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 Post subject: KK upgrades including JK bumper conversion.
PostPosted: Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:37 pm 
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I’ll tell you what, this thread has been a long time coming. Bought the ’08 KK three years ago now. Came with the roof rack and OME suspension upgrade. Added the wind fairing and 20k lumen KC 40” light bar. Light bar worked great but ended up having to run a thicker wire from the battery to fuse with an updated fuse housing because it was running too hot. I ran the wiring from the light down the rain trap under the molding and it worked pretty much perfectly.

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I also sprayed truck bed liner on the front fenders flares and side molding. The side molding came out satin which is what I preferred and have held up well. The front fender flares were just too much area to spray and get a good finish unless I put double the time and spray into it (which was like 5 hours and 4 cans). I am going to do a roll on to finish it off and I think it will come out nicely. Rears were bumper were already plastidipped So I will redo those also.

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After A LOT of research, I started and eventually finished my JK front bumper conversion. I never saw a GREAT bumper conversion on that I liked and couldn’t afford a custom one for the KK.

I measured the crap out of the front bumper and eventually found an ‘ebay’ bumper which had just the right dimensions. The problem was trying to integrate the stock indicators. After checking out ATH’s builds many times, I reached out to him and was able to buy two of the indicator light brackets he makes and uses in his own builds for a very reasonable price. They ended working perfectly and I even cruised around with just those on for a while as I finished fabbing what I needed to. Thanks ATTHEHELM!

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The JK bumper was meant for a winch so I cut most of the plate off for that.

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Mock up.

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Fitment for a non KK bumper isn’t going to get much better than that.


Now onto mounting actual bumper. The front bumper frame doesn’t have the right dimension to take the JK bumper directly. So, with my pretty much one hour of welding experience, I made some brackets. Might not be the best design and I had to redo a couple of welds but it ended up taking shape.

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Since I am not an engineer or professional welder, I made the front bracket mounting plate portion larger than necessary which gave me room to play around with adjustments during mounting, leveling, and sizing the holes as I knew some things would be off. The bottom bracket arm was welded at an angle as it sat against the frame where it angles up as you can see in some bare photos. Both top and bottom were welded directly to the frame.In between the bracket mounting plate and the bumper I put 1/4” polyurethane 2”x2” square on each bolt. It makes zero noise and no metal on metal.

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I added the middle section for some extra insurance in case a weld broke somewhere else. After everything was welded to the bumper frame, I passed a high grade bolt through the frame and brackets to catch the bracket if some welds broke. The middle section is just free floating.

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I sprayed all of the visible parts with some bed liner. I also cut the front fender flares with a dremel right at the lower line of the indicator.

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The welds aren’t perfect, but they got the job done. It has been off road many times now and on for almost a year with no issues. I haven’t had to do a recovery yet but I have jacked the Jeep up with a high lift on the D-rings with no issues either. Boom! Finished product.

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I wired the bumper lights the same route as light bar and have both switches installed into the center console dash. Once again a dremel did the job just right.

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I also have two yakima bike mounts up top and a kayak rack I throw on also.

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Also I did a fire extinguisher install in the rear driver’s side window sill. I am a smaller guy and was able to get my hand underneath to mount the nuts and bolts together without having to take anything off.

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Installed the hitch receiver which sits lower than I like but I’ll deal with it. Just picked up this trailer also which I picked up for a great deal from a guy who made it himself. If you look at how full the KK was my last camping trip, you can see we needed the room.

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The trailer has a 7-pin harness, deep cycle battery which charges while you drive. 40 gallon on board water tank. 6 gallon on board propane water heater. Shower. On board Water filtration system. Two propane tanks. Sink with hot and cold. Separate drinking water faucet. Yeti cooler. Fold down table. LED overhead lights on all sides. Electronic trailer brakes. Led lights on the frame. Leveling/Jack point on all sides. Two inch hitch front and back. Generator slide pull out. Storage. Roof top tent rack. Wheels are same as my jeep. Loaded it weighs 2k lbs. While the Jeep is a dog going up the hill, it makes it. Roof top tent coming soon!

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Aaaand that’s all. Let me know what you think! Hope you enjoyed it!

_________________
2008 KK. 6 Speed Manual. OME Lift. 31" BFGs. 40" KC light bar. 48" Inno Wind Fairing. Roof rack w/ Shovel, Axe, Fuel tank, Hi lift, Bike Rack x 2.


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 Post subject: Re: KK upgrades including JK bumper conversion.
PostPosted: Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:56 pm 
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Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2011 7:32 am
Posts: 3100
Location: Philadelphia, PA
ImperialKK, you’ve done a ton of work!! But wow has it paid off. :rockon:

I would never have thought a JK bumper would look as good as that on a KK. Fantastic work there! :JEEPIN:

And the trailer is cool too. Where do you camp with it?

I’m curious because I pull a camping trailer also and it’s kind of heavy: how well does the Jeep handle it when it is already weighed down with steel bumpers at both ends? I have always liked steel bumpers from ATH, but have not gone that direction because I wanted to save weight.

Anyhow, thanks for sharing your build. Cheers,
Lauren

P.S. My trailer build is in my sig.

_________________
2008 Liberty Sport 4x4 Automatic
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Jeepin By Al 4" Lift Kit
BFG KO2’s 245/75R16
Full MOPAR skid plates
Rock Lizard Skink Super Sliders
AtTheHelm Front Recovery System & Roof Rack

M116A3 Trailer build thread: viewtopic.php?f=72&t=77997


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 Post subject: Re: KK upgrades including JK bumper conversion.
PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 5:33 pm 
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Love the conversion, do you still have the link for the bumper? Is it also possible you could walk me through the brackets or make some for me? I’d be willing to pay.


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 Post subject: Re: KK upgrades including JK bumper conversion.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:05 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2016 8:41 am
Posts: 53
Nice job all around. I have a 08 Liberty with a 2 inch receiver hitch, I took it off and cut 3 inches out of the height , welded it back together and bolted it back on , had to cut into the plastic bumper but no steel needed to be removed. What lift do you have on your Jeep?


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