This is beyond BADA$$!

 

Working on the code for this project has not felt like working on the jeep but it's been fun regardless. The code is done, the OHC is reupholstered and the plans are pretty much set. I just need to do the final packaging of the arduino and sensors and find everything a home. Easier said than done.

From the start I've wanted to also integrate my ham radio speaker and faceplate. The speaker has been a bit of a PITA because it is bulky. As you can see below I didn't have a lot of room to work with to get this flush mounted as I wanted. The jeep has about 1" of extra head room if you cut out the headliner above it but it would still be protruding more than I wanted.



The speaker above is the Yaesu MLS-200 and I went on ebay and instead bought an MLS-100 for $15. Ham just like Jeeps... you can always find a deal...




I think the square shape fits better with the jeep anyways...


Is this a reveal? It feels like a reveal..



Stopped by a friends house to drop off some jeep stuff and to pick up some jeep stuff, you know how it goes. Here's a pic to commemorate the day



Oh and bc this project has been taking so long I decided to finally install the Thor kit that came a couple weeks ago. Pretty easy just close your eyes and cut a hole and then tighten everything up.. pretty clean and now lots of room for activities. Like the mobile jeep FSM server I'm thinking about putting where the airbox was. JK

 

Great looking Jeep Cherokee & the radio install looks perfect too!

 

Alright, the post no one has been waiting for! I realize that this part of the build may have a niche audience but I want to share it since I often finding myself doing mods that are bolt on or that everyone and their mother has done before. This feels like my first original project on the jeep and I want to show it off..

The Arduino code and packaging is done (for all intents and purposes). We have accomplished all of our goals and not made any concessions. Which is crazy considering every step felt like it was going to be impossible. I would like to thank those on the arduino discord for being a bunch of sassy ****** which inspired me to prove them all wrong which led me to success.

okay.. I know the drill.. picture time



Here are all the components laid out after many hours I finally have my wiring harness figured out. All of this will be in the OHC with the exception of the BMP280 which will be collecting outside air temperature. There is 7ft of cable to run it through the drivers door and into the side view mirror housing.



This board has the ICM20948 mounted on it but I also used it as a hub to connect all the components and any resistors necessary for operation.



Here is everything mounted in the OHC. I cut open the back of the garage door opener box to fit the arduino. I didn't know I was going to have to do this but I had no use for the compartment anyways



Here is a closeup of the screen hot glued in. The two gold looking boards simply have buttons mounted on the other side and provide rigidity for when the plastic buttons make contact with the actual electronic buttons (next pic)



Looks overkill but it works =]



You can see where the OEM buttons were mounted here. Man I wish mine looked as clean as this. You may be happy to know this unit is already happily living its life as a replacement in a 1994 xj somewhere in Oklahoma.



1362 lines of code later... (i'm a beginner this could probably be shaved down a lot)



Here is the screen when it first boots... the asterisks in the top right indicates that the gps is churning and looking for location. Once it's located we will get a number of pieces of info including the altitude which is why it's indication 0 while it's doing the initial boot. You can also see where I maybe burned a couple pinholes through trying to remove plastic to fit the screen =[

The button on the right appears to do nothing but if it is clicked 10+ times it will disable the portion of the code that sends location to cloud. (if i'm driving there is no need for me to use data to send location) Regardless of when the button is pushed 10 times there will always be at least 1 location sent to the cloud every start up.

The button on the left changes the display screen.



This is my favorite display screen which shows all the info together, it's busy but still looks clean IMO



I got the lights wired in including the open door switch. Pretty straight forward.



This is the online dashboard I have built using thingsboard.io - I have the code set up to send location data here every 15s.


There is still a few things with the OHC to finish but they are tiny compared to the work I've done to make this vision a reality with the screen. If there is demand I will likely do a more in depth writeup as a stand alone post with resources and my code etc. Thanks for reading and your support!

 

That is just awesome. Super cool. Really good job on getting it all working.

 

This is beyond cool.
May I suggest there maybe interest in you building a few for others too?

 

Ha thanks man. I will most likely go the "open source" route and post my code for those who want to take the plunge. Realistically it would jut be straight up expensive for me to build it and no matter what there would be accounts like for the SIM and dashboard stuff that would need to be managed. I would feel bad having someone pay so much and essentially leave them to their own devices when they need support down the line, not really interested in troubleshooting/customer service lol. I'm happy you think it's worth something tho and I would be happy to answer any questions if you think it's something you want to do.

 

My buddy bought an XJ a few weeks back so I've been helping initiate him into the club. Today I brought him to the JY to find some bits and bobs for his old gal. It turned into a good trip for me too bc I was looking around for WJ brakes and I found an '04 laredo with the seats I've been looking for. I know I know ZJ seats are supposedly comfier but the pillow top cloth is always absolutely disgusting... not to mention usually if not always tan. Leather is a no go for me as well so here we are. Check it out!




Love at first sight



Say goodbye to the original equioment..



WJ on left - XJ on right



Now that looks nice!


The drivers base on the WJ was electric and someone with a little more motivation maybe could have gotten the legs to work with the XJ bolts and done the electric. From what I could tell at a glance is the electric wouldn't be too hard it would be the moving of the brackets legs. Anyway back to boring mods so don't get too excited

 

Nice score !! Those seats look great in there...Very close in design and don't look out of place like some of the swaps I've seen... Great work..

 

Thanks and I agree about some other swaps looking more out of place - glad I found these! Would I have to mess with the hog rings to add the heated seat pads you did or is it easy peasy?

 

The seat backs look to be the same arraignment ... But the seat bottoms appear to still have those 3 listing wires that give the bottom it's definition... I'd say you'd still need the hog rings or as Ralph suggested some zip ties might do the trick...

 

Sometimes we can enjoy our work...

 

Alright it's spring so for better or worse the jeep is back on jack stands. Do I have all the parts I need or everything figured out? No - that takes too much time and money. So we have begun in on the work and we'll grab the rest as we need.

Recap of what's going on.. below is just a photo dump of progress. Everything is going semi smoothly. I am currently waiting on an OTA track bar mount and hoping I can use my current rusty's normal bent adjustable track bar. We shall see... unless yall know for sure lmk

Part Two: Front End

1. Tear out front axle
2. New hard brake lines and extended braided lines
3. Cav Fab Alpha 3-link kit
4. New 1/4" LCA mounts
5. Metal Cloak 4.5" Coils
6. Procomp Shocks
7. WJ knuckle/Brake swap with high steer

Got the knuckles off and axle housing out in 1h15m, getting pretty fast at this... is that a good thing?



Playing with the new plasma torch (REALLY CLOSE TO THE FUEL LINE)



Always hated looking at this



That's better, think Davis is hiring?



WJ knuckles require different Lower BJ - managed to get em out and in without removing upper YAY



A look at the knuckle interference with stock sway bar mount location



New beefy LCA mounts



Mounted on the required spacers for WJ knuckles



Got the old bushing out and the new one in for the 3 link upper.



I may have made a whoopsie with the ball joint press while pressing in that upper bushing... this is going to be a (*#&^$!

 

I'll keep the words down to a minimum here and just give the highlights plus some pics...

3 Link install went meh smooth. Front holes meant to be tapped for support of the long arm brackets were too large (maybe a 00/01 thing idk). I also knocked one of the nuts inside the frame rail off. So those brackets got bolts and welded to the frame...

WJ install also went meh. Drag link needed to be shortened and I also had to do some modification to the track bar bc I welded the new OTA track bar bracket too close to drivers.



Couldn't leave you hangin! This is how I got that fitting out... Flathead easy out.



SFR bracket and Ironman 4x4 LCA mounts welded on



Cutting the SFR track bar to better fit



Cutting the drag link to fit



First Look at new steering setup. Had to cut the sway bar link mounts.



Booger welds. This is the side I knocked the nut out of the rail so had to settle for one bolt plus the welds











Metal Cloak coils for the win 4.5 next to RE 3.5. I would say I gained probably somewhere between .5 and 1" over the RE but comfort has greatly increased and my jeep is completely level now with the RE 3.5 super duty rear springs



Getting Aligned 6.6 caster for now



Not bad, will put the front DS in and see if I have vibes, I can back off caster if necessary.

 

Just a few pics from an outing last week at China Wall