In preparation for this year’s Easter Jeep® Safari event in Moab our team put it heads together with the minds at Mopar to create the Jeep Wrangler Pork Chop. The premise was to create more off-roading capability while saving in the weight department. Think of it as a long distance runner – you’ve got to drop the bulk to go the distance. We began the project by overhauling a 2011 Jeep Wrangler Sport. To get the weight down, we removed just about everything but the kitchen sink, from the doors and top to the tailgate and bumpers. Also out the window went the carpet and sway bars. More or less, if we could remove it, we did… of course it still has an engine.

After tearing the Jeep Wrangler Sport apart we began the mods: We reshaped the inner fender panels and moved the taillamps closer together, then we added a custom roll cage and reduced windshield height by two inches. From there we added a set of aluminum bumpers, courtesy of Hanson Bumpers and threw on an aluminum/carbon-fiber hood – a prototype from QMC. We didn’t stop there, updating the interior with bright red lightweight Sparco ‘Chrono Road’ reclining bucket seats and adding a Mopar aluminum cold-air intake kit, lightweight fender-flares, slush mats and mirror re-location brackets.

The result? Our very own Pork Chop, oink oink. In addition to the Jeep Wrangler Sport, we’re taking over Moab this week with lots more exciting updates as you’ve seen, and can’t wait to share more details with you here.