Colorado Daily-Driven Trail Warrior

[zachpeakee]

With all the Bashing & Thrashing of being off-pavement, it was pretty obvious that the control arms were clunking the ENTIRE time.
I knew they'd probably be bad, but it sounded like they were trying to bash through the bottom of the frame.

So I pulled the old stuff off, and replaced every arm with Adjustable Rubicon Express Super-Flex Control Arms.

(I'm not sure why I didn't take pics of this process, but here's a few pics of the old arms, and an after install pic)

 

[jjvw]

If this pair of arms are Johnny Joints, rebuild them if needed, and put them back where they belong.

 

[DavidBT]

One thing that constantly bugged me on this TJ in specific is the window hinge had what I thought was a rust issue underneath.

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I knew the hinges were rusted, and chose to ignore it.
But the more I looked at it, the more worried I was that there would be rust under them, on the main pillar.
So I fired up the flame torch, and went to work on getting the bolts out to remove the hinges.

I would have bet $1,000 I was going to find a rust problem. Somehow, it was JUST the hinges that were rusting.
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So I went to Oreilly's, bought some Stone White Duplicolor paint, and Clear coat.
Grinded the rust off the hinges, sanded them smooth, and painted them to match!
(bash my painting skills. I had no idea what I was doing. lol)

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It wasn't a perfect match.
Not even close if we're being honest.
But from 10ft away, she's a 7, and it looks 10x better than rusted.

Bash,Bash,Bash Welcome from South East Arizona!!! Looks like you're doing great so far!!

 

[zachpeakee]

Also decided to figure out a headlight solution.
The factory Headlights just quite simply weren't bright enough, and the cutoff line was non-existent.

I'm not really biased either way when it comes to headlights.
I like the OEM styled lights, but I've also always liked the look of the "halo" style headlights.
(as long as they're not RGB Mall-Crawler type)

Ended up finding this sweet deal on a set of Open-Box Oracle 7" Headlights, on ExtremeTerrain!

Pulled the old headlights out of the grille, and installed the new ones.
Wired the "halo" into an unused switched 12v pin, inside the engine bay relay block.
Halo's stay on whenever the ignition is switched ON, headlights work as intended with the pull-knob.

I was initially worried about these lights, because I don't like wasting money on stupid products.
I was worried they would be low-quality mall-crawler stuff.
They actually REALLY surprised me, and I honestly love the light output of them.
Once they were aimed properly, the light cutoff is sharp and clear, and they throw a LOT of light down the road.

Also ripped the long dangly antenna off, and replaced it with a short stubby one.
Something about that 3' tall wobbly antenna bugged me. lol.

 

[zachpeakee]

same...particularly the Nissan and BMW. Had a 280Z followed by a Z31 and a Z32 (neither turbo, unfortunately) as well as a 6 spd G35 coupe which as you probably know is basically a Z33 with a back seat. Had an E24 somewhere in there and more recently an E90 but haven't really dabbled in that game since I got into Jeeps.

My dad had a string of BMWs through my middle and high school and college years that included a couple of E30 M3's and an E28 M5, back when they were not really much less rare but not particularly well recognized and therefore probably around bottoming out in value before going back up.

haha, that's pretty wild.
I've had most of the same.

6-Speed G35, Z31, and helped a buddy build his 2JZ 280z.
Also had an E90.

All of them were SUPER fun cars.

 

[zachpeakee]

Bash,Bash,Bash Welcome from South East Arizona!!! Looks like you're doing great so far!!

Just want to note, I claimed I painted.
Never claimed to be a painter though!

 

[zachpeakee]

The Audio bug bit me again, and I decided it was time to upgrade a few more things.
Decided to go ahead and Re-Carpet the rear while I was at it, and get the rest of that dingy Tan carpet out!

Found another Facebook Marketplace listing for FREE OEM Carpet out of a TJ.
Matched up well enough to the BedRug Color, and it was FREE. So I installed it.

Had one of my old Amplifiers sitting around from a previous vehicle.
Alpine Mono-Block D-Class 1000W.
Installed it underneath the rear seat.

Then I bought 2 10" Kicker Subwoofers on Sale from BestBuy, and searched for 2 WEEKS to find a box to fit in the TJ, without removing my back seat.
Finally found this display box at a local audio shop.
It was a display unit, and was beat up, but it was EXACTLY the size I needed.
Negotiated with the guys there for a bit, and they allowed me to buy the box, because they didn't have any other solutions to fitting a box, besides building a custom one for $400+ .
They were reasonable enough to understand the issue I was in, and allowed me to have the display.
Fit is extremely tight, but perfect for what I wanted, and matches the angle of the back seat almost perfectly.

For now, I think my sound system is finished.

 

[zachpeakee]

Throughout this entire journey, I haven't had a spare wheel/tire, because i've read so many things about the factory tailgate not supporting the weight of an oversized tire hanging on it, especially while off-roading.

I looked at a bunch of bumper-carrier options, but didn't like most of what I saw.

So I bought and Installed a MORryde Tailgate Reinforcement Kit onto the factory tailgate.
The tailgate bolts created a bit of a hassle, but about 20 seconds of heat from the torch each, and they broke free without issue.

The kit is SUPER SOLID.
I weigh around 185lb, and can sit AND swing on the tailgate without it sagging.
I'm not entirely sure it's "worth the money" for everyone, but for me it's worth every penny for peace of mind that it's essentially bulletproof now.

And then of course, some celebratory snow pics.

 

[zachpeakee]

Since the TJ has been road-worthy, I've found myself playing a lot off-road.
Daytime, Night-Time, doesn't matter.
There's been a few times where the headlights just didn't cut it, in terms of actually seeing what I'm about to run over.

(and we also have bears/mountain lions here, so night wheeling gets a bit freaky sometimes)

So I decided to get some offroad lighting & mounts.

I bought some AUXBEAM 4inch 72W Yellow Pod Lights
Offroad-Town 50 inch 660W Light Bar
and a Raxiom 50-Inch Light Bar Mount w/ Auxiliary Bracket for the pod lights.

As soon as I got the light-bar mount, I decided I wanted to match it to the Jeep.
So I went and bought some more cans of Stone-White Duplicolor, and some Clear Coat, and matched it up.

Once mounted, I started Wiring the Auxbeam Pod's.
They come with their own Relay, so I just mounted it to the firewall using a bolt from the factory harness.

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Once I made sure everything worked, I popped the Factory Switch panel out, and threw 3 new switches in to wire the lights to.
These are NILIGHT Rocker Switches, and fit perfectly in the TJ switch panel. They're like $20 on Amazon for 6 of them, and come with all the jumper wires as well.

Then the lightbar was delivered, so I installed that as well, so that I could route the wiring together for a cleaner install.

I have to note here, I absolutely HATE lightbars on top of vehicles.
I think it looks tacky, and screams "D-Bag Alert".
I've never liked it, but I also don't like the look of a hood light bar.

I just needed a lot of light, and this was the easiest way to make it happen.

I opted for this black housing lightbar, in hopes that it would be a bit more subtle, especially when paired with the painted mounts.
I didn't want it to scream "HEY LOOK AT ME I'VE GOT A LIGHTBAR".

After installing it, I am extremely happy with how it turned out.
I think the black bar helps tone it down a good bit, and doesn't hurt too much aesthetically.

And It's a plus that it is EXTREMELY bright...

Photo 1 is Headlights Only.
Photo 2 is Headlights + Yellow Pods
Photo 3 is Headlights + Yellow Pods + Light Bar

Overall, I'm super happy with how well the combo disperses light.
A bit of glare on the hood, but the lights are bright enough that you can still see what's in front of you despite the glare.
I'm going to figure out what I can do to decrease the hood glare a bit.

The yellow pods really surprised me the most.
With the headlights and Light bar both being blindingly white, the pods add enough "warmth" back into it that you don't have to strain to see.
It keeps it bright, but kind of neutralizes that harsh white a good bit.

And as you guys can see, it's EXTREMELY bright.
I played with them for a few hours on the trails, and I'm sure I'll never need more lights.

 

[zachpeakee]

As of now, that's all that's been done to my TJ.

BUT, I do have an appointment to drop it off at a local 4x4 Offroad shop on the 11th to have the Axles Rebuilt & Regeared.
Going for some 4.88's, as well as ARB Air Lockers.

Will update accordingly!

 

[lBasket]

@lBasket it's your twin

Based on the description, it's more like he's my dad.

A little over a month after buying my TJ, and I decided it was time to play.
All that work was fun, but what was it for?
I needed to go out and find more weak links.
So we took it up into the 10,000ft elevation, and played around a bit in the Rocky Mountains beside Colorado Springs.
Had to get it dirty again, right?



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Overall, It performed GREAT.
Granted, these were just some simple trails.
I just wanted enough sightseeing & wheel time to figure out what it needed next.
At this point, it's a full blown Jeep addiction.

This pike east of 67?

 

[zachpeakee]

Based on the description, it's more like he's my dad.


This pike east of 67?

All those pics were taken around Rampart Range Rd or Old Stage Rd in Colorado Springs!

 

[lBasket]

All those pics were taken around Rampart Range Rd or Old Stage Rd in Colorado Springs!

Thought it looked familiar!

 

[zachpeakee]

Thought it looked familiar!

I love that area, just not many good trails.
Tons of good views, but trails just aren't terribly exciting.

West of Woodland Park seems to be the hot spot for better trails.

I accidentally ended up on Eagle Rock/Saran Wrap one night while solo.
That was by far the most intense trail I've ran, but majority of the excitement was being solo in the dark.

 

[lBasket]

I love that area, just not many good trails.
Tons of good views, but trails just aren't terribly exciting.

West of Woodland Park seems to be the hot spot for better trails.

I accidentally ended up on Eagle Rock/Saran Wrap one night while solo.
That was by far the most intense trail I've ran, but majority of the excitement was being solo in the dark.

Yeah the rampart/pike area doesn't really have much that is exciting - the gulches are as hard as it's gonna get. Nice to get out and not have to drive so far though.

There is some stuff off 77 which is similarly easy (goes north from lake George), but yeah farther down towards BV and such is where the harder stuff is if you don't wanna go much further north or south

 

[zachpeakee]

Yeah the rampart/pike area doesn't really have much that is exciting - the gulches are as hard as it's gonna get. Nice to get out and not have to drive so far though.

There is some stuff off 77 which is similarly easy (goes north from lake George), but yeah farther down towards BV and such is where the harder stuff is if you don't wanna go much further north or south

I've wanted to tackle the gulches, but most of my trips have been solo.
I'm somewhat new to wheeling, especially in the technical sense like the rocks and stuff.

From the east coast, where most of the "wheeling" is muddy washouts.
It's a different ballgame in the gulches.

If I had another to follow/ride with, I'd do them in a heartbeat.
Been looking for an excuse to beat my fenders off so I don't feel bad about spending $$ on highlines. lol

 

[lBasket]

I've wanted to tackle the gulches, but most of my trips have been solo.
If I had another to follow/ride with, I'd do them in a heartbeat.

Been looking for an excuse to beat my fenders off so I don't feel bad about spending $$ on highlines. lol

You're probably not gonna get any body damage in the gulches unless you drive like an idiot I'd say you'd likely be fine alone - I did them 3x over Christmas alone with no issues. But shoot me a message if you wanna go lol access to those is really close to my house

 

[zachpeakee]

You're probably not gonna get any body damage in the gulches unless you drive like an idiot I'd say you'd likely be fine alone - I did them 3x over Christmas alone with no issues. But shoot me a message if you wanna go lol access to those is really close to my house

Sure thing.
Appreciate the hospitality. lol.

I've got a few things coming up soon, so the TJ will be down for a bit.
TJ goes in the shop on the 11th for Axle Rebuild & 4.88 install + ARB Air Lockers.

After that, I plan to roll some of the tough stuff.

 

[lBasket]

Sure thing.
Appreciate the hospitality. lol.

I've got a few things coming up soon, so the TJ will be down for a bit.
TJ goes in the shop on the 11th for Axle Rebuild & 4.88 install + ARB Air Lockers.

After that, I plan to roll some of the tough stuff.

I'm not sure what you've read about the gulches - but I'd bet they're significantly easier than anything you've heard. That's how I feel it is anyways lol.

I do this all on 3.55s you're gonna show me up with a build like that lmao

 

[Apparition]

Sure thing.
Appreciate the hospitality. lol.

I've got a few things coming up soon, so the TJ will be down for a bit.
TJ goes in the shop on the 11th for Axle Rebuild & 4.88 install + ARB Air Lockers.

After that, I plan to roll some of the tough stuff.

Just to put Basket in perspective