Not about putting anybody to shame. It was more intended to inspire you!
Thanks for that! I knew you didn’t mean that. I just meant by it that you were awesome and I wish I had me some skills and patience to do it.
 
@JMT , at final installation, were you able to rest the spare on the rear bumper?

If not, could the spare tire carrier be modified, in your case 33s, to allow the spare tire to rest on the rear bumper..??

If the spare could lightly rest on the rear bumper it would help take the strain off of the rear door hinges. Would that work?
No, I wasn’t able to rest it on the bumper. It’s close, maybe 3/4”. You’d have to lower the spare tire carrier in some way. Not sure how. Best to just finagle the hinges a bit and see if I can get the hinges to work. With the triangular bracket added, it should work well.
 
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A few things have happened the last few weeks. First, I chopped my exhaust pipe off. It stuck out quite a bit farther than the gas tank skid and it kept hitting, so I cut it to where it basically lined up with the skid. That thing is thicker than I thought it would be.
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I also painted my hood catches. I kept looking at the Kentrol one’s, and they look nice, but, meh, they’re hood catches, who wants to spend $70 on those when my rubber is still good and I can just paint the plastic for 50 cents. They are dirty here from hitting bugsl, but you can see the before and after.
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While I was painting I decided to also paint the tailgate latch. Much better. For some reason it was faded, the door latches look brand new.
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Last thing I did was extend the snubbers. I used some PVC pipe painted black like @CodaMan and I found some 2” poly discs that do something for our trampoline, but just extra parts. I though they would be a good buffer between the PVC extensions and the tailgate, I think they turned out good. It’s nice and solid now.
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Not much space, but I got the 33 on with the light visible. LOL
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I love the PowerTrax NoSlip locker. It was relentless. I heard it click twice the entire wheeling trip and I haven’t heard it at all on road. Here’s a sample of how it works when you lose traction on one tire.
 
Had a mishap when I slid into the bank. I guess you could say I got stuck between a rock and a hardtop.

Here’s a pic of the damage and the steps I’ve taken so far to repair it. Fortunately there was no structural damage.
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No, I wasn’t able to rest it on the bumper. It’s close, maybe 3/4”. You’d have to lower the spare tire carrier in some way. Not sure how. Best to just finagle the hinges a bit and see if I can get the hinges to work. With the triangular bracket added, it should work well.
Is it even an option to switch one hinge at a time, while leaving the other one still attached? Just to keep everything lined up...
 
Good job on the hard top repair! I've got to fix mine as well. No scratches, but a bunch of the factory paint is chipping off. The tough part is going to be finding a match for the khaki hardtop paint!
 
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Good job on the hard top repair! I've got to fix mine as well. No scratches, but a bunch of the factory paint is chipping off. The tough part is going to be finding a match for the khaki hardtop paint!
Paint matching is always difficult. Do you know what paint is best for our hard tops? It looks like a semi-flat on mine. I had a few trail stripes on mine so I used some rubbing compound and a buffer. In one area it took it to a sheen and it didn’t take long. I suppose the paint got hot and was floating rather quickly. In any event, I’ll eventually repaint the entire thing since I’m OCD. If you know what the factory color match is for a black hardtop, I’d appreciate it
 
Is it even an option to switch one hinge at a time, while leaving the other one still attached? Just to keep everything lined up...
You could do that. However, since you’re going with a heavier spare, if you close the tailgate, which keeps it lined up, then put your bolts on one hinge, then do the other hinge, it more than likely will not be right after you put the spare on because the weight will cause it to sag, perhaps 1/4-1/2”. That’s why I had my son hold the door up, above the latch (this was the 3rd time I tried to get it right). Then when I put the spare on, it leveled it out. Since then it’s been just right.
 
Paint matching is always difficult. Do you know what paint is best for our hard tops? It looks like a semi-flat on mine. I had a few trail stripes on mine so I used some rubbing compound and a buffer. In one area it took it to a sheen and it didn’t take long. I suppose the paint got hot and was floating rather quickly. In any event, I’ll eventually repaint the entire thing since I’m OCD. If you know what the factory color match is for a black hardtop, I’d appreciate it

On my old black TJ (with a black hard top) I found the absolutely best match was SEM Trim Black. That paint looked perfect. It was sort of a semi-gloss, which looked just like the factory hard top color.

It's also worth noting that I've talked to many professional painters before, and all of them seem to agree that as far as rattle can spray paint goes, SEM is some of the best. I don't know what they do, but the spray nozzle on their cans is absolutely excellent. It lays the paint down so smoothly that it's almost unbelievable. Try that stuff and I think you'll thank me.
 
On my old black TJ (with a black hard top) I found the absolutely best match was SEM Trim Black. That paint looked perfect. It was sort of a semi-gloss, which looked just like the factory hard top color.

It's also worth noting that I've talked to many professional painters before, and all of them seem to agree that as far as rattle can spray paint goes, SEM is some of the best. I don't know what they do, but the spray nozzle on their cans is absolutely excellent. It lays the paint down so smoothly that it's almost unbelievable. Try that stuff and I think you'll thank me.
Thanks. I’ve seen you recommend it before. I’m thinking of doing my flares too. Sounds like SEM Trim Black in a Semi Gloss would work well for both. My rear Warn bumper and JCR Rock Sliders are also in Black Semi-Gloss, so it sounds like it will blend right in.
 
Thanks. I’ve seen you recommend it before. I’m thinking of doing my flares too. Sounds like SEM Trim Black in a Semi Gloss would work well for both. My rear Warn bumper and JCR Rock Sliders are also in Black Semi-Gloss, so it sounds like it will blend right in.

Yes! SEM Trim Black was designed as the perfect match for all factory black trim on vehicles. I've found it to be perfect too. I've been using it for about 15 years on various vehicles I've owned. On my BMW I used it to paint the sun faded black door trim, and sure enough it ended up looking perfect, you couldn't even tell it was painted.

I swear by that stuff! You could paint the fender flares and everything else with it, you'd just need quite a few cans!
 
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I've painted 2 different sets of flares and my rear bumper with SEM trim black, and the sheen is just right. It doesn't resist fuel very well though. I've dripped fuel on the rear flare a few times fueling up, and it will soften the paint and streak it. Only resolution for that would be to use a 2K finish with a flatening agent in it to get the sheen right.
 
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I've painted 2 different sets of flares and my rear bumper with SEM trim black, and the sheen is just right. It doesn't resist fuel very well though. I've dripped fuel on the rear flare a few times fueling up, and it will soften the paint and streak it. Only resolution for that would be to use a 2K finish with a flatening agent in it to get the sheen right.
Maybe just go with the crown replacements. I think Rob posted some up not long ago, $105
 
Nice flex!
Thanks bro! I was hoping to find some off camber stuff that day to really see how the locker performs when you lose complete traction on one tire. It's an obstacle like that that I don't think you can complete without a locker. You can see the rear tires slip a few times in that sequence, but the fronts just keep on keeping on. It really is a remarkable fee and well worth the $400.
 
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