I've always driven 2-door coupes and hatchbacks. My current car is BMW M4, which has been my only vehicle for the last few years. I live in Iowa and didn't wanna drive my M4 in the snow - so I decided to uber around town on bad weather days... Last year, we had a terrible winter where I wound up ubering for months.

... that winter is ultimately what led me to buy a Jeep.

First, I decided that I wanted to find a cheap 4WD vehicle that could get me around in the winter but also be used in the summer. I wanted it to be something fun, but a different kind of fun than my M4. Trucks don't interest me, most SUVs are boring, and I didn't just want an AWD car. A Wrangler fit the mold perfectly. It's 4WD, convertible, easily customizable, capable of towing a small trailer, something to tinker with, and something that would give me the types of fun that my coupe doesn't.

Getting to a 2-door JLR

I quickly realized that wranglers retain their value ridiculously well and that finding a good, cheap used one was nearly impossible... I also learned that the model that I liked the style of the most (the YJ) was one of the worst models made. So then I started looking at TJs and JKs until I learned just how much better the JLs are... so I eventually decided to just bite the bullet and get exactly what I wanted in a new JLR. And I stuck with what I've always owned, a 2-door.

Goals

• capable winter vehicle
• fun year round
• something to give me what my coupe doesn't
• coolness factor (gadgets, tech, add-ons)
• get off-road

Plans

I live in Des Moines, the capitol of Iowa... which is unfortunately not the capitol of off-roading. This vehicle will be on paved roads 99% of the time, which makes me sad, but I'm looking for spots nearby to get this thing off-road... and am trying to plan some road trips for more fun.

This Rubicon is already more capable than I need, so my mods will be fairly minimal but I'm already tired of it looking like every other stock Jeep on the road. I want it to be different but also tasteful.

I've spent HOURS digging through forums, parts websites and instagram to get an idea of what's out there. As soon as I think I've seen every set of side-steps or bumpers, I learn about some random shop in the middle of nowhere crafting their own badass products. These machines are true "hackers" vehicles, and as a software engineer, builder, and tinkerer - that excites me.

Exterior

• Remove dealer and wrangler decals
• Front window tint match (35%)
• Stubby antenna
• CMM Custom doorless mirrors
• Roam rock sliders / steps
• Quadratec Spare Tire 3rd Brake Light LED Ring
• Rugged Ridge Jesse Spade Wheels (17" x 9" / -12 offset)
• 315/70R17 BF Goodrich KO2s (c-load)
• Pixeldecals fender vent accents
• LoD Destroyer Shorty front bumper with bull bar (and skid plate and fairlead mount)
• Hyline JL Summit rear bumper
• Baja Designs Squadron Sport A-pillar / ditch lights
• Teraflex Alpha HD spare tire carrier
• Teraflex Alpha HD Tailgate reinforcement
• Baja Designs fog lights
• Mopar half doors

Interior/Cargo

• Mopar all weather floor mats
• Harbor Freight 40" x 50" moving blanket "cargo mat"
• Tie down rings to add to the hard-top mounts
• Spiderwebshade seatbelt silencers
• Rhino-Rack Vortex SG 2 Drip Rail Roof Rack
• Artec JL Bottle Openers
• Tuffy tailgate lockbox

Technology

• Tazer JL Mini
• Retrofitted Mopar proximity locks

Protection

• R3 Offroad door hinge protector film
• Bartact roll bar fire extinguisher holder with First Alert extinguisher
• Mopar rain cab cover
• Surviveware small first aid kit

Recovery

• Warn VR Evo 10s winch
• Factor 55 Flatlink E winch shackle
• Smittybilt 3/4" d-ring shackles
• Quadratec receiver hitch mount d-ring
• Bubba Rope Renegade recovery rope
• Bubba Rope Gator-Jaw soft-shackles
• Teraflex tree strap
• X-Bull traction boards

Tops

• TopLift Pros Hardtop Remover
• Raingler side/rear cargo nets to keep the pup inside
• Sunshade?
• Dreaming about a fastback style soft-top that is capable of being a sunshade or totally folded down

The wishlist keeps growing, and taking nice chunks out of my bank account, but it's super fun to mildly build this (bought) bad-ass vehicle into something cooler.

Initial regrets

I go back and forth about the color every day. Some days I love my Billet Silver. Other days I wish I had Mojito, White, or Black. I also go back and forth about whether I should've gotten body-matched top and fenders.

I sometimes wish I would've gone with the 2.0 turbo for the better MPG... and because turbos are fun.

And totally a first-world problem, but I definitely regretted not getting the proximity door lock/unlock feature. My wife and I have it in our other vehicles, so I was constantly walking up to my Jeep with full hands and then have to dig my keyfob out. I was luckily able to retrofit this kit on later, thanks to Z-Automotive and AllMoparParts.com.

Also a first-world problem - I didn't get parking sensors because it seemed like that would make aftermarket bumper shopping easier... but now I've almost backed into a couple things because I'm so used to the parking sensors on our other cars.