"Fire Bee" Willys JKU in Southern Oregon
09-30-2016, 03:01 PM
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"Fire Bee" Willys JKU in Southern Oregon
So I've been a lurker on this forum for a while but posted for the 1st time yesterday. Thank you for making this place awesome!
I started with a brand new stock 2015 JKU Willy's edition about 18 mos ago, and already put 33k on the odo. It's a daily driver. (Why didn't I sell my Tacoma sooner?!) My little girl's favorite color is yellow, so the black and yellow bumblebee in the showroom came home with us. After I started adding red accents, the kids named it "Fire Bee". First mods last summer were a new front bumper, 33" tires and wheel spacers, seat covers, and roof sun shade. This summer, I added a 3.5" AEV lift, 35" Nitto dune grappler tires, and Bestop tube doors. Next on the list are re-gearing from 3.73 to 4.56 and real lockers. The LSD's make the jeep shake when charging up the sand dunes. Real lockers should help right? I'm not much of a rock crawler, but use my rig on trails quite a bit. So here are a few pics! I'm all ears as far as recommendations for lockers and regearing (brands?) for my situation. I've done all the work so far in my garage (except tires of course), Re-gearing may be more than I'm comforable with, but a friend has offered to help.
Marcus
I started with a brand new stock 2015 JKU Willy's edition about 18 mos ago, and already put 33k on the odo. It's a daily driver. (Why didn't I sell my Tacoma sooner?!) My little girl's favorite color is yellow, so the black and yellow bumblebee in the showroom came home with us. After I started adding red accents, the kids named it "Fire Bee". First mods last summer were a new front bumper, 33" tires and wheel spacers, seat covers, and roof sun shade. This summer, I added a 3.5" AEV lift, 35" Nitto dune grappler tires, and Bestop tube doors. Next on the list are re-gearing from 3.73 to 4.56 and real lockers. The LSD's make the jeep shake when charging up the sand dunes. Real lockers should help right? I'm not much of a rock crawler, but use my rig on trails quite a bit. So here are a few pics! I'm all ears as far as recommendations for lockers and regearing (brands?) for my situation. I've done all the work so far in my garage (except tires of course), Re-gearing may be more than I'm comforable with, but a friend has offered to help.
Marcus
Last edited by schweizer; 09-30-2016 at 03:05 PM.
09-30-2016, 03:15 PM
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And here's my first homebuilt mod: a cargo/trunk hard cover.
After getting my box of emergency gear lifted from a topless FireBee in a restaurant parking lot, I decided more security was in order. It's two 4-foot sections of angle steel, cut in half and mirrored to each other. Then a sheet of plywood cut to fit around the roll bars. The top is 2 pieces of 1/2" joined at the middle and reinforced underneath, for a total of 1" thick in some spots. If I were to do it again, I'd pick 3/4" plywood in one piece. It will fit in one solid piece around the roll bars if you remove the padding and the shoulder point on one side temporarily. It's coated with spray-on bedliner, but you can clearly still see the wood grain. Next, I have dark gray floor carpeting that I'll glue with spay adhesive and hot glue. This setup can be used winter or summer, with or without the hardtop. A thief could reach in and grab small items by folding the seats down, but my storage boxes are staying put. BTW, the black and yellow storage boxes are available at Costco currently, and side-by-side are a *perfect* fit.
After getting my box of emergency gear lifted from a topless FireBee in a restaurant parking lot, I decided more security was in order. It's two 4-foot sections of angle steel, cut in half and mirrored to each other. Then a sheet of plywood cut to fit around the roll bars. The top is 2 pieces of 1/2" joined at the middle and reinforced underneath, for a total of 1" thick in some spots. If I were to do it again, I'd pick 3/4" plywood in one piece. It will fit in one solid piece around the roll bars if you remove the padding and the shoulder point on one side temporarily. It's coated with spray-on bedliner, but you can clearly still see the wood grain. Next, I have dark gray floor carpeting that I'll glue with spay adhesive and hot glue. This setup can be used winter or summer, with or without the hardtop. A thief could reach in and grab small items by folding the seats down, but my storage boxes are staying put. BTW, the black and yellow storage boxes are available at Costco currently, and side-by-side are a *perfect* fit.
10-02-2016, 05:45 AM
#4
Yellow... the color of my first new truck (hence my user name still hahahah).
That pic of the jeep on the side of a dune with water at the bottom looks a bit sketchy to say the least hahahah.
That pic of the jeep on the side of a dune with water at the bottom looks a bit sketchy to say the least hahahah.
10-02-2016, 07:36 AM
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That pic of the jeep on the side of a dune with water at the bottom looks a bit sketchy to say the least hahahah.
Marcus