Starting a New one - 15' JKU Sport - muti-purpose

[rlynch356]

I thought i would start this off before i actually installed anything .

Backstory.. This is my 2nd JKU, My first one was a 12' sahara in silver that was fully loaded with all the bells and whistles (Nav, leather, dual tops, everything painted, 6spd, etc) and I ...... Hated it. I liked the way it drove, but in reality i hated all the stuff it was equipped with and i found myself back in the D90 as a daily driver. I like simple, functional, and Fun.. The Sahara was too civilized for me. It was a car..

So it was sold....actually for a small profit after a year of ownership and miles.

I drifted for 8 months using the D90 as my daily driver (which i had been doing for the past 5+ years)..

Then i bought this one.

It's a 15' JKU Sport, with hardtop, bluetooth, Auto, and Max tow package. And it's of course white

My plan right now is build this one as my daily driver, go to truck for trails and exploring, Camping with the family (2 little girls), and eventually journeys like the TaT and maybe more as my girls get older and want to explore more.

Oh and since i'm a scuba instructor in my spare time, i need to be able to pack a full cave diving setup in there too. Which complicates things dramatically especially when were Cave diving, Running Dirt trails, & camping in one trip (more on that later though)

I'm not going to build a rock crawler... And i really like products that are fully integrated with each other and functional. I saw a lot of good ideas and ones that i am not going to go with as well at Expo east.

First up on the upgrades list are lights..
Headlights from my D90 are going in - Trucklite P7 with the Pulse harness. (the D90 uses an ARB relay system). I knew from my first JK go around that the headlights are a real weak link, so they are the first to go. i really like these lights, they are bright and are durable.

Interior cargo light - National Luna 9 led strip - i have one in the 90 and love it plus i already had it in my garage so i'll go in as well.

Next up on the upgrade list are Sliders/steps for my girls (5 & 9) to make it easier to get in and provide some real protection for the rocker panels. I have seen enough JK's with trashed Rockers at Uwharrie to put it high on the list.

For this i have a set of ARB Sliders in route.




The keeper (and now focused on more trails and other land rover-ish stuff.)


I'll update as I make progress.

 

[B 1000]

I remember when my Jeep looked just like that. Stock white Sport S

Really nice Defender by the way!

 

[GFA]

Bells point by chance? Just sold my house in June on optimist farm, just below the pond near the corner. I'd see you (if it's you) parked in front of my house many mornings in the turning lane on the phone... Nice D90. I think our daughters went to the Montessori together for a while.

SB

 

[rlynch356]

Knot.. Yep thats me - If she went to new school, Ainsley went there (and now Quinn does too).
The JK is going to turn out much like the 90 (since i can't buy a defender 110 new in the US).

I toyed with building a 110 from scratch like Bo's with all trimmings but in the end the JK is a very solid platform and has great aftermarket support & the real kicker is you can get it fixed anywhere. things that are "Character Building" with a diesel Defender like i was looking at building.

 

[GFA]

New school it was. About 2yrs ago for mine till we had to move her because of work schedules.

We looked at the foreclosure next door to you but ultimately building new was the route we decided on.

I think you'll really enjoy the jk once you get it set up even though it's not a Defender. If you ever need help with it let me know
SB

 

[rlynch356]

Sounds great & I'll probably need some help when it comes time for the suspension/bumpers (which will probably been soon after the ARB Sliders go on)

I just finished pulling the truck lites from the D90 to switch over the JKU. Hopefully get that done this weekend. Then off to Uwharrie next weekend for a LR event.

 

[rlynch356]

Update..
Progress made.

Competed the install of the truck lite headlights w/ Anti flicker harnesses & the national Luna 9 hard mount light for the cargo area.

First up are the trucklite's

Installation is straight forward on the JK - remove the grill panel (which is very light plastic) and unscrew the headlight bezel from the adjuster. The only hard part about the process is securing the anti flicker modules so they don't rattle around. i cross zip tied them in there to holes in the body panels and will recheck them after a while and see how they are holding up.


Next up was the National Luna Led cargo light
i purchased it from Equipt
http://www.equipt1.com/item/9-led-light-hard-mount-clear-lens

this one required 2 holes to be drilled in the hard top at the rear vertical panel where the other wiring harness's run for the rear defroster and the wiper. I made-up a simple 2 wire harness using 22 gauge stranded wire, and a wire sheath. The light itself is attached using 3m body panel strips so it should stay put. a note here you cannot drill the roof and attached the light with screws - the hardtop roof is only a single panel thickness.
Once routed inside the rear of the hardtop, i drilled a matching hole at the bottom of the passenger side to run the cable out and attach to the rear wiring harness. the connection you are looking for is a 2 wire plug, with purple/red & a black wire. This provides constant non-switched power. I believe this is normally used for the Cigar plug outlet when the sub-woofer is ordered. My sport does not have one so it's unused.
everything was grommeted and the wires were sheathed.



Light output is pretty impressive
Cargo area


spill over


next up is the ARB slider/step install