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My first Jeep was a 2003 Liberty Sport. I bought it new and racked up 245,000+ miles before I moved on.
I have never had two vehicles at once and being my daily driver it can't be down for more than 3 days at a time.
All of my modifications are meant to prolong the life of the vehicle, be able to drive 500+ miles on the highway, as well as being able to hit some trails without damage. No mud, no rocks, been there done that... and of course enhance my driving experience....
First Jeep.
New Jeep
Bought from a member on here on 8/10/18 127,300 miles
It came with a R.E 3.5" Superflex lift and 16x8 Mickey Thompson wheels on 245/75 Toyo MT's.
Being rust free and having a Jasper Engine with only 8,000 miles on it... had to have it!
The rest was completely stock...
Instead of explaining everything I've done in 8 months I'm going to post pics and my build sheet with prices....
Holy Cow the small things add up!
I always see these posts with "rust free".... makes me laugh when the first pic you see is rust.... this thing though! Damn!
Tires 245/75r16 Toyo At2
Headlights
Worst U joint ever? Lol
Real Leather and padding!
Big 3 upgrade
As it sits now..... 2000 JEEP Cherokee Freedom Edition 150,000 Miles
Nice clean jeep!!
Those door pockets though! I wish they came stock.
They do with certain Jeeps. If the door panels have the plastic wood grain trim then they have door pockets.
Or you can take them off and put them on regular door panels
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Awesome jeep I love the pic and info dumps in the first few posts so I dont have to fallow along from day one
And I'll 2nd how awesome those door pockets are I'll be watching for a set
Lol, no one wants to see a pic a month....
Thanks
Door pockets.... Are from a 1992 Ford Festiva... 2 sets cut to length, plastic welded and line-xed. (To match the outside)
I plan to line-x all the plastic, doors, and rockers like I did my KJ.
Now all the fluids and mechanical systems are up to snuff I can start saving for the big ticket items...which might be a monthly post. Ha
up next is:
Rear disc brakes
Hanson front bumper
Fog lights
Rock rails
TrailHawk seats
Line-X
ARB roof rack
Upgrade front axle
Long Arms
4:10's and lockers
Just empty every pocket right!?
Even with all those planned upgrades it's still less coin than a new Jeep.... I keep telling myself...
Thanks for posting where you got the map pockets from. Finding a '92 Ford Festiva in my area is not going to happen. In CT older cars get crushed much sooner here. They do look nice and sturdy though.
I am assuming you are not doing the Line-X yourself. Is that so?
Thanks for posting where you got the map pockets from. Finding a '92 Ford Festiva in my area is not going to happen. In CT older cars get crushed much sooner here. They do look nice and sturdy though.
I am assuming you are not doing the Line-X yourself. Is that so?
Yes line x is a franchise. Very cool stuff... I always get the UV protection, it stays shiny for years!
I've used them on parts of my '00 XJ. Been trying to see if there is away to DIY Line-X. Was wondering if you did. Cause it can get pricey. I did to change some factory running boards from green to black. Was cheaper then getting them painted. And I did not want to try to paint them. Threw in my door molding, rear factory mud flaps, and my roof skid strips. Those I was toying with trying to paint myself. Figured that would be all I wanted done. Until I saw how it looked on my black Jeep. Now I just want to Line-X everything. LOL.
They do with certain Jeeps. If the door panels have the plastic wood grain trim then they have door pockets.
Or you can take them off and put them on regular door panels
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I got the viper coil bracket and harness from K Suspension yesterday...
I'm not huge on logos....so I took a soldering iron with a flat plate on the end and smoothed the logo down... sanded it smooth with sand paper... then used a thin attachment and a piece of flat steel to mimic the 3d printer lines... and.... no more logo.... sorry K suspension....
Also my water bottle screws were not long enough to hold the mount... easy fix... drill and tapped for a larger bolt
Next mount the Viper coil....
Not so fast... the real Mopar Viper Coil doesn't have 4 holes to mount... only 2 that go all the way through... break out the soldering iron again...
Now mount the coil.
Cut plug wires to length and attach.
Now checking and changing spark plugs should be a breeze!
Now that is a pretty cool set up. Did not even know that existed. Glad you posted that. I was going to put a bunch of relays there on a bracket. I was in the process of thinking about how I was going to make the bracket. Now I am rethinking that.
I feel the same way about logos. LOL.
You used a soldering iron for the 2 holes that did not go all the way through?
Why a soldering iron?
Any chance that harness still fits on the Jeep coil bar?
Or is the connector on the Viper coil pack different then on the Jeep coil bar?
I ask because the coil bar never really bothered me. But I always felt if you had more wire there to move it more out of the way that would have been nice.
Now that is a pretty cool set up. Did not even know that existed. Glad you posted that. I was going to put a bunch of relays there on a bracket. I was in the process of thinking about how I was going to make the bracket. Now I am rethinking that.
I feel the same way about logos. LOL.
You used a soldering iron for the 2 holes that did not go all the way through?
Why a soldering iron?
Any chance that harness still fits on the Jeep coil bar?
Or is the connector on the Viper coil pack different then on the Jeep coil bar?
I ask because the coil bar never really bothered me. But I always felt if you had more wire there to move it more out of the way that would have been nice.
Thanks
I used a soldering iron because, why not..... lol
I suppose my exact thoughts at the moment were...
It's right there...
I had an attachment that looked to be the right size with a convex shape that would help center the hole.. it had a hollow center to allow the melted plastic to escape..
Here are the attachments I used if anyone wants to re-create exactly... pretty sure they are in most standard soldering kits.
Onward!
Here is a picture of the OEM Rail connection and the Viper Coil Connection for you.
The Mopar Coil vs the K suspension recommended Spectra Coil
I purchased both and will use the spectra as a backup.
Price difference is significant....
However the Mopar Coil has WAY more glass fiber reinforcement based on my scratch tests... So much glass fiber that a flash on a camera will completely knock out the Mopar logo... as seen below... and the camera is far away..
The Spectra
They should take the word premium off... way less glass fiber.... I took a picture of the logo and although you can see it does knock out some of the logo.... nothing compared to Mopar... and I got very close with the camera/flash
Both are made in China....
I chose the Mopar for my daily driver.... the more glass fiber the better for heat and strength....
I'm sure the Spectra would be fine, but for my purposes I chose the Mopar.
You could buy 2 Spectra coils for 1 Mopar coil... If you are trying to save some coin.
The Spectra does have 4 pre drilled holes for mounting to the K suspension bracket.
Last edited by 00xjfreedom; Jun 14, 2019 at 05:55 AM.
LOL with the soldering iron.
I actually thought there was a specific reason for you using it. Be damned if I could figure out why though. I mean c'mon. Why didn't just use a drill? I was all confused. MLOL.
Thank you for the pictures comparing the coil pack to the coil bar.
Best I can tell they look the same.
While I always toyed with the idea of doing what you did I wonder if I care enough. But this is the first I have seen of a kit that pretty much makes it plug and play.
Most of the write ups I remember reading were more guys cobbling things together to do this.
But the real thing that caught my eye was the harness. As matter of fact awhile back I bought this:
From RockAuto though and it cost me about $13. I came across it by accident and kept on staring at it. Thinking that looks a real lot the connectors on my coil bar and wiring harness.
So I said screw and bought. Cause like I mentioned earlier. Just having an extra 6 inches of wire there would be nice to just be able to get it more out of the way without having to disconnect it.
One thing did make wonder was what happens when you do extend wiring for something like that. Resistance and all the other things electrical that I am clueless on.
Apparently it does not matter. I mean look at the length of the harness that came with the kit.
So yet try it out but it does look a real lot like the harness you bought. I have to do some thinking. Cause I really like how that is a kit for nice clean job. And I don't want to put all my relays there if I might do this down the line.
Decisions, decisions.
Here are some close ups of that little harness I bought.
I hate to keep on bothering you but could you post the part number for the Mopar Viper coil pack you bought?
I ask because I crossed the Spectra part number on the Napa site. It came up with a part number.
Thing is about the Napa site is that you can see what vehicles a part you are looking at fits.
No mention of a Viper. Caravans, Pacificas, and believe it or not an '06 to '09 Wrangler.
But that is assuming it crossed properly. I work there and can cross more accurately in there system then at their website.
See if I come up with a more accurate listing.
2000 XJ Freedom Daily Driver
