Hey everyone, brand new member here! (Literally, been looking around for about a half hour!)

So I have a 1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport. How do I tell the difference between a Jeep XJ, CJ, TJ etc?

I bought the Jeep (hereafter referred to as Jeff) used and unfortunately, the rear sound-bar speakers are totally blown. I'm looking into replacing the entire sound bar as well as the roof fabric, but I don't want to order the wrong sound-bar and have it not fit!

Any advice?

 

XJ is the 84-01 small Cherokee
CJ is the old style Jeep that evolved into the Wrangler
TJ, YJ, and WK are Wranglers. The model designation is seperated into certain year groups.

 

Thanks a lot Winston, I guess it's time to move on to a thread discussing the best sound bars! I was searching through my owner's manual for hours looking for that damn XJ CJ thing!

 

This will give you the full run down on each model designation.

http://jeephorizons.com/tech/models.html

 

For your sound bar you just need to replace the speakers. They are 5 1/4 inch speakers. The bar itself can be hard to find and they are all the same from what I have seen. It took lots of trips to the JY before I found a sound bar for my XJ. You can cover it in new material and make it look nice again.

 

Thanks AWOL, winston too. I'm pretty stoked to get some work done over winter break for school. Hopefully pictures will follow!

 

Xj is better of course, thats the only difference you need to know.





Kidding, question was answered just being a pita.

 

anyone have a pic of their soundbar?

 

MattF, when you say "totally blown", what exactly do you mean? Blown speakers? As it was noted already, you just need to replace speakers.
Mine is 96 sport too. When I've got mine, that sound bar was super ugly ... it was "covered" with what's left ugly brown thin foam crap, with some 'blue color' panasonic speakers in it with no grills. So awful, I could not stand it ..heh heh
So I took the damn thing out, removed speakers and lamp, completely scaped off to the plastic bone all that foam (which was pita to do, btw) and re-covered the unit with paded vinyl, using contact sement.
Then I also made up the speaker grills, using pieces of metal wire window screen . see pics.
It looks much better.
Also I would not do this if I had to buy material etc, then I'd simply get rid of that thing, it's just happen that I already had bunch of vinyl cuts leftovers from other projects.
That "sound bar" sounds like crap anyway (from where I stand), I don't get it, who the hell ever have come out with such "idea" of placing speakers that way while housing them in a wobbly plastic pan. grrrrrrrrrrrrr
But, being an AudioPhile myself , I personally don't care much about "sound fidelity" in my Jeep, as to me it's not what it for

 

Dr. Zee,

Cosmetically the soundbar looks great (aside from a little fabric drooping down.) The speaker covers are in great condition, but when I fade the sound to the back of Jeff (the jeep) there is ABSOLUTELY no bass, and everything sounds super tinny. I'm not entirely sure how to go about removing the soundbar without doing some damage to the plastic, but from what I can see there seems to be a tear in at both of the speakers.

Being an audiophile as well , this is simply intolerable!

Any recommendations on what speakers I could replace those two with?

If it matters, I put a Pioneer Premiere P600UB in. There was already an aftermarket JVC piece of crap in there, got rid of that really quick!

 

I'd imagine that you have woofers of the speakers broken/blown that's why no bass. I wish I could recommend you specific speakers, but really have never been into car audio, so have no clue about good brands/models. You may find better advice somewhere where folks chatting specifically about car audio.
Can't you remove the speakers without removing the bar. I think you should be able to unscrew speaker mounting screws and it will "fall down"
If you really want to remove the bar, then you need to remove the upper trims (those in mine are actually metal), they are mounted with pair of screws each. Then you need to remove the lamp's plastic cover and there you should see a pair of plastic pins with "clampin' washers" (what's the right name for those????? ) , you need to remove those washes and then the bar should be free. That's how it was on mine.... not sure if there maybe some difference.
After you lower the bar , then disconnect speakers and the lamp...and that's it, from what I know.
Also, I have some panasonic speakers there, as I said, and those can't handle bass well (I have the original Jeep Cassette/Radio), if I have the Bass adjust up, then I can't pass the half volume up while faded to rear, those speakers start Cracking on every beat ..heh heh.
In general , when selecting speakers, you select them to meet your amplifier (your stereo) specification, the speaker should be able to handle the amp's output power and they have to be of appropriate impedance (usually 8 or 4 ohms). ...you need to check what are the specifications of your stereo (if you have that info, of course).

 

Thanks Dr. Zee, I was into car audio for a while so I know a bit about ohms, impedance, and whatnot (also being a musician I like checking out different guitar and bass amps and mixing and matching brands so i'm no total stranger). However, with all my research into the nuts and bolts of car audio, I never found a specific brand!

 

Matt, since you are into music recording, then you don't need "introduction" ...heh heh So you know at least the basics of audio equipment. Car audio is no different (from technical point), there are some specifics though. So just pick some pair of speakers without going too wild price-wise and get done with it ...heh heh
You are not going to get anything mind-blowing no matter what you install there anyway. It's just ain't gonna happen, baby, by default...just look at the design of that thing and how your "stereo" speakers are mounted in a one single lousy plastic "housing", and how they are directed down toward carpet.... I mean c'mon!!!!
Also, cheking your music recordings in your car is perfectly fine, as long as you do not use that "method's reference" for actually "tweaking" something on your mixing console , . Such method only good for general comparing how your mixes sound in various "listening environments" and different sound systems.

 

here's a little side note,
xj sound bars up to the 97 model year are separate from the headliner and can be replaced individually, but if your looking at replacing the headliner fabric, and the soundbar, look for a 98-01 cherokee, the soundbar is molded into the headliner and looks very clean.

 

Caged, thanks man I had no idea there was a difference. I guess i'm lucky that I have a '96 and I can replace the soundbar totally. However, they are a total pita to find.

What if I just wanted to replace the headliner fabric? I've seen some people do camouflage for example and I'm half interested in getting that done. Is that a major issue with working around the roof lights and soundbar?