Day 6
The Truckfarm bumper arrived late last night, so we got up early this morning to get that sucker on. Our bumper's cost was $495, and it comes with mounting spots for a winch and two lights-accessories that are out of the budget at the moment, but it's nice to have spots for later down the road. The bumpers come unpainted, so we rattle-canned it with some leftovers we found in the trash. Talk about beef. We were more worried about the sheetmetal of the unibody ripping than hurting this bumper. And now we can bump on the trail, a longtime favorite hobby of guys on the trail. Bumping your buddy in front of you is just like saying "Hey, I care."
This bumper requires no drilling and only takes eight bolts to put on. Long reinforcement plates extend back along the rail of the unibody to distribute any load over a larger area. This gives the bumper far greater strength than any stock unit could possibly have.
Day 7
Safety Console We leave for Moab tomorrow and the Tuffy center console just arrived in the mail this morning. Since our XJ was an extreme strip-down model, it didn't even have a console. What's more, since our Cherokee was a theft-recovery, one lock and the ignition had been changed to two different keys, and we don't even have the original key so it was impossible to lock our 5KXJ. The Tuffy center console was a necessity for safety. It features 16-gauge steel with a textured powdercoat to keep our wallets, CDs, and other stuff safe. It also has a really nice cushion covered in marine vinyl that doesn't collapse after hour-long rides. Three drilled holes in the center floor of our XJ and three bolts later, we had it in.
We're ready to go, right after we "borrow" a friend's amp and sub box and do a midnight install before we leave tomorrow morning.
Moab Mods & Impressions
So how did the 5KXJ work in Moab? Excellently! We had picked a great vehicle to start out with that was very capable on the terrain of Moab. Our longer wheelbase helped us navigate obstacles like Tipover Challenge more easily than Wranglers with lockers. We wished we had been locked up, but there was just not room in the budget for any type of locking device. Lower gears would have been nice too, but again, not in the budget of $5,000.
The hack-job fender trimming we did was ample for almost every area except one-a little area that we happened to pass through all week, so we broke out some waterpump pliers and modified the fenders a little more. No biggy-after all, this wasn't a beauty contest.
We broke in the suspension very quickly and without mercy, and it worked beautifully. The Rockkrawler joints on the control arms allowed us to twist up the XJ much better than the stock control arms would allow.
The slip-yoke eliminator from Currie was a nice addition to our 5KXJ and ensured that we would not pull out the old slip yoke and screw ourselves on the trail.
We were a little worried about how far out the Truckfarm bumper stuck on the front of our 5KXJ, but we did not touch it even once in Moab
Overall, we were very happy with the way the 5KXJ worked in Moab, and there were only three instances the entire week that we really needed lockers. But we accomplished our mission: we made a sweet trailready vehicle in just under a week, drove it out to Moab, wheeled it all of Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, and drove the 800 hassle-free miles back to California. All for under $5,000.
Sum of Costs
Please keep in mind that the following numbers are roundabout retail prices that can fluctuate with the day. No price is guaranteed and they could go either way. Maybe you'll get your stuff cheaper than we did. There is no tax included on anything because it was all mail-order or done as "labor" pricing. We're not admitting we fudged the lines a little bit for the couple of things done in California, but hey, we know you've got a spare twenty somewhere to cover your tax.