Then it was time for Snow Flurry! And we still had a snowy fun bit of time running through Tin Cup Springs and Little Manistee trails around near Baldwin, MI.













Tin Cup Springs Trail




Little Manistee Trail

 

I also did a bit of work with the license plate too on TWSTR! Not big work, however even the little touches matter too! My license plate bolts were starting to get pretty rusty and I just hated looking as it, and especially that it was starting to leave a little bit of a rust stain down my license plate.





So I went on eBay and came across these new bolts from SickSpeed and they really cleaned the look of the back end up nicely! I went for the black ring, but you can get them in many different colors to match your build! They installed perfectly and I am much happier with the license plate area now!







Also, my wife and I passed our HAM Technician license exams not long after this as well! I think it was February or March, so I also went and got a new license plate with my HAM call sign! And now we have a lot more radio frequencies that we can use out on the trail!

 

Since I broke my 4 Ft Firestik, I have been really happy with my 102" Whip for my CB, however I have been missing being able to run my TWSTR flag. Looking at my tire carrier antenna mount, I still had a hole left there that I could use, so I went and purchased a little 2ft Firestik to run in that hole that I can then run my flag on when I want to! It fits just right next to the whip, and just reaches to the top of the hard top! It is also nice to have a spare CB antenna if anything ever happens to the whip if needed!





Additionally, I was able to get some Rockhard 4x4 Control Arm Skid Plates for the JK and get those installed! They went on fairly easily, and I worked one by one (one control arm complete at a time). The directions were straight forward to follow and clear, everything that was needed to install them was included in the kit, and they fit perfect! And getting a set of 4 for only $150 was actually a pretty great deal! Hardest part of the install was torqueing the control arm bolts back to proper spec, as I just couldn't find the most ideal position to get the best leverage, especially on the passenger side rear, but I was able to get all of them installed and torqued within an hour or two, and I am very happy with them! I had hit my real shock mount/control arm a few times in my last wheeling trips, so this was definietly a big factor and adding on these skids!












And then I also added a few other items into my Jeep collection! First off, I grabbed a JK Blueprint Shirt from Offroad Outfitter! It even came in my Tan and black color combo!





And then I also scored a great deal on a Warn VR Evo 8S! Planning on building a winch mount to install the winch in the stock bumper of my Jeep! Want to keep the build light but still get a winch in the front end!

 

Unfortunately, with all the Covid stuff going on since March, I lost out on the chance for a few trips I had and didn't make it out too much this year. One of the big trips I was supposed to go on was down to Windrock in Tennessee, but unfortunately I missed that one...Hopefully I will get a new chance to go next year! However, I did still make it out in and around Michigan and had some fun wheeling At Rocks & Valleys, along with trails around the lower peninsula, along with having go topless day later in teh year than originally planned as well!















Also, I got my hands on a nice Jeep Crate from someone local getting rid of it! He had already stained it and I really liked the way it looked! I even built a nice roller stand for it as well to raise the crate up off the ground and make it easier to move around if needed! I am using it for tool storage in my work area, mostly for keeping and organizing power tool! But definitely love it!

 

Then we get up to just a few weeks ago and are finally caught up! I got my winch installed on a custom hidden winch mount built by Unlimited Offroad in Fenton, MI. I been working a design idea for a while, but I don't have any welding experience, and this was not the project to try to start welding on! SO I ended up going to Unlimited Offroad, and they took my design and made it so much better! You might have seen the pics already in a few other threads, but without further ado, here are the pics!

























First off, as stated above, this is a custom hidden winch mount for use on the JK stock bumper. The winch mounted inside is a Warn VR Evo 8S. Now, I chose to go with the hidden mount in the stock bumper for a few reasons. First off, I didn't want the the winch up in front of the grill and I wanted to leave all of the airflow possible to the grill. Second, weight was a big factor that I wanted to keep down. From keeping weight down for drivability of the highway to keeping it down for off roading, I hate adding the unnecessary weight of a big steel bumper that I really do not need for the type of off roading I do. I love how easily my Jeep gets through obstacles that many others I wheel with struggle with and I believe a huge factor is the weight of my rig being so light! And lastly, I really don't mind the look of the stock bumper and really wanted something unique for it as well!

The guys at Unlimited started this mount with an AEV winch plate and modified from there. The winch is mounted upside done and they rotated the clutch lever so it is easily accessible from the front of the Jeep. And yes, the clutch lever is easily reachable through the lower skid or from between the skid and the bumper. Speaking of the skid, the guys wanted to tuck the winch down in the bumper as low as possible and my Crawltek Revolution lower bumper skid that I had added a while ago was the absolute perfect fit for winch protection! You might also note in the pictures that the front bumper maintained all the components from the top side, but it did shift forward about 1/2"-3/4", but unless you are looking for it, it is not noticeable! Additionally in the photos, you might not that the control pack is remoted mounted on a custom alternator bracket front and center. And lastly, there is also a two fairlead setup. There is a fairlead mounted inside the bumper to the actual winch plate and then there is a spacer on either side from that to the external fairlead that you see on the front of the bumper. So the fairlead on the front does have some good strength to pull against, however there is also nothing inside to cut the synthetic line. Additionally, from my original design, the guys pulled the winch a bit further forward to decrease the size of spacer they would need to the bumper as well as give the external fairlead a bit more strength. This also meant that they needed to push the fog lights a little bit further forward into the holes in the bumper, but once again, unless you are really looking hard, you would never catch that change! Then lastly, everything was fully gusseted and reinforced to make the mount really stout and then all was powder coated black to cover up all the bare metal! This was definitely not a small undertaking, however I am super happy with the end result and especially how clean it came out!

 

Added a few new decals before Fall Color Tour 2020 with Wolverine Wheelers too! I of coarse had to add my latest ORV Permit and License! And then a new one on the rear window and my Storm spotter/HAM radio!

 

Last weekend was our Fall Color Tour 2020 with the Wolverine Wheelers and we ended up with a pretty good turnout! We were probably a week or so late on peak colors in St. Helen, but still saw some good colors and had a bunch of fun as always! Even took my dad out on his first off road trip and he had a blast!



































I even got to use my new winch out twice! The first pull was quite easy and probably was better suited for a snatch strap, but a bunch of us wanted to see it work, and the second one was actually quite a good uphill pull of a JLU with the rear diff hung up on a rock and all 4 tires dug in pretty good!











I also have a whole bunch of video clips from phone, a drone, and dash cam! So I will be putting together a small video of the outing that I will post soon!

 

For anyone interested as well, here is our route that we took in and around St. Helen starting at the St. Helen ORV Trailhead on Airport Rd. Route was recorded using Gaia GPS app on a Samsung Tab E.

https://www.gaiagps.com/public/5eL8F4WqpHGDJ3wMTOoPnD98

 

Added on an AEV Winch Hook Isolator to the winch yesterday as well! Will keep the winch hook off the fairlead but allow me to suck the winch hook up nice and tight to the fairlead. And no more metal on metal contact there. It took me about 5 minutes to install. Just remove the pin holding the winch hook on, remove winch hook, slide the isolator on, replace hook, replace pin! Simple as that!

 

Just a few days back, my wife got me some nice Bday gifts for the Jeep! What a great wife, right? So I took the time to get em installed! The main piece was a no-drill MOLLE panel for the tailgate to clean up the trunk and get this better organized! The panel is from Overland Outfitters! It is made of Duck Canvas and Leather straps and the fit is nice and tight! Installation only took about 20 minutes and is super simple. You remove the plastic panel covering the tailgate wire insert clips into the tailgate where the plastic panel was clipped and along teh vents in the bottom, and then attach the panel with screws into those clips! And there ya go! Installed!

Here's a few shots of before:




And here's with the panel installed:





And with all my attachments added onto the panel:









I am super happy with how the panel came out, and especially with the fact that I did not have to drill into my tailgate at all! We'll see how it holds up over time, but seems very high quality and sturdy! And with having a 2-DR JK, trunk space is at such a premium, and this really cleaned that space up for me and helped me get a lot more organized! Plus, things are much more easily accessible now that they are out on the tailgate, not just piled up in the trunk!