Great build with lots of ideas.

 

I picked up the new bumper from FedEx Freight today and got cracking on it. First off, it is cold, damn cold. 26F plus a frigid windchill but I wanted this thing done so I was pretty focused, lol.

As I'm finding with most AEV items, their product is excellent but their directions leave a lot to be desired. The fasteners in the directions are different then what is in the parts list. It's not clear what orientation the anti-rotation bracket goes on and the order of tightening and adjusting everything so that the bumper is centered and horizontal is "ehh".

Now, my bitching aside, the bumper is badass. It took about an hour to get on and adjusted. It looks great and seems quite stout! I did get the optional pump kit for it but chose not to plumb it yet...did I mention it was cold out? I'll do that come spring, it's not like I'm going to use it until it warms up anyway. Speaking of cold, we're supposed to drive to Philly (from Detroit) on Wednesday to see family for Thanksgiving. It appears there is a major snow storm headed across Ohio and PA on Wednesday so we'll see what happens. It could be fun in the Jeep but one accident and our 10 hour drive could easily turn into a 14 hour drive!

Here a few photos all installed!!









Costs:
* AEV Bumper - $929
* AEV Pump Kit - $35

 

Well, this is going to be an expensive weekend! The suppliers are posting deals left and right!!

So far from Northridge I've ordered:

Teraflex HD Tire Mount (to go with my existing HD Carrier) - 15% off
Teraflex Jack/CB Mount - 15% off

On Friday (when the deal starts), I'll be picking up my Ace Rock Rails from Ace as they will be 25% off!!

And for good measure, last night I got a brand new set of black AEV Pintlers for $1000 off Craigslist!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

 

I know the feeling - pretty sure my wife has already hid all of my cards... I believe Northridge has at least one of them on file still though, lol.

Build is coming along great!

 

Well then you're all set!!

 

Thank god Black Friday weekend is almost over. My credit card is about to explode. Hopefully it holds together for one more charge as a bunch of the vendors have the Engo winch that I want on sale! While I wait for all the parts I ordered this weekend, I finished up a few quick things I had on my list. My rear seat "oh shit" handles came in today so I took a few minutes and threw those on.



I also put a couple more pouches on my tailgate molle carrier. These things are great for storage and don't cost very much either! Looks like I have room for one more so I'll have to see what I can fit on there.



And then I also finished up the LED footwell lighting. I used the 4" strips sold at Advanced Auto Parts and soldered them into the OEM connector. These put off way more light than the single stock LED.



Costs:
* LED Footwell Lighting - $15
* Sm. Molle Pouch -$11
* Lg. Molle Pouch - $15
* Rear Seat Paracord Straps - $12

 

I'm getting some black pintlers too. Let me know how you like them

 

The big brown buggy made a stop at the house today. They dropped off the Hi-Lift & CB Antenna Mount and Adjustable Tire Mount, both for the Teraflex Hinged Carrier I installed a couple weeks back. I bolted the Hi-Lift/CB mount up tonight since it took all of 5 minutes. The Tire Mount will go on when I put the new wheels/tires on this spring.

Here is the jack mount:



Also, it only took 5 months, but the horn honking every time I locked the doors with the key fob got really annoying. I finally turned that off too. The sequence to turn it off can be found in this thread:

Turning Off the Horn Honking When Locking the Doors

Costs:
* Teraflex Jack/CB Mount - $65

 

Knocked this one out after work this evening. Gotta love the Teraflex videos!

http://youtu.be/jkfLGjzH7Z4 Cost: Freebie!!

 

I tossed the Teraflex Adjustable Tire Mount on today. It went on easy enough and no special tools were really required except to put the lug studs into the bracket. That requires a press or an impact gun. I went the impact route and it still took all that my Ingersoll could throw at it! The hole size was most likely drilled to the correct diameter but the powdercoat made it just small enough that it was quite the interference fit.

The adjustment was pretty easy and it went together quickly. The only part I didn't like is the brake light mounting hardware. Teraflex did a really good job powdercoating all the pieces but seem to have forgotten the mounting hardware. It kind of looks like it may have been an afterthought. Anyway, once I got it all together it bugged me to the point I took it back off and hit it with a rattle can. The photos below show it as delivered from Teraflex. I also embedded the Teraflex installation video. It serves as a real good install guide except for the brake light mount bracket they show, that is an older generation model which is no longer offered.





http://youtu.be/GxmPoaqdtbc Costs:
* Teraflex HD Tire Mount - $195