Sunday, January 12, 2014

Coming Soon 37x12.50R17 Nitto Trail Grapplers

COMING SOON: 37x12.50R17 Nitto Trail Grapplers. I like my KM2 mud terrains, just not as much as I like the Nitto's and a Rock Krawler 3.5 inch Flex lift kit. Undecided on shocks yet, Possibly might go with either Fox 2.0 performace shocks or bilstein 5100 shocks. 



Dynomax DIY exhaust system


 I have always been a performance nut, I grew up on camaro's, trans am's, corvette's and mustang's. I prefer for the engine in my vehicle to NOT sound like a sewing machine But i'm also a cheap ass when it comes to certain things. I decided to piece together my own exhaust using a Dynomax Muffler, a 45* bend pipe, a 45* turn down pipe and 4 clamps. All of which I purchased from a local O'Riellys Auto parts. The new muffler and tail pipe sound better, save weight and make more power then the stock muffler. All and All I think I spent about $120.00.



 Stock Muffler size VS. new Tail pipe. (weight savings)


Cut out the factory resonator and mounted the Dynomax muffler in its place. 


Decent Ground clearance, tucks up next to the frame well. 


Better departure ground clearance. 


The tail pipe took some trimming and fitting to get just right, but overall I am pleased. Painted it black to match the rest of the jeep Jk under carriage. 


Jeep JK soft top Cleaning & protection

My Jeep JK is a 2013 so I expected the Soft top to be in "like new" condition. Wrong, when comparing the production date stamped on the soft top to the date of purchase, the top is actually almost a year old.  That being said, the soft top was faded and blotchy. I cleaned the top with normal car wash soap and a soft bristle brush. Then after air drying I use a product called 303 Aerospace protectant. 303 has SPF properties to help protect against sun damage, basically sun screen for your soft top. It also works great on any vinyl or plastic parts on your jeep like fenders, bumpers, mirrors and door handles. I buy my 303 from my local Boat dealership, kinda pricy but worth every penny. 


Poison Spyder Front bumper

Received my Poison Spyder Brawler Lite front bumper from River City Off Road, Marcus at RCOR is  very friendly and easy to purchase from. 


Poison Spyder products ship in the raw bare steal form so they need to be powder coated or painted to keep them from corroding. The factory jeep fog lamps transfer over very easily and the new bumper has winch holes pre-drilled. 


I chose to paint mine. Sanded to prep the surface and painted with a rustoleum self etching primer. Followed with a few coats of flat iron metallic, which is a "gun metal gray" color. Added 2 black 3/4 in d-ring shackles for recovery points. 


The new bumper doesn't have provisions for a front license plate, here in Texas we have to run a front plate. I fab'd up a bracket from some scrap metal and mounted the front plate below the bumper on the crash bar. 


Bumper & fender Trim. 35in Tires.

I found 5 35x12.50R17 BFGoodrich Mud Terrain KM2's on Craigslist for dirt cheap and purchased 5 Pro comp 7069's off of amazon . com also for dirt cheap. 


Trimmed the Factory Jeep JK fender flares and Front bumper to make room the 35 inch tires. 


Trimmed Jeep JK fender Flares and no lift. Also trimmed about 1.5 inches off of the rubicon rock rails and trimmed the rear pinch seam just in front of the rear tires. No rubbing so far. 



First time wheeling

First off road outing, Fresh off the dealership lot.


Let my beautiful wife drive for a bit.