Stumptaco's has gone over to the darkside..XJ style.

adrenaline503

Explorer
I am sorry to hear that the flooring is not what you hoped it would be. If it doesn't meet your expectations I would pull it out and mail it back for a refund. I dont know if there are any other options out there for you, but hopefully youll get something that you like. I can't wait for the pics.
 

sandalscout

Adventurer
Thanks for the heads up, I'd be curious to see how it turns out, if you wouldn't mind snapping a shot or two. I too decided to do this, from the same place, instead of rhinolining, but if it stinks, I'll look elsewhere.
 

OverlandZJ

Expedition Leader
Take a nice long drive and hope the heat helps it conform a bit better. If the cargo area section turns out to be junk i personally would return it and start looking for another option.

XJ's were available with molded vinyl flooring (alot of your fleet vehicles Police/Forest service etc) which may be a better solution. I'll look around and see if i can find a source for either OEM or decent replacement.

Thanks for the honest evaluation.
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Ok, I got the rear section done this morning, so the whole job took about 12 hours. I had already removed the old carpeting a few weeks back, so that will add another hour or so to the installation.

The rear section went in much easier than the front, as expected. It still is not perfect by any means, but I am over all satisfied. The molding and trimming could have been MUCH better from the factory, and they could have provided some sort of instructions or tips (they sent nothing). If I can give any advice with this stuff it would be to install it on the hottest day of the year, because heat is your friend with this product. I used a heat gun for some stubborn areas, and it helped tremendously, but the temp here is overcast and about 70 degrees (normally nothing to complain about).

I am very pleased with the actual material, and I think it will hold up nicely. In a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the material at about 8-9. with the same scale, I would rate the ease of installation and quality of molding a very liberal "1". Enough babble, here are some pictures:

Again, this is what one would expect to get, as this is what is advertised:

carpetimage_200.jpg


But this is what you actually get. This is the rear section. I think you understand my first impression:

DSCN0416.jpg



Here is a close up of the texture. Its about 1/8 thick, and pretty tough.

DSCN0417.jpg


Starting to fit and trim the rear section:

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Rear section mostly complete:

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Passenger side front:

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Driverside front:

DSCN0421.jpg


Rear foot well:

DSCN0415.jpg


Where the rear seat would normall be. I dont care about this area, and didnt spend much time with it as it will have a platform put in to be level with the rest of the rear section. I am not running any rear seat, and have removed all of the seatbelt stuff.

DSCN0424.jpg



In all honesty, the pictures dont quite do the finished product justice. I am actually overall happy with it, and will be very happy if the humps/bumps settle flat over the next couple of weeks. It was just a pain in the ******** to install, and very misleading on what I was getting.

Once I get the platform built and covered, I am sure it will clean up the rear section to look pretty decent.

~James
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Ok, the second half of my day consisted of installing the rear platform. It went much smoother than the vinly flooring installation, and I am pleased with the outcome. I now have a perfectly flat, sturdy rear section to put whatever I choose (of course I have that all planned out as well :) ) There is quite a bit of room in the rear of these things, I have 5.5 feet of front to back space and a little over 4 feet of width, for almost 24 square feet of real-estate. This is with the front seats in the furthest back position, and about 3/4 inch clearance. I can also still lay the seats back flat if I need to. There is also a nice amount of storage under the front section, between to two bulkheads I made to support the front of the platform. I was going to cap off the ends/sides by the rear doors, and cut access from the top, but I think I will leave it open on the ends and just slide whatever I need to under the platform. There is pretty easy access from both doors, and the driveshaft hump keeps things separated from left to right. The bulheads keep anything from rolling front or back.

I had initially planned on installing the fridge on the left or right side behind the front seats, and have the fridge on a slide so it would come out the rear door for easy access, but upon further research (read: staring at it while taking breaks), I dont think it will work due to the limited space in the door opening. If the doors opened a few more inches it might work, but not a present. I will have to re-think the layout. It will be easier now that I have a nice clean flat space to visualize.

Let me know what you think!

DSCN0431.jpg


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~James
 

ckale1

Observer
Could you post up some pic's of where and how you ran your wiring for your lights? I just put a rack on my XJ, but have been hesitant about running the wires for rack mounted light's. Jeep looks good BTW.
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
I havent gotten that far yet, I was going to do it monday, but the interior stuff came in the mail, so I did that instead. I will run the wiring this week sometime.

~James
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Thanks Steve! Its coming along. A few more things to add and the interior will be close to being finished.

Ok, I got the lights on the roof rack wired up. When I installed the switch panel, I pre-wired all the switches to 30 amp BOSCH relays, so all I would have to do is hook up the loads (lights, compressor fridge etc. etc) I used 30 amp BOSCH relays that I got at the local junk yard from the multitude of scrapped BMW's ( I do live in Germany....). They are very good relays, as proved from my Tacoma days, as I used the same type relays. I was debating for days on how to get the wires neatly from the roof rack, to inside the engine compartment where the relays where located. I mentioned it to my wife (who is an engineer, and often provides a great second opinion/alternative way of looking at things), and she suggested hiding them behind the snorkel, which is due here any day now. I took her advice, and ran them down the drivers side A-Pillar. The beauty of this is that 90% of the wiring will be hidden by the snorkel when it gets install in a couple days. As the pictures show, I made a small notch in the drivers side fender to accomodate the two wire bundles that power the 4 HID Hella 4000's, the 2 euro dim city lights, and the 3 Hella 550 that I use on the rear of the rack. Each wire bundle has 3/ 12 guage stranded wires inside. I used the same 3 stranded 12 guage wires to pre-wire the swicth panel and the relays.

I used simple wire looms (2 each per wire bundle) and stainless steel screws insulated/coated with silicone to protect the raw metal after drilling pilot holes. The pictures also show where the wire bundles come out under the hood. On to the pics.


Showing how the wires get run on the A-Pillar
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Showing the wires on the bottom half of the A-pillar
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Showing the notch made by my dremel on the passenger side fender. This pic does not show the rubber grommet I put on the sharp edge to protect the wire. Just used a large wire grommet, split down the middle.

DSCN0434.jpg


This shows where it comes into the engine compartment. You can also see the extra holes in the firewall (to the right of the brake booster) drilled for the wires coming from in the cab for the switches. I have also added rubber grommets to these holes.

DSCN0435.jpg


Here you see where I ran the wire bundles (5 total) along the OEM wire harness close to the firewall using zip-ties.

DSCN0436.jpg


Here you can see the Delrin plate that I machined in my mill to accept 8 of the Bosch Relays. I have 2 spare relays on the left for any future wiring deeds. This is all mounted on the OEM Relay box cover. It provides a nice sturdy place for the relays and wiring to be mounting, and also hides the wiring well, and is close to the stock battery position. (It was naturally black, but I sprayed it with grey primer so I could write on each relay so I knew which one does what.

DSCN0437.jpg


Just a test run of the HID's lit up with the covers on. I am going out to the field tonight for the initial aiming. Until then, thats all folks.

DSCN0438.jpg


I have a Snorkel coming any day, and that will most likely be the next addition. After that, I will be installing and or building a kitchen pull-out, depending on how the emails go with the Drifta company (trying to figure out if shipping to me is possible). My Buddy Vince (SEREVince) is also coming to the area this weekend for some training classes for about a month, so we will be working on a Toyota Taco I am asure somewhere along the way. He is buying my old Snorkel and shocks off of the old truck, so I am also sure we will plan a wheeling trip in the time he is down. Not sure if I will wheel the taco (it is semi stripped down at this point) or if I will take the Jeep with the stock suspension and street tires. :sombrero: :sombrero: :safari-rig:


~James
 
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turner

New member
That looks great man!! Are you going to possibly put a grommet or anything over the notched section of the fender, or just leave it? Your rig is coming along very nicely and lookin great! Even with that pimped shade of green!! Lol, just playin!!
 

ExpoMike

Well-known member
A trick I have heard being done, if you have a snorkle, just run the wires inside of it. You would have a hole near the roof line, to run the wires up to the rack and one inside the engine compartment to run to your relays. Seal them up with grommets and some silicone. Clean, easy and out of the elements.

BTW, did you happen to get those mounts sent out? No hurry, just remembered about them when I saw your post. :elkgrin:
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
stumptaco said:
Showing the notch made by my dremel on the passenger side fender. This pic does not show the rubber grommet I put on the sharp edge to protect the wire. Just used a large wire grommet, split down the middle.

I have also added rubber grommets to these holes.

Turner, yep. I added Grommets to all the holes and the notch after the pics.

Mike I sent the brackets out on Tuesday of this week. It was the first day I had off in a while to be able to make it to the post office in time. It will take a little while to get to the West Coast, but you should have them soon. I thought about running the wires in the snorkel, but I was impatient. :) I will see how this works once the snorkel gets here, then make any changes if necessary.

~James
 

OverlandZJ

Expedition Leader
James, you'll have to move the wiring a tad. The snorkel has a bracket that attaches to the A-Pillar and sits flush against the windshield gasket.

I can post up a pic tomorrow am if it'll help you envision.

Good job!
 

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