ade

If you can find a local shop with a press, you can install yourself. It's not a big job. I can walk you though the finer points. You just need a dial indicator and some gear paint.

Careful with the shop branding, the forum may try and make me have sponsor status.. (Joking)...

JK505

Yesterday was a LONG day. Had a wrenching party at my place that started at 0830 and didn't end until 2300. We put a 2.5" AEV lift on my buddies anvil rubi (which took much longer than I thought because of some bad designs by AEV) but we got her done.

JK505

Also, I was able to turn my hideous wiring job into something that's actually pleasant to look at with an spod. I couldn't use the standard spod location because of my tuffy overhead console and nobody seems to have posted an alternative location, but I found one. I'm damn happy with how this turned out. My old set up had 3 switches in 2 different locations, the cb was a PITA to turn on and I had no room for switches to my future lockers. Now it's organized, easy to turn everything on and off at once and the red switches will be my lockers. JR from
Spod put together a frankenstien SPOD system for me using the JK mounting bracket and the universal switch bezel of anyone is interested contact him.

ade

Like the switch positioning

JK505

Thanks, Ade. Really didn't want to pull the money away from the axle account but I had nowhere to put the switches and I was tired of the birds nest on my battery.

karmynsbeep

Can you wipe just a little mud off the dash

JK505

I actually did but they it came back worse with a vengeance!! And as far as an update:
Big news for JK505 is coming soon.

bghunter2

I am learning alot on these two door builds. You mentioned RC lights for a good price, what were the part numbers on them?

Also the light bar on the hood do you run into issues with the light reflecting to much off the hood ? I like the 20" bar wonder if I would be able to find a way to mount a light like that on my body armour front bumper

JK505

I love everything about the two door

The RC part number for the 4" floods: RC-70804
Keep in mind I also said that these things are great but that was before I added LED headlights and 20" bar. I still use them with my headlights to light up the sides on the road though and think they're well worth the money.

The light bar reflects BAD with snow on my hood but otherwise I don't really notice it much. I want to mount mine to the bumper too sometime soon though. And if this is your bumper (Body Armor JK-19531 - Body Armor 4x4 Front High Clearance Bumper in Textured Black for 07-15 Jeep® Wrangler & Wrangler Unlimited JK - Quadratec) Rugged Ridge makes X-clamps that mount around the tubing that would work for your bar assuming the top is ~24" or so. You just need to find out what size the tube is and make sure you order the right diameter X-clamps

JK505

So I have a little bit of a long story with this update so skip to the end for the pictures if you don't care:

Yesterday I got a new small addition to the jeep I had wanted to do for a while now, but couldn't justify spending the cash. A forum member posted up some used body armor doors for sale priced at $125 and I jumped on them like white on rice! I loved the look of these doors but didn't want to drop $300-$400 for a set. The only condition was they were pick up only and in PA. Luckily, We met 30 minutes away from Rausch Creek. Doors + Rausch was a double win for me.

08GReenRubi and I hit the road for Rausch at around 0500. We got there only to learn that the west side of the park was completely closed due to snow but the NE side was being offered free as a result. So we start testing out my friend's brand new 35x12.5x17 KM2's and what would you know, they rub the full width bumper. We head back to the parking lot and stubby the bumper. Then it was back onto trail (Trail B) and Topless for Tatas. Along the way I got in a super sticky situation and was thankful my friend bought a warn 2-4 weeks ago to keep me from flopping, but I still ripped a tail light out on a tree. After a while, we found ourselves in an unknown location, unable to turn around with what we thought was the trail, blocked by downed trees. We cleared the trail using my axe and winch for probably an hour (Everyone who laughed at the axe in my Jeep... Eat your words!). We noticed we were getting stuck a lot more often than before. The snow was deeper, less packed, and harder to keep momentum through. Eventually, I figured out we had somehow ended up off of the Topless for Tata's trail and landed on a black, Trail 8, accidentally driving through a "Keep Out" sign (Sorry Rausch I think the snow might've covered it!). From there we decided to grab some lunch and head to the NE side.

This was out first time over in the NE property. We ran along the perimeter green, honestly, bored for a while until we switched to 4HI and picked up speed a "tiny bit". From there we decided to hit some blues to stay entertained. First one was called "Tummy Tucker" and we ran it from the top to bottom.... Covered in snow... It wasn't our best choice of the day. The trail was pretty rocky with rocks maybe 20-36" in diameter. We were running down hill, sliding around, bouncing off of trees and maintaining both CB Radio silence and white knuckle death rigor mortis death grip on the steering wheel. I still haven't used the restroom because of this trail. In dry conditions, this would've been a great little blue. Covered in snow, go uphill, not down.

After that, we decided not to try the next rocky climb and we went to play in Area 51. We went down into the valley and I saw some tire tracks off to the right where others had played. Well, whatever they were in, they were not on 35's because I buried mine almost instantly and was done. Broke out the old E-Tool and began shoveling my way out while my friend laughed inside his luxurious JKUR. I dug myself out and then let him lead us out of the NE side of the property. Along the way, he managed to get high centered. Out came the E-Tool again. This pattern continued for about 30 minutes until I just gave him the darn thing until we finally got out. Along the way, I decided I was no longer messing around and dropped 15-17 psi to 12 psi in the front and 13 psi in the rear. I'd never gone that low before and was amazed how much it made a difference.

We made it back to the parking lot around 1630 and decided to hit Trail U3 and loop around the comp course for a "Quick run before close" (my exact words). That quick run rapidly turned into the trail from hell. I took lead, went down the first hill and spent the next hour trying to make it up the long gradual climb back to the parking lot with the E-tool and nothing reverse and first. Within this hour I might have made it 1/4 mile. Maybe. I was bouncing off trees again and the sun was going to set soon. I made the conscious decision that I was getting off these trails. I was cold, under prepared and under dressed. What started as an easy going effort quickly turned into me hero-gassing the snot out of my 3.8. Reverse, First gear, 4.5-5K RPMs, Second gear, 4.5-5K RPMs, Third gear, Back to reverse. Over and over again. We finally got enough movement forward that I found a cluster of trees about 4-5" in diameter that I could winch to. I pulled all the line off, down to the last spool, and barely made it to the anchor. Roughly an 80-85' pull. I did this 4 times back to back before the trails was just about over. At the top of the hill we were greeted by more loose powder we couldn't pass. I pulled off to left and could now see the parking lot 20 meters away. I gave it some throttle and thrusted myself right into the deepest snow of the day. It came up to touch my doors. My friend gave me a tug back out and we developed a new plan. He would take the high line into the Comp Course and then winch me through. Perfect and fool proof plan. My friend begins his accent, front locker engaged, rear locker being stubborn and not working. About 15' from the top I heard a "snap" and told him to stop. Broken passenger front u-joint and axle shafts... Great. Now that he was done moving and unable to be fixed due to vehicle positioning, it was pretty much up to me. I decided to use the most powerful weapon in the world: communication. I call the office and explain our predicament and their overly helpful response to my plea for a jeep to let me winch toward was, "We close in 5 minutes, if you need parts you should hurry over here...."

Right... So we were still on our own. My buddy walks 30-40 meters to the office and gets the u-joint. Meanwhile I'm checking the best possible line I can find to the parking lot. I think I found it so I ease in, begin to climb out, and slide right into the deep stuff. By now we're alone, it's getting dark and I'm freezing. I shovel out one last time, digging down to rock cursing open diffs and not having either bead locks or tank treads. I back up, slam it into first, give it some gas. I feel one tire snag a rock while the other fights for traction. I dig some more. After two more attempts, I decide to back up and an angle and hit this thing head on and if needed, launch my damn two door into the air to get it home, whether under her own power or on a trailer. I line it up and hit it, I hear tires squealing, smell burning rubber and can feel progress being made while I justify new 37" tires. Finally, something gets traction and up-n-over I went. After doing donuts of celebration in the parking lot, I pull over to my pal and he winches to me. I call AAA and get a quote back home for hauling "my" Green 2008 JKUR, over $350. We look and see the inner and outer shaft had stacked on top of each other, breaking both ends during the winching. We discuss our options and decide to pull the shaft, plug the axle tube up and reassemble everything. It's now dark, We're using my LED's (once again eat your words on the excessive LED's ) to light on this disaster and after another hour and a half we are on the way home with a broken reverse light, broken shaft and u-joint. But hey... I got some doors