We installed the optional...
We installed the optional front skidplate, which hides the ugly small car blocker beam. Some people just cut the blocker beam out, but it protects the sway bar disconnect on a Rubicon which is expensive to replace if it gets smashed. By tying into the bumper mount bolts and the blocker beam, this 3/16-inch-thick skidplate is a strong way to finish off the bottom of the bumper.
When Chrysler launched the '07 Wrangler, the joke within the Jeep team, as well as the industry, was that the new model would bolster aftermarket bumper sales for decades to come. The huge, blocky plastic bumpers are hideous. And scrape them with anything stouter than a tumbleweed and you'll have a souvenir gouge in the plastic.
The spare tire mount will...
The spare tire mount will hold up to a 37-inch tall tire. We did two things to ensure that it would be rattle and squeak-free. First, we shimmed the latch bumper that mounts on the bumper so it fit tightly against the tire carrier. Second, we used a pair of Daystar EVS foam tailgate bumpstops. Using a hacksaw, we cut them just a bit longer than the space between the tailgate and the tire carrier. Even at 30 mph down a bumpy road, the carrier is silent.
Just like lift kits, there are multiple pages of flavors to choose from. Unlike past Jeeps, the factory bumpers on JKs flow around the front and rear for a blended look with the fender flares and body. If you just toss on some tube of flat steel, it's not going to look good.
Beyond appearance concerns, we wanted to make sure that we retained our receiver-style tow hitch at the rear and that we gained a winch-mounting platform in the front. We also wanted to make sure we had tow hooks or clevis-attachment points on the front. We kinda wanted to keep the factory fog lights, and we wanted a stout, rattle-free tire carrier for the rear. Oh yes, and the bumpers absolutely had to be able to sustain smacks on the rocks without being bent out of shape.
At the back of the Jeep, the...
At the back of the Jeep, the Hanson bumper ends in line with the rear wheel flare. We think this is the right place for it to end, but the lower edge of the factory inner fender panel needs to be trimmed to even with the bottom of the flare.
Frankly, that's a lot to ask for, but we found a few that fit the list of needs. We went with a set of Hanson bumpers with an optional spare tire carrier and front skidplate. These bumpers also improve approach and departure angles, and the use of the spare tire carrier made us ditch the third brake light, which we were happy to do. These are all stout pieces that will hold up to trail abuse and look good while doing it.
Hanson offers JK front bumpers with various widths. They're made from 3/16-inch, cold-rolled steel, accept the factory fog lights, have two clevis mounts, and feature an angled approach. We used the skinniest front bumper-the JK Stubby-which is only as wide as the grille. The winch deck is dropped two inches to retain as much airflow through the radiator as possible when we add a winch later.
For the rear, Hanson offers one style of rear bumper. It's made from the same 3/16-inch steel as the front and has a built-in 2-inch receiver for towing or to accept a clevis mount. The receiver is moved up and the bumper face is angled to maximize the departure angle. The only nit-pick we have with the rear bumper is that there isn't a mount for the factory towing wiring harness, so you'll have to zip tie it out of the way.
The Element doors also accept...
The Element doors also accept Bestop soft upper half doors, and they come with weatherstipping so you can close out the weather when needed. We couldn't get them to seal completely around the door hinges, but overall, we found the Element doors to be an extremely flexible upgrade.
For our fifth mod in this article, we were torn between a set of good off-road lights, a winch, or a set of half doors. The winch was beyond our budget, and we don't do all that much night wheeling, so we steered into some HighRock 4x4 Element doors by Bestop.
We were originally drawn to the Element doors because they are available with a sheetmetal enclosure, giving you the ability to have hard half doors at about half the cost of assembling a set using Mopar parts. The enclosures come painted satin black, but you can paint them to match the body.
The saddle bags (rear) are...
The saddle bags (rear) are optional, but a good choice given the lack of decent storage locations in the JK. However, we like the look of the tube door covered with the optional steel enclosure (front).
The tube doors create an open-air feeling with great visibility. They also provide more sense of security for the kids belted in the backseat than no doors at all. The ability to completely close out the elements with the optional enclosure kit and upper half doors is pretty handy when the weather is ever-changing. Either way, the flexibility of the whole system is hard to beat. It takes longer to remove the factory doors than it does to install the HighRock 4x4 Element doors. One challenge we ran into is adjusting the latch just right to avoid rattles. If you play with it long enough, you can eliminate the rattle, but we may end up adding a rubber bumper to make it more fool-proof. We highly recommend buying an extra set of mirrors from Bestop so you don't have to keep switching them every time you want to change doors.
There are two things at the...
There are two things at the front of the Jeep that we will be fixing in the near future. First, we'll trim the blocker beam to match the width of the Hanson skidplate. This is purely cosmetic, but there's no reason for this ugly bit of channel to stick out. Second, while we appreciate the better dampening of the large Nth Degree steering dampener, it will look better when it's spray-painted black.
While this article gives you the five first mods that we'd make to a JK, it's also just the beginning. We have a few things we would do to make these first five modifications just a tad better. We also made some of our choices based on what we will do next to the Jeep.
The photos and captions cover what we would do to further improve upon the modifications we've already made. Beyond these steps, the next part we would add would be a winch, followed by a pair of high-quality off-road lights.
The winch is a great piece of security. Beyond being your saving grace when you're hopelessly stuck, you can use it to pull yourself out of a situation that might otherwise cause body damage to drive out of. The headlights on a JK are marginal for on-road and nearly worthless off-road. The fog lights help a bit for illuminating the immediate area, but do nothing for the mid- and long-distance areas. A set of good lights mounted on the front bumper should fill the void in nighttime vision.
Our Jeep is a Rubicon, so it has 4.10 gears and a 4:1 low-range. If it was not a Rubicon, we would have put new axle gears on the shopping list. And we'd probably go for 4.88 or 5.13 gears with a 2.72:1 low-range ratio.