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After a few short weeks with the Jeep (and spending way too much time researching parts), I've started to accumulate a list of parts I think my wife's Jeep could use. Thankfully, my wife has at least allowed me to continue tinkering with her vehicle. Modding is, after all, a lot of the fun I get out of vehicles. I love driving and all that stuff but I also enjoy learning how things work, seeing if there are ways to improve things, and ultimately make each vehicle their own. A lot of times I like to be able to do stuff myself but more often than not I'm either tool or skill limited. This Jeep, however, is very much like Lego and I feel it's so easy to work on that I've just enjoyed hanging out in my garage and working on it myself as much as I can.
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| Barricade Extreme HD Rocker Steps |
The first order of business was to remove the factory Rubicon rails that come with the Willys Wheeler package and replace it with Barricade Extreme HD Rocker steps. This Jeep isn't lifted but sitting on 33s I felt that sliding in and out of the seat was a sure recipe for killing the side bolsters of the seats in the near future so having a step to stand on makes getting in and out much easier. Of course, if you have steps, you probably also want a grab bar to pull yourself in and a pair of GraBarsUSA a-pillar grab bars fit the bill nicely.
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| GraBarsUSA Handle Set |
The previous owner had a plastic center console mounted phone mount which was decent but put the phone too far away and covered a lot of the windshield so I replaced with a 67Design carbon fiber phone mount system. Looks much more slick and puts the phone in a better, and more importantly safer, spot.
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| 67Design carbon fiber phone mount |
Continuing on with the interior improvements, the previous owner also had a set of random mismatched rubber floor mats that definitely weren't form fitting. I'm not OCD but that definitely bothers me so a fresh set of Husky WeatherBeater floor mats all around including the full cargo area under the rear seat had to go in.
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| Husky Cargo Mat |
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| Husky Cargo Mat with rear seat re-installed |
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| Perfectly form fitting Husky floor mats |
In keeping with the military inspired Jeep theme, a green Smittybilt storage system attached to the tailgate to keep various things like spare oil tucked away seemed like a logical choice.
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| Smittybilt GEAR Tailgate cover and storage |
The rubber hood latches were starting to look a bit weathered so an upgrade to a set of Rugged Ridge aluminum latches not only improves the look but removes any hood flutter at highway speeds.
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| Rugged Ridge aluminum hood latch |
Little details matter to me so the "stubby" antenna the previous owner installed didn't look right (and was starting to show rust at the base) so it had to go. Replaced by a nice 13" flexible rubber antenna with a carbon fiber base, it just cleaned up the exterior while still providing great radio reception.
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| Rydonair 13" antenna |
These were some nice appearance and convenience upgrades to get it to where it should be but we've got some nice performance related upgrades coming next that I'm very excited to put on.
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| Chopper's looking pretty sweet now |
Maintenance Update:
Mileage: 67,888
- New 15" RainX front wiper blades
- New air intake filter (temporary while I wash and re-oil the K&N filter that was already in there)
