Jeep has done several grille variants recently variants. Photos from SEMA... this first one is from the CJ-SixtySix concept. The lights protrude into the outer grille slots, but the grille itself is fairly flat.



The JL grille is has a bulge forward (like the YJ and TJ), and the lights protrude into the grille slots.



I'm thinking the JK Update Grille Kit should look like the JL grille but with front running lights.

 

Definitely round running/turn lights in grill. If I smacked my JK grill, I would update to that Classic look, with the Flat Fenders
Have you seen any Inside Hood Release Kits ? With the rash of thefts, a lockable inside release, like they had in CJ7s way back when option

 

SEMA is over and as always it was a very interesting show. I'm surprised and pleased by the amount of interest the Trail Kitchen received, especially from non-Jeep people. Seems like there are a range of applications for it, including tailgating in a minivan.

I'm taking home MORryde's preproduction Overland Rack, when I get home I'll install it on my Jeep, test it, and generate a punch list of things the engineers needs to tweak (if anything).

I also acquired a few other things to test...

I've long wanted to experiment with on-board air, and I've got a bunch of ideas for interesting ways to mount a compressor and optional air tank, but I didn't have a compressor (until today). I met with a compressor manufacturer that's a supplier to many of the leading brand-name compressor products in the market, and found a really nice 100% duty cycle @ 100 psi compressor that's a perfect size for many places in a Jeep. The company offered me a sample compressor and tank at the end of the show.

The samples:



The compressor is small enough that I should be able to mount it inside the spare tire carrier. In this photo it's sitting on top of the carrier to show the size of the compressor. Seems like a good place to mount a compressor, it's space that's rarely used for anything else.



Or, I could mount it in an inner fender ammo can tray.



Turns out the 1.5 gallon tank they gave me could fit perfectly in an upper corner of the Overland Rack.



I'll begin experimenting with the compressor and tank and make up some mounts when I get home. In the meantime, if anyone has any great ideas about where they'd like to see it mounted, please post your ideas.

 

Another sample I'll be testing over the coming days during my Death Valley camping trip - a new product on the market, it's a table that hooks onto the Jeep's tire. In this photo I'm testing it on the MORryde JK display tub (this table is not a MORryde product).



I didn't really plan to carry the Overland Rack, the compressor and tank and the tire table on the camping trip, so the Jeep is really packed. I'll have to choose easy trails in Death Valley due to the load.

 

Since the compressor tank and pump are so compact, could they mount on the roll bar down bars? Or in your Modular Hardtop Storage window replacement. ?
For people with hard tops that are seldom removed, mounting things like this, or fire extinguishers in the rear corners might work

 

Yes the are small enough that they could be mounted on the roll bars. The tank is larger than the compressor so it wouldn't fit as well there, but I suspect many people who put compressors in their Jeeps don't run with tanks. I use Molle Bar sleeves to keep things like a first aid kit there though, so that location is already being used in both my JKU and LJ. Not sure I'd really like looking at hardware like a compressor mounted to the roll bar, personally I'd rather have it in a less visible place.



Mounting them in window compartments would also be possible. That still seems to be a popular place for mounting Rotopax containers, I spotted several on Jeeps at SEMA this week.



If it turns out there's a place to mount a compressor that a lot of people would like to see, maybe I'll do a mount for that location and maybe it will turn out to be a product.

 

Another view of the tire table when I was testing it in the MORryde booth (again, it's not a MORryde product). The reason it was given to me is because of my camping trip over the next few days, they want a review of how it works out on a trip like that. It seems like a good complement to the already large counter space the Trail Kitchen has. I'll have to see how it works out. Trail camping photos to come.

 

No more "Roughing it" ! That set up will tempt Walter Mittys out into the Wild !

 

I've been offline since last Saturday when I left Las Vegas for Death Valley to do some off road exploring/camping. I'm now on the way back to NY and back online, I'll post photos of the Death Valley expedition as soon as I get a chance.

 

Camp set up in the desert; at the entrance to Cottonwood Canyon in Death Valley, miles from the nearest road or human.