What did you do to your TJ today?

GEEP4ME said:
Some have had good luck with different brands of GraBars copies. Some have not. I have not heard anything bad about the USA made GraBars. I love mine. And can still be found on ebay for $86 shipped. ebay link
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Did you have to cut the trim on the edge of the windshield for the GraBars? I did go with the copies that were also made of solid steel like GraBars, so hopefully they will be very similar in performance. Reviews on the copies to mention having to cut the trim just a little on the edge, which I'm hoping not to do.

GEEP4ME said:
Also, welcome to the forum. I found this place a year and a half back when I was only test driving my Jeep. Yes, I was fixing things before I bought it. Great bunch of people with an answer for almost every question about TJ's.
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Thanks, I'm really liking the forum! Probably going go Supporting Member soon.
 
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grumblebee said:
Did you have to cut the trim on the edge of the windshield for the GraBars? I did go with the copies that were also made of solid steel like GraBars, so hopefully they will be very similar in performance. Reviews on the copies to mention having to cut the trim just a little on the edge, which I'm hoping not to do.

Thanks, I'm really liking the forum! Probably going go Supporting Member soon.
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Did not have to trim anything on mine. The newer TJ's )o2-06...????( LOL. um, (02-06???) have some plastic up around that area that does require some trimming.

My Jeep was on the wholesale lot (not for sale to the public) at the new car dealer where I work. I drove it home on New Year's EVE 18 months ago. Before the ball dropped, I had fixed 2 or 3 things on it from info I found on this forum. That alone was worth the price of admission (supporting member status).

And it still is.
 
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grumblebee said:
You don't know how many times I've said this! haha. What's the thing in the middle grounding? I don't have that either. :oops: The joys of used vehicles. Also didn't know I was supposed to have a light under the hood, found its wires and connector stuffed in the hood just like yours.

Currently looking a washer fluid tubing and hood bumpers...

Thanks for your help!
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Hmm going to have to fix that light some day🤓 the ground strap is original
 
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grumblebee said:
You don't know how many times I've said this! haha. What's the thing in the middle grounding? I don't have that either. :oops: The joys of used vehicles. Also didn't know I was supposed to have a light under the hood, found its wires and connector stuffed in the hood just like yours.

Currently looking a washer fluid tubing and hood bumpers...

Thanks for your help!
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The ground strap goes from the firewall to the hood and is there to give a good, constant ground connection to the hood in order to reduce radio interference; mostly on the AM band.
 
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TJ Hunnicutt said:
in order to reduce radio interference
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I just went and checked and it looks like that ground connection on mine goes from the engine block, to the fire wall, then to where part of the air cleaner assembly mounts at the top of the engine instead of the hood. Would that make much difference? If not, it's probably been like that since I've owned it.

I had a major AC issue a few years ago had to have the entire dash removed to fix it. I'm wondering they ended up disconnecting that on accident (probably not, because why would they relocate it?), because my radio went to crap. Could pick up the local FM station in about a 5 mile radius from their building and no other stations. Took it back to the mechanic and asked if maybe the knocked my antenna loose and they checked and said no. One of the many reasons I'm trying to do as much as I can myself now.
 
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grumblebee said:
I just went and checked and it looks like that ground connection on mine goes from the engine block, to the fire wall, then to where part of the air cleaner assembly mounts at the top of the engine instead of the hood. Would that make much difference? If not, it's probably been like that since I've owned it.

I had a major AC issue a few years ago had to have the entire dash removed to fix it. I'm wondering they ended up disconnecting that on accident (probably not, because why would they relocate it?), because my radio went to crap. Could pick up the local FM station in about a 5 mile radius from their building and no other stations. Took it back to the mechanic and asked if maybe the knocked my antenna loose and they checked and said no. One of the many reasons I'm trying to do as much as I can myself now.
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The connection from the engine to the firewall is normal. The other connection does not sound right.
Could you get a pic of that one so we can see what, exactly is going on? Don't worry about hijacking the thread, this is a total "whatever" thread. If it goes beyond a volley or two, then we can create a new thread.
As for the radio, it really should not make a big dif on the FM band. I bet you do have an antenna issue, but we would certainly want to address that in a separate thread as it would likely require pulling your radio to check it.
 
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TJ Hunnicutt said:
he connection from the engine to the firewall is normal. The other connection does not sound right.
Could you get a pic of that one so we can see what, exactly is going on? Don't worry about hijacking the thread, this is a total "whatever" thread. If it goes beyond a volley or two, then we can create a new thread.
As for the radio, it really should not make a big dif on the FM band. I bet you do have an antenna issue, but we would certainly want to address that in a separate thread as it would likely require pulling your radio to check it.
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I'm going to start a build thread this week, and I will definitely post some better lit photos of under the hood and questions. The factory unit started having major issues (years after the AC repair) and the volume got stuck really loud and now I can't even turn it on for fear of my eardrums bursting. I'm going to be pulling the the original radio unit and replacing it with a double DIN unit that can hook to my phone via Apple Carplay (mainly so I can display maps in the dash). I'm looking to get all my "what else can I fix while the dash it out" projects jotted down so I hopefully won't have to pull the middle out again any time soon after installing the radio. (I have a blower that won't blow on speed 3, so I need to figure out if that's the switch, etc...)
 
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Vacuumed out jeep today. In the morning I drop it off at a friends shop to replace the 3” lift with a 4” long arm lift and to get it regeared to 4.88’s for the 35” tires that are going on it. By next week the Silver Bullet will be a little taller, but much more capable. BYW, the reason I’m not doing the install myself is while my broken wrists have healed I have limited mobility and weight restrictions that prevent me from doing heavy jobs. This is a before picture taken last fall.

8E3919ED-0021-48F0-BF48-26D4DE129E19.jpeg
 
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Bought my 06 while sitting in airport bar on my way to Mexico for work back in october. Didn't get back to pick it up till February and then had to go back to Mexico after only a few days and managed to get stuck in Mexico for 4 months because of the Covid issue.
Meanwhile lots of packages stacked up at the house and I'm just now home and getting to work on it.
Today saw
-rough country mesh bikini top
-tuffy underseat security lockbox
-FatBobs seat risers.
-new plugs (985 iridium)
-new center console cover
-new battery.

Still need to add the new grab bars, hand throttle and new valve cover gasket to put in.

20200208_071235.jpg
 
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I love to see how much money I'm saving, so I sent an email to the "big city" Jeep dealer's service department via their service department website form on Monday asking for a quote on a 60,000 mile schedule B service. Crickets. Sent a follow up email today. I think I'm going to send the same message on the form every other day until I get a response. It's the principle of the thing at this point. 🤣 Sure I could call, but why have a web form for contact if you aren't going to reply to people?
 
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grumblebee said:
You don't know how many times I've said this! haha. What's the thing in the middle grounding? I don't have that either. :oops: The joys of used vehicles. Also didn't know I was supposed to have a light under the hood, found its wires and connector stuffed in the hood just like yours.

Currently looking a washer fluid tubing and hood bumpers...

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
I got these from Amazon for the wrangler. Cheaply priced but good quality and so far haven’t faded in about 9 months.
Hood Bumpers
 
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grumblebee said:
I love to see how much money I'm saving, so I sent an email to the "big city" Jeep dealer's service department via their service department website form on Monday asking for a quote on a 60,000 mile schedule B service. Crickets. Sent a follow up email today. I think I'm going to send the same message on the form every other day until I get a response. It's the principle of the thing at this point. 🤣 Sure I could call, but why have a web form for contact if you aren't going to reply to people?
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Hahaha. I love it when they quote $1,8034 for brakes plus tax and disposal fees.
 
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TJ Hunnicutt said:
The connection from the engine to the firewall is normal. The other connection does not sound right.
Could you get a pic of that one so we can see what, exactly is going on? Don't worry about hijacking the thread, this is a total "whatever" thread. If it goes beyond a volley or two, then we can create a new thread.
As for the radio, it really should not make a big dif on the FM band. I bet you do have an antenna issue, but we would certainly want to address that in a separate thread as it would likely require pulling your radio to check it.
Click to expand...

My ground strap also connects to the top of the valve cover. Maybe it’s an early TJ SE thing?
Also, welcome to the forum @grumblebee and others! I’m loving this influx of new people! This forum is the best!
 
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I replaced my fuel vapor line. I was getting a couple of emissions codes and had read that if it wasn’t the purge valve solenoid or the charcoal canister, then it could be the fuel vapor line. I had already replaced the purge valve solenoid, so I figured I’d go for the vapor line next. I got the replacement from Classic Tube, rolled under the Jeep, and holy sh*t, the original line was so rusted it basically fell apart in my hands! It literally came out in pieces. It had actually rusted into the soft line, so I had to trim that back in order to get both ends out! All in all it took about 20 minutes to install. I cleared the codes, so we’ll see if that was the fix. If not, probably going to replace the charcoal canister or the leak detection pump next. Hell, I might do it anyway, they’re 21 years old. Also, I really do have to get under there with some POR 15 this summer. I can’t go through anything with a hammer and screwdriver, thankfully, but it looks awful.
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grumblebee said:
Nice! Looks good — the RUBICON over it also helps. haha. I'm gonna take them off just this once and hopefully never need to do it again! Maybe drive around with them off for a week so other Jeep owners can appreciate my efforts. :LOL: The plan was to prime them and paint them with bedliner spray, but at this point now is the time to decide if I want to put aftermarkets on because I never want to take these off again. I think I'm digging the factories over anything aftermarket that's under $300 for a set though.

Had the previous owners never painted, I could have left them on and used Solution Finish on the grayed black plastic. The small bottle ($15ish) did all the trim on my old 4-door car and made it look new again, and I still have half the bottle left. It's going strong after at least six months and it's supposed to last about a year. I'm going to put it on my Jeep bumper end caps if I put them back on. I think I'll put the back ones back on, but get delete plates for the front (or a new bumper). I highly recommend Solution Finish, check out the before an afters on amazon. If anyone needs tips on using it, shoot me a message. I'll do a before/after if I do the end caps.
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Be careful using aftermarket dyes. I tried forever black. And it didnt mix well with whatever the flares are made of. It flaked off and made such a mess the only alternative was to remove them. I painted with sem and adhesion promoter.
 
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