TJ's ZJ Build

Lift and 31's went on today, she is a happy jeep, not to mention no DW as of now.

Lookin' good!

Any rubbing?

CrawlingForward wrote:Lookin' good!

Any rubbing?

I get a little a full crank. Honestly my front bumper is barely hangin on, i'm already full skid plated in the front from the OEM skid plate package, so i'm just gonna take it off til the company I want a front bumper from finishes it up.

big plans, but I really need to get a CB radio installed. Any advice on that one?

In terms of a CB, go cheap on the actual CB. It's so regulated all your getting on the expensive models are bells and whistles, but no better functionality.

Where you don't want to go cheap is the antenna and cable. RightChannelRadios has some great deals and lots of info! Can't go wrong with a Firestik antenna!

Was lookin at this http://www.rightchannelradios.com/cobra-29-complete-pickup-package.html

or

http://www.rightchannelradios.com/firestik-cb-antenna-kit.html

then getting a cheapo cb

question would be, which mount?

desertzj wrote:http://www.rightchannelradios.com/firestik-cb-antenna-kit.html

This is what I have, and it's great. My CB was my father-in-law's from when they used to do family road trips in the 80s, so it fits *perfectly* with the YJ, but any Walmart CB ought to do ya.

CrawlingForward wrote:

desertzj wrote:http://www.rightchannelradios.com/firestik-cb-antenna-kit.html

This is what I have, and it's great. My CB was my father-in-law's from when they used to do family road trips in the 80s, so it fits *perfectly* with the YJ, but any Walmart CB ought to do ya.

sweet, was hoping to get it on next week so im going to order it today. I am thinking about where to mount the antenna without having to tear stuff up too much, particularly speaking about the mount.

We have a great thread going about CB installs:

https://northshorejeeps.forumotion.com/t126-trail-communications

Hey Tj, sorry i arrived late here with your CB question, but i picked up my cobra, 40 channel radio at walmart for about $25-$30. You may still want to look into this, if you still havent gotten yours yet. And as Geoff said, you dont really need the bells and whistles for much, this one is simplicity at its finest.

Amills60 wrote:Hey Tj, sorry i arrived late here with your CB question, but i picked up my cobra, 40 channel radio at walmart for about $25-$30. You may still want to look into this, if you still havent gotten yours yet. And as Geoff said, you dont really need the bells and whistles for much, this one is simplicity at its finest.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna order the antenna and wire kit, then head to walmart and get a cheapo cb. If anyone is down for some wiring this week let me know. Not my forte.

Plus then hopefully I can pick up some chatter when you all are caravaning down to topless day.

good lord, no store carries cb radios in stock. WTH

Not sure how much of a haul it is for you, but I got mine for a good price at Sounds Unlimited just outside of Reading center. Nothing fancy, just a basic Uniden one. I forget the guy's name that runs the place, but he also has Firestik antennas and mounting gear, which is also where I got that. He even gave me some extra wire and the proper wire end to power the CB from the fuse box for free. Might be a place to look in to. It was a no-brainer for me because I live right around the corner from the place.

desertzj wrote:good lord, no store carries cb radios in stock. WTH

Wait...really? I could see antennas maybe, but radios?

Maybe outdoor stores? Cabelas, Walmart, Radioshack, BestBuy, Sears, all supposedly carry them. Any you haven't tried? Giving a call first might save you some time.

CrawlingForward wrote:

desertzj wrote:good lord, no store carries cb radios in stock. WTH

Wait...really? I could see antennas maybe, but radios?

Maybe outdoor stores? Cabelas, Walmart, Radioshack, BestBuy, Sears, all supposedly carry them. Any you haven't tried? Giving a call first might save you some time.

yup called all but cabelas and sears. nothing, said screw it and ordered one offline. oh well, install friday.

firestik antenna and the rest of the install kit got here today. actual cb should be here tomorrow. Gonna try and get it all in by tomorrow night.

ok so question, in all the photos ive seen theres a red wire running out with the coax and screwed into the mount. is that something you run directly from the cb radio. when my fire stik package got here theres nothing but just the coax cable currently.

Sounds like it's a ground wire?

Mark wrote:Sounds like it's a ground wire?

That's what I was thinking

Ryan M wrote:

Mark wrote:Sounds like it's a ground wire?

That's what I was thinking

well i chatted with one of the quadratec reps he said ground wire. im mounting mine directly to the body (pics to come).

Yeah, if your mount touches bare metal (not paint), that functions as your ground. Just make sure you put the insulator on the correct side.

CrawlingForward wrote:Yeah, if your mount touches bare metal (not paint), that functions as your ground. Just make sure you put the insulator on the correct side.

I said screw it and ran an extra ground wire underneath to be sure. Now no doubt it's grounded. Got the jks disco's and the cb all set up today.

So got the quicker disco's on today. Was actually an easy swap out. As usual for me I over thought the process. they work like a charm. Still need to finish up the tie up so when they're disconnected they don't get in the way.

Also finished up the antenna/cb install and hook up today.

I'll kinda walk though how I did it for those who want to know.

On my first I found a place where I had easy access to the metal body without tearing up the plastic. There's an access panel on the drivers side for the tank release. You can reach all the way through. So I drilled through there and secured the mounting bracket. I pulled the tail light and drilled a large hole to run the coax cable through and out (if you do this, line the cable with extra electrical tape to keep it from getting cut). After that I ran a ground wire (from some 240v wiring cable, so it's the good copper stuff) down through the tail light, behind the rear bumper down to the unibody attachments so it's grounded. got all the lengths right and then taped the ground to the coax cable outside so it looks nice a clean then put the tail light back. After that I ran the cable under the wheel well carpet/floor crack all the way up, under the back seat, under the drivers seat and under the center console. I didn't have time to finish cleaning up the wiring cover up before work so i'll do that tonight.

As for the Cb it self. I wanted it to shut off automatically with a fuse when I turned the key on/off. So I pulled my fuse access panel on the passenger side dash, used the fuse that links with the cigaret lighter (since I don't use it anyways) and jammed it in there. Ran the wire hidden inside the dash and under the VIC. After that I ran a ground directly from my battery along the inside upper wheel well on the passenger side (again using the 240V ground wire) through the fender and through the door jamb. Worked out nicely I think. All the pics are below. Want to see something else or a different angle let me know.
T
he reason why I did it in this location ontop of easy of install, is easy of hiding the wiring when not in use. People around here will steal my antenna if I left it on all the time, so now I can take off the wiring and antenna. Put the wiring behind the tail light when not in use (it's 3 bolts and pull for a tail light, so easy access) and just leave the mounting bracket out there

well the jy has a d44....tempting to say the least

if it is a ZJ 44 leave it be. It offers far less aftermarket support. ZJs had a 44A that had an Aluminized housing, they were prone to warping and were not justifiably stronger than the D35 do to its lack of aftermarket parts. A tj 44 is only a slightly better choice, but as far as D44s go Unless it an older XJ or FSJ D44, You are far better off with a Ford 8.8. I am planning to swap an 8.8 into my XJ in the winter along with re-gearing.

OverlandXJ wrote:if it is a ZJ 44 leave it be. It offers far less aftermarket support. ZJs had a 44A that had an Aluminized housing, they were prone to warping and were not justifiably stronger than the D35 do to its lack of aftermarket parts. A tj 44 is only a slightly better choice, but as far as D44s go Unless it an older XJ or FSJ D44, You are far better off with a Ford 8.8. I am planning to swap an 8.8 into my XJ in the winter along with re-gearing.

44 is still stronger then my turdy 5. I'm waiting for that thing to blow. It is a zj 44, but while it's still my DD I wouldn't be locking it anyways.

I have a guy who wants to sell me his 8.8 with 4.10's. I'd love to get it but no where to store the dang thing til I get some more space. Plus it still needs to be stripped off the mounts, welded, and then brackets welded to the correct place. But I have no welder sadly

What years xj came with the 44?