Month: September 2020

While I wait for my full belly skid plates to come in (couple more weeks), my buddies at Cumberland Crawlerz advised me to get differential skid plates, since the front and rear would not be protected. So I ordered some Rough Country front and rear differential skid plates. They were pretty cheap, about $160 for the set.

They came in pretty quickly and today I put them on. To my surprise they weren’t hard to get installed. So glad I bought the impact wrench, made all the difference in the world. I lost less than 1/2″ of clearance, but happy that I have the protection!

Now I just need to take the time to replace some of my missing sockets, since I only had two of the three I needed. I’ve never bought a complete set, instead I buy what I need. In hindsight that was probably not the best approach. On the other hand, I’m now using impact tools, so I may need to buy a complete set for that reason.

After showering and having dinner, I realized I forgot to torque the screws. Heck, I’ll do that during the week. I need to get to sleep pretty soon so I can get to AOAA by 0730. Its more than a two hour drive, but its a nice drive, so I’ll need to be up by 0430 to be out the door by 0500. Jeep’s all packed, just need to get ice, sammishes, and gas at WaWa along the way.

I haven’t mounted the Baja lights yet, since I need to figure out how to handle the wiring. I’m torn between getting Jeep’s AUX switch kit, or go with a third party (so many options!). I don’t want to ride around with lights that don’t work. #notaposer

If I get a third party AUX switch solution, I’ll mount it on the Wayalife CBBAR that I ordered a few days ago. I’m kind of leaning in this direction. Seems like a very clean and convenient solution for mounting my CB, my GMRS radio, and a third party AUX switch solution.

The front bumper skidplate and roller fairlead came in just before this weekend’s Cumberland Crawlerz ride at Rausch Creek Offline Park.

Smittybilt’s low profile roller fairing was just what I wanted. I didn’t want anything sticking too far out in front, since this is my daily driver. The holes were 11″ apart, and the holes on my ARB Stubby Bumper are 10″ apart, so I had to drill a couple holes. Luckily I drilled the holes correctly the first time. It installed without much trouble. I added the WARN Epic Sidewinder to eliminate the hook, and to keep the low profile I wan for the front end.

I added a Quadratec aluminum sway bar skid plate to protect the front end. I was able to install it myself. Two steel brackets are bolt on, then the skid plate bolts on to them. I followed the usual best practice, install all bolts, then tighten them up round robin. I somehow stripped the fourth bolt, hope nobody notices. It might be aluminum but its heavy as heck! Very strong, I can tell it’ll pay for it self on weekend rides.

Lights should be in on Wednesday. Fender flares should ship on Sept 10. Skid plate kit should ship in a couple weeks. So more work yet to come.