Con-Ferr shackles were also added lifting the rear 3/8"-inches to help compensate for the 1" lift that the front shackle reversal gave. The tops of the shackles must be ground down quite a bit so they do not rub on the rear cross member. The bolts for the rear hangers were also replaced with grade 8 bolts to increase the strength of that area.You can also see the custom bumper I made out of 2x4-inch steel tube and angle cut the ends to give more clearance. The rocker panel ends have since been cut to provide additional clearance also. The two 4-inch D-rings were welded on to be used for strapping others, hopefully not me. Also cut into the bumper a slot for a trailer hitch receiver which is flush with the bottom of the bumper. It is setup to be my license plate holder and has the stock light built into it. I just have to remember to pull it out before going on a trail or the rare Black and Yellow plate will get bent pretty badly (like it did in Moab, on my first trail).
Rear Tire Carrier
Here you can see the after market tire carrier that I completely rebuilt. Instead of the 1-1/2" angle iron, I used 1-1/2" square tubing to make it strong enough to hold the 33" spare, but not too much heavier than the original. A gas can holder from Con-Ferr was also welded on to the carrier, with care being given to legal placement over the rear tail-lights. This is where I also attach my Hi-Lift jack and shovel. I still need to modify this setup to make it work better. Right now everything is bolted on, which makes it difficult to use the jack quickly.
Rear Bumper - New
After about two years, I was able to get a new bumper to review for Off-Road.com from Lee at www.ilbuiltit.com. Lee took an existing design he had for his Jeepster and I made several suggestions as to improvements and items I wanted on my bumper. One item was to make the bumper into an air tank and to be able to put air in and out at the same location. The door is what Lee came up with in order to house the inlet, outlet and pressure gauge all in one nice little box with hinged door. Stay tuned for a product review of Lee's custom made bumpers.
It took me a year to finally get the Highlift jack installed onto the rear bumper, but it is now there. Just had to do some custom fabrication to make it fit as the bumper mounts were not spaced out properly before. The two pictures to the left are the before and after shots of the Bushwacker Pocketflare installation. The next installation for the rear will be for backup lights to be mounted onto both sides of the spare tire.
