Wheeling in the JL Jeep Wrangler at Austin JeepPeople’s Polar Bear Run
We open up the 2018 JL Wrangler to let in the cold, then hit some trails.
What did you do this weekend? Did you stay out of the cold, crank up the thermostat, and watch movies on the couch? Or did you venture outside? That’s where I went. I took the 2018 JL Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport out to Austin JeepPeople‘s biggest annual event, the Polar Bear Run, to introduce Jeep owners to it and go off-roading with them in the cold–no roofs, no doors.
That’s where I learned what it’s like to show up to a red carpet event with a celebrity. Everyone was excited that I was there, but they didn’t want to see me. I became invisible the second JK drivers laid their eyes on the new Wrangler.
Surprisingly, it took a while for that frenzy to start. During check-in at the Hidden Falls Adventure Park in Marble Falls, Texas, most of the people around me were too busy waiting in line or prepping their vehicles for the day’s activities. What started in 2013 as a cookout and wheeling gathering with less than 100 attendees has grown into a three-day festival of camping, crawling, and camaraderie. Brad Hale, one of AJP’s administrators, told me that the 2018 Polar Bear Run had more than 400 registrations/Jeeps. From what I saw, the majority of them were heavily modified JKs and JKUs. This year’s event generated $18,000, which will benefit Texas Search and Rescue (TEXSAR), Honor Flight, Cutie PITooties Pit Bull Rescue charities.
The 2018 PBR had more than 400 registered Jeeps, the majority of them heavily modified JKs and JKUs.
Hale had let AJP members know ahead of time on Facebook that a JL would be at this year’s event. Once I got my rear view mirror hang tag, I headed back toward my press loaner. The combination of its lighter aluminum body panels and eight-speed automatic made its Pentastar V6 feel remarkably lively on the way up from Austin. The engine I once loathed in the JK for its sluggishness had been transformed into one of my favorite things about the fourth-generation Wrangler. I drove through the gate and onto the main trail road and made my way toward Area B, where Hale would have a couple of people help me tear down the JL for the day’s festivities. Hale’s brother Curtis and a JK Rubicon owner named Stevie Cutler were kind enough to assist. We picked the JL apart like ants. I had an 18-mm socket wrench, but my open wrench kit lacked that all important size, so once Cutler finished disconnecting the passenger-side sway bar, I borrowed his wrench and undid the driver-side sway bar. Using the JL’s included tool kit, I started removing the six interior bolts that held the three-piece black hard top to the JL’s body as Hale and Cutler worked on removing the doors. I climbed up to remove the two remaining bolts that were keeping the top in place. The three of us moved the boxy lid to a safe area. I bagged up the two front roof panels while the guys carried the lighter aluminum doors over to join the top. The final step was airing the Bridgestone Duelers down to about 21 psi, which someone was kind enough to do at the end of our flurry of disassembly.
