My mileage tanks in the winter because I turn my vehicle on and let it idle to warm up the inside before I take off. Nothing worse than jumping into a cold vehicle.
Usually when you need to purchase brackets separately, it's because the steps or rockers are universal fit or they fit multiple vehicles but the brackets do not.
Awesome! Nice to see a fellow Wisconsinite.
I suppose there's a chance you drove over a rust pile that someone left on the road from their old rusty beater.
Either way, I'd keep on top of them or they could stain
More than likely when you parked your Jeep, the disk brakes were wet with water, then proceeded to surface rust while it sat. Then when you started driving again, the pads ground all of that rust off and onto your Jeep. Keep in mind the surface of the rotars are bare metal and rust very easily.
Your detailer friend is correct, it's brake dust from the disk brakes. Wire wheel acid can take it off off with no problem, soak the Jeep down with water, spray the acid on one panel at a time, and let it sit for 20 seconds then wash it off with a wash mitt, then rinse. Just don't let it sit on...
I work in a truck accessory shop and I've installed hundreds of Access covers and I can tell you that fabric tonneaus are not meant to be completely water tight. That being said, there are a couple of things you can do to minimize water entering. When I install Access covers, I stick an L seal...
You should consider bringing the window sticker of the JT you want to another dealer and see if they can find one similar through a dealer trade. You can also use that opportunity to bargain with them. Just let them know what the situation is with the other dealer and they need to come in...