Scrambler's Build

[Scrambler]

And so it begins....

A little background on how I ended up with this JKU. My wife's dream car has always been a white Jeep Wrangler. After many weeks of begging and convincing, I broke down and traded my F350 for this JKU. My wife was ecstatic, but sadly she decided a car was better for her commute. She gets a new car and I'm "stuck" with the Jeep. I think it worked out pretty good for me.

Anyways, on to the nitty gritty....
Today I put on my surgeon pants and started cutting the front bumper. With my wife pacing back and forth beside the jeep, I made the cuts following the project JK write up.

I think it turned out Ok, but I will have to come up with something for end caps.

While I was doing the cutting, my wife was pulling all stickers and badging off. She saw a JKU with nothing on it and decided ours would look better like that also.

If this wasn't enough action for the day, the brown truck showed up and dropped off my lift.

I know. I know. Rough Country....there is a method to my madness and this lift suited my needs at the moment. There will be stuff added to it.

Fenders and CB install tomorrow.

Now where is that brown truck with my wheels and tires on it...

 

[thardy]

Looking forward to seeing it come together.

 

[OscarMike2.0]

Looks good. What wheels are tires did you go with?

 

[Scrambler]

Helo 878 and I went with Treadwright Gaurd Dogs 315/70/17. Retreads, but they had good reviews. I'll give them a try this go around. Hopefully this will all be here by Friday so I can finish the install.

By the way, the wheels weren't my choice. They were the wife's. She wanted something "that looked good". They'll probably look real good after that first scrape. Lol

 

[OscarMike2.0]

Helo 878 and I went with Treadwright Gaurd Dogs 315/70/17. Retreads, but they had good reviews. I'll give them a try this go around. Hopefully this will all be here by Friday so I can finish the install.

By the way, the wheels weren't my choice. They were the wife's. She wanted something "that looked good". They'll probably look real good after that first scrape. Lol

"Helo 878" What does that mean lol?

*Edit* I assume those are the name of the wheels?

 

[Scrambler]

Helo is the company. Model number is 878.

 

[Grubbicon]

Helo is the company. Model number is 878.

I just looked those up and cant say ive ever seen those before. It will definitely be different.

 

[Scrambler]

I had never seen them either, but it's what the wife wanted. I'm thinking about getting this lift put on today. You guys hate that feeling of having parts laying around and not on the vehicle?

It uploaded a picture of the wheels I originally picked out for some reason. Sorry about that.

 

[Scrambler]

As alluded to earlier, I got bored and installed the lift. If I had known that it was going to get as hot as it did today, I probably would have started at sunrise. The install was fairly straightforward except for the useless instructions. I spent about an hour cussing at the front springs trying to get them in. Luckily my father in law showed up and stood on the axles. That was the ticket to getting them in. I did not use the front brake extensions because 1. They didn't fit, and 2. It didn't look like it was necessary. It took me about 10 hours total from start to finish as opposed to the 2-3 hour projected time on the directions. Here is the finished product. Just waiting on that delivery truck to make its way and drop off wheels and tires.

 

[OscarMike2.0]

As alluded to earlier, I got bored and installed the lift. If I had known that it was going to get as hot as it did today, I probably would have started at sunrise. The install was fairly straightforward except for the useless instructions. I spent about an hour cussing at the front springs trying to get them in. Luckily my father in law showed up and stood on the axles. That was the ticket to getting them in. I did not use the front brake extensions because 1. They didn't fit, and 2. It didn't look like it was necessary. It took me about 10 hours total from start to finish as opposed to the 2-3 hour projected time on the directions. Here is the finished product. Just waiting on that delivery truck to make its way and drop off wheels and tires.
View attachment 154516View attachment 154517View attachment 154518

Cut those fenders!

 

[Scrambler]

In due time my friend. I'm too tired today. I still have a CB to put in. I feel like I may need a little more guidance on the fender cutting. Maybe I'll find somebody that likes beer and food in exchange for guidance.....

Bueler....bueler.....bueler......

 

[OscarMike2.0]

In due time my friend. I'm too tired today. I still have a CB to put in. I feel like I may need a little more guidance on the fender cutting. Maybe I'll find somebody that likes beer and food in exchange for guidance.....

Bueler....bueler.....bueler......

It's easy! There's a write up on here somewhere. If your willing to drive to Atlanta Id help.

 

[Scrambler]

Yea, I've read through the write ups and watched many videos. Let me get the wheels and tires on this coming up week and think about how wide I want them. Are going to the Taco Mac meet up? If so, I'll let you check it out and see where you'd cut them.

 

[OscarMike2.0]

Yea, I've read through the write ups and watched many videos. Let me get the wheels and tires on this coming up week and think about how wide I want them. Are going to the Taco Mac meet up? If so, I'll let you check it out and see where you'd cut them.

Im sadly gonna miss this one but im sure if you ask any of the other guys going they would be willing to help you out and give some advice.

 

[Scrambler]

It's Christmas in July! Wheels just got delivered.

 

[USMC Wrangler]

I love Christmas in July! :yup:

 

[Scrambler]

Well, tires came in today. Here is the project so far.


Hard to believe that it was stock three days ago. Fender chop will be the next project.

 

[thardy]

Looking good man! :yup:

 

[OscarMike2.0]

Looks awesome!

 

[Scrambler]

Well I am officially an idiot. I've been driving this thing for the past couple of days and the jeep has been kind of walking from side to side on the road. Very minimal and didn't think much about it, but my OCD kicked in this afternoon and I decided to go out and check every part I installed or loosened on the suspension for proper torque (for my piece of mind). I noticed the sway bar links were connected at an angle instead of being straight up and down from axle to sway bar. I switched the side the sway bar link was attached to on the axle "tab" for sway bar link attachment. I also straightened the steering wheel and viola, no more walking from side to side on the road. My father in law put the front links on and I should have checked behind him.