar Stage3 lift/Teraflex S/T3 (has been great for 100,000 miles and counting)
Toyo Open Country MT 37x13.5x17 (got 85,000 miles out of them)
BMF Novakane Death Metal 17x9
Teraflex Slotted big rotor kit (great)
Teraflex rear hinged tire carrier (great)
Spiderweb shade


August 2014: LINK
Relay Box (Did the Bussman box, the new Apollo Intech stuff is about the same $ and better)
20" light bar & Cube lights
Rock lights


September 2014: LINK
Cut factory fenders
Superwinch 9500s (Broke at 5 years and 85,000 miles)


January 2015: LINK
Floorboard LEDs
Puddle lights


March 2015: LINK
Artec Truss Kit. Inner Cs, Truss and Lower CA Skids (Great)
Portable Compressor
Synergy Ball Joints- 20k miles (Crappy, replaced with Teraflex and they've been great)
Teraflex Monster Track Bar (Great)


Apil 2015: LINK
Trimmed pinch seams


May 2015: LINK
Revolution 4340 Rear Axle Shafts (Broke one, but they replaced under warranty)


July 2015: LINK
4.88 Gears
Teraflex Diff Covers


October 2015: LINK
Teraflex accessory mount
42" Hi LIft
Cobra 29LTD CB
Firestik II antenna (2' & 4')
34,500 miles, drivers heated seat went out


December 2015: LINK
Unit bearings replaced, 38,000 miles
Wife bought 2016 Willys (LINK), Brutus becomes my ride (our ride according to her)


January 2016: LINK
EVO Rear Bumper Delete & Facia (Great)
ACE License relocate (Great)
Rear main seal replacement- Warranty, 40,000 miles
Steersmarts Griffin attenuator (Great)


February 2016: LINK
Teraflex 1.25" Body Lift (Great)


April 2016: LINK
Yeti Drag Link & Tie Rod (Great)
Teraflex Rear Shelf (Great)


May 2016: LINK
Broke down, moisture in connector (45,000 miles)
Replaced Radiator, hoses LINK
Factor 55 Thimble (Great)


June 2016: LINK
ACE Inner Fender Liners (Great)
FOX Stabilizer (Crappy)
Rotopax (Great, did have a warranty replacement after 2 years)


August 2016: LINK
Therm housing, thermostat


September 2016: LINK
Adams Front drive shaft (Great)
Smittybilt skid plate (Great)
Artec track bar bracket (Great)


April 2017: LINK
Falcon Shocks (Great)


May 2017: LINK
Jax the Jeep dog


August 2017: LINK
Ordered 2018 JK for the wife after her 2016 Willys was t-boned


October 2017: LINK
2018 JK arrives


April 2015: LINK
Rear pinion/gear break


September 2018: LINK
Rear Revolution axle shaft breaks- Warranty repair @85,000 miles
40" Cooper STT Pro (Great)


October 2018: LINK
Poison Spyder rear corner armor (Great)


November 2018:
Teraflex ball joints (Great)


August 2019: LINK
Broken front axle shaft (factory) 93,000 miles
100,000 mile service (water pump, belt, pullys, PCV, plugs)



Here he is NEW








Installed antenna, side rails, front & rear bumper









Painted caliper brackets black w/copperhead lettering







Painted the rear muffler

Big day arrived for the wheels/tires/lift.
My Dad is 75 and offered his shop and his help. We hadn't worked on a car together in 25 years

Phase III will be Artec Truss, RCV Axle Shafts, winch (undecided) and Trek Armor

Looks great! What gears are you currently running?

Thanks!
Stock 4.10 for now, seems ok. Anxious to see how he does towing. Eventually we'll go to 4.88

Looks great! What gears did you go with for the 37's?

Thanks!

4.10s for now

I posted this in the waiting room thread, but it bares repeating.

In my humble opinion, your Jeep is worthy of of a Calendar Cover.
I'm normally not a fan of black wheels (just seems like it's been over done), but those wheels are really stunning! And the tires seem perfect for the rims (aggressive, but not over the top).
The stance, to me, is perfect!
With the body color and the mods, this is one beautiful JK!
So what's next?

Very unique, Bravo!

Very cool. Awesome looking jeep.

Thanks guys, very kind words!!

How does it drive/handle? Did you notice quite a bit of extra pedal to get it to move?
That big brake kit work ok and did you upgrade your master cylinder as well?

Congratulations, BBS and SportyGirl! He is a BEAST!

Drive/handle was a little choppy first few miles, but it's great now. Accels surprisingly well, I expected it to be sluggish but it's not.


Brakes are great! I've run this kit before on our 2013 JKUS. We did the slotted rotors and caliper relocation kit. I'll go braided lines later, probably won't do the master.

Thanks Star, hopefully we can wheel together sometime, you're not that far away.

Couple of pics from soccer today:

Hey, who's that happy-go-lucky guy in the passenger seat?

Since Sportygirl will be DD'ing it, if you end up keeping track of fuel mileage, I'd be real interested.
I *think* the 4.10s are a perfect balance for this size tire, and what you guys are doing with the Jeep (i.e. DD/weekend warrior). So your input would be really valuable.

Your Build Is Awesome!!! I Really Like The BMF's Too!!

Very nice. I have the very same car in the same color coming soon - I hope - and this gives me good ideas.

That would be AWESOME!

Overlooked a pic of the brake kit:





High temp black with copperhead pearl letters.

Very same what??

Great looking Jeep! Very impressive!

simply stunning !!!! i'm loving the new look. i'm starting to get new wheel and tire envy lol

Do you have any pics of the exhaust since it has been painted? I'm looking into possibly doing the same thing. Just wanted to check it out prior to doing so.

Heres a few:

Thank you. Looks awesome

Yuummmmmmmmmmm

Thanks!!

Awesome!!

Awesome build, great job!