KP's JKUR Build

[KPM171]

In the late (late!) fall of 2012, I decided that my beloved TJ just didn't have the space I needed. It was an amazing vehicle, and I spent god knows how many hours tinkering with it and adjusting bolts or wires to make everything just so. I loved so much about it but with the installed add-a-trunk, my wife's purse pretty much packed it full.
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With a heavy heart, I started interviewing prospective owners to find someone that would be worthy of my TJ & give her a good home. As luck would have it, a retired marine who was looking for his 3rd Wrangler found me and fell in love with my TJ. We struck a deal and shortly thereafter, I found myself at my local dealership ordering a 2013 JKUR. Why order one instead of picking from stock you might ask? They actually had a fantastic selection, but one item I wasn't willing to budge on was side impact airbags (this will end up as a family vehicle too), and that's the only feature the dealership couldn't trade for. Weird. The sales staff was nice and they cut me a good deal on a special order and the waiting began.

Order Specs:

• 2013 Rubicon Unlimited
• Billet Silver Metallic
• Black Interior Color
• Black Leather-Trimmed Bucket Seats
• 6-Speed Manual Transmission
• 4.10 Rear Axle Ratio
• Uconnect® 430N SAT/CD/DVD/MP3/HDD/NAV
• Air Conditioning with Automatic Temperature Control
• Supplemental Front Seat-Mounted Side Airbags
• Black 3-Piece Hard Top
• Connectivity Group
• Max Tow Package

An agonizing two months later, I got the call that my Jeep had arrived and I could pick it up on Monday. Monday?!? What the hell am I supposed to do all weekend? Wait patiently like a normal person? Naturally, I went down to the dealership after they closed and took a peek at their deliveries in the back lot to find my VIN.

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[KPM171]

After almost 2 months and no Jeep I began to grow a little restless. Rather than just twiddle my thumbs, I decided to put some of that creative energy towards planning out my build. I'll cross off some of the [really] easy dressing things off the list first - locking gas cap, wheel locks, etc. Next, that plastic bumper & front "skid plate" (chin spoiler? Wind diffuser? Whatever it is.) has got to go. Before I knew it, a pile of parts was sitting in my garage waiting for the Jeep to arrive!

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Parts Waiting:

• ARB Deluxe Bull Bar
• Uniden Bearcat 880 CB w/ Firestik HD Coax Cable
• Fire Stick 2’ tuneable CB antenna, w/ HD Antenna Spring & Firestik coax
• IPF 968 flood lights w/ stone guards
• Mopar chrome exhaust tip
• Mopar door sill guards
• Mopar fuel filler door
• Mopar Hitch Reciever Plug
• Mopar Locking fuel cap
• Mopar Wheel Locks
• Pilot Strobe Kit Clear
• Quadratec Rubber Floor mats front/rear/trunk
• Rugged Ridge tail lamp guards
• Smittybilt D-rings
• Smittybilt XRC X20 10 Winch
• TeraFlex CB Antenna Mount

[Bacon]

That is a nice TJ. Having just recently gone from a TJ to a JKUR myself, you're going to love the extra space of the four door. I have always been part of the "the two door is the only real Jeep" crowd, but now after going from a 2007 JKU to a 99 TJ to a 2008 JKUR, I can honestly say that I am converted. I could never go back to a two door now.

Nice Rubi and nice pile of parts too. Looking forward to watching your rig grow!

[KPM171]

That is a nice TJ. Having just recently gone from a TJ to a JKUR myself, you're going to love the extra space of the four door. I have always been part of the "the two door is the only real Jeep" crowd, but now after going from a 2007 JKU to a 99 TJ to a 2008 JKUR, I can honestly say that I am converted. I could never go back to a two door now.

Nice Rubi and nice pile of parts too. Looking forward to watching your rig grow!

Thanks Bacon. I was bit of a Jeep purist before I got my JK. I was agoraphobic in the Unlimited in 2005 when I sat in one (why is there soooo much space back there?!?), then when the 4 doors came out in '07 I was furious as to why Jeep would do such a thing. How could they dilute the brand like this? 6 years later, there's one in my garage & I freaking love it!

[KPM171]

It's Monday night and the JK just got home, the garage is heated, clearly it's time to start tossing on some goodies from that pile. It's better to have a pile of goodies on the Jeep than it is to have them sitting in the garage taking up space, right? So on they go! First up, the rear hitch plug (I think I've lost about 4 of these off my TJ courtesy of some mud pits) that slips on easily, and a chrome exhaust tip that bolts on with a few turns of the socket. Even a Jeep can have a little teeny tiny bit of bling, right?

Since I was planning on popping off the rear tail lights to attach a set of Rugged Ridge tail lamp guards, this became the ideal time to also install the new Mopar fuel filler door (it helps to reach through where the tail lights attach to pop off the OEM filler bezel). Personally, I think the filler door is an incredibly cool looking piece of kit and is also great to keep mud off of your locking gas cap (key coded by some kind folks at the dealership parts department). The door sill guards go on with minimal effort (it's just 3M tape) as long as you clean and prep the area properly followed by Mopar's rotating wheel locks to keep my wheels/tires out of borrowing hands.

The bigger plan for tonight was to install all of my CB components. I removed the spare tire, pulled 2 bolts from the spare tire mount while loosening the rest to get a little play in the mount to slide that the Teraflex CB Antenna Mount into place. Finishing up is as easy as tightening up all 8 tire mount bolts. Next comes the Firestik on a HD spring (do yourself a favor and invest in a spring. I think I broke 3 sets of antenna mounts before I got myself one), and running the Firestik coax through the rear tailgate. There's plenty of space to conceal everything on the tailgate and under the plastic on the inside. I'd post a picture, but there's really nothing to see (that's the idea!).

With the excitement of an 8 year old fat kid w/ a 6 pack of cupcakes, I unboxed my Uniden Bearcat 880 CB. I've been researching this thing for the better part of 2 weeks. New age LED and display tech meets old world simple CB technology, what could be better?? Well, one thing that I might have overlooked was where exactly I was going to shove a full size CB.
D'oh! Back in the box it goes for something that'll fit a little better.

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[White_JKU]

Judging by the looks of that TJ, the JKUR is going to be a great looking rig when your "done"

[TrailBear]

Good start I'm running a uniden cb that fits in the centre console.


If you don't push the limits how do you find them??

[KPM171]

A front bumper can really set the tone and the look of the rest of the build, so this is a fairly important mod. In my TJ, I made the mistake of waking up one day and saying “I want a winch!” and then getting one that I could afford using a cheap winch plate with no earthly long term goal in sight. Not that there's anything wrong with that line of thought, but it's just going to cost you more in time and money if you build just to rebuild. On my JK, I thought and thought and thought and planned on what I wanted to do long term.

Features that are important to me in a front bumper:

• Multiple recovery points
• Recessed winch mount integration
• Additional light tabs
• OEM fog light integration
• A quality, durable solid piece that’s also good looking

After a bit of research, I ended up coming full circle right back to ARB. I really liked the bull bar I had on my TJ, so taking a look at the one they made for the JK seemed a logical step. And wouldn’t you know it, it meets all my criteria including being pretty damn good looking imho! As you saw in the pic in a previous post, I had already called up my good buddy at 4wd.com and ordered the bumper. When my wife pulled into the garage, I of course feigned ignorance when she asked what the 100lb box was in the corner. Unsurprisingly, that didn't work on her.

The following weekend at 259 miles on the odo, I finally had some time to myself in the garage to get to work. Step 1, pulling off the OEM bumper (8 bolts, 2 light connectors & a couple plastic clips) is surprisingly easy. If you aren't sure where to start just PM me and I'll be happy to walk you through it. Hell, if you live in the area, I might even get off my duff and help you do it! This step is simple, but the effects sure as hell do look eerie on a brand new rig!
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Before you ask or heckle, yes that's an iPad on the hood. It's helpful to have a forum or two up as well as a PDF of the install instructions on hand. Here's a shot of the old vs. the new. Is there even a contest here?
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Don't forget to prep bumper for install with the fog lights, plastic bumper caps, and the ARB turn signals.
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Re-installation sounds simple enough, line it up with the OEM bolt holes, and screw all 8 back in. In theory, that's really all you have to do. In practice... pray, pray, pray that the guy who threaded the bolts didn't come in hangover to work that day. After my 3rd failed attempt to get the bolts threaded while also holding the bumper in place myself (yeah, I know get a buddy. Shush!), I took everything off and laid it out upside down to study the problem. Some threaded nice and easy. In fact, most threaded nice and easy. But one... one little bastard bolt took the combination of a can of WD-40, an assortment of hammers, and (this was probably the ticket) a drunken pirates vocabulary of profanity to get on. Everything threaded, I broke out my sharpie and numbered all the bolts. If I can see them working here, once I have the bumper in position I KNOW they'll thread easily when I can't see them. And wouldn't you know it... My plan worked! In retrospect, always test out your bolt fittings. 99% of the time, everything will be just fine. But that 1% of the time, you will save yourself a huge head ache.
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[LetsGoMuddin]

Haha, I really like reading and looking at this build thread! It looks like its coming along nicely, whats next on your list?

[KPM171]

Haha, I really like reading and looking at this build thread! It looks like its coming along nicely, whats next on your list?

Thanks LetsGoMuddin! Let's see, up next we've got:
Winch
Flood Lights
Front Skid Plate(s)
CB