The Build (or "No Sleep for Three Weeks")"This year, we received the Commander three weeks before SEMA. Within these three weeks, we were informed, we were to have a Wrangler Unlimited ready as well. For the Wrangler, we literally went out back and picked out a frame and body and started assembling the vehicle as quickly as we could. To add to the confusion, we had a three-person camera crew following our every move, documenting for cable TV what goes on in 4x4 shops all around the country every year before SEMA.
"We had definite plans for both the Commander and the Wrangler, but it was still a lot of work to do in such a short period of time. Everything but the Commander's suspension and the fabrication of the Wrangler's hood and fenders was done in house. The flares and the rear door of the Wrangler took the most amount of time, as we had to design and surface (actually generating the math data for the CNC mill) very complicated parts in a very small amount of time. The CNC mill was running for about two weeks straight, allowing us roughly two days to build and paint the fiberglass parts. The flares on the TJ and the XK were painted at 2 a.m. the morning we left for the SEMA show (at 7 a.m.)."