Another weekend goes whizzing by way too fast but at least it was a fairly productive one.  After a dinner get together on Friday night with other Jeepers, we got up early the next morning to head to Topeka.  We did a quick meetup to form a small caravan before heading West for the day.  When we arrived at the shop around 9am, we were one of the first there so we wound up bringing Jodi's Jeep in right away to get on the lift and install the sway bar disconnects.  Removal of the stock links was easy but we ran into an issue right away when installing the new setup.  The holes in the brackets attached to the axles were too small for the new hardware.  If we were doing this in my garage, it would be a trip to Harbor Freight or something to get a die grinder and a bit to enlarge the hole as there wasn't room to use the drill I had brought.  But since were were in a repair/fab shop, the owner had what we needed and I had the holes the right size in a matter of a few minutes.  The install went perfect after that and Jodi can now disconnect her sway bar to get out on the trails.

Our next project was the Yeti XD track bar install on my Jeep and after removing the Metalcloak one, we did some measuring to get the new Yeti the right length.  Once in place, we torqued it down to spec and we were finished with work that required the shop lift.

Attendance by 10:30am was pretty strong as the shop was full of people and Jeeps.  All 4 lifts were in use, 3 being used to install lift kits, including my friend Jonny who chose a Metalcloak lift.  Others were doing maintenance or smaller work on their Jeeps.

Next up for us was the installation of Jodi's "SPOD".  We had help with that and it only took about 45 minutes start to finish. Now she needs to get some lights and a winch to hook up to it.  It was lunch time so we headed down the road to grab lunch with friends.

 When we returned, a nearby dealership had brought a 2018 JLU Rubicon by to show off to the crowd.  There are things that I like and things that I don't like about it.  I think the interior refinements are some of the best features.  That said, I wouldn't update mine just to get one and I'm glad I have my model.  The diesel would be worth entertaining though.

We got back to work and I had a car audio guy help me figure out my rear view camera that wasn't working as it should.  It would only work if I went into the Rock Cam app first, which was a pain.  We wound up wiring it to a SPOD switch so I can just turn it off an on whenever I choose.

While there, many of us drooled over the custom LJ project that was in the works.  This thing is going to be awesome when finished, featuring one ton axles, 40's, 6.2 liter engine, Atlas transfer case, custom 3 link/4 link suspension, Posion Spyder cage and more.  Knowing all that I know today, I would just do a build like this versus get a new rig and dump tens of thousands into it.  This custom LJ will be about $60K when done, including the cost of the vehicle.

We wound up leaving the shop about 5pm, which was a full day of fun.  On the way home, my traction control light came on and it was then that I noticed that the steering wheel was not centered.  Sunday morning I got up and adjusted that back to center and had to drive it a bit to get the light to go off.  After that, I installed my Tuffy underseat security drawer.  That only took about a half hour to my surprise.  There is plenty of room for my Glock, extra magazines and more.  I still need to line it with some non-skid material.

We have two sales sessions tonight for model team members and another one in a couple weeks.  Jodi will be coming to St. Louis for a week to stay with her mom and help her out as she is having her other knee replaced, now that the first has had a year to heal up.  Leaving me a lone for a week is not a good idea and she knows that so I will not be fully responsible for what might take place during her absence.