HoodLift's 2007 Jeeep JK Unlimited Rubicon

HoodLift’s® 2007 Jeep Wrangler JK Rubicon Unlimited
Owned and built by the first winner of Four Wheeler Magazine’s Top Truck Challenge, Jim Piatt.

This Jeep has been well thought out and built to ride comfortably, drive straight and be able to tackle the tough trails.With less than 20,000 miles on it, it is barely broken in but has been thoroughly tested. It is a dream to drive! We left Yuma AZ at 9 AM one morning and were going to stop when we got tired. We drove straight through to West Sacramento and got there at 8:30 PM. We have driven it through the Rubicon Trail several times and twice did it all in one day. Weak points have been discovered and hardened by an experienced fabricator. Looks good too! When you drive it, you have to get used to people saying "nice Jeep!"

Some of the freatures include a HoodLift® Hood Lift and HoodLift® TailGate Prop (of course), Very Cool Total Vision® rear camera system with seven cameras unobtrusively mounted to see all corners. Very handy when rock crawling or hooking up trailer hitch…you can get the ball right under the hitch. Extra leads that hook up to a trailer you may be towing with a rear-view camera and one that ties in the Jeep’s roof-mounted camera to your motorhome’s camera system. Fixes the blind spot from inside the Jeep created with the big spare. Yeah, we thought it was foo foo at first but now love being able to see what's around you, especially where the spare blocks the mirror.

At first we thought the motor was a bit wimpy. However after adding the free-flowing exhaust, larger Viper throttle body, AFE air intake and Predator Chip tuning system now we think it works just fine!

Also:

35” BFG Mud Terrains on Champion Beadlock Wheels. Push-button electric lockers and push button sway bar disconnect. Warn PowerPlant Air Winch with wireless Remote Control. Kilby Front Bumper with Tow Points Built In. Plus two shackle mounts. Skidplate protects electric sway bar disconnect and shower heat exchanger..

Under the hood: Dodge Viper Throttle Body. Predator DiabloSport Flash tuning system.  Can be modified to suit your tastes. Lots of power with this system. AFE lifetime air filter, Premier Power Welder Built In.     Also supplies up to 2500 watts of 110 volt power for power tools…will run a worm saw!! Separate Alternator that runs the Welder/110V system and charges batteries. The extra alternator uses a special bracket I designed and built and my circuit that allows it to be turned off or on by a switch on the dash.  This is the only Jeep in the world that has that feature until Premier Power Welder gets the bracket I gave them into production. You can charge either or both batteries with either alternator.

Pot for heating sandwiches and water…really!

Dual Optima Blue Top Batteries…In Cab Switches to direct either alternator to charge either or both.
Built-in Shower with Quick Connects (wonderful system and unfortunately out of production now)  This may be the only way to get one!

Underneath: Rubicon heavy-duty JK Rubicon Dana 44 axles with rear axles by Superior Axle. 5.13 gears. 4 Speed Automatic. Rubicon 4.0 transfer case. Heavy-Duty driveshafts by Sacramento Driveshaft. Terraflex Long arms and Track Bars. Track Bar relocator in rear welded to differential bracketry.  Won’t break like the OEM ones do. Heavy-duty steering dampener with relocation bracket to keep it out of harm’s way.     Welded armor plating protecting differentials, oil pan, gas tank, bolts underneath, cross braces, shock mounts, etc. Shock mounts moved up to clear rocks better plus skid plates welded on for protection.             Custom exhaust with muffler moved up and forward for protection          Evap canister relocated with Kilby kit.  3 inch Black Diamond lift. Air bags in rear springs to level the Jeep when heavily loaded.         

On the body: Warn rocker panel protectors. Terraflex license plate protective bracket             Rock Hard rear bumper with swing-away tire carrier. Two shackle mounts. 2” Trailer hitch receiver with trailer wiring. AEV Heat-dissipating Hood. Dual tops…both hardtop and factory, never-installed soft top. AEV rear corners. Extra mounts for rear view mirrors when the doors are removed.

Inside: Cobra CB radio, optional Sirrius satellite radio, ham radio (optional extra) switched power leads and mount for optional Tom Tom navigation system, switched power leads and mount for Garmin GPS (not supplied). AM/FM/CD unit with soundbar and rear woofer, ipod input and Bluetooth that will give you handsfree mobile phone.  Molded rubber protective floor mats.  Rear view mirror replaced by 7” rear video camera display. Push-button switch to select any of up to 8 cameras. 7 installed. Engine idle set switch to electronically control the rpm when welding, winching, running power tools or experiencing other large electrical loads. 

Hundreds of hours of carefully crafting this vehicle have been spent not to mention the cost. It has been through the Rubicon several times, done the tough trails in Moab and cruised Baja. However it looks so good I still get asked if I four wheel it.  I show them the scratches on the Beadocks and minor ones on the Warn rocker protectors.

This 2007 Jeep JK is ready go four wheeling in style right now. We have left our home in West Sacramento at 7AM with the grandkids, ran up through the Rubicon, stopping to let them play in several areas, check out some geocashes,  get crawfish at Rubicon Springs, then on up Cadillac Hill to Tahoe and back to West Sacramento by 7 PM. Tired but happy. (Don't try this if there are more than two vehicles along unless you never have to worry about them making the obstacles and can keep going. Stopping to check out how the other vehicles are making it delays you so if there are three or more you should plan on camping out at least one night).