Kevin's 2008 JKU Rubicon

Current pic

Thought I needed a place to post pics of my rig and future mods. After a 5-6 year hiatus from off-roading I thought it was time to get another rig. I looked at lots of different rigs but found a great deal on a 2008 JKU Rubicon a couple months ago. Here's some details about my Jeep:

Specs: (updated 2/27/13)
-2008 JK Unlimited Rubicon, bought with 29k miles, Hard Top
-Nav, mygig w/dvd player
-3.8 mini van engine
-Airraid intake w/poweraid throttle body spacer
-Superchips flashpaq
-Auto Trans
-E-disco
-4:1 Rock Trac transfer case
-Front axle-- dana44, rubi E-locker, 5.38 gears, Artec truss, synergy c-gussets,teraflex diff cover
-Rear axle-- dana44, rubi E-locker, 5.38 gears, teraflex diff cover
-Teraflex drivelines front and rear
-Teraflex 4" LCG long arm suspension w/Teraflex shocks
-37x12.50r17 Goodyear MTR w/Kevlar
-17x9 Mickey Thompson Sidebiter wheels, black
-Expedition One rear bumper w/carrier
-JCR Off-road dagger series stubby front bumper
-Superwinch Talon 12.5SR winch w/Viking synthetic line
-Ace Engineering sliders

 

[kellerexpress]

Got bored the other day and decided to de-bling the chrome jeep logo on my front grill using some plasti-dip. For those who don't know it is, it is a synthetic rubber protectant that comes in a spray can. Its easy to use and works great for blacking out badges on vehicles. Another cool thing about plasti-dip is that at any time you can just peel it off and return to the original surface. Its not hard to do but I'll post the steps here in case anyone wants to try this stuff.

started with this. First step is to clean the badge well with soap then rubbing alcohol.

Tape the area off to prevent over-spray. Leave a small space surrounding the badge. Don't worry, plast-dip won't stick to the paint. (overspray however is more difficult to remove)

Next, spray your first coat, which will be a very light coat. Let dry 15-20 min.

After the first coat is dry apply 3-5 more coats, waiting 20 min between each one.
5 coats

After your final coat, let dry for 30 min. Then carefully start to peel your tape. The plast-dip surrounding the badge will come off with it, leaving just the badges coated.

Use a toothpick to remove the remaining plasti-dip between letters, it comes off pretty easy.

Fnished product, no more bling. Allow 4 hours for it to fully dry when you are done.

 

[UNSTUCK]

Back in the day, I remember putting chrome parts on my Jeep. I'm less dumb now.

 

[kellerexpress]

Rock sliders from Ace Engineering showed up via ups last Friday, just need so time to install them.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I really dig that front bumper, it looks killer.

 

[kellerexpress]

Thanks, it is a nice full width bumper. I do prefer a narrower stubby style bumper for clearance purposes though. I may end up swapping it out I haven't decided yet.

 

[kellerexpress]

Things finally settled down after having a baby over the weekend, and I had some time this morning to install my sliders.
I looked at a lot of different options for sliders, and although i prefer sliders that hug the body real close( like the EVO ones), my jeep is still a family hauler and wife and kids insisted i get something that could double as step. The sliders are from Ace engineering, I chose them because they are very affordable, super beefy, have a lifetime warranty, and can be used a step to help the kids climb into the rig.
With these sliders you have the option to mount them with or without the stock rubi sliders, i chose to keep the rubi sliders for more protection and i think they look good together. The install was pretty easy, I did have to modify a couple of the mounting points because my long arm brackets got in the way a bit. Nothing a sawzall and angle grinder couldn't fix lol.

View from inside the jeep

Kids approve!

 

[kmboren]

Nice job. They look good. Now we need to go test them out.

 

[kellerexpress]

Just a random poser pic I took today on my iphone.

 

[kellerexpress]

After much thought I decided to go a different direction with my front bumper. Picked up a new Dagger series stubby bumper from JCR off-road. They do awesome work for a great price and everything is made in the USA. The bumpers are shipped bare steel so I dropped it off yesterday at Utah powder coaters in Orem. Should look awesome when done, ill post more pics when i get it back and install it. Good news is if anyone is looking for a nice full width bumper for their Jk mine will up for sale soon .
Here is a pic

Nice welds

 

[frieed]

How do the sliders mount? I'm thinking about adding an extra bar to mine but I am concerned about the somewhat flimsy mounting of the stock Rubi sliders.
The other mod I've done that was dirt cheap and had the most dramatic effect... I painted the top of the roof white. Just the top, so from the sides it looks that same as before. I got a pretty good match to the white body as well. Yahoo, my brains don't bake anymore while wheeling.

 

[kellerexpress]

The sliders mount to the body mounts on 3 locations each side. Never thought of painting top of the hard top before.

 

[kellerexpress]

Got my bumper back from utah powdercoaters. Turned out really nice.

 

[kellerexpress]

Did the install this afternoon, also relocated my e-disco motor and removed crash bar for more clearance.
Bumper off

E-disco motor and crash bar. Started with this.

After crash bar removal and sway bar motor relocation. Gained some nice clearance and gets the motor and exposed plug up farther and out of harms way.

Another pic

Bumper on!

 

[kellerexpress]

Found this on my porch today

 

[frieed]

So that's where I left it. I want it back

 

[kellerexpress]

Installed my winch today. Researched and shopped around a lot which gave me a headache, there are so many out there. I wanted at least 9000lbs and a synthetic rope which tends to drive prices up quite a bit. Found a great deal on a Superwinch Talon 12.5SR and pulled the trigger. It comes with a nice viking synthetic rope, is totally waterproof, has a fast line speed, and a great warranty. (lifetime on mechanical, 3 years on solenoids and electronics).

 

[kellerexpress]

Haven't updated this in a while. No major changes on the Jeep lately(few things in the works). My battery died recently so I replaced it with a sears platinum series (re-badged odyssea). Also picked up some much needed recovery gear/tools over the holidays. Here is a handful of random wheeling pics from the last 3-4 months.

 

[kellerexpress]

37's!

 

[sixstringsteve]

That just looks so right.