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So You Want A Wrangler JK Pickup? - Four Wheeler Magazine

Sean P. Holman Contributor

Have you thrown all of the modifications in the book at your Wrangler, but aren’t satisfied that it stands enough apart from the crowd? Perhaps you have dreams of carrying sod and lumber home from Lowe’s, but don’t like to dirty up the interior of your JK. Have you always felt like that rear bench seat was a waste because no one will ever go wheeling with you anyway? If these statements ring true, what you are missing friend, is a bed. That’s right, a pickup bed for your Jeep—a novel idea, right?

so You Want A Jk Pickup 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Photo 39806748

Our donor vehicle was a fresh-off-the-line ’12 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon with a sticker price of $40,800

Well, for those of you that lament the fact that you can’t go out and buy a new Jeep pickup these days, Mopar might just have the product for you. Known as the JK-8 Pickup Conversion, this kit debuted at last year’s Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah. Think of the JK-8 as more of a modern-day CJ-8 Scrambler than a pickup (the bed is not separate from the cab). The JK-8 conversion kit is available from your dealer or parts houses, such as Quadratec, for $5,499, and includes all of the pieces you need to convert an ’07 or newer Wrangler Unlimited into a JK-8.

We were recently contacted by our friends at Don-A-Vee Chrysler Jeep in Placentia, California, asking if we would be interested in shooting one of the very first dealership-commissioned JK-8 conversions in the country. The alteration would take place on a brand new ’12 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon and would be performed at Hi-Tech Collision and Glass Centers in Anaheim Hills, California. Having never witnessed the process of a Wrangler being transformed into a JK-8, we immediately took them up on the opportunity to document the build.

In this installment, we will cover the first phase of the build—disassembly. Keep reading to see just what you have to take off before you can even start rebuilding your JK into a cargo box-sporting JK-8. Remember, this is an irreversible conversion that should be completed by a professional installer, and not one for those who fear the Sawzall.

PhotosView Slideshow To give you an idea of just how extensive the conversion is and to ensure we had all of the parts required, we laid out all of the parts from the Mopar crate on the floor in front of the donor rig, along with all of the pieces we had to remove to start the build.

To give you an idea of just how extensive the conversion is and to ensure we had all of the parts required, we laid out all of the parts from the Mopar crate on the floor in front of the donor rig, along with all of the pieces we had to remove to start the build.

The first step of the process was to remove the roof and doors, as well as gut the interior behind the B-pillar.

Next, the rear section of the factory Sport Bar was cut from the vehicle and removed.

Because the rear doors are removed in the conversion process and the remaining holes in the body are covered with new quarter-panels, we had to drill out all of the individual spot welds holding the factory outer quarter panel on.

With the spot welds drilled out, an air chisel was used to separate the quarter-panel from the vehicle. We also removed the corner cap that houses the taillight.

We then freed the quarter-panel from the Wrangler. Note the ample amounts of expanding foam that Jeep uses to insulate occupants from NVH.

The B-pillar was the next target of the tools. Here you can see it being removed.

Next, the lower B-pillar outer skin was removed.

Also requiring removal is the rear Sport Bar mount.

In what must be the most time consuming process of the entire conversion, the adhesive caulking that covers the rear load floor also had to be chiseled off.

This pile of parts represents just one side of the vehicle. Of course this process has to be repeated on the opposite side as well.

With disassembly completed, we held the new quarter-panel in place to check for fit. Next month, we’ll cover the rebuilding of this ’12 Wrangler into a cargo-hauling JK-8.

Body Chassis Transmission Drivetrain Electrical Engine Suspension Brakes Wheels Tires Tech QA

So You Want A Wrangler JK Pickup? - Four Wheeler Magazine

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