The following spring, the wheels were in motion. Thanks to some side work, I earned some extra money that went into my Jeep's lift fund. So more parts began to be ordered, which included a WARN M8000 winch and an aluminum stubby front bumper made by Savvy Off-Road. The bumper is most impressive, it's super light at just six or so pounds, yet at the same point it's very tough. I primed and painted the bumper black. I then mounted the winch on the bumper, which was funny as the winch was so much heavier then the bumper! I also removed the steel winch cable as I intended to replace it with Viking synthetic winch line.
And more parts! I decided to go with an OME lift, which includes their 2.5" HD springs, JKS track bars and a front 3/4" spacer to compensate for the adding the winch on the front (and as well to level the Jeep out). For tires I went with 32" MT/Rs. Why stop at 32"? Well I had the idea of the eventual trailer, and I thought these tires would also be reasonable for the trailer to also run and so that one spare tire would work for both the Jeep and trailer.
The build also included Bilstein 5100 shocks and a BDS steering stabilizer. A JB Conversion Super Short SYE and Spicer CV rear driveshaft were also installed by Sunfire Off-Road in Sunman, IN.
The Viking synthetic winch line was put on, and the winch control box was wired under the hood. (The wiring for this was beautifully done by Sunfire.)
A Currie AntiRock sway bar was also installed. It gives my Jeep a bit of a floating feel to the front, but it does an awesome job off-road. The front axle just floats over bumps. I highly recommend an AntiRock on any Jeep.
I also removed the rear seat and installed a Bestop rack, which has been nice to open up the small back for camping supplies. (Although the seat does go back in from time to time.) I generally like having this wrack and that's a heavy plastic, it's not bolted to the roll age so the back end of it tends to slide down some. Plus, the originally supplied nuts and bolts were junk and had to be replaced.

And more parts! I decided to go with an OME lift, which includes their 2.5" HD springs, JKS track bars and a front 3/4" spacer to compensate for the adding the winch on the front (and as well to level the Jeep out). For tires I went with 32" MT/Rs. Why stop at 32"? Well I had the idea of the eventual trailer, and I thought these tires would also be reasonable for the trailer to also run and so that one spare tire would work for both the Jeep and trailer.


The build also included Bilstein 5100 shocks and a BDS steering stabilizer. A JB Conversion Super Short SYE and Spicer CV rear driveshaft were also installed by Sunfire Off-Road in Sunman, IN.


The Viking synthetic winch line was put on, and the winch control box was wired under the hood. (The wiring for this was beautifully done by Sunfire.)


A Currie AntiRock sway bar was also installed. It gives my Jeep a bit of a floating feel to the front, but it does an awesome job off-road. The front axle just floats over bumps. I highly recommend an AntiRock on any Jeep.

I also removed the rear seat and installed a Bestop rack, which has been nice to open up the small back for camping supplies. (Although the seat does go back in from time to time.) I generally like having this wrack and that's a heavy plastic, it's not bolted to the roll age so the back end of it tends to slide down some. Plus, the originally supplied nuts and bolts were junk and had to be replaced.
