2015 JKUR-HR Build Thread - Bright White - Mudmutt
04-04-2015, 12:07 PM
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2015 JKUR-HR Build Thread - Bright White - Mudmutt
For the past couple of years I had been Jeepless... while there was no doubt I had missed having any Jeep, my younger kids didn't enjoy the last TJ very much in their earlier years. However we happen to be fairly close to Butler PA and we attended the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival last year (BJHF) and not only did we have a blast, I was 100% convinced we needed a new Wrangler for the family. So the long hunt for the right Jeep on the lot and ready to go finally ended up with this:
After many unsuccessful attempts to get the "right" Rubicon, I finally found one I liked, right color and best of all, it was manual.
After many unsuccessful attempts to get the "right" Rubicon, I finally found one I liked, right color and best of all, it was manual.
04-04-2015, 12:15 PM
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While I'm not typically a patient person anyway... I was eager to get a lift and tires on the Jeep. My father works at Goodyear in Akron, Ohio and worked out a great deal with the local Goodyear store to trade in my stock BFG MT's for credit against NEW Goodyear Duratracs. Since I knew I was going to 315's anyway, this made sense. The crutch was, I had to do it before I put 500 miles on the BFGs. I wasn't able to move that quickly on researching and getting the lift I knew I wanted, so I just went with 2" spacers to get the tires on. I also wasn't sure about wheels (had done AEV on the last TJ) but after doing some reading and contemplating, I decided to try the stock wheels with 1.5" spacers. If nothing else, it would be less money out of pocket up front and get me to where I needed to be.
So, 4 days after coming home from the dealer:
Ahh... Much better.
I will also say that this was my first ride in a JKU with 35's, so my last experience with a lifted Jeep was on a TJ with a Rubicon Express 4.5" lift and 33" MTRs. I was really, really surprised at how well it drove and the road manners of the Duratracs.
The only downside so far was that I couldn't fit the spare tire on the rear tailgate mount. Given the weight, I'm not sure I would have wanted to anyway. So had to get started on searching for a tire carrier too...
So, 4 days after coming home from the dealer:
Ahh... Much better.
I will also say that this was my first ride in a JKU with 35's, so my last experience with a lifted Jeep was on a TJ with a Rubicon Express 4.5" lift and 33" MTRs. I was really, really surprised at how well it drove and the road manners of the Duratracs.
The only downside so far was that I couldn't fit the spare tire on the rear tailgate mount. Given the weight, I'm not sure I would have wanted to anyway. So had to get started on searching for a tire carrier too...
04-04-2015, 12:21 PM
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While shopping and waiting for the AEV tire carrier to arrive, I decided to shorten the rock rails so they were flush with the body. I don't know if they would rub or not, they certainly looked like they could, but I have to admit, it looks more "right" with them being flush with the edge of the wheel well vs sticking 1.5 inches into the well.
Taped and marked where to cut:
First attempt was a lazy one and not recommended. It seemed like a saws-all would certainly do the trick, but the thickness of the back part of the rock rails made this not so easy...
Besides on a Jeep that's only 7 days old, it was easy to get the bolts off. So the approach I would recommend:
And in the end, remount the plastic end caps and viola:
Also had my Superchips Flashcal show up today. So was able to fix speedo, TPMS, and running lights. Actually downloaded the FlashPaq upgrade, but after talking with the SuperChips tech support on the phone, found out that none of the FlashPaq features will work on a 2015 because of changes to the computer (need to get more accurate info for that...) That was a bit frustrating and something I wished I knew before buying the FlashCal. For the three things I was able to get, I wasn't overly impressed with it over the AEV device. Especially since there has been a loss in ability to change the TMPS settings. It's either on or off.
Taped and marked where to cut:
First attempt was a lazy one and not recommended. It seemed like a saws-all would certainly do the trick, but the thickness of the back part of the rock rails made this not so easy...
Besides on a Jeep that's only 7 days old, it was easy to get the bolts off. So the approach I would recommend:
And in the end, remount the plastic end caps and viola:
Also had my Superchips Flashcal show up today. So was able to fix speedo, TPMS, and running lights. Actually downloaded the FlashPaq upgrade, but after talking with the SuperChips tech support on the phone, found out that none of the FlashPaq features will work on a 2015 because of changes to the computer (need to get more accurate info for that...) That was a bit frustrating and something I wished I knew before buying the FlashCal. For the three things I was able to get, I wasn't overly impressed with it over the AEV device. Especially since there has been a loss in ability to change the TMPS settings. It's either on or off.
Last edited by kevjeep; 04-04-2015 at 12:54 PM.
04-04-2015, 12:36 PM
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Weekend #2, AEV tire carrier arrives. So new boxes in garage means late nights out in the cold.
Removing the Hard Rock (or 10a or X) rear bumper took a bit longer than I had expected. While I had read instructions and I had done some research, I assumed it would have the "S" clamps that the stock rear bumper has. Well... it does not. It took some poking around and a bit longer searching the forums to find out that the main bumper is held on by these 4 long bolts in the middle of the frame:
Given the proximity to the muffler, I wasn't able to use a ratchet and ended up doing it with a 3/4" box wrench. That took a while...
Mounting the arm bracket was relatively straight forward. While this is all very possible with one person, I would recommend a second person. It would have made it go just a bit faster.
I had also known I was going to want to do a backup camera and bought the AEV CMHSL along with the bumper. More on this later with the camera install.
Another point of note on the picture above. Since I had chosen to stick with the stock wheels, I have a fairly shallow backspace. AEV ships a 3" and 4" bolt that holds the tire mount (above) to the actual arm. You can adjust the bolt to make sure the tire is snug again the carrier arm. Well, neither of those bolts were long enough with the stock wheels on a 12.5" wide (roughly) tire. So I had to make a trip to the bolt store to get a 5" and 5.5" fine threaded 1/2" bolt. The $1.40 for that bolt made more sense than trying to get another wheel spacer to make the rear work like the 4 on the ground.
In the end, it was a bit tight fitting into the sleeve, and reading all the AEV forums on this, it sounds like one of the collars (lower one) may not be machined out enough. However it wasn't something I couldn't live with and at this point I didn't want to take it back apart and deal with returning the sleeve. Greasing it well helped. But it's a bit much for my kids to close the rear now. Given the weight of the tire arm (70+ lbs) and the tire and wheel (80?+ lbs) this isn't unreasonable.
Removing the Hard Rock (or 10a or X) rear bumper took a bit longer than I had expected. While I had read instructions and I had done some research, I assumed it would have the "S" clamps that the stock rear bumper has. Well... it does not. It took some poking around and a bit longer searching the forums to find out that the main bumper is held on by these 4 long bolts in the middle of the frame:
Given the proximity to the muffler, I wasn't able to use a ratchet and ended up doing it with a 3/4" box wrench. That took a while...
Mounting the arm bracket was relatively straight forward. While this is all very possible with one person, I would recommend a second person. It would have made it go just a bit faster.
I had also known I was going to want to do a backup camera and bought the AEV CMHSL along with the bumper. More on this later with the camera install.
Another point of note on the picture above. Since I had chosen to stick with the stock wheels, I have a fairly shallow backspace. AEV ships a 3" and 4" bolt that holds the tire mount (above) to the actual arm. You can adjust the bolt to make sure the tire is snug again the carrier arm. Well, neither of those bolts were long enough with the stock wheels on a 12.5" wide (roughly) tire. So I had to make a trip to the bolt store to get a 5" and 5.5" fine threaded 1/2" bolt. The $1.40 for that bolt made more sense than trying to get another wheel spacer to make the rear work like the 4 on the ground.
In the end, it was a bit tight fitting into the sleeve, and reading all the AEV forums on this, it sounds like one of the collars (lower one) may not be machined out enough. However it wasn't something I couldn't live with and at this point I didn't want to take it back apart and deal with returning the sleeve. Greasing it well helped. But it's a bit much for my kids to close the rear now. Given the weight of the tire arm (70+ lbs) and the tire and wheel (80?+ lbs) this isn't unreasonable.
04-04-2015, 12:50 PM
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This weekends work seemed a bit less ambitious than the first two weeks.
Ordered all the parts necessary for rear view camera install from Amazon (based on reading forums here). I couldn't see spending the $650 for the AEV kit given how easy this was. One of the forums had discussed manufacturing your own camera mount or installing in bumper/licesnse plate and the issues around each of those approaches. I really liked the idea of it being centered (as centered as the tire is anyway) within the wheel. I was going to go the route of drilling the center cap, but after reading something, it hit me that the AEV CMHSL uses the same bracket as the $650 kit, but for $45. So I ordered that along with my tire carrier (above). Now I have less than $100 in total parts and need to locate a dealership to get it enabled.
Based on the reading and YouTube videos, the install of the wiring harness was simple. The front was apart, installed, and back together in maybe 15 mins. That included me dropping the screws a few times.
The camera I chose wasn't a flush mount like the others had done in the rear bumper. I chose one that had a mounting place and was able to swivel.
With the stock Rubicon wheel, I ran into my second issue with the AEV tire carrier and CHMSL, the opening in the wheel was not wide enough to allow the bracket to fit through. So I took to each side of the bracket with metal files and filed down quite a bit and rounded off the edges. Even after doing this, it was a TIGHT fit. But this setup allowed for mounting the rear view camera on the bottom side of the bracket and turned out quite nice.
Now I need to find a dealer who will REASONABLY change the settings on my head unit to enable the camera.
Ordered all the parts necessary for rear view camera install from Amazon (based on reading forums here). I couldn't see spending the $650 for the AEV kit given how easy this was. One of the forums had discussed manufacturing your own camera mount or installing in bumper/licesnse plate and the issues around each of those approaches. I really liked the idea of it being centered (as centered as the tire is anyway) within the wheel. I was going to go the route of drilling the center cap, but after reading something, it hit me that the AEV CMHSL uses the same bracket as the $650 kit, but for $45. So I ordered that along with my tire carrier (above). Now I have less than $100 in total parts and need to locate a dealership to get it enabled.
Based on the reading and YouTube videos, the install of the wiring harness was simple. The front was apart, installed, and back together in maybe 15 mins. That included me dropping the screws a few times.
The camera I chose wasn't a flush mount like the others had done in the rear bumper. I chose one that had a mounting place and was able to swivel.
With the stock Rubicon wheel, I ran into my second issue with the AEV tire carrier and CHMSL, the opening in the wheel was not wide enough to allow the bracket to fit through. So I took to each side of the bracket with metal files and filed down quite a bit and rounded off the edges. Even after doing this, it was a TIGHT fit. But this setup allowed for mounting the rear view camera on the bottom side of the bracket and turned out quite nice.
Now I need to find a dealer who will REASONABLY change the settings on my head unit to enable the camera.
04-05-2015, 12:38 PM
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This weekends work seemed a bit less ambitious than the first two weeks.
Ordered all the parts necessary for rear view camera install from Amazon (based on reading forums here). I couldn't see spending the $650 for the AEV kit given how easy this was. One of the forums had discussed manufacturing your own camera mount or installing in bumper/licesnse plate and the issues around each of those approaches. I really liked the idea of it being centered (as centered as the tire is anyway) within the wheel. I was going to go the route of drilling the center cap, but after reading something, it hit me that the AEV CMHSL uses the same bracket as the $650 kit, but for $45. So I ordered that along with my tire carrier (above). Now I have less than $100 in total parts and need to locate a dealership to get it enabled.
Based on the reading and YouTube videos, the install of the wiring harness was simple. The front was apart, installed, and back together in maybe 15 mins. That included me dropping the screws a few times.
The camera I chose wasn't a flush mount like the others had done in the rear bumper. I chose one that had a mounting place and was able to swivel.
With the stock Rubicon wheel, I ran into my second issue with the AEV tire carrier and CHMSL, the opening in the wheel was not wide enough to allow the bracket to fit through. So I took to each side of the bracket with metal files and filed down quite a bit and rounded off the edges. Even after doing this, it was a TIGHT fit. But this setup allowed for mounting the rear view camera on the bottom side of the bracket and turned out quite nice.
Now I need to find a dealer who will REASONABLY change the settings on my head unit to enable the camera.
Ordered all the parts necessary for rear view camera install from Amazon (based on reading forums here). I couldn't see spending the $650 for the AEV kit given how easy this was. One of the forums had discussed manufacturing your own camera mount or installing in bumper/licesnse plate and the issues around each of those approaches. I really liked the idea of it being centered (as centered as the tire is anyway) within the wheel. I was going to go the route of drilling the center cap, but after reading something, it hit me that the AEV CMHSL uses the same bracket as the $650 kit, but for $45. So I ordered that along with my tire carrier (above). Now I have less than $100 in total parts and need to locate a dealership to get it enabled.
Based on the reading and YouTube videos, the install of the wiring harness was simple. The front was apart, installed, and back together in maybe 15 mins. That included me dropping the screws a few times.
The camera I chose wasn't a flush mount like the others had done in the rear bumper. I chose one that had a mounting place and was able to swivel.
With the stock Rubicon wheel, I ran into my second issue with the AEV tire carrier and CHMSL, the opening in the wheel was not wide enough to allow the bracket to fit through. So I took to each side of the bracket with metal files and filed down quite a bit and rounded off the edges. Even after doing this, it was a TIGHT fit. But this setup allowed for mounting the rear view camera on the bottom side of the bracket and turned out quite nice.
Now I need to find a dealer who will REASONABLY change the settings on my head unit to enable the camera.
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04-06-2015, 08:37 AM
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I ordered the AEV CHMSL. American Expedition Vehicles - Brute Kit, V8 HEMI, Aftermarket Jeep Conversions, Products, Wheels, Accessories and Highline Kits for Jeeps (TJ, JK, WK, XK).
It included the bracket and the led stop light (which is very very simple plug and play) from Northridge 4x4. I ordered it when I ordered my AEV tire carrier arm.
Did a lot of reading and calling and Northridge was the best price overall (price + shipping) I could get on both pieces anywhere. (I have no affiliation with them and this was my first order).
It included the bracket and the led stop light (which is very very simple plug and play) from Northridge 4x4. I ordered it when I ordered my AEV tire carrier arm.
Did a lot of reading and calling and Northridge was the best price overall (price + shipping) I could get on both pieces anywhere. (I have no affiliation with them and this was my first order).
04-06-2015, 08:39 AM
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I'm a bit worried about the camera itself working. I tested the power lead and it's delivering constant power when I put the Jeep in reverse. So I hooked up the video output to the DVD player in the headrest of my wife's car and it showed a picture for 5 seconds (roughly) and then disappeared. I'm hoping the camera isn't bad. I've seen on the forums people have issues with these lesser expensive cameras.
