Vrael's 22 Hydro Blue Sport S

[vrael]

The dream for a truck bed started a while back. It was moments like this that had me daydreaming my JKU was a JT. More pics of my JKU build and a silly presentation listing her for sale here.

A few years and too many deer wrapped in tarps later, here we are. I ordered through Gupton and it was a pretty straightforward process. I was incredibly fortunate with my timeline, although I wasn't fully prepared to make the trip so quickly. The delayed pickup is killing me.

Order: 1/13
Delivered to Gupton: 1/31
Scheduled Pickup: 2/23

2022 Build:
Hydro Blue
Sport S
Max Tow
LED
Cold Weather
Popular Equipment Package
8.4 Alpine
Active Safety
ACC
Aux Switches
Trail Rail
Roll-Up Tonneau
Selec-Trac
Bluetooth Speaker
MSRP as of 1/13: $56,045

Here's the blank slate:

And Current:

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[vrael]

Current Plans:

Big stuff

Tires
285/70/17 C KO2s, but still up in the air here. I’d grab 285/75/17 KO2 if it came in C but only see E. I ran 315 E KO2s on my JKU and love how they handle the snow, but E was a little too much for my use case. May consider other tires in 285/75/17.

Update: Going to run 285/75/17 Toyo Open Country ATIII C

Wheels
Another toss-up. Looking at AEV Pintler and AEV Salta. Both look amazing and I’m probably going to end up flipping a coin.

Satin Black Salta XR won out.

Suspension
Mopar 2” + Metalcloak Front and Rear? trackbar(s)+ Metalcloak arm geo brackets + Fox Stabilizer.
I like the completeness of the AEV, Clayton and Metalcloak lifts, but I’m not looking for that much height with the tire size I’ll be running. I wish they had a lift in between their leveling and 3.5 kits. I want to maintain the factory rake. Considered the AEV 2” Spacer, but I guess I prefer to waste more money than I need to. Would rather be overkill than not.

Bumpers
Front: I’m leaning toward the LOD Mid-width if I swap out stock. I liked it on the JKU and it’s held up really well.
Rear: No idea if I’m going to leave it stock or sacrifice the weight savings and upgrade. Open to any suggestions.

Winch
No idea yet. Ran an Engo 10k on the JKU.

Rock Rails
Side: I ran these budget rail/steps from Barricade on my JKU and they surprised me. I may go for the JT version. Can’t decide if I love or hate these Quadratec rail/steps. Not a fan of the silver logo and wish they were a bit lower. But if I’m not lifting it up too much, so maybe they’ll be ok for the wife and toddler. I do like how they cover up the pinch weld though.

Ended up grabbing MetalCloak's Overland Rocker & Flip Step.




Smaller Stuff

Bedliner: Line-X

3W Floor Mats

Rugged Ridge Sill Guards

Kikbax Mirror/Peg Combo

Unsure on programming tool. Ran a flashcal on the JKU, but Tazer seems to be pretty popular nowadays.

Quadratec Dead Pedal

Paracord handles + toddler rope from forum user darksidedesign

Weathertech Front and Rear mudflaps

Teraflex short antenna

 

[vrael]

Packing my bags and getting ready for an early flight on Weds. Finally came to a decision regarding tires, wheels and suspension. I'll be bringing back the Mopar 2" + Fox SS from the dealer on pickup, and the MetalCloak front track bar and geo correction bracket should be here tomorrow.

Still researching the best place to order my 285/75/17 Toyos and AEV Saltas, but looking like that will be two separate orders. Hopefully, there isn't a shipping delay on either of those.

3w weather mats are stuck in customs but should clear in a week. Received some interesting emails from their customer service. I'll probably wait on the rest until my JKU sells.

 

[STLMike]

Congrats! You might get to play in the snow on your way back if the forecast holds true. Have a safe trip.

Mine has been stuck in shipping for 2 weeks now.

 

[vrael]

Congrats! You might get to play in the snow on your way back if the forecast holds true. Have a safe trip.

Mine has been stuck in shipping for 2 weeks now.

Ugh, that's rough. I thought there'd be a chance yours would be ready about the same time. Hopefully it gets put on a truck soon!

 

[vrael]

1,000-mile update.

Tires came in very quickly thanks to @Discount Tire, but I had to hold off on the lift until the wheels came in. I decided on the Saltas and ordered them through Quadratec. Disappointedly hit some snags with what their site actually had in stock though and ended up canceling after a few weeks. @Northridge4x4 came in clutch though and had them shipped the same day I reached out. I prayed to the Quadratec inventory system for the TPMS sensors since they're on backorder elsewhere and they did come through.

While waiting for the Saltas, my dashcam came in. I ran a previous Viofo on the JKU and after going back and forth on a few options, went with the A129 Plus Duo IR. I chose the IR because the rear camera can be affixed to the front windshield. But then I ordered the non-IR one by mistake and spent too long trying to make the rear camera work. Nailed it.

Test run for fitment and to make sure the units aren't faulty.

The non-IR rear cam also came with a 20ft cord. I should have returned it and ordered the right one, but instead decided that trying to frustratingly hide 20 ft of cord sounded like a better decision. I could have just bought a shorter cord but that would have been logical. I got really familiar with the Jeep though and removed all sorts of panels until I figured out how I wanted to run it.

I ended up pulling it down under the dash pillar with the main camera power and then running it back up.

I bundled and zip-tied the 20 ft cord to the right of the passenger's right foot. I took the main power line further and fed it into the aux wires and grounded near the left foot.

I'm colorblind just enough to make things interesting, and this part was...interesting to say the least. Also, totally not an electrician, but my Jeep hasn't burned down yet so we're probably in the clear. Probably.

And success! Kind of. The rear camera didn't want to hold onto the plastic, so now I'm exploring other options other than the 3M tape it came with. This camera WILL be mounted after all of that work with the cable. Open to suggestions.

Tazer and Rugged Ridge sill protectors came in. I opted to through the easier of the two on for a quick confidence boost. I have 3w slush mats on order, but they're stuck in customs...or something.

After a quick win, I jumped straight into installing the Tazer. I went back and forth between some random install videos and the .pdf on their site. Pretty doable for a novice. I threw some plastic tubing on the wires in the engine bay and tried my best to follow current wiring paths along the driver-side fender.

I pulled the center dash and only lost one clip into the unknown.

Threw it all back in and bundled it up nice and neat. I zip-tied the Tazer itself so that it's easier to access.

Quadratec Dead Pedal gets installed the next day but makes an appearance here. Getting the camera lined up took more work than I imagined, but it's done. I do think the JL bracket looks more OEM, but this should help get over any the bumper/winch combo when that time comes.

And... it works! Does anyone know if there is a way to change the icon though? This one drives me crazy.

Next came the Dead pedal. Thought about it often with the JKU but never pulled the trigger. SO glad I did. Much more comfortable. I feel like the footwell here is narrower than in the JKU and my legs often feel cramped. I'm not super tall or anything. The dead pedal helps a ton with positioning. Install was super fast and easy. The rubber pad is on backorder and will ship... someday.

Was looking for a replacement torque wrench in line with my "Harbor Freight it until it breaks" motto. Stumbled on this sweet "tire change kit" from Dewalt. Part number DWMT45012. Had it shipped to a Tractor Supply for $100.

WHEELS FINALLY COME THROUGH! 285/75/17 Toyo OC III. Got them mounted and balanced at the stealership. Staff had concerns about them rubbing, but no issues. They also had trouble getting my 5th wheel in the spare location, so they just didn't. Took it home and got it to work, but I could see how trying for 30 seconds would not result in success.

The Salta XRs are perfect. Tires line up almost exactly with the max tow fender extensions.

Went to lunch today and couldn't stop grinning walking back to her. Photo looks a little odd thanks to my camera angle.

I will update after the 2" Mopar lift goes on next weekend.

 

[vrael]

I will update after the 2" Mopar lift goes on next weekend.

Whoops, that was a lie. Better late than never.

MOPAR lift + new front trackbar was relatively easy to put on. The only thing that really gave me an issue was the sway bar links.

Good to go.

Got it aligned and the caster is pretty high. I've been meaning to look into that, but it's driving just fine. I'll probably post separately about the correction. Might have to mess around with the geo bracket or take it off completely.

Installed the Weathertech front mud flaps, but they don't make the rears for the Max Tows yet. I love how the blue looks when it's wet.

Speaking of rain, I put in some 3W slush mats. Great quality, but they got stuck in customs forever.

Carpooled some coworkers to lunch. There's a dip + drain in one of the closer spots. It's always open and you can see why. They're great and we had some fun with it.

My toddler and wife had similar issues even on flat ground though, so it was time for some rails/steps. Ended up going with @Metalcloak Overland Rockers. Came packaged really well and went on pretty easy all things considered. I set myself up for a fun time attempting this solo though. Would def recommend an extra set of hands, but I didn't have the patience.

Here are a couple of shots of the setup after the lift settled and the side rails were on.

The silver lugs were driving me crazy so I tried a few different options. Left to right: Gorilla, Quadratec, Extreme Terrain. I thought the Extreme Terrain ones were going to be much larger than they were. I then tried Quadratec, but they didn't look right with the AEV wheels. The Gorillas ended up being perfect.

All then we started breaking it in! Always felt like we had just the right amount of space. Had some fun camping trips and hoping the temp starts to cool off so we can get back out there. I try to snap a pic of the Tetris-esque packing before I leave. Helps me remember how in the world everything fit when I'm packing it all back up.

Side note: The RTIC 65 QT fits perfectly under the MOPAR soft cover.

 

[Matsonian]

Nice build!

 

[vrael]

Nice build!

Thank you!

A frame-built bumper might end up on this page if I'm not careful.

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