How to re-key half-door lock cylinders

Gizmo said:
I did not see this thread till today but ran across one on You Tube last night . While I had the cylinders out getting the doors repainted I said what the hell go for it . I used the existing tumblers. I just did one at a time stuck the key in , made sure the tumbler went down flush if not swap it for another . I was able to use 5 of the seven tumblers untouched in no time . The 6th and 7th I used a Dremel to trim a hair off to make it end up flush so all 7 are back in . Sounds time consuming but went surprisingly quick . I had to order two new covers naturally , size wise they match my OE 99 full doors. Morris Jeep had them in stock Naturally living in Jersey I can have them in a day from Quadratec but out of stock there. . I did a set of half doors in the past and did't have any tumblers in it. Im not usually out of eye sight from the Jeep and it sleeps i the garage anyway . shop for the caps as the same brand at some places were 3 times as much , World has gone crazy.
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Too late to edit this but just to give credit where credit is due..... 4wheel Parts wholesale had the Lock cylinder caps ...Morris was like most were " Out of stock".
 
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MountaineerTom said:
A couple years ago I bought a set of half-doors that needed a little TLC off of a guy in Georgia as a project for the future. I'm finally getting around to working on them. I don't know exactly what year they were from but know they are the earlier year TJ's because of the plastic track with door seals that slide into them. I think '97-'02 are those years, but not positive. One of the things I wanted to do was get the lock cylinders to match my keys. I know some think it's a waste to make sure the lock cylinders on half-door, or even full doors, are keyed properly on a Wrangler, especially when you run a soft top. I somewhat agree, but I just want them to match, that's really the only reason. My wife says it's my OCD.

I couldn't find a suitable locksmith in my somewhat rural area of SC, so off to the internet I went. I found the Tumbler Kit on E-bay for $23 dollars. I also bought two black Lock Cylinder Caps form Quadratec. The caps are crimped on and not salvageable. The paint quality on them isn't great so I sprayed a few light coats of Satin Black on them. There are different sized caps. I don't know the specifics of which years/style doors use what, but I know the full doors on my '06 have a bigger cap.
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Here we go...
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Remove the seal. I couldn't find anywhere that sold a replacement that looked like this one. Luckily mine were in good shape.
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Remove the E-clip.
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Remove the arm with the clip that attached to the rod in the door.
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Remove the spring.
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Pry the cylinder cap off. I got it started with a screw driver and then used pliers to peel it off.
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Slide the inner cylinder out.
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Push the tumbler/wafer piece towards the tiny spring and lift up. The springs are very small so look closely and don't loose them. This cylinder was gummed up pretty good with lube, so I had to move the tumbler/wafer towards the spring and lift with a pair of needle nose pliers. The other cylinder wasn't like that. Look at the tumbler/wafers as you remove them; they have a number on them. I made a little drawing on which number was in which position as I removed them.
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Remove the springs and tumbler/wafers and set them to the side in a safe place.
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I soaked the inner cylinders in some WD-40 for 15 minutes or so then scrubbed the inner and outer pieces with a small brush and finished up cleaning with some isopropyl alcohol.
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I used all new tumbler/wafers but did clean up and reuse the original springs. The originals felt more springy than the ones in the kit. The ones in the kit were kind of weak feeling.
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What you want to do is install the springs, then install the correct numbered tumbler/wafer so that they are flush with the inner cylinder when the key is installed. I started with the farthest one and just worked my way back towards the key. Installing one at a time and checking them after each one.
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I put a light coat of white lithium grease on the areas of the inner cylinder that rotates in the outer cylinder.
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Reinstall the inner cylinder into the outer cylinder.
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Reinstall the spring.
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Reinstall the arm with the clip for the rod that's in the door. I put a light layer of white lithium grease on both sides of the plate on the arm.
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Snap the E-clip on.
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Insert your key and turn it each way. Make sure the tumbler/wafers slide under the outer housing. If you can't turn the key, you've got an incorrect numbered tumbler/wafer installed somewhere.
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Install the seal.
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Install your cylinder cap. Line the 4 tabs up with open areas of the cylinder. Press the cap down tight on the cylinder and then bend the 4 tabs down onto the cylinder to hold it on. Make sure your seal is up out of the way before you crimp the caps down. Don't crimp the caps onto the seals.
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I don't have the cylinder cap on in the video. I put a few coats of paint on them and waiting for them to dry.
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Now everyone knows how to make a key for your jeep !
 
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@MountaineerTom thanks for the writeup! I used this guide to rekey a set of half doors I recently picked up, as well as the rear hatch on my son's XJ that had been swapped with one from a junkyard at some point before we bought it.

You saved me some cash, and gave me a fun afternoon project to work on with my boy. I appreciate it!🇺🇸
 
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97TJNM said:
@MountaineerTom thanks for the writeup! I used this guide to rekey a set of half doors I recently picked up, as well as the rear hatch on my son's XJ that had been swapped with one from a junkyard at some point before we bought it.

You saved me some cash, and gave me a fun afternoon project to work on with my boy. I appreciate it!🇺🇸
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sab said:
You know, I used this guide a while back to re-key my half doors, and I just realized I never thanked MountaineerTom - so, thanks, Tom! This thread was very helpful!
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Great! Glad it was able to help. 🙂
 
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