The Triple Threat Grand Cherokee (2003 WJ)

[taggart_lumpy]

ive always enjoyed following your build thread on orp

[theksmith]

ive always enjoyed following your build thread on orp

thanks! i keep that one up to date with every little change.

in other news - the axle swap is more or less done, the shop is getting driveshafts modified and doing an unrelated radiator replacement this week.

[theksmith]

i forgot to mention one other important expo related item - comm's and nav!

i started out with a CB and a Firestik like many folks. here's running antenna wiring early in the jeeps life:



antenna mounting:



notching the tailight so it didn't sit off-angle any due to the antenna bracket:



complete mount:



i was thinking ahead enough to know that i would one day get HAM, so i did a mount and ran Diamon antenna cable for that on the other side while i had the jeep apart:



it all started with a Midland 75-822 (all-in-the-mic design) CB and a modified PanaVise 75122-201 In-Dash Cell/iPod bracket. i've been very happy with the Midland. it's only downside is that you can't hear it if you have the windows down and are at highway speeds due to wind noise and there's no clean way to hook up an external spkr. this hasn't actually been an issue ever for me as usually if the windows are down, i'm cruising a trail. there is a similar Cobra unit that does have external spkr hookup, but some people in ORP have had bad luck with those units.



later i added another bracket, and more gizmos:



i wired in an additional set of cigarette lighter receptacles and tucked them under the little tray. then i dremmeled out the 4 half-moon shapes you see below in order to easily run wires to the hidden cigarette lighter receptacles:



the little switch you see just above the tray with the red indicator LED is wired in to control the extra cigarette lighter receptacles - i call it my accessory override button. normally those extra receptacles are powerd only when the Jeep is on. this is good as i don't usually want to leave everything on all the time slowly killing the battery.

however, when you are on a trail run, you often turn on and off the Jeep a bunch of times - i didn't want to keep having to turn back on everything that has soft power buttons like the GPS and iPod... so if you flip the override switch and everything is now powered all of the time, even when the jeep is off.

when i added my roof rack, it created a little wind vortex behind it that would whip my firestik around like crazy when over 70 MPH and smack it into the jeep even. i switched to a stainless steel tuneable whip anteanna and ditched the spring since the antenna was so flexible.

1/2011 i finally got that ham rig installed. i added a Diamond NR770HB dualband VHF/UHF mobile antenna:



installed the main body of the Kenwood TM-V71A full dual band underneath the driver side knee panel:



i took apart a Kenwood SP-50B external speaker and drilled a hole in the panel next to the steering wheel and glued the speaker and some of it's grill behind the hole for a clean install:





the wires for the face of the unit were routed behind the A-pillar panel and headboard to here:



eventually i'll upgrade the control panel of the unit to the RC-D710 which will give me APRS capability.

at this point, i had already moved the GPS from the Panavise bracket to a RAM dash mount (and added a SPOT, laptop screen and keyboard). this left me with a free place to put the HAM mic. i swapped the CB to the left side so the speaker would be closer to me, and put the HAM mic on the right side. i also re-did where the wires went into the dash to create a little cleaner look instead of having them go all the way down to the console.



yes, i have a lot of crap in my jeep - it's been called a police jeep, robo-jeep, etc... but it's all useful stuff and also enjoyable to mess around with as this is a hobby after all! and considering how much is there, i've tried to keep it as "factory-installed" looking as possible.

the whole computer system still has some bugs in it. once i get it completely worked out, i'll post up full info on that little project.

[Lichen]

Thanks for the tip on the Panavise. I have the same Midland held to the dash with Velcro. That's not going to last long in AZ. Went to the Panavise website and they make one for the FJC! My problem solved.

[Harmgrissom]

wow - this is probably the cleanest looking and most heavily modified jeep I have ever seen. Man you've done a cool job. And that trip to Colorado looks AMAZING!

Loving how many local Az guys there - gives me inspiration and hope.

[theksmith]

thanks guys!

my axle swap has more or less been done for a bit. of course now there are some new issues to work out though... hoping to have it ready for a test run very soon and i'll post full details then. i'm having trip-withdrawl-sickness currently!

teaser:

[K2ZJ]

Are you still heading to GSW? I hope so I want to check out your rig!

[theksmith]

Are you still heading to GSW? I hope so I want to check out your rig!

unfortunately not going. even if i get all of my known issues worked out in the next couple of days, too many things are unproven - the entire drive-line and half of the suspension changed and i haven't had it on dirt yet. i don't want to be "that guy" everyone is waiting for to fix his junk on the trail. unexpected breakdowns happens to all of us at times, but heading to an event with completely untested mods would be irresponsible.

hopefully next year (been saying that for 3 years!)

[PolarXJ]

Nice rig! Where did you pick up your burrito warmer? I haven't seen one like that.

[Mr. D]

Your Jeep is outstanding!