Cole Trickle

I have a ton of work to do in preperation for the 2013 big bear forest fest. Its a little over a month away with two weekends in the middle that I will be indisposed (mothers day and memorial).

I am going to keep moving forward with what I can control. We will see if everything falls into place...haha

I decided early on that I wanted a rig that could get me through a trail without issues from the things that sneak up on you. The Rubicon seems pretty well protected underneath with the exception of the tranny cross member and evap canister. The 2012+ have a evap canister skid but its pretty thin and people have had issues with it making contact with the rear drive shaft.

I ended up with the poison spyder 2012+ extreme duty cross member and evap skid.

The evap skid came with good directions but I had read that people were having problems breaking some of the factory connections when removing it for the new skid plate. I figures the skid wasn't worth much so I cut/bent it so I could keep everything attached. The new PS skid plate bolted right up with zero issues. Make sure you only start the bolts while locating all the holes. Once the holes are found it tightens up perfectly....this thing is rugged!

Next up was the factory cross member. The jk's tranny mount is prone to damage when hitting rocks and I wanted a stringer set up. The 2012+ poison spyder extreme duty x member is a great piece and fits like a glove. The x member came without directions and hardware so I was a little confused when reading the online instructions. I messaged PS on there Facebook page and had a answer almost immediately that they revised the product so all of the factory hardware would work....nice

Before install I painted it with a primer/gloss black from krylon. Honestly I thought this paint kind of sucked but it turned out good. I would probably recommend using a etching primer and a desperate can for the color but we will see how the single action can works out.

Once again I have been extremely impressed with all of the poison spyder gear. I have built enough cars to know that typically there is some "fine tuning" that has to happen for bolt on items but that hasn't been my experience with PS.....great american made products!!

Cole Trickle

Cole Trickle

Cole Trickle

Thank you....The devil is deffinatley in the details

Cole Trickle

CB install...

Next up was choosing a cb. I didn't really want to screw a box into the side of my console and with the spod switch box
Above my rearview my options are limited.

I decided on the cobra 75 with all the electronics and controls in the hand set.

I wanted the install to be hard to spot and a little different than the others on the net.

After some checking I found I could mount the small connector box on the bottom of my glove box and and then flush mount the disconnect flash inside the glove box.

Here is what I came up with..the power and ground will be quick disconnects wired to the spod power source.

I have to wait until my bumpers are installed to run the co-ax

Cole Trickle

Its starting to feel like Christmas with all the deliveries... lol

Last Friday was no exception when ups dropped off 13 boxes from rock krawler suspension.

Rock krawler makes some of the best off road jeep suspension in the world and there warranty on there arms is unbeatable.

I decided to go with the 3.5 x factor mid arm kit. The kit should give me about 4" of lift and the dual rate coils in the front should provide a decent ride on the street. The x factor kids basically replaces every suspension price on the jeep and includes 8 flex arms......this kit will articulate with the best of the best.

I chose not to get a long arm kit for a couple reasons...first is I do my own work at home. Cutting off arm mounts wouldn't be a problem but welding on new mounts for all the arms is above my pay grade.

Next is I tend not to keep things forever. I am really excited about this build but I don't want to be married to a kit if I ever decide to go back to stock and part out the jeep.

Lastly long arms are known to get hung up climbing obstacles because they take away some ground clearance. I never plan to run anything bigger than 37's on my jeep so this kit will plenty and then some.

Cole Trickle

I thought i had officially hit my first delay with the build....

Rock Krawler accidently got my shock order confused and mailed me the non resivore version of there rrd shocks. 1 email straightened out the issue and about an hour after I recieved my shocks I put them back on a pus for New York.

Bridgette at Rock Krawler has been great to work with and to my surprise they send the shocks back to me yesterday via 3 day air ($$$$$) so I would have them this weekend when I do the install....This really bailed me out as I'm getting a little tight with my deadline.

I can't say enough about how great RK has been to work with!!!

Cole Trickle

I unwrapped all of my rk parts and did an inventory check. Everything seems to be accounted for.

I then set the arm and tb lengths for the upcoming install. The instruction booklet is pretty good and hopefully the install will go as planned.

I tend to be an organized guy and I have done projects of this size+ in my garage before...everything will be ready to go when the tools start flying. Going to the parts store for forgotten items kills install day.

I will start on the install Friday night. I have a buddy coming over Saturday morning to assist.

Cole Trickle

Bumpers and sliders have been dropped off for powder coat. Kelly was great to deal with and has a great eye for color. I plan to go with black that matches my wheels for the bumpers and sliders. The body armor will be color matched to the paint... they are going to spray some test panels in the next couple days.

big dr

DAM YOU COLE TRICKLE!!! Dam you and all your free time to drink beer and work on your jeep!!! I love what you are doing with this build. I like the antenna painted black! I might steal that idea. I like the plasti dip of the door key hole. Might steal that too! I also like your sister! For fear of prison time,, I will not steal her.
If I could make one suggestion,,, if its not too late,, I would go with beadlock rims! I made the mistake of purchasing non beadlocks,, and I constantly regret it(and they are now on the future mods list). You are going to have a very capable jeep,,, It will be even more so with 5 psi!!! Good luck, Ill be checking this thread.