2017 Jeep JKUR Build/Adventures

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

So I decided to trade in my 2015 Jeep JKU Sport on a 2017 Jeep JKU Rubicon. After pricing gears and lockers it didn't make sense not to go with the Rubicon. Anyways, my old Jeep had a ton of parts on it that I wanted to put on the Rubicon. I had a gobi rack, winch bumpers, lights, switches, CB, rock sliders, WFRB Box, etc that I wanted to keep to trick out the Rubi. Here is how I tore it all down and rebuilt it in 2 days.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

It was a hard decision to trade in this Jeep since it was my first wrangler and it was a lot of fun to drive. I have a big lifted Chevy k10 with 35's and lockers, but this Jeep was special because I could take friends and family with me on outings.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

Anyways, here is the final result. My new JKUR with all the same accessories as my old Jeep, but with way more amenities. It has power windows, Uconnect, pretty much everything.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

Here are pictures of the interior. I will say that the Rubicon rides so much better than my last Jeep. It is much more comfortable on long trips. It even has heated seats...which is a option I didn't want, but the vehicle was rebated so much that I went with it anyways.


Here is the tuffy lockbox that I took out of my old Jeep. This is a great product, it doesn't rattle at all and is super smooth. Much better than my old Smittybilt Storage Vault.

Here is my Cobra 75 CB radio. I need some help tunning it, it has too much squelch. If anyone has some fixes please let me know.

Last, this Jeep has a built in inverter. I love this little plug in and use it for camera equipment.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

The Jeep came with the new Rubicon LED's which are amazing. They are better than my KC lights and my 12 inch light bar. I would highly recommend just purchasing the LED's and saving your money. Here is how I have everything hooked up.

I mounted 4 KC daylighters to my Gobi rack. There is a ton of wiring you have to hide

I mounted my amazon.com 12 inch light bar to the front winch bumper

I have everything hooked up to Rugged Ridge Switches

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

As far as wiring goes, I bought the Waterproof Fuse and Relay Box from Ebay. It cost $130.00 shipped so it is a far cheaper alternative to spod. I mounted it on top of the battery.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

I also took the Ace Engineering Rock Sliders off of my old Jeep. I bought these used off of craigslist for $200. They were difficult to install on my 1st Jeep, but when I reinstalled them on my 2nd Jeep it took like 20 minutes.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

As far as bumper goes, I have a cheap Ebay winch bumper. This was the 1st purchase I made on my 2015. If I could go back I probably would have bought a better quality bumper just for the piece of mind, but this thing hasn't broken or injured anyone yet. I have a Smittybilt XR12k winch I bought off my dad for $250.

Here is a review I did of the bumper:

 

[Jeepney]

Congrats! The Rubicon really makes up a pretty solid adventure/overlander vehicle. I am surprised how much it can give whatever I throw at it. A little tight space wise but the Gobi Rack more than makes up for it.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

As far as roof rack goes, I paid a significant amount for a Gobi. I like it, but probably would have been better off spending the money on a rear swing out like a Garvin. I have a ARB awning mounted to my rack and an axe and shovel. I have used the rack to move beds, couches, etc. but don't use it that much when I off-road because I don't like the weight on top. Also, you get 2 MPG per gallon LESS with the rack.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

Congrats! The Rubicon really makes up a pretty solid adventure/overlander vehicle. I am surprised how much it can give whatever I throw at it. A little tight space wise but the Gobi Rack more than makes up for it.

I agree, space is tight! I need to get some plano boxes so I can actually store gear on the Jeep. Since I bought the Rubicon I am trying to curb my addiction of buying Jeep stuff for a while.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

I also was able to buy a Jeep Hard Rock rear bumper on craigslist for $50. I transferred it from my old Jeep to the new one

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

Now that the Jeep has been built. I was actually able to take it off-roading in Southern California. Since I have summers off I am spending a lot of time at family and friends houses where I am from.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

Here is the 2nd time we had the Jeep out. We decided to do Salt Creek trail near where I am from. It is a fun little trail, the mosquitoes were ridiculous so we couldn't get many out of car shots.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

The 3rd time I took the Jeep out was to Sawmill Trail in the Angeles National Forest. This isn't a 4x4 trail, but is the most scenic drive I have ever taken. This was one of my favorite driving experiences and I recommend that anyone in Southern California visit this area. Also, the Pacific Crest Trail goes through here.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

I went back to the bay for a week. Since there was a heat wave we decided to head to Pacifica for the day. While driving there we found the world's most scenic taco bell, and were able to take some good pictures of the coast.

 

[Moriarty]

Nice build, very smart to remove and transfer all of it to the new Rubicon. I plan on installing 2017 LED headlights to my 2015 Rubicon. Liked the YouTube video about the headlights.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

Nice build, very smart to remove and transfer all of it to the new Rubicon. I plan on installing 2017 LED headlights to my 2015 Rubicon. Liked the YouTube video about the headlights.

Thanks! The factory lights are definitely worth it. After this build I think I will have my next one dialed in to exactly what I need.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

Quatal Canyon
I have done several trips around Southern California. Some of them were day trips while others were camping trips. I went out to Quatal Canyon for the day. This is a easy trail that offers sand washes and red clay that you can drive on. You can get lost over miles of trail in this area between Ventacopa and Pine Mountain.

 

[Hillbilly Sportscar]

This weekend we did a camp out in the Los Padres National Forest. Before camping we went to Frazier Mtn Lock Out which is at 8000 feet. Afterwards we did some off-roading through the mountains.

There is a ton of radio/weather equipment by the look out

Here is my camp set-up-I will be getting an ARB room to go with the awning soon