[aeby205]

Just finished the install of the dirtworx tire carrier but I'll have to take pictures tomorrow as it is to dark out now. After priming it and painting it black it was ready to install. I used the included grade 8 hardware to mount it and drilled the 4 new holes needed in the rear cross member. I removed the 4 bolts on the rear of the gas tank skid to give myself some room and was able to get the top bolts in behind the tank but I couldn't contort my hand enough to get the lower two bolts in so I used the new bolts on the underside of the frame for the bumper mount instead. This left me with 6 bolts into the rear cross member and two in the bottom of the frame so it should be plenty strong. Next I slid the tire carrier over the spindle and tightened the allen bolt that holds it on. The latch is held on with 4 small bolts so i put that on and adjusted it so it latches tight. The latch itself functions similarly to vice grips and clicks shut and is very solid. I tried yanking on it and the latch was not going anywhere, very strong and rattle free design. The only thing left is to get some D-ring shackles to put on. I couldn't be happier with the quality of this bumper/tire carrier and for the price it can't be beat. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for one.

 

[aeby205]

Here are the pictures of the tire carrier installed. Drove it around over bumps and not a single rattle. I love the way it looks now.

 

[LJMike66]

great looking bumper and tire Carrier

 

[IamTheH]

Has your rustoleum bed liner stayed in good condition on your floor board?

 

[aeby205]

Has your rustoleum bed liner stayed in good condition on your floor board?

Yeah it's is doing pretty well still looks the same as when I first put it on.

 

[aeby205]

My rollbar padding was looking pretty purple and faded so I decided to try painting it. I bought some krylon flat black made for any material according to the can and lightly sprayed it on the padding so it played down nicely and won't blob on the surface. Made the padding look new. Here's a before and after.

 

[aeby205]

Picked up a set of door surrounds today for 50 bucks. They are just what I need before I can get a soft top because new they are crazy expensive.they have a few scuffs but if I decide to paint them they'll look brand new. Now I just need to save up for a frameless sft top and other hardware.

 

[aeby205]

Made a sort of spontaneous decision today to black out the grill. I like how it turned out and think it matches well with the rest of the Jeep. It also covers up a lot of the paint chips. I just used Plasti dip so it isnt permanent. Was also at quadratecs Jeeps and Java on Sunday and got more ideas.

 

[rac1971]

Picked up a set of door surrounds today for 50 bucks. They are just what I need before I can get a soft top because new they are crazy expensive.they have a few scuffs but if I decide to paint them they'll look brand new. Now I just need to save up for a frameless sft top and other hardware.

What are your plans for your hard top?

 

[aeby205]

What are your plans for your hard top?

Ill keep the hardtop for winter but I want a soft top for the warmer months because taking the hardtop on and off is a bit of a pain and takes two people.

 

[rac1971]

Ill keep the hardtop for winter but I want a soft top for the warmer months because taking the hardtop on and off is a bit of a pain and takes two people.

Good call. I'm looking for a hard top now for the winter. I man have to bite the bullet and pay the $1000 people are asking for one. I will just have to keep looking.

 

[aeby205]

Not much of an update but the Jeep just passed inspection and emissions so that's out of the way. Only thing is the check engine light came on a few days before and it was due to a small evap leak so a new hose was all it needed and it passed.

 

[aeby205]

Today I started to tackle the frame in order to protect it for the winter. I bought some krylon stop rust semi flat black and duplicolor undercoating. Im only done the passenger side rear of the frame but so far it looks good. I just sanded it down with 80 grit and then cleaned it with degreaser and applied 4 coats of the krylon semi flat black then to finish I put two coats of the undercoating over top. The frame is in really good shape and I hit mostly all nice clean bare metal after minimal sanding with only a little surface rust. Here are some photos. I also bedlined the fender wells to make it look clean.

 

[speedballin]

Looks good, in that second pic at the bottom of the frame rail slope. did you plug that hole or P.O. it looks welded?

 

[aeby205]

Looks good, in that second pic at the bottom of the frame rail slope. did you plug that hole or P.O. it looks welded?

It's a rubber plug that the PO caulked in, yesterday I took it out when I redid that part of the frame and just reinstalled it.

 

[speedballin]

oh right on, i was gonna suggest trying to get in there.

 

[aeby205]

Today I removed the skid plate and repainted it with bedliner. It came out really easy because someone previously coated the bolts in anti seize. While it was out I was also able to fix my transfer case shifter. I noticed the shifter had some extra bracket that lowered it but it also made it bind so I removed this and put it back to stock and now it works perfectly. Also removed my transfer case drop because I have an sye and CV driveshaft, after i did this I had a slight vibration when accelerating so I used washers and new grade 8 bolts to drop it 3/4 of an inch so we'll see if I get any vibrations now. I don't want to run the old transfer case drop because they are rusting apart.

 

[aeby205]

I added a little decoration for Halloween to the the front. This Saturday I'm going to Jeeptoberfest which is a local event near me and I have to wash the Jeep for the show tomorrow.

 

[bobthetj03]

The blacked out grill looks good. I feel for you rust belt folks. On going battle to keep rust at bay.

 

[aeby205]

Just finished cleaning it all up for the show tomorrow.