thecodemonk Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 I like those A-Pillar mounts! How hard were they to attach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 On 12/17/2020 at 4:58 PM, thecodemonk said: I like those A-Pillar mounts! How hard were they to attach? Sorry - i just saw this. I got them on Ebay and they were pretty easy. I wanted to make sure they were lined up pretty well so that was kind of a pain. The other thing is they recommended I use rivets - which worked okay for the first couple but i didn't feel like they were super strong so i ended up using hex head self drilling screws from harbor freight to make sure the thing was very tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 I ordered some body armor from Ares Fab. I need feedback on what color to paint it. Can't decide whether to spray it with tan like the rest of that part of the body panel or black like the trim or something else. I welcome suggestions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 I would do tan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 then black mounting hardware. give it that riveted armor mad max look. what i. going for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 On 3/30/2021 at 10:53 PM, Pete M said: I would do tan. Damn well I tried black first not sure I hate or love it. Luckily I can unbolt it and try a different color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 it looks like you installed a junkyard bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 Awhile back went under contract to purchase 23 acres of land. It's pretty raw and needs some clearing. Before I get a tractor I've been going over there to make sure the property markers are right and to get a lay of the land. This truck has been a godsend for that. Also the winch has been very helpful in certain circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 3 minutes ago, Pete M said: it looks like you installed a junkyard bed. Ouch damn that's a pretty good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 I got the Ares armor because I was getting a lot of tree rub and dented the bed recently. But more fun than that I punctured a tire while I was at the property clearing some paths. One of the hardwood saplings I cut was pointed just right to get the sidewall... Lucky for me my new neighbor happened to be hanging out in his excavator. Safer than using a hi lift. Was able to help me lift it up to change out the wheel with one of the old wrangler sets I had. But I guess this means I need new tires. Which sucks because these Kelly tires have tread on them, although my buddies give me crap because their "A/T tread" is pretty... not aggressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 Added some rock crawler light for when I'm out on the land trying to figure out what I'm stuck on. Harbor freight started selling these led flush mount rock lights that were super bright. Bonus picture of my baby goats hanging out under the truck. They like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 (edited) After @Pete M pointed out the black made it look like a junkyard bed and I cried for awhile at such a hurtful comment, I decided to rework the ares bed armor Ares sent a bunch of riv nuts so I was able to remove the panels to paint again. It was nice hardware but to be honest even with my little rivet nut tool I couldn't get most of them to seat without them spinning once any kind of torque was applied to the bolts holding on the panels. The panels are super heavy duty and in the end I decided to just use the bolts with lock nuts for anywhere I could swap out the rivnuts. You can almost reach most of the bolt locations from the inside of the panel under the truck but I don't think there's any way to get to the holes above the rear wheels. I couldn't see any way to really remove the inner fender liners to be able to put a lock nut back there. Went back and sprayed everything tan and kept it like that for awhile. Then I thought about it and after looking at a YouTube xj project, I really like the way he painted the tubing part of his bumper. I decided to do the tan with black tubing. That last picture the tan paint looks a different shade on the panel but it ended up drying in a way that matched the rest - which is the benefit of using the rattle can flat matte color. Now I need to figure out if there's a simple effective way to use the rear fender flares, or alternatively what I need to do if I don't put them back on. Right now to put them on is a b*@ch and the inner part of the flare I can't reattach, so they get horrible caked up with mud every weekend I'm out in the field. I'm gonna look around for a solution. I'd love to do something other than the $500 bUshwhacker flares. Edited June 25, 2021 by billyblankss added link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 1 hour ago, billyblankss said: After @Pete M pointed out the black made it look like a junkyard bed and I cried for awhile at such a hurtful comment, I decided to rework the ares bed armor I think it was a compliment. Pete loves junk yard beds, he has a collection of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 On 6/25/2021 at 9:54 AM, billyblankss said: Then I thought about it and after looking at a YouTube xj project, I really like the way he painted the tubing part of his bumper. The black on tan I do have to say looks a lot cleaner. I all black look good too, thats how my fender armor is on my mj, all black. Side note- the xj in that video is at my buddies shop getting work done. Its in the background of one of my axle pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWheeler331 Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Just read up on your build. Very nicely done. I have a couple questions...... 1) Do you like the Rocky Road Outfitters lift? I trying to decide which lift I want. I am trying to fun 33" tires with no rub. Reading over Rocky Road Outfitters lift page it seem like a nice kit. 2) What size tires are you running? One more for good luck 3) Are you using the Stetion Quick Latch Hod pin buttons or something similar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted March 8, 2022 Author Share Posted March 8, 2022 On 2/7/2022 at 2:04 PM, JWheeler331 said: Just read up on your build. Very nicely done. I have a couple questions...... 1) Do you like the Rocky Road Outfitters lift? I trying to decide which lift I want. I am trying to fun 33" tires with no rub. Reading over Rocky Road Outfitters lift page it seem like a nice kit. 2) What size tires are you running? One more for good luck 3) Are you using the Stetion Quick Latch Hod pin buttons or something similar? Hey - Sorry I didn't see your comment. Thanks for the compliments... 1) I liked the Rocky Road Outfitters lift although I have been told by many it was overpriced, and it may have been. But honestly before I got into it I wasn't really sure all the things I needed and I got some confidence from their team. They were very responsive on the phone and email. I have no complaints with the kit, and they even include the little things that i had a hard time finding anywhere, like the emergency brake extension thing. Buy with confidence if you're ok with the price. 2) I'm running 33s. It was the best I could do without re-gearing. I have the 3.07 gears and still occasionally take it on the highway. Re-gearing was intimidating early on. It still kind of is. 3) I did use those quick latch hood pins from amazon. DO NOT GET THEM. They worked great for a while but one of them started getting stuck. To the point i couldn't get the hood open and had to take off the whole front fascia. I ended up getting the traditional kind of hood pins. I guess you get what you pay for here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWheeler331 Posted March 8, 2022 Share Posted March 8, 2022 10 hours ago, billyblankss said: Hey - Sorry I didn't see your comment. Thanks for the compliments... 1) I liked the Rocky Road Outfitters lift although I have been told by many it was overpriced, and it may have been. But honestly before I got into it I wasn't really sure all the things I needed and I got some confidence from their team. They were very responsive on the phone and email. I have no complaints with the kit, and they even include the little things that i had a hard time finding anywhere, like the emergency brake extension thing. Buy with confidence if you're ok with the price. 2) I'm running 33s. It was the best I could do without re-gearing. I have the 3.07 gears and still occasionally take it on the highway. Re-gearing was intimidating early on. It still kind of is. 3) I did use those quick latch hood pins from amazon. DO NOT GET THEM. They worked great for a while but one of them started getting stuck. To the point i couldn't get the hood open and had to take off the whole front fascia. I ended up getting the traditional kind of hood pins. I guess you get what you pay for here. Thanks for the input. Having never lifted a truck or anything myself I was kind of the same way when it came to the lift. I went ahead and ordered the RRO kit. I also liked how everything was all there to order in one place. Glad your experience was good with them. I had heard lots of other's who were not happy with their customer service but all seem to like the product. So far so good I guess. I ordered on Feb 21, 2022. So far they have only charged my card for 207 or something. Not sure why they would charge that unless they are charging each piece of the kit as they go. I was told before ordering by them that they were about 5 weeks out. I am still working on other parts of the truck so that was no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyblankss Posted March 8, 2022 Author Share Posted March 8, 2022 54 minutes ago, JWheeler331 said: Thanks for the input. Having never lifted a truck or anything myself I was kind of the same way when it came to the lift. I went ahead and ordered the RRO kit. I also liked how everything was all there to order in one place. Glad your experience was good with them. I had heard lots of other's who were not happy with their customer service but all seem to like the product. So far so good I guess. I ordered on Feb 21, 2022. So far they have only charged my card for 207 or something. Not sure why they would charge that unless they are charging each piece of the kit as they go. I was told before ordering by them that they were about 5 weeks out. I am still working on other parts of the truck so that was no problem. Yeah this happened to me as well. I got half the order and then the OME springs and some other stuff came in a second shipment about a week later. It was about 5 weeks two years ago when I ordered it. I will say you can pick up the phone and talk to a guy, and you can email them stupid questions and they will get back to you. Or they did for me, maybe it was a good day. Good luck - what size did you end up getting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWheeler331 Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 9 hours ago, billyblankss said: Yeah this happened to me as well. I got half the order and then the OME springs and some other stuff came in a second shipment about a week later. It was about 5 weeks two years ago when I ordered it. I will say you can pick up the phone and talk to a guy, and you can email them stupid questions and they will get back to you. Or they did for me, maybe it was a good day. Good luck - what size did you end up getting? I ended up going with their 6” lift. Along with some other options such as the YJ slip yoke, shocks, disconnects etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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