Project CRD MJ is born:

[neohic]

Looking great!

[Sir Sam]

2 hours ago, neohic said:

Looking great!

Thanks!

[Sir Sam]

Ok so I got a USB surface mount connector with 2 usb 3.0 ports in it. I drilled a hole in the center console insert and mounted it in there, then I took another surface mount USB power outlet and soldering some wiring into the power outlet(right side) of the switch panel which is always hot. I plugged in one USB cord to that power source, and the other I ran up to plug into the back of the radio.

Then for the double din kit you have to trim a little and tap it over since its the air ducting. The right side just barely doesnt clear, so I just heated it with the heat gun and pushed it over. My headunit wasn't a fill depth deep so I didn't need to cut it all the way back, though what I did didnt really save me any effort so if I did it again I would notch the whole left side out anyway.

And then radio installed:

Already planning a trip:

And...I now have a windshield:

And then tonight I got the speakers installed, as well as new clips on the door panels to hold them on nicely. Forgot to take any pics of the speaker install, but you can still see the rear interior speakers.

[Pete M]

yay!  no more driving goggles!   

[terrawombat]

Your MJ is looking fantastic.  I drove an XJ with no windshield for a day and it was miserable - just a constant stream of bugs smacking my face.

 

The touchscreen head unit you purchased looks great.  Is it catered to Apple devices or will it handle Android as well?  I stopped being an Apple guy after the iPhone 4.  I loved the Apple devices for their simplicity and performance but became infuriated when I couldn't use them as a general storage device for any and all files that I needed to transfer between home and work.  This was before the days of the "cloud" so physical hardware transfer was necessary.  I needed to transfer 2D (.dwg and .dxf) and 3D (.stp and .igs) CAD files between work and home and the iPhone wouldn't let me do it so I jumped ship to Android and never looked back.

 

Final question:  does the MJ Wildernest topper not need vertical support legs when it is open?  I didn't see any built-in legs that could be folded out.  When I look at it in its full "open" position is just seems like it needs to have some kind of support legs.  I looked up photos of the Wildernest on various other pickups and it seems that most people use at least one support leg when it's open, but the legs look like they're aftermarket parts and are not part of the original design.  Not saying you need it, just curious what the Wildernest folks said was required.

[Sir Sam]

The head unit also supports the android devices, I’d assume at the same level as apple. Android was listed, I just didn’t pay attention to it. 
 

there are supports poles that I don’t have, they go into metal brackets on the roof for when the topper is open. I need to adapter some adjustable painters poles to be the support legs. It also requires two rent poles, which I had to order a kit and make some. 

[terrawombat]

On 8/8/2020 at 2:17 AM, Sir Sam said:

The head unit also supports the android devices, I’d assume at the same level as apple. Android was listed, I just didn’t pay attention to it. 
 

there are supports poles that I don’t have, they go into metal brackets on the roof for when the topper is open. I need to adapter some adjustable painters poles to be the support legs. It also requires two rent poles, which I had to order a kit and make some. 

 

Thanks for the information.  I had a Dual-brand headunit in my old 01XJ many years ago and I absolutely loved it.  It had all of the features of the high-end models, but at the price of the low-end stuff.  I imagine that the new owner of my XJ is still using it to this day.

 

Do you know the operating system of your Dual head unit is?  The one thing that stinks about these new touchscreen units that act like your phone with apps, messaging, maps, etc is that they typically run on Android-based software.  I bought one of these headunits about 6-7 years ago that was running on Android version 4, I believe.  It worked great at the time, but all of the apps it needed to run were constantly updating and eventually wouldn't update anymore because the Android OS was obsolete and updating the OS was difficult and the hardware inside the headunit couldn't support any OS beyond what it was shipped with.  The headunit quickly became obsolete within 3 years and I had to yank it out because it became unusable. 

[Sir Sam]

I don’t know what it’s running, but it’s also not marketed as an android based head unit, which I was considering as well. From the GUI is appears to be purpose built and not android. But I honestly don’t know and didn’t look into it at that level. 

[terrawombat]

On 8/10/2020 at 12:51 AM, Sir Sam said:

I don’t know what it’s running, but it’s also not marketed as an android based head unit, which I was considering as well. From the GUI is appears to be purpose built and not android. But I honestly don’t know and didn’t look into it at that level. 

 

Thanks for the feedback.  I've been looking at replacing the stock unit in my Suburban and want to go with something similar to what you used, but just want to make sure it will continue to be supported and updated for the foreseeable future.  I think I might just be asking for too much...

[Sir Sam]

Ok, bought a bunch of vac fittings, clamps, and fuel vapor hose at the parts store so I could get the evap system complete. No pics of the evap system because its boring. But its complete and shouldnt give me any issues with CELs.

And then last friday (1 week ago), I got my exhaust done! However I have determined it is hitting the X frame where the stock cutout for the pipe is, needs to get clocked to the drivers side so it doesnt bang on the X frame all the damm time.

And then I did a truck thing, went to costco for some groceries with my Dad, and came back with a chest freezer. 

Then I went over to Justins to use his ramp......which probably hasnt been used since this thing was last running with the 2.5L! I ran it up on the ramp enough to flex out the rear to measure for shocks. Got some shocks ordered for the rear after this.

Likely could get more but I started digging a hole on the right front in the dirt! 

Looooong wheelbase! Also discovered that I needed to reroute my rear parking brake cables. Got those modifying in a different routing that should let me flex correctly without pulling them out of their holder.

So then I got my bumper prepped, and had Justin touchup a few spots on in, then go back for finishing. I then cut holes in the bumper for the LED floods, and drill and tapped the bolt holes for them:

And then I dropped it off to be galvanized. Same price for up to 600 lbs. Since this bumper weighed 55lbs you could do a bunch of stuff at once for the same price.....$310.

Got my sway bars shortened and installed, though I still need to install the keeper that holds them up out of the way.

Then I did some work on the Wildernest back window, installed a new handle with key, installed a new strut support ball, new struts, fixed messed up hinge, straightened the whole hinge. So it opens and closes correctly:

[Sir Sam]

Got the bumper picked up and installed, as expected zinc filled in threaded holes, I knew that they would need to be tapped out after galvanizing.

And then.......camp time! Went up to the Snowy Range in Medicine Bow:

Diesel approved:

Folded up and dusty:

Found a nice alpine lake:

Found another nice lake, water was a good temperature:

Making a sandwich:

[Pete M]

good to see ya getting out and enjoying the truck in its natural habitat    

[Sir Sam]

Yup it was nice to use it. It was also a good shakedown and got to go off-road enough to learn some things. 
 

first, my sway bar rattled loose and I lost a bushing, got new bolts and I am going to reinstall with a bunch of locktite. 
 

it was in the upper 90s and I had a head Wind climbing up into Wyoming, I think the trans got a little hot and spit out some fluid that then smoked on exhaust. 
 

I got an atf leak from somewhere that smoked on exhaust and coated the underside and made oil mud. I sprayed purple power and pressure washed last night. I discovered the rubber plug was missing out of the transfer case by the shifter arm. This area was also oily, but it got all over. It’s possible that my fluid leak was from there. In any case I got a rubber cork to replace the plug and I will do some more driving to see if the ATF starts leaking again and covers things. It’s also possible it’s leaking at the case halves, at the welded spot on the trans pan which I had to plug the hole they punched, or at my trans cooler lines which do look like they are dripping. So I got some stuff to run down. 
 

my power steering pump whines a fair bit, and it seems to be leaking, so I am going to replace that. 
 

so right now I am planning a trans cooler, PS cooler, PS pump replacement. Fabbing some lines for both of those things......and I need to figure how and what I am doing with trans lines. Vs AN fittings with new lines. 
 

also decided to get the gen weight fuel pump adapter ring and a new XJ pump. I can’t seem to get a good read on the gauge with my modified unit, and I think it starved for fuel during sloshing, which the XJ pump should rectify. 
 

 

[Sir Sam]

Ok more progress. I got a hole holesawed out for the backup camera. I got a rubber grommet for one of the firewall plugs and got the wiring run through it. I ran 12AWG wiring back for both of the lights, ran in in stainless steel snake skin down the firewall near the exhaust, heat shrinking the ends to hold it in place, and then ran the rest in flexible black wire loom. 

Inside the cab I tapped into the reverse light feed, ran that wire up to a relay, and the radio. The radio uses the reverse feed to kick on the backup camera, the relay is what turns on the rear floods. Also tied into the trigger of the relay is my rear flood light switch. This switch is the factory rear fog switch from the UK. It lights up with the headlight backlight, and the indicator light turns on when the rear floods are on. As factory and clean as it gets. May seem like a minor thing, but this was two evenings of work to get it installed to my standards.

Using front fog wiring to reference:

Success!

Rear fog indicator switch:

Lit up:

Left to right:
Heated mirror, Extended Idle(not hooked up yet), Front fogs(No fogs yet), Rear Fog. I wish I could find a factory extended idle switch!

Then this morning I helped a friend install an eaton elocker in his spare D30A for his CRD. I got to use my new Yukon clamshell bearing puller. Works REALLY well. 

Then I got to doing a little cleanup and organizing. I ordered a white board earlier this week for project planning. I got a big one because I figured why not. But after it came in I realized it was freakin big and the walls have stuff all over them that blocks easy access to it. However if I turn it upright, turns out its exactly the size of the door. So I borrowed a hole saw from Justin and made it fit. Great use of space that otherwise would never get used! Proud of myself for that idea.

So I got the workbench starting to be cleared off. And then got the vise we bought last week mounted. Honestly I should have bought one months ago, I've made do without it for this project, but there were some many times I was wishing I had one. 

[Pete M]

10 hours ago, Sir Sam said:

 

 

 

brilliant! 

[Sir Sam]

2 hours ago, Pete M said:

 

 

brilliant! 

Thanks, a bit of genius driven by Necessity. Real pleased with myself over that one. 

[A-man930]

*steals idea

[Sir Sam]

Ok so without the A pillar seal there is an incredible amount of wind noise that comes in. So I figured a way to use the newer seal without a ton of work, I grabbed a 4 foot peice of small aluminum angle. And then used double sided 3m foam tape to hold it in place. Initially I was going to rivet or screw it to the factory holes, but that didn't work out, and the 3m tape seems to do good. 

Ive known this was something else with the 97+ swap for years, and I'm honestly surprised by how simple it ended up being. And its sooooo much quieter with the seal in place.

Measuring on my yellow jeep where the lip is:

Which is also where the metal ends here:

and you can see the metal is the perfect size to replicate the lip:

There is a slight arc to the window, so I bent the aluminum channel a little bit, and then did a couple of layers of thin foam tape, thicker tape would be better:

And then put the seal on:

And with the door closed:

I also drilled more holes in the painters pole I picked up to use as support legs, one hole every inch to give lots of adjustment range.

[Sir Sam]

So then I went to Ouray for the holiday weekend:

Had to do some clearancing on my dads CRD pinch seam:

Then down to telluride and over to Ophir:

And then the next day we ran to the top of black bear:

Ive been leaving the rear camera on when driving the trails, here it is waiting in traffic for the temporary light on 550:

Back at camp:

The novelty of the 00 interior in an 88 has still not work off for me:

Started on stickers:

With tailgate down:

Diesel ready for bed:

And then the smoke moved in:

Managed to snag some badges:

[fiatslug87]

Nice, how many miles do you think you logged on the trails?

[Sir Sam]

56 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said:

Nice, how many miles do you think you logged on the trails?

Maybe 150 or so, there is some highway between trails so it seems like more based on odometer, but discounting some highway miles is reasonable in the estimate. I put about 1000 miles on it in one weekend.