The Dusty Rose Project - '11 JK w/ Product Reviews

[Tater Raider]

I was fully ready to go, "Well, at least it's not black and it's an earth tone," but I think once the top is on it's going to look sharp. It should also make the flat black (no chrome for my girl) pop just like it was chrome without the whole "mall crawler" tag that goes with that.

Also, I'm easily amused.

[KJ4VOV]

I was fully ready to go, "Well, at least it's not black and it's an earth tone," but I think once the top is on it's going to look sharp. It should also make the flat black (no chrome for my girl) pop just like it was chrome without the whole "mall crawler" tag that goes with that.

Also, I'm easily amused.

I give it two thumbs up... with a zip.

[KJ4VOV]

Lug Nut Lights: Replace the 3rd brakelight with 2 LED's stuffed into the 2 empty holes on the spare. (note: not sure on this one at all)

I don't know if your state has regular safety inspections, or if they are "rigorously done" if you do, but you might want to check into the legality of these before you buy them, specifically see if they are DOT certified.

All motor vehicles sold or imported into the United States have to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and section 108 of those standards deals with lighting. Some states that have safety inspections don't enforce these regs quite as forcefully as others. And some law enforcement agencies are stricter about it than others. When I was an inspector in NYS we went by the state code, which was a little stricter than the Federal code and removing the factory CHMSL and replacing it with these lights you mention probably would result in a fail on an inspection, especially if they were not DOT certified.

And enforcement can vary from place to place within a state. One station in my area, on an inspection, insists that every light on a vehicle (even non-factory) must operate during an inspection (this makes inspecting my truck a real treat for them, what with 8 strobes, 5 LED strobes, a traffic controller, two light bars, and 8 floodlights in addition to the standard lights) and another inspection station 20 miles down the road only cares about the standard lights. In fact, I failed my first inspection in Virginia for not having a full set of markers on the box (had an ID bar on the back but no corner markers back there) and for not having a CHMSL (truck is a 1999, so was required to have one, and does, on the cab, but the box blocks it and does not have a CHMSL, so I had to add those).

Just something to keep in mind when altering the factory lighting on Dusty.

[Tater Raider]

Iowa has 0 inspections and Iowa Code requires 1 tail light. I'm still examining different 3rd brakelight options because I don't want to delete it, just come up with an alternative since some vehicle laws are state-of-origin (ex: emissions) while others are state you are in (ex: Utah mudflaps on any vehicle with lift). I've given up on lower 48 legal but states I drive in, even if just once a year, I will keep it righteous.

Spotlight and Skywarn Decals ordered for less than what I had budgeted for the spotlight alone. My bank account likes this.

Decals will go on either side. The rear license plate bracket seems to me to preclude using aftermarket frames and while I decaled the rear window on the current top I don't plan to decal the new one at this time. I'm also in the air on trimming down the decal a smidge to get rid of the white around the eye - minimize colors that don't occour in nature.

Link to decal

Spotlight ships directly from the manufacturer, so I'm looking at 2-3 weeks before it arrives. I'm okay with this and it will help greatly with locating new starts on the paper route and assisting with possible disaster/traffic accident response. Tech specs: 5.5 Amps, 400,000 candle power, 370°horizontal and 120° vertical movement, and wireless remote operation. The spotlight will be as bright as the two off-road lights combined, and this makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.

I will be rewiring the light bar when I do the spotlight install.

[Tetra Grammaton Cleric]

New skins, decals, etc look uber-sweet. Especially the new skins.

That "CROWS" spotlight is gonna rock!

-

[KJ4VOV]

Iowa has 0 inspections and Iowa Code requires 1 tail light. I'm still examining different 3rd brakelight options because I don't want to delete it, just come up with an alternative since some vehicle laws are state-of-origin (ex: emissions) while others are state you are in (ex: Utah mudflaps on any vehicle with lift). I've given up on lower 48 legal but states I drive in, even if just once a year, I will keep it righteous.

Spotlight and Skywarn Decals ordered for less than what I had budgeted for the spotlight alone. My bank account likes this.

Decals will go on either side. The rear license plate bracket seems to me to preclude using aftermarket frames and while I decaled the rear window on the current top I don't plan to decal the new one at this time. I'm also in the air on trimming down the decal a smidge to get rid of the white around the eye - minimize colors that don't occour in nature.

Link to decal

Spotlight ships directly from the manufacturer, so I'm looking at 2-3 weeks before it arrives. I'm okay with this and it will help greatly with locating new starts on the paper route and assisting with possible disaster/traffic accident response. Tech specs: 5.5 Amps, 400,000 candle power, 370°horizontal and 120° vertical movement, and wireless remote operation. The spotlight will be as bright as the two off-road lights combined, and this makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.

I will be rewiring the light bar when I do the spotlight install.

Dang... Wish I'd seen that decal earlier, I'd have turned you on to something better that will actually last. Those Cafepress decals, unless they've really improved in the last year or so, really don't stand up to outdoor use for long. Check out these links:

http://www.rgcustomsigns.com/vinyl.htm (Randy is a cool dude, and ZS member - he did most of the graphics on my truck)
http://www.skywarnsupply.com/ (Their decals are reflective and stand up well to the weather - mine still look new after two years)

Also, 400,000 CP sounds like a lot if you do the math you'll realize that it's simply a 55w halogen bulb in there. You may be disappointed, but at least they're being conservative in their numbers. If you look up 55w 12v halogen bulbs you'll see claims for everything from 200,000 CP all the way up to 1,500,000 CP! If you look at my truck, those are four 55w halogens up there on the box (two per light head) and I'm seriously considering replacing them with a pair of 27w LED floods, because the LED's give more light output (measured in lumens)

[Tater Raider]

Thanks TGC. I love feedback and although I didn't intend to take Dusty down this path with the decals it's working out better than my original idea, camo using a skull pattern.

Dang... Wish I'd seen that decal earlier, I'd have turned you on to something better that will actually last. Those Cafepress decals, unless they've really improved in the last year or so, really don't stand up to outdoor use for long. Check out these links:

http://www.rgcustomsigns.com/vinyl.htm (Randy is a cool dude, and ZS member - he did most of the graphics on my truck)
http://www.skywarnsupply.com/ (Their decals are reflective and stand up well to the weather - mine still look new after two years)

Also, 400,000 CP sounds like a lot if you do the math you'll realize that it's simply a 55w halogen bulb in there. You may be disappointed, but at least they're being conservative in their numbers. If you look up 55w 12v halogen bulbs you'll see claims for everything from 200,000 CP all the way up to 1,500,000 CP! If you look at my truck, those are four 55w halogens up there on the box (two per light head) and I'm seriously considering replacing them with a pair of 27w LED floods, because the LED's give more light output (measured in lumens)

Eh, if I'm out $8 then I'm out $8. I'm bookmarking rgcustomsigns though because I like doing business with folk I know, or that my friends know, etc. You see, I have an idea for a spare tire cover...

So long as the spotlight is something near the level the police use I'll be happy because its main use is to light up house numbers before I get out of the Jeep when trying to locate new customers with the other stuff being happy coincidence/adverse bug-out capability bonus. The 2 KC lights will be replaced next year with 4 Hella Xenon lights (2 Eurobeam (100w), 2 flood (55w)) which should give me good lighting out to about half a klick, far more than is needed for trail driving at night, and great lighting up close and to the sides where I really will need it when off-roading at night. I could have done better on range, but it would be using pencil beams and to do that right takes more lights than I want to use and since I'm not night-time desert racing it's not something I need.

For sure I'm sold on the Hella lights - best information on light performance is on their site and isn't subjective (pictures showing light patterns with measured performance is used). If the spotlight ends up being less than satisfactory I'll come to ZS and we can figure something out together.

[Tater Raider]

Follow instructions, works as advertised.

I used it and the zipper cleaner/lube on the old top today and restored it (except the zippers) to better than new appearance. Rear zipper is still hosed, but the cleaner/lube allowed me to get the back window off.

Use the soft top cleaner, then do the windows, then hit it with the protectant. Keep the stuff that doesn't go on the vinyl off the vinyl or bad things happen. I used 4 soft terry cloths on the entire top and windows.

What I don't like: the protectant gives the top a glossy finish and there are easier ways to clean the vinyl than to use the window cleaner. Also, the zipper lube/cleaner has in its instructions, "clean the zipper and allow to dry, then use cleaner/lube..." So it's lube. It's great lube, but cleaner it ain't.

The only product I see a burning need for here is the lube, and wax will do the job just as well (beeswax prefferably) according to others.

Having said that, I will keep these on hand for now with the exception of the soft top cleaner. To use it properly required a brush and plain water plus a brush will do the job just as well, though not smell as purdy. If you want the purdy smell just use regular car wash soap and do the top before the rest of the vehicle.

Overall Score: 3½ out of 5 wet and tired car detailers.

Zipper Cleaner/Lube: 4 out of 5 over-reaching ad men. It may clean but to have to clean it before you clean it means there's nothing to clean, so cleaner it really isn't. -1 for bad form.

[gustovski]

hey tater i really wanna build sumtin like this
really enjoyed reading this so far
and now i wanna build my own one so i sarted my own build threadhttp://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?uid=59410&f=45&t=97803&start=0

[Tater Raider]

Installed a security system for when I'm on the paper routes.


Yup, she's got a Hemi



EtA: More good news - my top finally shipped! Yay!

[Tater Raider]

Top installed, spotlight installed, new tires all around (Goodyear Duratrac LT265/70R17), and a bit of decorating for the Des Moines Zombie Walk and I got this (clickable thumbnails):



I followed this event up with some light mudding (paper route after decent rain, 100 miles of soft gravel road, 5 miles of unimproved road) and have some opinions on stuff.

Headliner is part of the Jeep now. Yes, it catches dust but with the light bar on I need it in to reduce noise so the hands-free mic is usable.

Duratracs weren't available in the stock size so I went next smaller (31.7" v 32.1") and ended up with wider tires (10.7" v. 10"). At speed the speedo is another mile an hour slow, the tires are heavier so mpg is down, the tread is more aggresive so mpg is down more, and so far I'm very happy with the increase in traction. All things considered I'll be using these for quite some time, but I got them for winter so I'm waiting until then to give them a full review.

How bad is the MPG? I'm estimating it's down 10%

On the spotlight, there is no floodlight function (I screwed that one up) but as a spot light it's good. It's very good. It illuminates a small circle over a quarter mile away as if it's daytime outside. The part of me that wants things done right says the mount I had to fab up (local machine shop, 1/8" steel and 5 holes drilled in it, $20) isn't sitting level and I need to fix that (file down a spacer), while the lazy part of me says, "Yeah, someday." I'll likely take care of it in the spring. For what it is, 4½ out of 5 confused wild animals looking for cover. Half a star off for the clunky remote control.

When I installed the spotlight I also redid a bit of wiring for the off-road lights. Where the crossbar seperates from the mounting bracket now has connectors on the wires (male and female and you can't confuse the wires with each other, they only go one way) so that should make updating the lights and other odd jobs with he light bar easier.

Next upgrade: coms. License plate bracket gets replaced, followed by the CB install, followed by finding a home for an HT Ham Radio. Mixed into this somewhere will be a bracket install for a smart phone so I can access weather radar while storm spotting.

[Coal-Cracker]

Top installed, spotlight installed, new tires all around (Goodyear Duratrac LT265/70R17), ....

Excellent choice on the Duratracs. I think you'll be really happy with them, especially in the snow. I plan to purchase Duratracs again when mine are either worn or I upgrade to 35's. Since my Duratracs are showing very little wear, I'm thinking I might just upgrade to 35s this year and cut right to the inevitable.

[uncleben03]

So when are you going to join JOCCI and start wheeling with us?

[Tater Raider]

So when are you going to join JOCCI and start wheeling with us?

Once I hit the minimum requirements on equipment for Damage, Inc. 4x4 Club I'll be looking at joining JOCCI and them. ATM I'm lacking a suitable FAK, CB, and fire extinguisher.

Strangely enough, of the three the FAK is the lowest priority. I think this is because I carry a marginal, "make squeely noises and throw band-aids" kit.

[crypto]

Wait, all this time, effort and money in the jeep over like 2 years and you still dont have a good first aid kit, emergency comms, or a fire extinguisher? Thats week 1 stuff.

5 Demerits to House Hufflepuff.

[Tater Raider]

Wait, all this time, effort and money in the jeep over like 2 years and you still dont have a good first aid kit, emergency comms, or a fire extinguisher? Thats week 1 stuff.

5 Demerits to House Hufflepuff.

I agree, except that the other areas I addressed were, for me, more critical (back-up BOV's and especially storage). Comms is what I'm on now and that should be resolved in very short order (Christmas season + HS football ended for good = wallet will stop crying).

Had I bought a proper BOV instead of a Wrangler the storage would have been a non-issue.

Comm Plan:

Cobra 75 WX ST


Yaesu FT-60R


Fire Plan:

H3R Performance HalGuard Extinguisher, Black (not shown: Drake roll bar mount)


FAK Plan:

Rotopax 72 hr. Preparedness Kit


Also, should be 50+ demerits. Like you said, this is week 1 stuff, especially the FAK (which is still last on my list and the one I selected is marginal IMO).

If the Rotopax kit is marginal why go with it? The case is a good one that keeps stuff out of the Jeep, I can upgrade the contents fairly easily, and it comes with a 2 gallon water jug which is something I'm likely to need in a First Aid situation - I'm prone to heat exhaustion/stroke.

[HEMI]

I think you're going to get to hate those mirror mounts.

I've got a set of safari mirrors for my '09 JK...They're actually carry-overs from my '03 TJ. The nice thing about the safari mirrors is I can hang them down from the top door mount, which gives me almost straight-line view down both sides of the Jeep while sitting in the driver's seat...Very useful when I'm wheeling. Also, with these mirrors, a tree/rock will just swivel them out of the way instead of breaking the cheap plastic housing off.

[Tater Raider]

I think you're going to get to hate those mirror mounts.

I've got a set of safari mirrors for my '09 JK...They're actually carry-overs from my '03 TJ. The nice thing about the safari mirrors is I can hang them down from the top door mount, which gives me almost straight-line view down both sides of the Jeep while sitting in the driver's seat...Very useful when I'm wheeling. Also, with these mirrors, a tree/rock will just swivel them out of the way instead of breaking the cheap plastic housing off.

I take off the doors and loosen 1 bolt then the brackets go in, removing the mirros from the door (2 bolts) then mounting the mirrors where they were when the doors were on with no adjustments to the mirrors needed. With Dusty the doors have to be reinstalled every Saturday during the summer due to papers (doing a 180 miles of paper route with doors off is just plain stupid) and since I have no garage if the weather goes south they go back on then as well, so they only get used about 4 months a year and are off just as much as they are on during that time.

Cheap plastic housing is what came with the Jeep - mirrors are OEM and designed to swivel out of the way when you nudge stuff, which they do. The bracket just replaces the mounting holes in the door in near enough so as not to matter the original location and are used during the week mostly when driving around town.

They aren't for everyone, agreed, but I'm happy with them so far though I quit using them at the end of August and won't use them again until May-ish - 2 months isn't a lot of time for me to have tested them. Since I haven't broken the mirros off the doors when I've gone off roading before I anticipate 0 issues.

[uncleben03]

There's also a new Jeep club that is just starting in Ames simply named Iowa Jeep Club, FYI.

[gustovski]

tater since your doing coms you should
install ham and cb radio
get an antenna for the radio to increase range
get a bullbar with brush guard, bash plate, winch mount and antenna mount

and gett a fak asap here they have one that will fit in the glove box(designed to be put on a tool belt for paramedics but they sell them for civillian use) the straps for the belt mount could be used to strap to your roll bar or you could store it under the seat but avoid under seat storage if water fording

[Tater Raider]

Well, We made the local news.


(l to r) Ryder358, Dusty, and me.

Link to transcript.

CB is next with the HT right after. I'll move the FAK ahead of the extinguisher though.

[Vicarious_Lee]

That is a very positive writeup. Nice shout-out, Tater!

[Tater Raider]

Yesterday the window in the driver's side upper suddenly snapped. It looks like someone knifed it diagonally, slashing it. Old (black) uppers are in use now.

Today the Service Engine light came on. Tomorrow I chase down the warranty on the new upper and she goes into the shop to see what's up with the light (powertrain warranty remains valid).

Not. Happy.

[KJ4VOV]

Tater, what is it that you like about the Halguard extinguisher over say a standard dry chem?

Now, on my truck I do carry a small halon in the back for use on the electronics and radios (as needed), but I also have a pair of 10lb. dry chems for everything else. Halon (or the newer equivalents) are great for stuff you don't want to have to clean later (like expensive electronics) but have all the drawbacks of any gas type extinguisher (such as CO2) in that they're pretty useless when there's even a light breeze and their smothering action dissipates over a fairly short time. If you've got something like a fuel spill with an ignition source (hot metal, sparks, etc) as soon as that halon dissipates you're likely to get reignition. With dry chem you can blanket the spill with a smothering agent that's not going to dissipate.

At least that's my "take" on it. I admit my actual fire fighting training was Navy (maybe a bit more than yours Tater since I played with explosives and got trained on the specialized stuff for that) so maybe I've got it all wrong or seriously outdated...