So, it all started when I took Meg for a test ride in a green stripped version of a JKU X... no power anything, little 16" donut wheels and tires. And my wife says during the test ride, with the salesman in the back " lets get one". Great... Negotiations weren't fun or easy. So, at the end of it, I drove away $20,800 poorer but with a JKU that they were going to put cruise control and power locks in...
Fast forward 2 weeks, they take the Jeep to install the cruise control and powers locks. I get it back and the dealer tells me they don't have the parts yet for the power locks. Long story short, it turns out they couldn't't get the parts from Mopar and they ended up giving me the loaded version of the X... That is how I ended up with My Blue JKU X... Later to become the Rescue
First mods...
I needed better skids, I decided to go with the River Raiders set... I got all of them except the Gas Tank skid... Figured if I needed to, I'd just take the stock on off and pound out the dents...
Next was rockers...
Meg wanted steps, I wanted someting useful... So, we got both... thus started the swap before every trail ride...
Next on the list was a winch... I got a killer deal on a Warn XD9000I... But then I also needed a bumper for it.
Got another killer deal on Mopar's Rock Bumper...
I think the next think to be added was the Rear Rock Bumper... Got that one by the care of the other Guy's insurance. I got rear ended...
Next up was the Snorkel... And Some space between the tires and the wheels... I had gotten the Lifetime Powertrain warranty with my Jeep when I bought it, I also bought the additional Bumper to Bumper Lifetime MaxCare warranty... I'll explain later but, this was a very very good choice.
So, I asked the dealer's service manager what I could do about the sag I had from both the Bumpers and the winch... Plus I loaded down my Jeep with my camera gear prior to going and talking with him about it... So, my jeep was loaded down. He suggested I get it lifted. I told him I didn't want to void my warranty. He then suggested I get Old Man Emu springs to compensate... So, I did.
I also thught it was a good idea to get some mud tires. Afte getting stuck and winching my way up the "Novice Hill" on my AT tires...
Now my Jeep could tackle just about everything... and it did...
So, now I started thinking of what else to do... To make it safer (Wife)
CB... Cobra 75 plus antenna mod on my license plate holder...
While working on the back of the Jeep I decided I needed a tailgate table... My first incarnation wasn't the best. So, I contacted a guy from ebay that made molle plates for the tailgate. I convinced him to make a table per my description... here it is...
I of course wanted to add off road lights... You know, bright ones!!!
LED Work lights, 1600 lumes apiece plus Rigid D2 Driving Lights... I think 2600 Lumes apiece...
You'll note in the pic above, the driver side of the bumper is bent in... I had hit a deer going 70 on Interstate 74 in Indiana... That of course was cause for a new bumper... and so the bumper swap began...
And of course I didn't want to put my kind of ugly Work lights on the front of that pretty new bumper... So, I got the Rigid dually Spots to put in my fog light holes...
Now I wanted to make the Jeep easier to camp with. So, a Gobi rack was next on the list. I only put it on when I plan on using it... The rest of the time it sits in the top of the garage.
And of course I had to move my license plate and therfor the antenna...
Still having some hood flutter problems... and thought this would fix that plus lower the temp inside the engine bay...
Now I decided I wanted to be more self sufficent on the trail, and set up my own On Board Air... plus tanks...
Plus a Viair 100% duty compressor under the hood.
Now I'm up to the fun lights... Harder to post pics... But, I have Strobes on all four corners for the Few Fire Dept. runs I go on...
I also decided to change my CB... the Cobra 75 speaker wasn't working right and I was getting very bad reception... So, I got a Cobra lcd29 bt... Nice Radio...
and put it here...
Now, I'm just about done... I helped lead the Fall Freak Fest down to Stone Quarry, and well. knocked off my driver fender again... So, after putting it back on I decided to get larger tires, specifically wider ones and wheels with more backspacing. So, I got Pro Comp wheels with 4" of backspacing and 315-75-16 ProComp MT tires... Only for the trail. And of course a bumper with a tire carrier that will hold the larger tires...
As you can see, they work... Next on my list of Mods is Bump Stops... With stock rubi tires and wheels, I never needed them. Well, now I do.
So, here is the street version...
So, after Meg took a look at what I said I did to the Jeep... She told me I forgot some things...
Here they are....
![]()