MountaineerTom's 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

[MountaineerTom]

Back in October I installed a Uniden 520XL on an Arizona Rocky Road mount and a 2 foot Firestik II on a Terra Flex drivers side tail light mount with a Firestik Firering FME coax cable. Drilled an extra hole in the ARR mount for the FME coax. Wish I had drilled a slightly bigger hole as it took some work to get the coax end angled through the hole. Ran the coax towards the drivers side under the roll bar padding, down the roll bar, followed the wire harness along the tub, through the grommet at the end of the tub. I coiled up the extra coax and zip tied it in the fender where the tail light wiring is. Cleared paint from the bottom of the Terra Flex mount where the Fire Ring goes and from the area of the mount where the fourth bolt at the top where it goes through the tub and from inside the tub where the washer and nut goes. Hopefully that gets a good ground for it. Ran the power and ground wire down the drivers side A pillar, through the grommet where the clutch pedal piston would be and straight to the battery. 5 amp fuse holder close to the battery. I have little attachments on the terminals that makes adding a ring connector easy. I put bullet connectors on the wiring between the radio and the hole in the ARR mount in case I need to remove the radio. Pulled the bottom cover of the radio off to check for clearance and mounted the mike clip to the bottom cover.

One thing I noticed using the ARR radio mount is the coax on the back of the radio hits the plastic trim above the rearview mirror. It causes the radio to have to be pointed way up or way down to not interfere with it. (in the pic, that coax isn't connected) I've ordered a 90* coax adapter to see if that works without affecting SWR too much. If that doesn't work I'll consider a bracket that lowers the radio, or some type of spacer between the ARR mount and bracket or drilling/tapping new holes in the side of the radio.

I got SWR of 1.5. Was hoping to get under that, but will work on it some more later. I had to stop for the day due to other obligations. The NASCAR race was coming on, that was the obligation. LOL

Thanks to Jerry Bransford for helping and answering questions for me through Private Messages.

The 90* coax adapter worked well.

 

[MountaineerTom]

I also come up with a mounting system for my GPS on the Arizona Rocky Road CB mount. I used various Ram Mount parts, some hardware, nylon spacers and a scrap piece of metal I had laying around. I dremeled off about 1/8 of and inch of the arm knob so it didn't hit the hardware.

 

[freebo86]

I like your idea for the front coil tower adding the rubber leg caps to prevent debris from coming in. I may copy that.

Also, wish I could get my hands on on those side rails. Those are very nice!

 

[MountaineerTom]

I like your idea for the front coil tower adding the rubber leg caps to prevent debris from coming in. I may copy that.

Also, wish I could get my hands on on those side rails. Those are very nice!

Thanks, but it wasn’t my original idea. I seen it on one of the forums and copied it when I found about a ton of sand in there when I installed my lift. LOL

I got lucky on finding the MOPAR rock rails.

 

[MountaineerTom]

I bought a Teraflex passengers side antenna mount from @toximus a while back to use solely as a mount for a flag on a Frestik antenna. After putting on the passengers side jerry can mount, I found that the can and mount would hit the antenna when the swing out is opened all the way. I cut a scrap piece of metal I had, drilled some holes and was able to use it to offset the antenna mounting stud and use my Firestik as a flag pole again. Just got to prime and paint it up now.

 

[MountaineerTom]

Got it painted up and installed. I went ahead a drilled and tapped a 1/4-20 hole through both plates just in case the bracket tried to twist on top of the tail light mount.

 

[Cross-Threaded-06TJ]

Like the Jeep/Build. That little toolbox is sweet. Of course I also have an 06 Unlimited so i'm an easy sway. Good work!

 

[MountaineerTom]

Installed some Beamtech LED H4 bulbs into my E-code housings tonight after work as recommended by @Rubicon John . Got them from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XHD78DQ/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Because of the heat sink fins are in the way, you have to twist the alignment plate off the bulb, install it in the E-code housing, install the metal clips to hold it in, then install the bulb into the plate and twist to lock it in place.

Philips X-treme Vision +130% Headlight H4 Bulb ion the left, Beamtech H4 LED on the right.

Low beams

High beams

 

[DuncLJ]

Just read through your build thread. Jeep looks great!

 

[MountaineerTom]

Just read through your build thread. Jeep looks great!

Thank you.

 

[Zorba]

Thanx for the writeup on the headlights. My old MBZ has had Hellas e-codes on it for 20 years, and I just installed a set in the TJ. Both still with Halogen bulbs for the nonce.

 

[MountaineerTom]

Decided to get the Zen Big 3 kit from custombatterycables.com. @Jeepin' Geo posted a forum discount code (WranglerTJForum) that gave 10% off orders over $50. Not sure when I’ll be getting around to installing them as I wasn’t really planning on getting it but had been considering it sometime in the future. Basically just an impulse buy.

 

[MountaineerTom]

I got a new Dorman 42RLE transmission pan with drain plug. I had one already and tried to weld in a bung for my transmission temp sensor. I never could get it to seal up good and it was always seeping fluid around the weld. I’m a very novice welder and just couldn’t get it right. So, I sent the pan to @mrblaine and he silver brazed a bung in for me at a good price. I had hoped to get it swapped out this past week but work hours kept me from it. I did get it prepped and painted and now waiting on the time to swap it out. Thanks again, Blaine.

 

[MountaineerTom]

Got the new pan installed today with a new Wix filter, LubeLocker gasket. Got it all filled up with fuild, test driven, fluid level checked and Savvy engine skid reinstalled.

 

[DuncLJ]

Looks good. Where'd you put the temp gauge?

 

[MountaineerTom]

Looks good. Where'd you put the temp gauge?

Thanks. The gauge is at the back of the center console, just in front of the e-brake handle. From the seat, you can't clearly see the 180* numerals. The angle isn't the best, but I know 180* is straight up on the needle.

I've had this setup for a few years, I just had different evolutions of pans. At first I used one of those bolt on bung kits which worked well, but because of where I placed it, when I added the Savvy engine skid the sensor was VERY close to the skid plate. So then I got a Dorman pan with the drain and tried to weld a bung in. I'm a very novice welder and kept either not having good solid welds or was burning through the pan. Then I seen where @mrblaine silver soldered one in for someone else, so I contacted him and hired him to fix one up for me. The pan is so much cleaner looking than anything I tried to do. LOL

 

[DuncLJ]

Thanks. The gauge is at the back of the center console, just in front of the e-brake handle. From the seat, you can't clearly see the 180* numerals. The angle isn't the best, but I know 180* is straight up on the needle.

I've had this setup for a few years, I just had different evolutions of pans. At first I used one of those bolt on bung kits which worked well, but because of where I placed it, when I added the Savvy engine skid the sensor was VERY close to the skid plate. So then I got a Dorman pan with the drain and tried to weld a bung in. I'm a very novice welder and kept either not having good solid welds or was burning through the pan. Then I seen where @mrblaine silver soldered one in for someone else, so I contacted him and hired him to fix one up for me. The pan is so much cleaner looking than anything I tried to do. LOL

View attachment 190822

Nice, looks really slick. I just did something similar myself.

 

[MountaineerTom]

Nice, looks really slick. I just did something similar myself.

Thanks. When I was considering where to install the gauge, I thought about putting where you put yours, but I wanted to save that spot incase I ever added in cab winch controls.

 

[MountaineerTom]

After finding out from @Gavidoc that the aftermarket TJ switches from Gold Coast Distributing and Air On Board found on Amazon and Ebay can be modified to light up, I did this modification to a couple switches I had. Here's his info: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-tj-today.1784/page-960#post-672672

I used 2 XJ fog light switches from ebay. In Gavidoc's post he states he used a #30 drill bit to enlarge one of the holes on the OEM switch since one is smaller than the other. (The aftermarket switch rocker pins on the side have the same side holes). I just used a 1/8 inch bit and then took a small needle file and went around the hole a few times until the aftermarket rocker snapped in easily. Something else that I had to do was take off a ridge on the side of the XJ switches. It is designed to go into a specific spot with a matching keyway. I just took a dremel tool and smoothed it down. They snapped in easily after that. I used some NEO3 natural white LED's for the orange indicator light that comes on when the switch is on. I decided on red NEO4 LED's for lighting up the image on the rocker. I used red as kind of like a "warning" since both are kind of blinding. We'll see how well I like that; I may change them to green like all my other lights if I find it annoying.

It was hard to get my phone to get a good clear picture with good representation of the color. They aren't as pink-ish looking in person. They are bright red.

Thanks again for the info Gavidoc.

 

[MountaineerTom]

Bought one of these 36 mm crowsfoot on amazon for the fan clutch. It fits well on the nut of the Hayden clutch I have on my jeep. I had a big adjustable wrench in my tool bag so I can free up some room now by using this crowsfoot.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083WMKGMF/?tag=wranglerorg-20