Traveler I
Alrighty, this should be fun. Before anyone asks, yes I thought about getting a Wrangler instead. There are tons of reasons why I chose the Renegade, but that's a story for another time/thread. I also thought about getting a Renegade Trailhawk, but did not. Also a story for another time/thread.
In September of '17 I picked up my new daily driver, my first off-road vehicle, and my designated adventure-mobile. 2017 Jeep Renegade Latitude 4x4 with what is called the "Altitude" package - basically a bunch of black where there is normally chrome, nicer seats, and more electronic gadgets. It matches my designated fun-mobile, and I like nice seats and electronic gadgets in a daily driver...it was a shoe-in purchase for me.
My mission is clear: build a vehicle that helps me quench my desire for exploration and adventure while remaining a sensible daily driver that won't make my clients and coworkers recoil in the parking garage and call an Uber. Also it needs to fit in as many parking garages as possible.
To that end, I made a generic build plan with three phases:
This will be a running thread, as I'm nowhere near completion of this build.
Here's what I've done so far (in a somewhat chronological order):
Camping Stuff
2-way with CB-style remote mic/speaker - works for now, will definitely upgrade eventually
some Quick Fist mounts on the basket for shovel/axe, whatever I need to bring that day
Currently Taking Up Space in my House Awaiting this Weekend's Big Install Day
Anyways, here are some pics. I'll update after the weekend installations.
In September of '17 I picked up my new daily driver, my first off-road vehicle, and my designated adventure-mobile. 2017 Jeep Renegade Latitude 4x4 with what is called the "Altitude" package - basically a bunch of black where there is normally chrome, nicer seats, and more electronic gadgets. It matches my designated fun-mobile, and I like nice seats and electronic gadgets in a daily driver...it was a shoe-in purchase for me.
My mission is clear: build a vehicle that helps me quench my desire for exploration and adventure while remaining a sensible daily driver that won't make my clients and coworkers recoil in the parking garage and call an Uber. Also it needs to fit in as many parking garages as possible.
To that end, I made a generic build plan with three phases:
- Camp Ready
- Trail Ready
- Overland Ready (just kidding. Camp Ready + Trail Ready = Overland Ready)
This will be a running thread, as I'm nowhere near completion of this build.
Here's what I've done so far (in a somewhat chronological order):
Camping Stuff
- Yakima "Load Warrior" roof basket - turns out this is going to be way more useful as a trail thing, because...
- Smittybilt "Overlander" RTT - I dig it
- WeatherTech floor and cargo mats - barely used, less than half-price
- A convenient subfloor compartment [thanks, Jeep] full of axes, machetes, shovels, ratchet tie-downs, and bungees
- Basic arrangement of one 18gal Rubbermaid and one Yeti 35 that all fits nicely in the rear - I will be building my own slide drawer for the cooler and drawers to replace the bin in the near future
2-way with CB-style remote mic/speaker - works for now, will definitely upgrade eventually
some Quick Fist mounts on the basket for shovel/axe, whatever I need to bring that day
Currently Taking Up Space in my House Awaiting this Weekend's Big Install Day
- BFG KO2 255/55/18 - about as big as it gets without major mods
- 1.25" Rugged Ridge spacers (yes, hubcentric) - needed to clear struts in the front and to rectify the fact that the Renegade looks like a kid wearing skinny jeans in the rear
- A laundry list of parts to convert to the Trailhawk front bumper, and Trailhawk front and rear recovery hooks. Generally, a bumper cover, three incredibly beefy recover hooks, front and rear impact bars, a bunch of brackets, a TON of bolts, some miscellaneous clips, and countless hours of sweat and tears pouring over some of the worst factory part diagrams I've ever seen in my life and then scouring the internet for new and used parts. I'm sure the blood will come during this weekend's installation.
- Underbody armor: ATP motor/trans skid and center carrier bearing/exhaust skid. Their rear diff skid is in prototyping right now, so that will come, as well.
- More recovery/trail gear: a hi-lift, an ARB snatch strap, some traction boards (brand TBD)
- Auxillary lighting: a 38-40" lightbar (brand TBD), probably single-row
- More armor: Rocky Road Outfitters makes some real nice sliders for the Renegade, but I have a fabricator on-board and willing to take a shot at building some, instead. TBD.
- More auxillary lighting: I have some ideas to build some cubes into the euro-only rear reflectors which have a clear center, which would be nice for late-night forest road maneuvers.
- Interior gear storage: build the aforementioned drawer and slider system. Really on the fence about this one, but will most likely end up doing it because I like building stuff.
- Exterior gear storage: at some point I'd like to come up with solutions to get one jerry can or rotopax mounted (you would not believe how small this thing's fuel tank is), and a hi-lift and shovel. This will likely require me to break out the calipers and computer and design mounts myself that I can send to a buddy's shop for manufacture. Far less exciting than it may sound.
Anyways, here are some pics. I'll update after the weekend installations.
