New Jeep owner from NC

dvTJ

dvTJ

Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2020
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79
Location
High Point
I've been lurking here for about 6 months while I shopped for Jeeps. Just became part of the club yesterday with this 2002 Sahara. I've already got a laundry list of things to tweak and fix. Naturally.

I've already got a couple of questions - No interior lights come on when I open the doors, but I see the lights. The full doors were put on by the previous owner in place of half doors. Is it likely the doors don't have the wiring attachment to trip the light? There is no wire. Also, mine does not have a dome light with speaker bar. I would have thought that was standard with Sahara's? It does come with the front 2 speakers and sub in the center console.

Otherwise I want to upgrade the shocks, they're Rough Country, and a couple of suspension tweaks. So relieved, and excited to finally have my Jeep and begin the journey.

IMG_20200703_170901.jpg
 
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Perhaps they pulled the fuse from behind the glove box. #4 I think. It’s there to allow you to remove the doors without interior lights staying on with no doors. Mine has been out for years. 10A as I recall.
Rancho RS5000x are common shocks for these Jeeps. I like them, they work well.
Edit: Welcome to the Jeep family. I bought mine 4 years ago and couldn’t be happier. It has even replaced my motorcycle’s, which is a feat.
 
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TJScott said:
Perhaps they pulled the fuse from behind the glove box. #4 I think. It’s there to allow you to remove the doors without interior lights staying on with no doors. Mine has been out for years. 10A as I recall.
Rancho RS5000x are common shocks for these Jeeps. I like them, they work well.
Edit: Welcome to the Jeep family. I bought mine 4 years ago and couldn’t be happier. It has even replaced my motorcycle’s, which is a feat.
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Thanks! I'll check the fuse. They also don't come on when I turn the left turn signal/light knob. I guess my confusion is I would assume they were need a trip from the door to come on but I don't see that on the full doors that were installed. No wire from the doors at all.
 
The light switch should be able to turn them on even when the fuse is out. You won’t find any wires from the doors. The switch is mounted in the door frame and not the door. No wire connections from the doors means the doors can be removed easily.
 
On a TJ with a low to medium lift the Rancho rs5000x shocks are awesome imo. I put a set on a couple months ago and it honestly feels like hot-rod suspension with my setup (5-speed, 3" spring lift, 31s). Dampens rough surfaces without any pillowy/floaty effect. You feel the road/trail but it takes irritation out of the equation, unlike the shocks they replaced. Vehicle feels more under control. I'm in the forests and on the dunes in this one so I can't speak to rock crawling. I'll tell you later how they are with a higher lift because Jeep#2 is getting a set next and I hope they have the same effect--improved drivability. Rancho should pay me for saying this stuff. I upgraded the track bar links as well so that might have helped.

Drawback on the Rancho's is paint quality, which leaves something to be desired. I just painted them metallic grey and switched boots to black. Came out sharp. And bonus: they're affordable (but chicks won't drop their doors for em).

Sweet Sahara. Like that color. Gonna be a fun summer!
 
TJScott said:
The light switch should be able to turn them on even when the fuse is out. You won’t find any wires from the doors. The switch is mounted in the door frame and not the door. No wire connections from the doors means the doors can be removed easily.
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Yep found the light switch. I totally missed that in the dark last night. It looked like just another bolt or something. The IPAs probably had nothing to do with it. I need to replace both of them.
 
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I believe the dome lights should also turn on when you shut the ignition off and pull the key out, at least they do in my 06. Even with the #4 fuse pulled...
 
RitualHabitual said:
On a TJ with a low to medium lift the Rancho rs5000x shocks are awesome imo. I put a set on a couple months ago and it honestly feels like hot-rod suspension with my setup (5-speed, 3" spring lift, 31s). Dampens rough surfaces without any pillowy/floaty effect. You feel the road/trail but it takes irritation out of the equation, unlike the shocks they replaced. Vehicle feels more under control. I'm in the forests and on the dunes in this one so I can't speak to rock crawling. I'll tell you later how they are with a higher lift because Jeep#2 is getting a set next and I hope they have the same effect--improved drivability. Rancho should pay me for saying this stuff. I upgraded the track bar links as well so that might have helped.

Drawback on the Rancho's is paint quality, which leaves something to be desired. I just painted them metallic grey and switched boots to black. Came out sharp. And bonus: they're affordable (but chicks won't drop their doors for em).

Sweet Sahara. Like that color. Gonna be a fun summer!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I used to have a 96' Tacoma reg cab on 31s and I loved that truck. I still miss it. Having kids required me to sell it in 2010 and get something more practical. So this Jeep is sort of my not-so-mid life crisis. I've always wanted one but just never pulled the trigger. I was actually quite surprised at how hard shopping was. If it was a 97-2006 white or silver, 4.0, in good condition I rarely even made it to test drive before it was sold. In some cases they sold in an hour or 2. Especially the ones on FB marketplace. I was fortunate to be the first person to see this one.

It has a 3" lift, on 33 12.50 BFG Muds. I've got a bit of the pillowy/floaty effect going on with these Rough Countries. They ride like crap to be honest. Steering is very responsive, but feels like I'm almost bouncing around turns, even at lower speeds. The previous owner said he got that lift put on years ago in 2010 or 2011, but didn't remember all the details. The springs are silver so I'm thinking it was a full RC kit, but not sure. I'm hoping to improve it by just replacing the shocks for now, but we'll see. It has a RC steering stabilizer as well, so I might replace that.

I've read good things about the Rancho rs5500x's. They are affordable too. The other relatively affordable shocks I've looked at are the Bilstein's. They're pricier though. Having just bought the Jeep, I need to keep my upgrades off my wife's radar. ;)
 
I was replacing my driver & passenger footwell lights with LEDs and somehow blew a fuse. None of the interior lights worked. The fuse I popped was a 10A located under the hood in the fusebox there. I'm driving a 98 tho so not sure if yours has been modernized from that and different.
 
Axeman said:
I believe the dome lights should also turn on when you shut the ignition off and pull the key out, at least they do in my 06. Even with the #4 fuse pulled...
Click to expand...

That's what I understood from researching it. Nothing is turning them on, so I'll just replace and go from there. The engine compartment light also doesn't come on. The previous owner only put 1000 miles on in the past 2.5 years so it needs a little TLC and some high RPMs.
 
jeepins said:
I was replacing my driver & passenger footwell lights with LEDs and somehow blew a fuse. None of the interior lights worked. The fuse I popped was a 10A located under the hood in the fusebox there. I'm driving a 98 tho so not sure if yours has been modernized from that and different.
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I need to look at the fuses before I just replace the lights. Although I do want some better LEDs to replace them, it would be good to know if fuses are the culprit.

EDIT: Fuse box is behind the glove box. No fuse on #4, #20, and #16. However, as others have mentioned, they should still come on if you turn them on at the switch, or pull the key.
 
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Axeman said:
I believe the dome lights should also turn on when you shut the ignition off and pull the key out, at least they do in my 06. Even with the #4 fuse pulled...
Click to expand...

I don't have a dome light for some reason. Not sure if the previous owner removed it or not, but it's just the roll bar with the padding/cover.
 
Welcome to the best forum out there! Good looking Sahara! You better tell the wife to hide the credit cards because you will get lots of ideas from this crowd!
 
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