Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 19, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted January 19, 2019 I picked up my "new to me" first ever Jeep on the 24th of December 2018. She is a Green 2011 Grand Cherokee Limited 3.0 CRD. Having driven her for a couple of hundred miles, I think I might have a new favourite car... All my cars are personalised, and this Jeep will be no exception, so the idea of this thread is so I can make notes of any mods or repairs I make, so not only can I look back on them in the future, but you never know, they may help someone else as well. Both My Wife and I are members of South East 4 x 4 Response, so the Jeep will have to carry certain bits. The first job was to make better use of the wasted space in the dish of the Spare wheel. I found an 18" diameter plastic bowl, that fitted the centre of the wheel, and then made up a wooden spacer for the bottom, to give it strength and make it sit flat. I then made a couple of Brackets so the Jack would sit in there, at the angle it need to sit at order to fit. This then leaves loads of space for the standard tools, plus I have added things like some multi-purpose screw drivers, wheel chocks, gloves, old towel etc. As I finished this, I spotted the cavity between the spare wheel well and the back of the rear seats, which I understand is where the air tank goes on the Overland. I have ordered up an access panel, which I will fit into the rear wall, behind the spare wheel, allowing me to put things I only need once in a blue moon. I will probably put the Jack and wheel brace in there, as the chances are, I will only need them if I am changing the wheel anyway, as at home I have a full set of tools, axle stands, and a trolley jack. Second job was to change out the tyres for some proper AT ones. The car had 20" wheels on, but for the sort of tyres I wanted, I needed to find a set of 18" wheels. I picked up a second hand set, then got a brand new set of 265/65 R18 BF Goodrich KO2 AT's put on. The next bit of fun was discovering that the standard Jeep Wheel nuts were too big to fit in the new wheel holes. Another problem is, the Jeeps wheel Studs are very long (35mm sticking through the wheel), and standard "closed" wheel nuts bottom out before tightening up on the wheel. To resolve this, you either need "Open" nuts, or better still, I discovered wheel nuts from a "Ford Transit Custom" fit. You just need to make sure they are M14x 1.5, as they do also do them in a standard thread as well. Next job was to change the already fitted Tow-bar from the Swan Neck one, to a Flange type one, so I can fit other things to it, including the Dixon Bate hitch I use. This involves removing the rear Bumper, which is in fact fairly easy, unbolting the old tow bar, and then fitting the new one in it's place. I have chosen to also keep the Factory fit rear towing hook, which meant drilling an extra hole in middle of the hooks side fixings, to allow all 3 bolts to be put in the Tow bar. While doing this, I also Wax Oiled all the bits as I added them. I will also be reworking the tow-bar electrics, and fitting a 13pin socket, along with a camera socket for the rear view camera on our caravan. Rather than having these hang down below the bumper, where they are very easy to damage when off road, they will be fitted into stainless steel cups recessed into the lower bumper. One of the DRL's was not working when I got the car, so I ordered up a pair of "NGCAT 3157 T25 LED 1200LM Xenon White" bulbs, which I then fitted. The drivers side was fairly easy to do, but the passenger side was a bit harder. I found a link online that basically says to remove the air filter to get to it. Once I worked that out, it was actually quite easy, as it is all poppers, so no tools needed. I did put a squirt of Silicon lubricant on the rubber poppers though, to make it easier to slide them on and off. When I got the car, one thing that did surprise me was how bad the reversing camera was, so again a bit of online searching, and I found it was actually quite a common problem on the older WK2's, as the lens goes a sort of Yellow colour. I looked at the price of a replacement camera, and to be honest, I really can not understand how they justify £250+ pounds for just the camera!! So I decided to see what I could do with a £5 Ebay bullet camera, after all, I can change that 49 times, and still be in profit. I picked one identical to the one I used on my wife's Terrano, 3 years ago, which is still going strong, and with a bit of jiggery pokery, fitted it. It took a bit of time to work out the wiring, but half a day, and I now have a much better quality picture, and you really would never know from the outside the camera was changed. For future Reference the wiring on the camera plug is:- Camera Plug Function Car Plug New Camera Blue No Connection NC Thick Black Screen Grey Screen of Phono connector Thin Black Ground Black Ground of Power Feed Red 12v Ign Pink Positive of Power Feed Green camera return Yellow White Camera Signal Brown Center of Phono connector In order to keep the Jeep Wiring standard, I cut the plug off the original camera and spliced the bullet cameras connections onto that, using solder, heat shrink and self amalgamating tape to make it nice and water tight. I have to say the camera is much better... While I had the boot panel off to do the camera, I also changed the reversing light bulbs and also the courtesy lights in the boot panel for LED's. These were "NGCAT T15 921 Led Bulb 1800 Lumen" Bulbs to make the Reversing lights a lot brighter, and "NGCAT T10 168 Led Bulb 1800 Lumen" bulbs in the boot Panel. Much better than the stock lights. More to follow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 19, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 19, 2019 I forgot to add, as I will be keeping the original 20" wheels for the time being, I realised I would need a new set of TPMS valves and sensors. I originally looked to go to National Tyres, but they wanted to charge £95 per wheel for the sensors and valves, and then told me they would also have to programme the Jeep with the new Sensors, and could not actually quote me how much that would cost until they did it! I got "(4) 56029398AB 68241067AB FOR CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE TPMS TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR" from Ebay for £24, and took them to my local tyre place, who were not only cheaper for the same tyres, but fitted the valves for me, with the caveat that if they were faulty, I would have to cover the costs of having them removed and replaced. Fair enough. I put the new wheels on the Jeep, and then took a drive round the Block, just to make sure everything was OK, and there was no rubbing with the bigger size, and within 2mins of driving, the TPMS system had automatically updated to the new senders. I am a very happy Chappy. The wheel and sensor details I have are as follows:- TPMS OE Ref.: 56029398AB Commercial Name: Schrader Snap-in Snap in Gen4 433MHz Daimler WAL ASK Center Bore: 71.5 mm Wheel Fasteners: Lug nuts – Thread Size: M14 x 1.5 x 35mm long – Conical seat - 60 degree – PCD: 5 x 127 (5 x 5) – Torque: 150 Nm (110ft-lb) – Wheel Diameter: 17 — 20 – Wheel Width: 7.5 — 8 – Wheel Offset: 39 — 56 My Standard Jeep Wheel Nut are 22mm Hex Maximum in the after market wheels are 19mm Hex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 19, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 19, 2019 (edited) To bring this up to date, First a picture showing the difference between the LED DRL's and the normal Tungsten ones. Today I made the recessed fixings for the tow bar connectors. There will be two, one for the 13pin Socket, and the second one is for a military type waterproof socket that connects on the camera on the back of the caravan. I will be fitting a screen in where the drop down Sunglasses holder currently is to view it when I need it. I ordered 2 brushed Stainless steel cup Holders from the Bay. I made a couple of 6mm Aluminium Rings to go behind the bumper, to give a bit of strength for the fixings. Then once I was happy, fixed it into the lower bumper (excuse the state of the car, not had a chance to wash the motorway grime off yet. Edited January 19, 2019 by LazyFerret spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 22, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 22, 2019 Finished wiring the back, and put a few spares in place for future proofing... I ran a 2 conduits from the battery box to the rear of the car, and while I had all the trim out, I also ran a 12core cable from the front to the rear. 1 of the conduits has a 50amp cable passed along it, the second one is to make running any future cables a lot easier. I then built an aluminium frame that fitted into the void under the rear O/S speaker, just in front of the bumper. To this, I fitted a terminal/distribution block for the 50amp cable to terminate at. This is then fed into a 6 way Fuse/Relay box. I finished all the wiring for the Tow bar socket, with an extra bit of trunking running across the boot, under the slam panel, to allow cables to pas form one side to the other.. While I had everything apart, I added an access hatch to the back of the spare wheel well, added a bit of strengthening Aluminium "T" bar to the top, to make up for any strength lost in cutting out such a large bit of plastic, I also added a panel of Stainless Steel to the back, as there were several gaps in the plastic, which meant things could disappear through and down behind the seats. The Jack is a snug fit, but does go in there, and then the tools in a cotton tool bag slide into the other side. This frees up the centre of the spare wheel for lots of other Junk... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Hotwheels Posted January 23, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted January 23, 2019 awesome work so far ans excellent updates thank you ... we just need a picture now of your new wheels fitted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 23, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 23, 2019 2 hours ago, Hotwheels said: awesome work so far ans excellent updates thank you ... we just need a picture now of your new wheels fitted Thanks, I wanted to clean her first, but this weather is not very conducive to standing out there with a bucket and sponge... The neighbours already think I am mad working on the other bits in the freezing cold... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Hotwheels Posted January 23, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted January 23, 2019 I know what you're saying but my neighbours would be more likely to be checking the obituaries if they never saw me washing mine on any given Sunday lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 23, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 23, 2019 3 hours ago, Hotwheels said: I know what you're saying but my neighbours would be more likely to be checking the obituaries if they never saw me washing mine on any given Sunday lol You just waited until it was covered in snow, and then claimed you washed it... LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member jerryg Posted January 23, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted January 23, 2019 Are you attending the Slindon event on the 3rd Feb? Meet up with a fellow 4x4Responder from Glos/Worcs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 23, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 23, 2019 Not going to be able to make it this time, otherwise it would have been nice to meet up... Do you get a lot of stick for being a Jeep in a very LR dominated area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member jerryg Posted January 23, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted January 23, 2019 Not in our patch! Only about 50% are Landys, and most of them are Discos, plenty of 3's and 4's. Rich lot round here! A new member has a Grand, but we have a good mixture, Nissans, Toyotas etc. Mitsubishi variants are prevalent at the moment. Only a few old Defenders and Series. Mine's a CRD KJ by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 23, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 23, 2019 43 minutes ago, jerryg said: Not in our patch! Only about 50% are Landys, and most of them are Discos, plenty of 3's and 4's. Rich lot round here! A new member has a Grand, but we have a good mixture, Nissans, Toyotas etc. Mitsubishi variants are prevalent at the moment. Only a few old Defenders and Series. Mine's a CRD KJ by the way. I am still getting to grips with the Jeeps types... It can be very confusing for the newby, even my one is either a 2011, 11, WK2, MK4, MKIV, and then the other day, something I was looking at, and they called it a Mk6. very confusing.. My wife wants a Wrangler, but for now she has the trusty Nissan TerranoII, lol. Ours response lot are majority mix of LR, I think we had 2 Nissans, including my old one, 3 or 4 Mitsubishi's, one other Jeep, and a Suzuki. The only non-LR to take them on was my Terrano on an off roading day, I was surprised that none of the other non-LR, except the other Nissan, which was a Pathfinder, played at all. Mind you they did gain a healthy respect for the T2 by the end of the day, especially when my wife took it up a wet hill the Landy's had been failing on... it was like a red rag to a bull... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 25, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 25, 2019 Managed to do a bit more on the Jeep.. I wanted a USB outlet up in the roof console, to power the dash cam. On my T2, the spare wheel was raised up, and basically blocked off the rear window. So instead of a rear-view mirror, I had a Weako monitor, in place of it, and on top of the spare wheel, there was a double camera, which gave a rear view when going forward, and opened a cover to a downwards looking camera when reversing. I then fitted another Weako camera to the back of the caravan, so when towing I could use the same monitor and see behind the caravan. I wanted to still use the caravan camera when towing on the Jeep, but it looks like without spending about £200 on the "ALLGIG-XG HS" accessory, there is no way to get the jeep system to display the camera when driving. Both my wife and I have to wear glasses all the time, and they are photochromic, so we have no need for the sunglasses holder on the jeep, so I made a panel up, and have fitted a 4.5" LCD monitor into the sunglasses holder in the roof console. I have also fitted the repeater trailer indicator warning light up there as well. Basically, when I have the caravan on the back, I can drop the monitor down, and the fact it blocks the rear view mirror is not a problem, then when I take the caravan off, I just pop it back up out the way. Lastly, a quick picture of what she looks like with the new wheels and tyres on, until I get some better pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Hotwheels Posted January 25, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted January 25, 2019 looking good liking the usb idea too did you take power from the roof consule or did you piggy back a fuse elsewhere ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 25, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 25, 2019 4 hours ago, Hotwheels said: looking good liking the usb idea too did you take power from the roof consule or did you piggy back a fuse elsewhere ? Thanks... I have not found any wiring diagrams for my WK2 yet, so I am having to meter everything. Also, with the CANBUS, I tend not to just tap in to things unless I know they are up for the job, as it is too easy to upset things which don't always show up from the go... I can only find a permanent 12v supply up there, not a switched one. That is why I fitted the rear Relay/fuse panel, so I can run my own wiring safe in the knowledge the Jeep does not have any knowledge of it. My late Father built and designed fruit machines, and when he passed on, he had over the years accumulated lots of rolls of different cables, and Molex/AMP connectors, which were used for making the wiring looms for the machines. The great thing was, the machines had loads of the old tungsten bulbs flashing so needed hefty wiring, which makes the cables perfect for most car jobs. I acquired these, so it means I have a good selection of different coloured wires and multi pole connectors, plus all the crimp tools, to do these jobs to a profesional standard... Better in fact, as I am not against the cock.. One roll of cable was a 50 meter 12core cable that was wrongly supplied, and was too thick for their requirements, but perfect for the car. I ran a length of this from the back of the car to the front, and then when pulling the video cables through, I took some of the cores up to the roof console, to give me a switched feed, and the trailer repeater light up there, plus a couple of spares for future expansion.. I will also be fitting a second relay/fuse box under the bonnet, so I can wire up my spot lights, air horn, and other odds and sods. I have taken a switch 12v feed off of the socket in the dash, and fed that into a relay, so again the only extra load on the Jeeps wiring is the relay coil. Still have a bit of wiring to do, but I think I might wait for warmer weather before doing much more, as I got truly cold right through out there yesterday. It's not a quick job taking parts of the head lining down, and once you start, you can't just stop, especially as I needed the car for my Welding course in the evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Hotwheels Posted January 25, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted January 25, 2019 Excellent.. I'm the same I enjoy wiring but the old school way I have a big stereo install in my van and over 100 marker lights for show time but the canbus Jeep annoys the hell out of me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 26, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 26, 2019 12 hours ago, Hotwheels said: Excellent.. I'm the same I enjoy wiring but the old school way I have a big stereo install in my van and over 100 marker lights for show time but the canbus Jeep annoys the hell out of me Arrhhh a Marker light man... I have not got to 100, but I do like my extra lights.... On my Wife's T2, she has 8 white marker lights over the top of the 52" light bar on the roof, and another 4 amber ones on each side step, that not only glow with the side lights, but also flash with the indicators as well... I plan on doing this on my Jeep if I can find the right side steps.. I have modified the bumper light bar, and it has 3mm LED's in each of the centre main leds, that make it glow with the side lights, The outer ones have Amber Leds. A set of DRL's. as the T2 does not come with those, and on the back roof is a set of small light bars, as reversing lights, with again small 3mm Red leds let in round the main Leds. The fog lights also have low power Leds, so they glow with the side lights. The rear roof, and front bumper Light bar, also have amber lights built in, for use as beacons when on a 4x4 response call out. This makes them look brighter than they actually are. Close up of the rear roof lights Side markers. My T2 was fairly similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Hotwheels Posted January 26, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted January 26, 2019 My Van ^^^^^^^^ looks good another option if you don't want to get side steps is the plastic trim on the sill has a decent void behind it so a few flush fits would work in there 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted January 26, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted January 26, 2019 9 hours ago, Hotwheels said: My Van ^^^^^^^^ looks good another option if you don't want to get side steps is the plastic trim on the sill has a decent void behind it so a few flush fits would work in there Wow.. Awesome.... I would say "Challenge accepted".. but you have set the bar extremely high... Interesting about the void... I will have to take a closer look. Thank You. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted February 5, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted February 5, 2019 The weather has slowed things down a bit, I have a list of jobs, but the cold and rain is ruining play... Having said that, I got a chance to take her out in the snow the other night, and I was very impressed. A very sure footed beast. At one point I had to pull off the single track road for a snow plough. The snow was about 3" deep, but the snow plough kindly pushed the cleared snow onto my side of the road creating a bank about 8" deep. As far as the Jeep was concerned, it may as well been a normal dry road. So when not out playing in the snow, I have taken the opportunity to do some prep work for some of the many jobs that still need doing, like getting the extra parts I need for the PMR, so I can mount the unit under the seat, but have the control panel still visible. The bits needed to fit the second battery, I also made up a way to mount my LED roof light on the roof rails, which entailed a fair bit of work in the garage. First I made a template out of wood, and once it was how I wanted, I set to work making it out of Aluminium These are the stainless steel mounts that will be fixed to them. I spent a while cleaning everything up, anodised the aluminium bits, and then painted them black. Once everything was dry, I fixed them into the roof channels using the existing front screw hole. I also used some sealant to protect the aluminium from the issues of putting dissimilar metals in contact. The mounts then bolt to the adaptor. Finally, a picture with the roof light fitted. This was just a temporary assembly, as I will be re-spraying the roof light. I had it fitted to my T2, and this is a very good one, purchased from America, before everyone started selling the cheap ones with only half the light output. I have had it for 6 years, so the aluminium has gone a bit crusty in places. I will finish rubbing it back, then grit blast the fiddly ends, before giving it a new coat of paint. The orange beacon and the remote spot light are on a Thule Aero roof bar, and can be taken off when not in use. I use them when doing SE4x4 Response work. The car is off to be vetted tonight, so it needs to be on the top for that, then I can take it back off again until I need it. or unless we get some more snow, and I get to go out and play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Hotwheels Posted February 5, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted February 5, 2019 (edited) I don't know how many times I've thought about the same idea but could never get my head round how to go about it... I tilt my virtual cap in your direction for pulling this off. I'd thought about one for either side of the rear to for reversing /work lights Edited February 5, 2019 by Hotwheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted February 5, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted February 5, 2019 22 minutes ago, Hotwheels said: I don't know how many times I've thought about the same idea but could never get my head round how to go about it... I tilt my virtual cap in your direction for pulling this off. I'd thought about one for either side of the rear to for reversing /work lights Thank you... I have been looking at that too, but I think with the roof spoiler, and how far from the rear, the rails finish, it might be a bit far along the roof to get any usable light directly to the rear. I have decided to see how the front one performs, and if it looks like it is OK, see what I can do at the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member Hotwheels Posted February 5, 2019 Platinum Member Share Posted February 5, 2019 slightly luckier with the commander as the roof rails meet the rear grab handles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted February 7, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted February 7, 2019 Today I took 2 steps back.... I made a stainless steel bracket for the PMR antenna, to mount it in the edge recess of the boot. All was going well, but there was a small bit of trim on the tailgate that was just touching the coax cable. I looked at it, and decided that as it was on the inside of the boot lid, but outside of the weather seal, I could trim it a little to give me a little more clearance and protect the coax from being crushed or rubbed through. So out came the dremel, with a small grinder, and a nice little arch was made in the trim, to clear the coax. Perfect, everything fitted a dream... I carried on running the coax in through a grommet, and feeding it down the inside trim. Some time later, having tidied up, I went to shut the boot, but this time, I used the button inside the boot to close it automatically... bummer, it no longer works... My first thought was I had pulled the cable off the switch when I had removed the trim, so took that out again, only to find everything was good there. I then back tracked over things I had done, and eventually discovered that the bit of plastic trim I had er.. "trimmed", is in fact a "pinched finger" sensor and my nice little arch had now cut it into 2 bits... Worse still, I found a replacement from Germany, and it is just over £100.... Second hand!!! Big Ouch... I have spent the rest of the day carefully working out how it works, using a scalpel to gently trim it up, and gain access to the very thin wires, and then re-join them, with copious amounts of liquid insulation, and heat shrink... Fingers crossed it works when I put it back on the car tomorrow... I have never had a car with all these gadgets before... I will have to be a bit more careful in the future, as it does seem to be full of sensors and apparently not all plastic bits are exactly what they seem. This finger pinch sensor is very clever, it's looks like a semi hard plastic tube about 6mm in diameter. But it is in fact two "C" shapes joined with a thin rubber strip on each side. The inside of each of the "C"'s is solid, and has a conductive coating, so with a minimal touch, the rubber walls crush, and the centre of the two "C"'s touch, sending a signal to tell the boot to re-open. The clever thing is, it effectively detects 4 states. A high resistance (10K ohms) when it is normal, a lower one (300 ohms) when it is shorted, but if it is actually open circuit, or short circuit, the car can tell the sensor is not connected, so won't shut the boot. Expensive lesson learned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum Member LazyFerret Posted February 8, 2019 Author Platinum Member Share Posted February 8, 2019 I refitted the sensor/trim back, and fortunately my boot now closes its self again... While fixing it, I took the opportunity to lengthen the link wires, so I could pass them well clear of the antenna mount as well, so as someone once said (I can't remember who though), "Jobs a Good Un"... Here are some pictures of the mount that caused the problems. First off, I fitted the m4 rivnuts, which were fitted with sealant around them. I lined the back of the bracket with a stick on foam, then using more sealant, fixed the bracket in place.. running the cable up the inside of the gully and through the grommet, with a bit more sealant. I then spent a bit of time (lots actually) stopping the boot from self-closing and then even more time rectifying this error!!:doh Antenna bracket in place Antenna mounted. Now off to try and find a good spot for the PMR facia.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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