WxNerd2015's Never Ending Build

[WxNerd2015]

Gotta Have Fun Too!

Here's a few of my pics from a bit of muddin' fun that I had back in November last year! This was down at a friends place in Bartlesville, OK! It's all fun and great to do mods and work, but you gotta have fun and enjoy it too!

 

[WxNerd2015]

LED Cube Lights and Dual A-Pillar Mounts

This is my next mod that I did! LED cube lights with dual Pod windshield mounts! The top are Spot beam pattern and the bottom are Flood beam pattern! Both are CREE LED lights that I was able to find on eBay for around $40-$50 a pair, and I absolutely love em!

I did have a few install issues, but the entire mod in general cost under $200 for me, so totally affordable! I had an issue with the passenger side light bracket, as using the factory windshield bracket bolts, they barely threaded, and when tightened down, the inside part of the bracket pinched the passenger side wiper down so hard it was unmovable! So I had to do a slight modification there, but I was able to work it out with some new bolts and washers! Also, The hardware to attach the light to the bracket for the top Spot beam pattern lights was different than that that came with the bottom Flood beam pattern lights, and the bolts were too big to fit through the holes on the side! So that was a trip to Autozone to get some screws that fit into the holes to tighten the lights down. These ended up adding a few hours of work on when messing around and trying to get this to work, but I gota great deal on everything, and I absolutely love the fit and function of these lights! Here are some pics of them installed and working:









More to come on this mod as I will do a write up on the install process, as well as more detailed pics and maybe a video on how they function!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Rockford Fosgate Speaker Upgrade

Well, finally listening to the factory speakers with the windows down and top off and barely hearing it got annoying…(And the front speakers blew…a.k.a. I was trying to actually hear my music and let’s just say, no more music coming out of them!)

The factory head unit is “governed” from the factory to not allow anything over a certain db and all that stuff, I guess to use cheaper speakers and make em last longer maybe? Or maybe they have to be under a certain spec for the manufacturer? Idk? All I do know is, they were not very good! Even with the upgraded head unit, the radio itself was still governed, so anything over 18 (the max is 30) on the volume level caused the music to start to become very muffled and when it got muffled, it actually got more quiet! Plus, if you take a look at the factory speakers, they are paper thin, and just are not that great of quality. Now, I have the base audio package on my JK, not the premium audio, so I do not know if that makes it any better, but for me, I needed an upgrade badly.

So I did do a lot of my research, and I decided the best bet to go was a speaker amp and new speakers. Now I don’t need to be rattling and vibrating my whole ride, but I want to be able to hear my music with nice and clean audio, and hear it with the top down! (Cuz let’s face it, it’s a Jeep, the top is gonna be down!) So for me, I had no need or interest in adding a sub, and to be honest, I do not have the Unlimited, therefore cargo space is limited as it is and I do not want to deal with losing more space! So just solely a speaker amp and speaker upgrade was what I needed. With my research though, I am still not overly clear on all the different amps, and what each amp does, and what amps will still allow factory controls, and which amps have to be installed with a sub or you will lose base function, etc…there is a lot more to speaker amps for cars than I thought! So, instead of guessing, and maybe having this not work, as well as just all the splicing of wiring and additional running of wires and all that, I decided to just take it in. And I thought about going to the dealer, as I know there are Kicker installs from Mopar that the dealer could maybe do, but I decided to forget it cuz they would probably charge in an arm and a leg, so I went to a local audio and electronics shop for cars who is well known in the southern Michigan area and did great work on my truck before with an auto starter. The shop is called Mickey Shorr (I have linked the name I just typed to their website), and they always do great, high end, and professional work.

I did get in touch with Crutchfield about some different audio solutions, which they were extremely helpful and did provide me with some great insight, however, the only plug and play option for the Wrangler is from Kicker (which is one of the Vehicle Specific Solutions or VSS kits), included a sub, had factory plugs (so no splicing at all which was great), but it cost almost $1300, and that only include the amp and the sub and connections, no new speakers! Here is the link to that kit on Crutchfield’s site:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_206PWRA211/Kicker-VSS-Powerstage-System.html



Now this was a bit much for me, and the sub was not really a priority to me! So they did provide me with another option, just for an amp, but that still cost upwards of $500 and they was still needing a lot of cutting and splicing, and still including no speakers and I would have lost some factory controls of the radio such as the audio tuning functions! So keeping the cost under $500 total, as well as keep all factory radio function and control were musts for me!

So I went to Mickey Shorr and they were having an end of the month special where install of any set of 4 speakers was free, so I figured I would give them a chance to see if they could meet my price need and still improve the audio, though to be honest, I didn’t think anyone would for that price and I would probably end up having to save up and pay up for the expensive system! Well, the guys at Mickey Shorr told me that the Kicker system could definitely be exceeded by Rockford Fosgate, as it was much higher quality, but the total they gave me was around $700. This was for 4 6 ½ speakers for the front dash and the sound bar, and a speaker amp. They was a heck of a lot closer to my budget, but still over. So I was about to leave, and the guys really wanted my business and asked me what price I wanted to stay below…AND HUGE SHOUT OUT to the Livonia Mickey Shorr store as they match the price I wanted exactly. So I ended up paying $400 for a Rockford Fosgate 400W 4-channel speaker amp and 4 Rockford Fosgate 6 ½ speakers which I am extremely pleased with…and this was installed as well as they honored their free install of everything at that price as well!

Here is the speaker amp that was installed:

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/r400-4d



And here is the speakers that were installed:

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/r165x3



And all factory radio function was kept as well as all audio controls, and it sounds S000000 much better than before and top top and 70 MPH on the expressway, I can hear my music no problem with the volume only up to 16! And the bass is much better, and no sub needed! If you want a good audio upgrade and don’t need the sub, this upgrade is great! Rockford Fosgate exceptional quality, and is a trusted manufacturer that has done this for a longtime and is known for their quality, and their product definitely did not disappoint!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Jeep Care: Tips and Tricks

Just a couple quick little tips and tricks to help keep all looking and running good on your Jeep! First off, if you still have your stock fenders/bumpers/mirrors/door handles/rear door hinges/fuel cap area/rubber stoppers on the hood/etc. then it is good to make sure that you take care of those pieces to make sure that your Jeep is looking the best and they will last (or at least until you upgrade!). Every so many washes, I use the Armor All Trim/Plastic Restorer to get the rest of the dirt and what not off the plastic so it doesn't soak in, and it also prevents the UV damage and all that and keep the vendors and other trim looking brand new! (And so it's ready to go for the next adventure!)



The other small tip I have is to help protect your tires (including the spare!)! Every so many washes I also spray on the Black Magic Tire Shine to protect the tires and keep them looking nice and prevent the weird stain marks you can get sometimes! It's also very important to make sure that the spare is protected too as that one is the most exposed tires which you need to make sure is in good condition if ever needed! You don't want to have a situation where you need the spare and it's been exposed to the sun too much and become dried out or a situation like that!



Now I know these aren't typically things that most Jeep owners worry about, but just a couple of tips that I have learned that help your vehicle last longer with no worries!

 

[WxNerd2015]

730N RHR Tips, Tricks, and Functions

Just wanted to further my posts on the 730N RHR radio that I had installed to everyone more info on the radio itself, along with the functions and how it works! So if you are thinking you can get one, then you can be fully informed on the functions of the RHR! I will post a video of it working soon, but here are some pictures of the functions!

When the radio receives power once you turn the ignition on, you will first see the Jeep splash screen. Then, as long as the radio if off, it will load to the radio off screen, which usually will just display the time, like this:




If you then want to turn the radio on, you press the volume knob in, and (if you have no lock pick system installed on your radio) then you will see the warning/disclaimer about vehicle in motion inputs and all that. The screen will look like this:



Then the radio will then load into which ever radio or nav screen it was last on. For me, that is the split screen with audio on the left, and the navigation screen on the right:



From there, you have the option to change the volume (but only when there is actually audio playing), you can seek through tracks, change radio station, change radio functions (You have AM/FM, Satellite, Hard Drive, USB, AUX, CD/DVD), click the nav screen to go into navigation, and use the UConnect functions on the radio! Here are some images of those functions in action:

 

[WxNerd2015]

730N RHR Tips, Tricks, and Functions (continued)

The next feature it took me a long time to figure out! This would be the dimming/night function of the radio! For some reason, Chrysler made this extremely difficult to figure out, but the trick is to have the dash light dimmer turned to the right level! When dimmed, the radio will look like this:



To get the radio to switch to the night colors functions which is seen above, you have to make sure that the dash light dimmer switch is at least one setting below the normal/locked dash dim setting (or at least one dimmer setting below the brightest):




You want to have the dimmer setting set to the first picture, not the second picture setting!

Next, if you press the UConnect button on different screens, you will get different options. When you press the UConnect button, there will be a short tone to prompt you to speak, and your options that you can say will appear on the screen, like this:




Next, if you press the open/close button, the screen will flip down to show the CD/DVD slot which you can then insert a CD or DVD:

 

[WxNerd2015]

730N RHR Tips, Tricks, and Functions (continued)

The next functions that I want to share are when you enter into the menu area of the radio. To do this, you press the menu button, and then this screen shows up:



The first feature in here is if you subscribe to Sirius and have the Sirius Travel Link subscription, then you can hit the Travel Link soft key and enter the next menu:



There are some great features in here like getting your weather forecast, fuel prices based on location with price and fuel type, sports scores and alerts, movie theaters with times, locations, etc. But for me, my favorite feature is what showed up after I did an update to the firmware on my radio, which is the weather map! This shows your location over laid over radar maps. It also will show front locations, different zooms, tropical weather updates, and a few other things! The radar maps look like this:




Another function, if you subscribe to it is the Sirius Traffic functions. This feature is very handy as it overlays the traffic patterns onto the regular GPS map so you can see where there may be traffic issues and go around it. Also, if you have Sirius Traffic, then when you have a route active on the GPS, it will update for serious traffic issues for you to get around without having to deal with backups! But from the menu page, if you click on traffic updates from there, it will take you to a more detailed screen on traffic updates and you can see details on specific issues and where they are relative to you!



A few other functions that are accessible from that menu are the audio tuning controls where you have balance and fade, as well as bass, treble, mid-range, as well as managing your hard drive where you can have audio files, pictures, and some other stuff stored! Personally, I absolutely love the HDD for adding music so I don't even have to take the time to plug my phone or iPod in! Here's some picture of those screens below:

 

[WxNerd2015]

730N RHR Tips, Tricks, and Functions (continued)

Just a few remain tips left for me to tell about this radio. Once again, from the menu home screen, there are a few other possible things to edit/change with the radio, such as what shows up on the right half of the screen when in radio/audio mode. This can be selected on the right edge of the menu screen. From here you can select map view (which I have mine set to), Jeep Splash Screen, am uploaded picture, or you can have the screen go completely off!



You can also access the menus such as checking the version of software/firmware/gracenote/etc. that the radio is currently operating on, as well as managing the hard drive, changing the time zone, voice recognition settings, pairing a bluetooth device, feedback settings, and a few other settings as well! The clock can also be adjusted if you click the clock directly on the screen, it will take you to the same screen as the menu time set does. Here are a few pics starting with the main and then sub screens:





And lastly in all the major functions and to conclude all the tips and tricks I can think of at the moment, I will cover the navigation functions. When you go to the navigation screen, there are a few ways to get there. You can either press the NAV hard key on the right side of the radio, or click on the map on the right side of the touch screen. The NAV key will take you to the navigation menu, and clicking on the map will pull the map up full screen! Your view will look something like this:




There are a few map preference selections tat you can make on the map view screen such as your zoom, what shows up on the screen, always north or always behind, your option to go to the nav menu, and the ability to switch between the 2D and 3Dviews. I personally like the 3D view as you can see a bit further ahead, but to each their own! So the above pic is the 3D view, and below is the 2D map view!



Then, from the navigation menu page, you can access all sorts of different info, such as where am I now (which displays lat. and long. of current location), guide me home (where you can store your home address for quick access to being guided home), you cane find points of interest, you can save favorites, you can create and save whole trips with multiple destinations, you can get emergency info, you can find your recently routed places, and of coarse, destination entry. The destination entry screen is shown below, followed by the where am I now function:




From the destination entry screen, you can see all the different options of how to route you and whatever inputs you would like or you may have to get to your destination! There is even a saved trails button, where your GPS can "drop breadcrumbs" for trails/paths/trips can save them so you can find your way back, as well as saving them for possible future trips! Once a destination is entered, the radio will screen back to the full map view screen with directions now showing and your route highlighted. (Just a couple quick tips and ideas. One, the volume of the voice on the nav can only be adjusted when it is speaking. And two, when the nav is giving a direction, the voice only comes out of the driver side front speaker, so it is focused on only the driver, and no one else. So, say there is music playing, the music will continue to play at the correct volume through all the speakers except the driver front speaker which will switch over to the nav voice to speak, and when it is done, it goes back to whatever it was doing before. I personally like this feature and think it is a pretty neat idea!) Here is what the screen looks like with an active route:



You also have a few options from this screen as well during an active route as well as right before you hit go to start the route. You are able to select the kind of route you want, such as no toll roads, or fastest route, you can see alternate routes that are not as fast, and a few other things. Then, once the route is active, you have the option to add in a detour, find nearby points of interest (POIs), see the destination you input, save the destination, and view the turn list instead of just viewing the map! Some of those functions can be seen in the pictures below:





So that is all the tips and tricks that I can think of with the RHR 730N Chrysler radio installed in a 2011 Jeep Wrangler! Let me know if you have any questions or if there is anything else I did not show that you may be wondering about! Thanks!

 

[WxNerd2015]

JK Tip/Trick

Just another quick tip/trick for those of you with hard tops!

Let's admit it, it is nice to have a hard top too for your Jeep (especially if you live in the northern states where winter does actually happen ), and it's much better having the hard top factory installed from Jeep, and then add a soft top later! Cuz the other way around is a huge pain and hassle and you still may be missing some options that you could have had from the factory! But oneof the pains is, you have to disconnect the power and washer fluid lines from the hard top that are running to the wiper and heater on the rear window if you actually want to run it topless (which it's a Jeep, of coarse you want to run topless! ) but then you got these random wires just dangling around, and one with liquid iin it that could end up all over stuff! Now the best option would be to somehow "cap" the washer fluid line to make sure none leaks out (or in case you accidentally hit the switch). This is just a suggestion, however I have not hit it yet with m hard top off, so as long as you are to too forgetful, then you should be good!

No to the loose wire issue, now if it's just a quick run with the top off and you are not really concerned with where the wires go, then the quickest and easiest way to deal with the wires is to just tuck then back towards the front under the side of the tub (where you set the top on screw it in to to fasten it to the Jeep). That's the quickest and easiest, however I have found after a little bit they find their way out of there and are once again loose! Plus, by tucking them horizontally, some of the remaining washer fluid in the end of the line leaked out (I never hit the button, just some remained in the line) as usually the lines are kept vertical but once turned, the remaining fluid leaked out! The second option is a bit more secure and if you will have the hard top off for a while, go ahead and separate the plastic trim around the rear roll bar and then tuck the wires into the panel, as they fit completely inside and are totally secured and out of the way! No more worries on that! Except that you still get the run out of washer fluid from the line unless you cap it as it is sitting horizontal! Plus, that is more wear and tear on plastic trim pieces which are only so strong, and the more you move and flex them, the closer you get to breaking them, so be careful with that too! And lastly, this is the idea that I used! I went ahead and tucked the lines inside the roll bar cover which is easy to access, they are secure, and they are sitting vertical, so no worries on the washer fluid running out! And once the hard top goes back on for winter, they are just a quick pull from the roll bar cover and good to go! Thanks for reading! Here are a few pictures of my set up!

 

[WxNerd2015]

What's to come!!!

Stay tuned! There will be a write up on installation, as well as a review, of the Bestop Trektop NX which I installed earlier this summer and has been on my Jeep for about 3 months now! I'll cover the install as well as some cool features, tips/tricks to get the most from your top, as how well it has worked!

Also, I am looking into some new modifications, such as swapping my rearview mirror for one with the homelink buttons (as I like the more OEM feel and the ease of swapping), a lift kit (looking into swaping stock shocks from 14s/56s to 18s/59s and swapping the stock shocks from one that came out of a brand new Rubi and then a 2" AEV Spacer lift), Upgrading most of the bulbs to LEDs from SuperBrightLEDS.com, TruckLite LED Headlights (probably the heated ones, as I do live in Michigan where we do get winter and I love heading Up North all the time in Winter), and swapping the temp controls for the automatic temp controls! And that is just a short list!

Man...I need more money and more time...

Also, I will continue to post little tips and tricks about the JKs that I have found too! Hope this stuff helps y'all out and is an interesting read! Thanks!

 

[WxNerd2015]

JK Tips and Tricks

Just another quick JK tip for ya! On the 2-doors, it can be hard to get in and out of the back when needed sometimes! But Jeep built in a little trick which is meant to help that entry and exit! When you release the seat to open entry to the back, if you push the seat forward, the track the seat is attached to will lift up and tilt the seat forward a bit more while allowing more floor space to enter as well!

Here is how you do it:

1. Starting with the seat in the normal, "upright and locked" position



2. Grab the handle on the side of the seat, and lift the bottom handle up (push the top of the handle towards the rear of the vehicle)



The back of the seat will now be tipped forward



3. Reach under the front of the seat, and slide the seat all the way forward



So you can see the seat if all the way forward with the track for the see in it's normal down position




4. Now from the back of the seat, go ahead and push the seat towards the front of the Jeep! You should feel the seat lift up a little and shift forward and extra few inches! As you you can see in the pictures, the back of the track for the seat lifts up, providing extra space to access the back seat area of the Jeep!





I hope, for those of you with 2 door JK's that this little trick helps ya out! Thanks for reading!

 

[WxNerd2015]

JK Tips and Tricks

Here is the video of the folding and tipping of the front seat!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Well...the Michigan Roads Strike Again...

Well, looks like I am in for another new windshield now! That will make my 3rd windshield in a year and a half! And somehow, even with being a storm chaser, the only thing to ruin my windshield is the dang Michigan roads! I had 3 chips in the windshield already but I was able to get am filled before they expanded, but within the last few days here, apparently something chipped my windshield at the very bottom edge, right in front of the steering wheel, and has now cracked up (no pun intended) into the windshield now and will have to be replaced...





At least insurance covers most of bit, but I still have a deductible to pay on it...looks like it's time to look into a rock/bug deflector for the hood to try and minimize these occurrences a bit more! I had one on my Dakota for 7 years and never even had a chip in the windshield, but 5 chips, 3 cracks, and now to the third windshield...it's worth a shot to not have to keep paying for new glass! Looking into getting the WeatherTech Bug/Rock deflector here for about $60, which is cheaper than my deductible for a windshield, so if it works...totally worth it! I'll see what deal I can get and hopefully order in the next few days!

I'll post a review of the deflector, as well as an install post once I go through all that!

http://www.weathertech.com/jeep/2011/wrangler/stone-and-bug-deflector/

 

[WxNerd2015]

Thank you Safelight!

Well, thanks to Safelight this morning, I now have a shiny, clean, brand new windshield on the Jeep! No more chips and cracks! They met me at work and got the whole windshield replaced, even around my CB up in the windshield on the inside and my off road lights which are up in front of the windshield on the bottom edge no problem! Even got em straighter than they were probably and vacuumed the entire front seat areas! And all was done in just over an hour! Very impressive! A+ top notch work and service! If ya ever need any automotive glass, Safelight always takes great care of you!

Back to mods now though, and hopefully my WeatherTech Rock Deflector arrives in the next few days! Ordered it from ExtremeTerrain.com and got free shipping on it too!

Well, that's all for now!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Windshield LED Light Install

So, as mentioned a little while ago, here is the write up for the off road windshield light install!

I was looking into getting a 50” bar for across the top of the windshield, but at the time, it was just out of my price range, and I always liked the look of the windshield lights, and did some research and found, for what I was wanting to spend, these cubes on windshield mounted brackets which would produce more than enough light! So I did some eBay searching as well as some off road sites. I found some of the top brands out there, such as Rigid Industries or KC were absolutely top notch, but for the price, I just could not pull the trigger as my preferred price range was a bit lower! So I came across these Cree LED cube lights on eBay, which seemed plenty powerful, had the same sort of look as the KCs and Rigid Industries that I was looking at, and had a muuuuuch better price!

I also decided that I didn’t really wanna settle for just one beam pattern or the other, and I thought the stacked windshield lights with the dual brackets just looked really cool! So I ended up with a set of spot beam pattern (10* beam pattern but really long range), a set of fog beam pattern (45*-60* beam pattern, depending on what you read as I have never actually measured and the agreement in listings wasn’t fully clear, but they spread nicely and have a great wide output, but don’t go as far as the spots), and a pair of dual mount windshield brackets which just reuse the same bolts and screw that the windshield already contains. I picked all this up for around $150, and overall, I am very happy!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-16W-Dually-Cube-CREE-LED-Flood-Fog-Driving-Light-For-Off-Road-Atv-Jeep-Truck-/121742709859?hash=item1c586e5463:g:FkoAAOSw0JpV3lZw&vxp=mtr


http://www.ebay.com/itm/DUAL-LED-BAR-PILLAR-MOUNT-BRACKET-FOR-SQUARE-FLOOD-LIGHT-07-15-JEEP-WRANGLER-JK-/191661747528?hash=item2c9fee2d48:g:IJUAAOSwd0BVzR4Z&vxp=mtr


http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x3-cube-CREE-Led-Work-Light-Square-Offroad-SUV-Boat-ATV-Jeep-Lamp-4x4-Foglight-/381292770725?hash=item58c6d1f5a5:g:9JEAAOSw3xJVelHc&vxp=mtr

So, to start the install, I had these two sets of cube LEDs, which hand nothing with them, except the light with about 5” of wiring off the back, and hardware to mount to the included brackets. I set aside the included brackets as they were not needed for the brackets that I had purchased to mount the lights to. I decide that for me, the best set up would be to get a bit more height for the spot LEDs and mount them on the upper part of the dual mounting bracket and the flood LEDs would mount in the lower location. And we now get to one of the hardest parts of the install right off the bat:

1. You slight the bracket into the proper groves from the backside of the light.

2. Then adjust the light on the bracket until the holes on both sides of the lights, line up with the holes in the bracket.

***As a side note, I recommend doing the lower lights first as access from the top of the light is easier than from the bottom***

3. Once you have the holes lined up, you can use the included hardware for the fasten the lights to the brackets.

a. This is done by dropping a nut into the proper groove on the back of the light.

b. Making sure that the nut remains balanced in the groove, go ahead and insert the screw

***Side note, I used a closed box end wrench to reach in the grooves on the opposite side that the bolt was coming from to make sure I could push the bolt into the nut and begin to thread it, and once the bolt was tight enough to the nut, it did not move and tightened down nicely. However, this only worked on the flood patterned lights as the hardware that was sent with the spot beam pattern did not fit the holes on the lights, which meant a trip to AutoZone to get the proper sized nuts and screws that had heads that would sink into the holes and reach the nut inside. I guess that’s what I get for ordering the “from the manufacturer” parts which are located in China, never the less though, I was able to get it worked out and tightened down.***


c. Once you are able to get the bolt threaded into the nut, line the lights up roughly where you think they should be, and tighten down. FYI, this whole set up is done away from the vehicle as there was no need to be at the vehicle to get this all set up!

4. With the lights now secured to the bracket, I had to figure out what I was going to do for wiring and a switch. Once again, a trip to AutoZone solved that problem, and they ordered a completely switch harness with fuse and relay for me for about $30 and took the weekend to come into the store.

a. As these are LEDs and have an extremely low power draw compared to any other type of off road light, AutoZone advised me that it was perfectly fine to wire all 4 LEDs onto the same switch and fuse as it did not exceed the rating on the harness.


http://www.autozone.com/exterior-lighting/wiring-harness/pilot-automotive-pre-wired-harness-kit-with-micro-switch-for-12-volt-auxiliary-lamps/123983_0_0/

5. I also wanted to make sure that paint behind the brackets did not get scratched, and this were just cost iron brackets which were powder coated, so some buffer between the paint and the bracket was needed.
6. I went to Home Depot, and the guy I talked to was very helpful once I explained what I was looking for and needed and we decided on a piece of weather stripping that goes at the bottom of the entry of a front door on a house, which is rubber and pretty thin was exactly what I needed to cut out the shape of the bracket and then place behind the bracket when I mount it on the Jeep to keep the windshield frame protected!
7. Cutting was relatively easy for the padding as I took the weather stripping, held the base of the bracket up and scored the rubber with my pocket knife where the outer edge was and the holes for the screws and then cut the pieces that I needed with scissors.
8. Once I had the switch/harness in hand and the padding to go behind the brackets cut to shape, it was time to get going on getting the lights on the Jeep!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Windshield LED Light Install (continued)

9. First, I started by fastening the light brackets, with the lights attached, to their mounting location on the Jeep.

a. Drivers side was as simple as removing the torque screws at the base of the windshield on the front side (just 2 torque screws)

b. Line the bracket with the padding on the back (in between the bracket and the windshield frame) with the existing holes on the windshield frame

c. Reinsert the 2 torque screws you had just removed

d. Make sure the screws thread into the holes

e. Tighten down the torque screws, and your are good to go. And as you can see in the picture, the stock torque screws are used and the light is fastened just fine!



f. The passenger side provided much more of an issue for me, as you begin the same way be removing the existing 2 torque screws on the front of the windshield frame.

g. I then attempted to place the light bracket the same way as the driver side, but I found that if it was attached the same way, it pinched the passenger side wiper to the windshield and did not allow it to move.

h. Therefore, one more trip to AutoZone for some washers and longer bolts which matched the size of the holes in the windshield frame.

i. Once I had the correct sized bolts, I tried to reattached the bracket

j. It took some fiddling and test fits with washers as spacers, but I was able to tighten the bracket down without it pinching the passenger side wiper. It took two washers on the more inward hole to tilt the passenger side bracket out slightly, but it is 100% clear then. Eventually, I may go ahead and have the bracket reworked a bit so as not to have to have “spacers” in there at all, but for the time being, it has worked exactly how I needed it to! So as you can see below, there are now silver bolts which are longer than the stock holding it in, as well as in the second picture you can see the washers inserted as spacers behind the bracket and the weather stripping which is also behind the bracket!




10. So with the actual lights mounted to the Jeep now, the next task was wiring

a. I started by splicing the ends of wires coming off of the lights, into the new AutoZone switch harness ends which were meant for the lights (2 splices for each light, and while I would have loved to solder the connections together, I did not have those tools available when I did this so I used wire splices from AutoZone, which were the blue clips that you clamp close and they tap the two wires…one day I will go back and make those connections better)

b. Anyhow, that is a total of 4 splices per side of the Jeep and then the connection points were wrapped extremely good and tight with tape!



c. I then undid the 4 torque screws which are located on the panel the wipers are located in



d. From here, I was able to lift the panel up just enough and slide the harness down underneath this panel, which as you can see as a lot of empty and unused space.



e. Once you tighten the panel just in front of the windshield back on, you can then work on making the connections to the power and ground.

f. First was to make the connection to the battery for power. This was connected to the positive pole by removing one of the bolts on the connector on top, sliding the end of the harness on for a power connection, and then reattaching the bolt

g. Then, we had to find a location to hang the fuse. For this, I ran the wire harness forward from the battery up next to the fuse box and undid one of the bolts on the edge of the body of the hood.

h. Then lined the hole up in the top of the fuse holder and put the bolt back through that, and into its original hole. You can also see the ground connection I made for the fuse itself in the first picture




i. After the fuse was held in place, I then ran the other power end of the wire to a switched power source. The directions with the harness said to find the parking lamp wire and splice this wire into it, however a buddy of mine showed me a trick her used on his Camaro for an easier connection, which was to find a fuse to one of the parking/running lights and wrap the end of the wire around the fuse. So That power end of the wire is wrapped around the fuse which runs the parking light on the right rear taillight.



j. With these connections made, I then ran the remaining unused wires across the firewall in the engine compartment, to the driver side of the Jeep. From here, I made the ground connection for the switch on another similar bolt located on the body which I removed, then placed the ground connect on the bolt and reinserted the bolt to the proper hole.

***Extra side note...please do not drop the bolt when you loosen it to get the ground connection on. My buddy helping me dropped the bolt, and the location that it was at, it fell in between the engine compartment panel and the driver front body panel, and was almost nearly impossible to get out, but luckily, I was able to move the wheel well and get a magnetized screw driver just far enough into the small hole in between the panels and get the bolt back out, but that was another 20 minutes wasted just getting that out, so be careful when handling those!***

 

[WxNerd2015]

Windshield LED Light Install (continued)

11. With all of the proper connection made, the last part was to get the connector to power the switch into the cabin of the Jeep!

a. The first step was finding where to run the connector that attaches to the switch, into the Jeep. I first located where the main harness for the Jeep was going through the firewall, but I wanted to avoid that if possible because I did not want to mess that up

b. So with a little more investigating, I found a rubber grommet on either side of the Jeep on the firewall which is not punched through and not being used at all, however, it goes right through the firewall to the interior of the jeep (Almost like they might have built it this way! :brows



c. So I pushed the connector through this grommet and grabbed it from the inside of the Jeep



d. Once through, I then made the connection between the connector and the switch itself

12. So last step was to run the switch to a spot of the dash for me to be able to use it. The switch that I purchased required no drilling or cutting as it just had the automotive 3M tape on the back, so it was just going to be suck to the dash where I ran it!

13. I removed the panel below the steering wheel on the dash, which all you do it pull down on the top of the panel and it will release.

14. I then ran the wiring from the firewall, up behind this panel.

15. I zip-tied the extra wires up inside the dash so they stay out of the way

16. I then stuck the switch to the dash, just to the left of the steering wheel and above the speaker on the driver side

17. I then carefully reinstalled the knee panel below the steering wheel, as to make sure that no wires got cut/pinched





18. And then turned the parking lights on and tested the LED lights, and…

19. They work! These lights however can only be run when I have at least the parking lights on, as that is their switched power source, but I would always have those on when I need the LEDs, so no problem at all for me!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Windshield LED Light Install (continued)

And here are some pictures of the lights at work at night! They are way way waaaaaaaaay brighter than the stock lights on the Jeep, and to be honest, I can’t even tell my high beams are on when I am running the LEDs on! :rock:

The first two pics are just sitting in the garage looking at the lights




The next two are from the driver seat, looking through the windshield. The first is with just the lowbeams and fogs, and then the second is lowbeams and fogs, with the LED Cube lights on




The next two are standing outside the driver side of the Jeep. Thie first picture is low beams and fogs, and then the second is lowbeams, fogs, and the LED cubes




The next two are from the drivers seat again, but with the high beams. The first is just the high beams, and the second is the high beams and LED Cubes




The last 3 are just looking back at the Jeep from in front, with first just the low beams and fogs, and then the low beams, fogs, and the LED cubes





They put out an impressive amount of light, for a pretty great price! The beam patterns are great and I am extremely happy with my choice! All in all, this is an extremely impressive mod for under $200! And I have been running them for about7 months now, and I have no issues to report or complaints at all about these lights! Disappointed a little with the fit of the passenger side bracket as well as the hardware not being right for the one set of lights, but no big deal and I was still able to get em on and working awesome!

Hope y’all enjoyed the write-up and let me know if you have any questions and if you need any more details that I may have left out! Thanks for reading!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Bestop Trektop NX

Just wanted to show you a quick couple looks as what is coming next on my forum! Back in June I got a Bestop Trektop NX which I paid about $600 for, but I wanted to be able to have the top go on and off easier in the summer so I could actually enjoy my Jeep how it was meant to be enjoyed! But I still wanted to know that I had some sort of cover ready to go, just in case! So in the next few days hopefully, there will be a write up for the installation process, as well as a review and functions of the Trektop! Here's a few picks of how it looks though! And I would like to say, 5 months now down the road with this top, and I am extremely impressed!

 

[WxNerd2015]

Just another little tidbit to add to my Jeep collection here! My fiance, for my birthday last March, got me a nice Jeep hat! She actually searched and found one the same colors as my Jeep! Since I am going with the whole black and tan look, she found my a Jeep hat with the exact matching colors! With the hat being black, and the letters the same tan as my Jeep! And as you can tell, it has been well worn already!