Rock-It side bars/steps from TurboCity    (click thumbnails for close up)

31" trXus tires from Interco - Even though this was only a 1" increase in the "official" tire size, I got a full inch of ground clearance (measured at the bottom of the diff.) out of them since the Goodyears were about 28.5" for a 30" tire and the trXus are somewhere just north of 30.5" for a 31" tire.  They ride very well given the aggressive tread pattern.  I only noticed a slight bit of hum between 30-40mph and you can hear the lugs when you come to a stop.  I can't wait to find some gooey mud to test them out in...  Update: The tires are excellent in the rain and stop in a very controlled, predictable manner.  Off-road, they have worked GREAT on the trials we've run.  We had them aired down to about 20psi and they handled everything we tried with ease.  Any problems the jeep had tackling an obstacle was the result of driver error (Me!) as opposed to not enough traction.  This applies to rocks, moist GA clay (once aptly described as "walking on ice with WD40 on your shoes"), and big nasty water/mud puddles in excess of 30" deep.  Another Jeeper running the same tire had his down to 15psi and was running directly in front of us.  His tires flexed great and wrapped around the rocks as he crawled.  For the price, I think this is one of the best tires available for someone that needs decent street manners, but likes to have a good offroad tire for "playing".  Cost $106/tire @ Discount Tire; time to install N/A.  With mounting and balancing + hazard came to about $650 for 5 tires.

 

JKS Manufacturing Swaybar Disconnects - These are the king of discos for the TJ in my opinion.  I am able to disconnect in about 30 seconds and reconnecting takes about a minute if you need to wipe everything down.  Even on less than perfectly level ground, a slight push on the bumper was all that was needed to reconnect.  I'll post some pics of these on the Jeep, but for install instructions, I would suggest checking out this site.  Paul has a second career as a technical writer in my opinion.  His instructions are very clear and accurate.  I didn't see the need to repeat what he said, so check out his write up.  Cost $70 (got mine from a friend that went with a larger lift on his Jeep); time to install 1.25 hours.

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ARB Compressor - I ended up getting a really good deal on this and wanted to have a source of air to fill up my tires, air mattresses, floats, etc.  The install was pretty lengthy for two reasons...  1.) the compressor is difficult to mount due to space limitations, and 2.) the previous owner, although they had not installed it, decided to hook the wiring to the relay harness (and did so incorrectly I found out!).  First step was to install the compressor to the best location I could find which turned out to be the ABS tray directly under the brake master cyl.  I found I had to remove the ABS tray, drill my mounting holes, replace the ABS tray, but not bolt it down, then attach the compressor to the tray.  Once I had the compressor attached to the tray, I was able to reattach the tray to the body of the Jeep.  This took about an hour and a half by the time I figured out how to do it and then contorted my arms and hands enough to get it down.  OK, a dozen bruises and scrapes later, I had the compressor and relay mounted and went to work wiring the compressor.  I ran the power and ground over near the battery but left them unattached for now.  I then ran the 4 wires that needed to go through the firewall through the rubber grommet just above the gas peddle.  Once I had those wires run and secured, I attached the in-cab harness that has the wires that attach to the switch as well as wires for switched power and one to tap into the dimmer circuit.  I used a solid orange wire coming from the temperature panel to get my dimmer output.  I used the spare switched lead behind the dash to provide relay power to the switch.  Update: I swapped leads that the compressor was attached to.  I now have it wired to the red constant hot lead found behind the glovebox so I don't have to have the ignition on to use the compressor.  This will also be better if I install air lockers as the lockers will stay engaged even if the Jeep is shut off.  The ARB instructions are OK, but didn't deal with the relay coding, so I didn't realize that part of my harness wasn't properly wired.  When I was getting weird voltage across the switch, I unplugged it and traced everything, eventually realizing that the relay COULDN'T work as it was wired.  A quick call to ARB confirmed how it should be done.  Some minor surgery to correct it and I was in business!  The compressor is definitely not sufficient to run tools or air up large tires effectively, but for my 31" tires and occasional use, it's better than the cigarette plug version you get at WalMart for $20.  Per ARB, the compressor has a duty cycle of 40 min before it needs to be shut down to cool off.  I can air my tires from 18 to 29psi in about 2 min. per tire.  Update: the hose/tire inflation kit I got from 4wd was leaking at the quick collar.  I had to hold the hose down on the nipple even with the quick connect snapped into place.  A call to 4wd fixed the situation.  We agreed that I would buy replacement fittings and they would reimburse me, which was a much better solution to sending it back and waiting for another one.  Cost: $50 for used compressor; time to install 2.5 hours.

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Kilby gas tank skidplate - I had an upcoming offroad trip planned and figured it was time to finish my underbody protection.  This along with the Skid Row products will cover the major stuff I was worried about.  I'll list the issues I had but are many good write-ups out there already for me to spend the time restating the install.  Check the following links: Jeepin.com, Rockcrawler.  No problems with the high pressure line or electrical connector once I got the red locking tab to move.  First issue I ran into was that DC had cross threaded one of the tank strap nuts at the factory.  I was able to get it off and salvage it, but if I ever need to remove the tank again, I'll be buying a replacement strap.  Second issue was my not following directions.  When the Kilby instructions say to tilt the skid up at the front to clear the rear track bar, they mean it.  I had one of the rear nuts attached and realized I couldn't clear the trackbar.  Drop everything and start over doing the front edge first.  The next issue was the scariest.  I had one front and one rear bolt on and felt like I was almost done...  I then proceeded to drop one of the nuts into the skid while trying to bolt up the passenger side forward brace.  First thought was no big deal, I'll use one from another spot and then replace it later.  I started thinking about it and realized that the nut was metal, the tank is plastic.  I had visions of tightening something down and popping a hole in the tank with the loose nut.  I thought I was going to have to drop the whole tank.  That was not an encouraging thought.  I figured I'd try to fish it out before going through the hour to drop the tank.  Fortunately, I was able to fish the nut out through one of the drain holes in the skid.  Thanks to Brad for making the drain holes big enough to fish out the nuts when you drop them in the skid.  Final issue is that my gas cap doesn't have the positive pop that it used to when tightening.  I may have banged the cap, damaging the internal ratcheting system while fishing the tank back up into the Jeep.  Overall, not a terrible install, just a little bit of time and patience.  The skid fit perfectly with no modifications required.  The skid is about the last thing I'm worried about messing up.  It is a work of Jeep art!  Cost $225; time to install 3 hours.

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Skidrow engine skidplate - again, already a bunch of good writeups.  Check the following links: JJournal, Rockcrawler.  Another great product.  The engineering behind this skid is fantastic.  Very minimalist and elegant.  It will protect the lower portion of the exhaust downpipe, oil pan, and keep rocks from getting wedged in ahead of the transfer case skid.  Very well made and fit with zero modifications required.  The instructions were pretty well written but the pictures were a little difficult to make out.  Based on my experience, I'll add the following tips/hints...  The mount that bolts to the motor mount bracket need to have the "arm ear" up and to the outside of the Jeep.  While the skid was loosely attached but not lined up, it looked like the bracket should go the other way.  Once everything is loosely attached I was able to wiggle it around until I got the skid square to everything.  Using the lower control arm bracket as a frame of reference gives a good starting point for getting it square.  The lower control arm bolt needs to be torqued to 130ft/lbs once you're done.  Having done this one, I could install another in 30-45 minutes without any problem.  In the 3rd picture you can see the Fram Suredrain plug I installed thinking that oil changes would be messy with the skid in place, but the cutout in the skid looks like the oil would drain without any mess.  Cost $225; time to install 1 hr 20min.

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Skidrow steering box skidplate - Another well made and thought out product from Skid Row.  3 point attachment.  You remove one of the bolts into the steering box, the lower bumper bolt on the drivers side, and then drill a 5/16 hole into the round crossmember.  Skid Row provides a self tapping bolt for the crossmember similar to what Turbo City sent for the side bars.  The crossmember is tough and takes a few minutes to drill through.  The only snag I had was with the crappy torx bolts that hold the bumper on.  They seem to start shedding threads really easily.  I had to "borrow" the one from the passenger side to get the skid bolted back up as the drivers side on was looking trashed after removing it.  I'm going to pick up all new grade 8 bolts to keep the bumpers held on top and bottom.    Cost $55; time to install 25 min.

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Staun tire deflators - airing down isn't a huge hassle, but when it's cold or you have something else to do, auto deflators make sense.  I won these in a raffle so figured I'd try them out.  The are nice in that they only need a couple of pounds difference in current and desired pressure to work and if you're somewhere in the middle, you can start them manually.  They come preset to 18psi which works for the wheeling I do, but can be reset to go as low as 6 psi.  They are exceptionally well made and designed.  Solid brass with a nifty little leather pouch to carry them in.