Crew Cut

A Serious Chop-job And Grunt-infused Heart Transplant Has Transformed This JL Wrangler Into A Desert-conquering Goliath.

- Justin Walker

THERE’S always someone who thinks they can improve on what is ‘the standard’. Some fail while others such as Jarret Crawford of Bruiser Conversions (BC), the team behind this off-road monster Wrangler, more than succeed. The JL Wrangler is new and, in standard form, already a formidable off-road vehicle, but Bruiser Conversions’ ability to reinvent this 4x4 icon in a seriously awesome way makes it nigh unstoppable. The company has been converting Wranglers of the past few eras (starting with the TJ, then the JK) for years now, transforming them into the ultimate expression of a desert-ready rig.

This JL Crew is the latest version of a long line of previous Bruiser Conversions (err … Bruisers), with the previous-gen JK Wrangler copping the conversion treatment and reborn as a dual cab ute, a super cab (single), or an open-roof, four-door wagon version appropriately dubbed Overlander. This has continued with the JL Wrangler.

The Bruiser Conversions’ success story revolves around both wheelbase extensions and engine conversions, with the new JL Wrangler having the option of being fitted with the full turnkey installation of a juicy LS3 V8 donk, which is exactly what Jarret and the team did with this cracker example of Jeep’s finest.

SLICED AND DICED

JARRET took delivery of this JL Wrangler Sahara in July last year, soon after its official launch. No sooner had it arrived in the Bruiser Conversions workshop it was stripped down to allow for the wheelbase extension process, which meant cutting into the body directly behind the rear seats.

“We quickly modified it by stripping it down to the bones and then whipped out the cutting tools,” Jarret says. “There’s no turning back once you get to that point!”