Chili Pepper TJ Build

Alright good for you, where there's a will there's a way.

That's sweet! This is also making me think twice about tube fenders myself.

Yay!!!!

That's good to see!

Installed a new headunit today... Kenwood KDC-BT752HD.

My old headunit had FM radio and a CD player. This has:

- HD Radio
- FM/AM Radio
- Pandora Radio
- Bluetooth Sync
- CD Player
- AUX Input
- USB iPod Control
- Subwoofer Preamp Output


And was $140 from Crutchfield. Took 20 minutes to swap them out, and DAMN this thing kicks ass. Bluetooth to my iPhone is the greatest thing on earth.








Old



New!

Oooh, purdy.

That'll complement nicely the recent audio work you've been doing!

Awesome Ryan! I think I am pretty much never going to be able to go Nav-less or Satellite-less or non hands-free again. Have been spoiled my last coupld of vehicles. The 430N package in the JK is good stuff.

Just ordered 4 new Goodyear MTR/Ks in the 35x12.5 flavor.

$1100 with lifetime balance rotation hazard warranty, etc and a rebate from Goodyear.

That sounds like a good deal. Where from if you don't mind me asking? And is that 35x12.5x15?

They're willing to give you lifetime balancing on 35's ? Not bad..

If you're looking for amps a coworker mentioned today that he's selling a pair of these: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-gp4HZ1UMukf/p_500MRDM500/Alpine-MRD-M500.html  both new in box.. I can ask what he wants for em if you're interested.

Yup, 35x12.5x15. From town fair tire.

I've already got a Rockford Fosgate amp that I've just got to install. Thank you though!

Good choice on the tires, the guys you wheeled with have them and i'll bet it was good to see them in action as it makes the decision making easier.
My next set will most likely be those only16's

Bah you guys and your damned inexpensive 15s!! Argh I am so envious sometimes.  

Okay so it's been a long winter up north, which luckily I haven't been around much for, as I've been traveling with work a lot. The Audi got put away (and more importantly, paid off) in November, so the Jeep has been active duty full time when I'm home. Amazingly, she still only has 110,000 miles on her.

Despite the mass amounts of snow, she's been running really well, with the exception of the thermostat/blower selector not working. I've taken it apart on some cold nights with no heat and realized that the pins were broken inside, however that happened. Should be a quick and cheap fix but for now I've got it wrapped in e-tape and it works fine.  In March she got inspected, and upon donning those god-awful magnetic mud-flaps I made a few years ago, she got a new sticker and is legal for yet another year.  So that's good.  The MTR/Ks underperformed and didn't impress me much in the snow this winter, and in the few instances during which I had to drive her on the highway I found myself taking backroads instead as I was uncomfortable with how it was sliding around. Not sure if that's just me or a common issue with these tires, but it wasn't fun. Checked a few times and the tread was clear, so I'm not sure what was up there.

As far as things she needs......

1) Most importantly, the middle frame section by the transfer case skid is in need of replacement. As you may remember from many years ago when Geoff/Clayton and I installed my SYE, I had to weld in some new nut-serts for the TC skid to bolt to. Over the course of the years, the salt and thin metal, plus my probably amateur welding job have combined to see the nuts begin falling out. Mainly (actually only) the furthest back on the driver's side. The other 5 are tight and look to be OK, but I'm going to have that section replaced before I try and take her out on the trails this year.

2) Needs a soft top. 18 months ago I put the hard top on, and haven't taken it off since. Obviously it didn't matter last year since I was hiking the Appalachian Trail for most of the beautiful New England months, but the OEM one that I bought on Craigslist in 2008 had kicked the bucket. Most of the stitching was torn and more than half the zippers no longer worked. I've debated between the QuadraTop and Best-Tops, knowing they're different weightings but from the same factory, and I think the best bet is going to be the Bestop Replace-A-Top. Amazon has them for $424 after a $50 mail-in-rebate. At that point there becomes no question as to $100 more than the Quatratec one, especially when considered over the life of the Jeep.

3) I need to paint the damn thing. Not the body, but the bumpers, especially the front, are beat to ****. If I have enough time off this year I'm going to look at fixing my approach angles where the lower fog lights are. So I'll strip the paint from all of that and go over it. At the same time, I might replace my $100 rattle-can paint job on the T&T fenders with something else. After 3 years they're chipped and beginning to rust, so the debate comes down to whether or not I want to just bedline them with black or try and do another real paint job. Tough to say. I've always liked the way it matched, though a more tough looking/physically tough paint layer might do me better.

4) I've got to replace the passenger side floor pan. I've had a replacement in the basement for 2 years.

5) Maybe the damn roll cage that I bought 4 years ago can get put in too, depending on #4.

Other than that she runs like a top, and continues to impress me in doing so. I got some new RIGID Duallys for the front bumper which have been great this winter. Really throw some kick *** light for $200 for the pair, and the JK OEM fog mount surrounds worked fine with the Rampage bumper. I used some (don't laugh at this) JB Weld to hold them in place, and might tack them in more permanently when the bumper is stripped this summer. They've held either way, so I'm happy.


Here are some photos. Because we all like photos.

Buried in snow...


Doing my taxes with Chris T


Legal for another year


Mid-March, still snowing


For giggles, a photo from 5 years ago that ended up in the same Photobucket album...


And here she is today

I think I win for oldest thread resurrection... almost 2 years later...

I might be able to help you out with that paint, we'll get the real stuff, and when we strip your fenders down We'll get all of that shitty bondo garbage out of there and replace it with auto body filler(plastic) that won't rust.

And we gotta find a time to do both of our floor pans!

Good to see it is still running well. The snow traction is one of the biggest reasons I chose the Duratracs over the MTR/Ks.

Add wiring my seats on that list

Andrew Miller wrote:And we gotta find a time to do both of our floor pans!

Ehhh, solid floor pans are overrated, especially on the passenger side. You don't sit there so let them worry about it.

Andrew Miller wrote:I might be able to help you out with that paint, we'll get the real stuff, and when we strip your fenders down We'll get all of that shitty bondo garbage out of there and replace it with auto body filler(plastic) that won't rust.

And we gotta find a time to do both of our floor pans!

I won't turn that offer down. And yes, group floor pan therapy.

dongalonga wrote:Good to see it is still running well. The snow traction is one of the biggest reasons I chose the Duratracs over the MTR/Ks.

Add wiring my seats on that list  

Yeah, I was surprised. And yes, Shaun, we'll do the seats

THOOPY3 wrote:

Andrew Miller wrote:And we gotta find a time to do both of our floor pans!

Ehhh, solid floor pans are overrated, especially on the passenger side. You don't sit there so let them worry about it.

Plus if your brakes fail they can always give it the flintstone stop

MTR's or muds in general aren't great in snow, lack of siping really just make the tire push snow around instead of cutting through it. Terrible in 2" of snow, great in 2' of snow

Andrew Miller wrote:I might be able to help you out with that paint, we'll get the real stuff, and when we strip your fenders down We'll get all of that shitty bondo garbage out of there and replace it with auto body filler(plastic) that won't rust.

And we gotta find a time to do both of our floor pans!

Dude, you've become such an automotive badass in the past couple years!

Just bought a brand new Bestop Replace-A-Top, black denim with tinted windows for $399! Should be able to install it before the BBQ.

Installed the BestTop Replace-A-Top this past weekend, ditched the hard top, and took some time earlier this week to strip my front bumper which had become a bit rusty, take it down to a base layer and then repaint it. Primered and picked a textured black Rustoleum aerosol to re-cover it up. I'm in the last phase now, which is fixing the Rigid LEDs in place.

Though I never wrote about it, I managed to fit the 2x2 Rigid Duallys in the front bumper holes by purchasing the JK fog light surrounds. They're 0.04" smaller than the hole in the bumper, so there's a tiny bit of space which has allowed me to affix them. I had used JB weld over the winter with 4 spots per light, and will do the same thing again this time. Amazingly enough, they held perfectly.


Looking a bit NewEnglandy.


Stripping it down


JK fog surrounds for the Rigid


Primered


First layers


Besttop Replace-A-Top

Great job Ryan,,
The top looks fine and Boy what a difference in the bumper, it looks good!

So leaving MaBell last week I noticed some play in my front driveshaft... unfortunately beyond that there was play in the yoke itself, so I'm going to order a complete bearing rebuild kit for the HP30. I cracked the diff open today and found a soupy gray mix of fluid, likely the result of the swim the Jeep took a few weeks ago. I'm going to let it drain out then refill the fluid up and install my new (I'm late to the party with this $hit) LubeLocker seals that I got. Luckily it looks to me like the gears themselves are fine, which was a huge concern after seeing the play in the yoke.

Is there anything else I need to check before ordering the stuff from ECGS to redo the seals/bearings? I'd obviously like to have everything in place at once, but if I don't need a new ring & pinion I'd rather avoid having to do that.