2009 Rubicon AEV JK350 - Not all mid-life crises roll up in a red sportscar.

This will be a long term ownership thread.

Not sure how much I can change or improve this... but  here we go.....

Bought this Last night:

I love the dry humor in the engine decal...

This is a 2009 Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited.

It has had every AEV option possible added to replicate an AEV JK350 Conversion (16k on top of the price of a new Rubicon in 2009)
 

It is the nicest 4wd I have ever owned.

It is the nicest 4wd I will ever own.

It is the nicest anything Ill ever own....

Please tolerate the self indulgence here. :)

Im still in shock.

SWILO (she who is lovingly obeyed) actually encouraged this.

Well you know, I guess it COULD use a 5.7 HEMI.

:)

The decal is fantastic!

A little research showed that ole blue started out life as a Chrysler Corporation Marketing / Show car.

These items are on the build sheet:

U.S. Miscellaneous Special
Zone 16-Chrysler Corporation-Asg

Vehicle Order Tracking

Michigan Ship to State Code
Michigan Sold to State Code

5 Additional Gallons of Gas

FAM: JK TRACKING: 81030J21 MY:2009

Company Car Tracking
Marketing / Public Relations Vehicle
Sold Vehicle
Show Vehicle Tracking (Special)

It was built 8/2009 which is the END of the model year, so I wonder if it was shown as a 2010?

Or could it have been just an executive / employee sales car?

Im not a MOPAR guy, so I can't really read between the lines.

What, if any differences exist between 2009 and 2010?

IDK....

Ok, so its been almost a year... and there has been a ton of miles and smiles, and no REAL projects....

In the first month I did a few small things (effort wise).

I added a hardtop and removed the rear tub steel body armor.

Both were Florida decisions.

Top was added to keep more rain water out, and the armor was removed to keep the tub corners dry.

Luckily this Jeep was garaged in Colorado for a long time, so the corner armor had not harbored a lot of moisture yet, just a lot of funny non Florida brown silty dust. 

I also added a GI Joe Adventure Team decal to the truck... because, well, theme I guess...

Everyone seems to think it stands for Appalachian Trail. sigh... IYKYK...

In the last 2 weeks I've caught up on some small stuff and I added a few things:

Factory Jeep Radio with hard Drive and backup camera:

Because you CANNOT see out of the back window

Also added a hi lift jack mount to the rear tire carrier. Mount probably cost 3 times what the jack cost new and 8 times what its worth today.... but when one of these 35s goes flat it will be priceless.

In the next few weeks I'll be:

Replacing the driver's side exhaust manifold. The old one is cracked.

Adding 'off road' lights that shine under the Jeep. I don't really see the need to be able to let spotters see under the Jeep at night while I navigate crazy off road manuvers, butI do see a need to find my keys on the gound at night, or pull over to see what the noise is etc... 

DISCLAIMER They will not change colors and flash in time to my sound system. :)

Aluminum housings, nice rubber insulators, should be ok.

Might get another for under hood light as well.

This is a used tailgate latch. The power lock is part of the latch. On this Jeep, none of the power locks work well, and the one in the tailgate rarely works at all. All 5 of the power lock / latches are of this basic  modular design.

So my plan is to replace the old one with this used one and then dissect (it is riveted together) the old one to see if there is a way to drill a strategic non destructive hole somewhere and service these with spray lithium and or contact cleaner or similar. Might be a useful discovery? Stay tuned!

And lastly, here we have the most expensive aerosol can I have ever purchased. $35.

I have researched techniques and products for a while now, and this seems to be the way to go for all of my formerly black plastics.

Its more than paint or even a dye.... it appears to chemically react with the substrate to bind pigment (like a dye, I know), but it also claims to pull some of the plastics oils to the surface at the same time. We shall see. I had a lady ask me where I got my grey fender flares from. She was being serious.... :) She liked them lol....

Usually power lock actuators just get dirty armatures. I fixed my Leaf's for free by disassembling each module until I got to the creamy nougat (electric motor) center, then disassembled the motor to clean it up. Worked great for years and to my knowledge is still working today. 

Also, as mentioned previously in this thread, this Jeep was a corporate show car for its first year.

It is a VERY late production 2009, and it has some 2010 parts on it.

After talking with a few people at Chrysler and Jeep, it was determined that this Jeep was a show car, and that the build info was correct.

Unfortunately they were not able to track down any events specifically tied to a VIN. 

They did emphasize that only 2 or 3  Jeeps were likely to have had that type of designation.

Apparently it got a Michigan tag at the end of the assembly line and was driven directly to its 1st use.

Cool.

I'd like to think it was this one:

This was shown at the MOPAR exhibit as a 2010 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon with very similar options, at SEMA 2009.

It was promoting family friendly Jeep off-roading.

Which would be ironic, because that's why I bought it.

Note too, that AEV is an OEM manufacturer for Jeep. :)

MOPAR at SEMA 2009

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Thanks!

That's exactly like I expect here, and as I have seen on others in the past.

The problem with these is that they are held together with two big rivets right through the middle, that will have to be ground off to take them apart.

I'll either be able to devise a way to fix and reassemble them, or possibly sacrifice one to learn how to clean and lube them externally with a few strategicly drilled holes and no disassembly.

I hope.

They ain't cheap (OEM are about $100 ea x 5).

The two rivets are near the center.

Im thinking that if I carefully grind the rivet head off, I might be able to thread the remaining rivet shaft, and re assemble with a half of a Chicago Screw.

Very cool Jeep. You might reach out to AEV and see if they kept records (maybe of the winch serial #?) to tie it to yours. The Lower 40 Jeep from that show is one of my favorites.

On the door actuator, if it's just gummy inside, I've used a degreaser ( I like citrus) sprayed inside and then blown out gently and spray white lithium in. It worked on my Cherokee.

In reply to llysgennad :

Thanks, as for the lock actuators, the problem to solve is not so much what to use, but how to gain access in the least destructive manor. 

The unit does not just unscrew or un-clip, it is actually peen riveted together.

Won't be too hard to solve, just need to do it.

If I can't establish points to drill out for a reasonable cleaning and lubrucating without disassembly, then I'll try to develop a method to cut the rivet heads and replace or partially re-use them.

Gotta say I've always thought sticking a spare wheel/tire right in the way of your view out the rear windshield always seemed like an odd choice.  I know a lot of people move the spare wheel tire from under the truck to that location on my land cruiser but I'm pretty happy with it where it currently is, out of the way....

In reply to a_florida_man :

Spraying stuff inside is the least destructive I know of. I didn't even take them out of the door.

I missed this one.  I've been watching a lot of the Utah off road YouTube stuff lately.  Been thinking about a cheap rig.  When are you adding one tons?

In reply to Stampie :

Hmmmm not sure, but 

I do need a set of 5.38's.... :)

docwyte said:

Gotta say I've always thought sticking a spare wheel/tire right in the way of your view out the rear windshield always seemed like an odd choice.  I know a lot of people move the spare wheel tire from under the truck to that location on my land cruiser but I'm pretty happy with it where it currently is, out of the way....

Agreed.

Inside, left rear, would be nice... if it fit. Even still.... IDK. Its not like there is a lot of room inside ...

In reply to a_florida_man :

I'd stick it on the roof, in a rack basket

docwyte said:

In reply to a_florida_man :

I'd stick it on the roof, in a rack basket

Nope, Not on this ride :)

Not enough room in parking garages.

I have to take the CB antenna off as it is.

3.5"lift and 35" tires....

Right now the Jeep is 6' 5" to the top of the roof.

Most US parking garages are minimum 7' to 8'.

Maybe a space saver tire? lol...

The next upgrade here wil be gears.

Anyone upgrade gear on one of these electric D44 lockers?

So, with fall on the way, I decided to give the used Hoist a Cart that I bought this summer a try.

I think previous owners may have not set it up properly, and as a result they had a less then optimal experience.

With a little work, and some resetting of cable lengths, I got it to work effortlessly. 

This is the 1st gen unit, the newer ones are probably worth the cost of buying one new.

In the stowed posltion, where top is riding on the base (now a cart) everything is very stable.

When the top is off, I don't always have an available covered spot.

So I picked up this cab cover from Smittybuilt off of Amazon.

Material feel plenty tough and it's too tight right now, but it should be perfect after a day in the sun tomorrow.