I had a cargo net that I pulled from a heavy duty truck at work sitting around for the past couple years.
I double checked the size today and it's.. not quite right for the XJ. It will fit our cargo bike perfectly but not the Jeep.

Discussed with my wife and we are aligned we need the cargo net before the baby comes. Ideally we would have pulled the trigger in time before our road trip next week for trail maintenance work.

So... I contacted TrailTuffNets about shipping, got a response within a couple hours, and placed an order with them. The net should ship out next week. I'm honestly hoping it arrives before we head on our trip so I can keep our gear and trail maintenance tools contained but realistically it probably will arrive while we are gone.
I also got to use some paypal credits I had sitting there, making paypal money on interest, instead of putting it to use for myself. So that's good. No more paypal credits.

In other news, our camping trip the other weekend was cancelled. The campground closed at the last minute due to some blow down that was taking longer to clear than expected. It was also too late (too short notice) to book another site. Nothing really available and also could not book something within 24 hours notice in our parks system. We risked it, drove all the way out to see if we could get a walk in site, and we got none. So we had a picnic dinner at the lake and drove home. It was a good test for my wife since she's starting to get quite pregnant and is the one who owns the XJ and has a license (I have a medical condition so no license). She handled the drive well but we agreed it was too long of a day so we made sure for this next trip we have campsites booked every day (max every 5 hours) so the trip could be broken up into smaller pieces.

The AC works but it sucks at low speeds and temperatures above 30 Celsius. Works great at around 25-28 celsius. I'm not sure if this is normal for the system, or limitations on how my shop upgraded it. I realize that maybe if my mechanic didn't install a new compressor or other system parts for the R134a then it's likely less efficient (and may be hard on the parts). That's fine for now I guess. Don't need AC much. Would use it mostly when high speed on highway and hot since rolling the windows down is so frigging noisy. I wanted something better today - but might need to spend more money next year on it.

We also got insanely good fuel economy. Like 21.5 mpg. This is the best ever. I missed logging a few of the past couple trips so hard to see when exactly it improved but definitely the last trip was a huge improvement. We had been averaging 16-18mpg in both summer and winter for the past few years.

 

Cargo net arrived and it looks great. Hoping to install in a week or so.

Just got back from a trip building hiking trails in the Rockies. Jeep did fine and kept up the decent fuel economy (for the most part) despite running the AC. Fuel economy tanked when shuttling up/down the access and 4x4 roads. Recovered back on pavement.

Some electrical is getting flakey.

• The OHC compass dims when headlights are on. Sometimes the display never turns on. Seems to go on/ off with bumps.
• Instrument cluster lights are working less well than before. Maybe related to bumps.
• Left tail light is dim.

I think the tail light is getting corroded due to mud getting into the panel. Caked in mud. The PO had a trailer wiring module installed and wired in flakey. I repaired that years ago, but kept the trailer light module. It's now coated in mud. It's been dim for a year but keeps getting worse after these trips (which have water bars we drive through)

I think the OHC and gauge lights might be a poor connection under the dash. Our mechanic changed the tail light switch and I saw wires moved around. I know some wires under there were flakey before and I did some repairs years ago.

I'm going to park at a friend's house on Saturday and troubleshoot and repair wiring with my soldering iron. Yay.

Also waiting on wires to wire up an ignition switched aux fuse panel under the dash. Need circuits for USB chargers and (just on this past trip) decided to get a refigerator in the cargo area instead of a cooler for trips. So need approx 8 Amps running to the cargo area.

 

My wife installed the TrailTuffNets cargo net today while I touched up scratches in the paint on the Jeep and waxed it (first time ever trying a wax - we'll see how it works out). She said the cargo net was easy to install and she spent most of the time in the back seat sitting, eating crackers. Took me much longer to fix the paint than for her to install it.

Just in time for another trip next weekend!

 

My to do list has been growing and contracting. Some changes since COVID19 and our last trail building trip.

High priority - low cost:

• Center console lid - also planning to make a custom one with storage integrated. Maybe end of summer.
• NEW - custom built tool box for cargo area (current tool bag doesn't fit with all our gear, have to put it on rear passenger seat floor which won't work with the baby)
• NEW - finish wiring aux power in interior, with additional power plug in the cargo area for a refrigerator

high priority - high cost

• NEW - Refrigerator in cargo area. With COVID19 we need to be more self sufficient and a cooler doesn't work well enough for our usual trips. And with a baby we will need to carry more food or be able to cool bottles
• Entertainment center - stereo, screen, etc for kid. I'm thinking of making a custom one from raspberry pi, but that depends on time.
• New rocker panels/steel tubing. - ours had been a bit rusty when I bought the Jeep and "temporarily" repaired them with fiberglass. It's been years. I should do this. There is a local shop I'd like to have install steel tubing but it'll be expensive. It's be nice to do myself but no space or tools.

med priority-try to get done

• Valve cover gasket - very small leak. Not a problem but would be nice to do and paint valve cover
• New aux fan - cooling is not a problem but this fan should be better.
• Under hood lights

Low priority - maybe never

• Paint wheels to colour match Jeep
• Center caps for wheels

 

I found your build thread while searching for info on overhead console repair. You are doing nice work. Great write up and documentation on the overhead console. That should come in handy as I investigate why my display is not working.

I am a fellow 1991 XJ owner undertaking a refurbishment of a Colorado Red Laredo version. I am behind on updating my build thread but you might find some of it useful. Actually this is my second ’91, the first ’91 went to my son who just had to have it. That one just got back from a 3500+ mile trip to the Rocky Mountains of southern Utah and Colorado that included lots of 4x4 trails along with remote camping and hiking.

I plan to go through your build thread completely when I have a chance.

 

Thanks! I skimmed your thread too and I definitely want to sit and read it through.

 

So wire repairs at my friend's house went well. I managed to repair my passenger side power windows and power locks. Turns out broken wires on the driver side were making my passenger door power weak. It actually does something now when I got the lock button and doesn't take 5 minutes to roll windows up/down!

The tail light isn't fixed but I uncovered not one but TWO trailer light modules. I removed one and repaired wiring but the other is behind a panel behind my full size spare so I need to get to that later (I was overstaying my welcome at my friend's house).

Touching the wiring I guess took a spotty connection on my instrument lights and made it completely bad. So no instrument lights or door chime. I posted a question thread and will be tracing wires this weekend.

 

You may already be aware of the issue common to ’91 to ’96 XJ's where the door switches become intermittent. A symptom I found is that on the driver’s side switches if you actuate the power window switch the window will not move or will move only a bit. If you keep jogging the switch the window will move. The switch contacts lose some of their spring and pitting and oxidation builds up on the contacts of the most used switches. There is a good YouTube video “1995 Jeep Cherokee Power Window Switch Repair” on how to disassemble and clean the contacts. Moving contacts from a less used switch, say a rear door window to the driver window position, can help. It is a bit of an intricate task and is not always successful. You have to be careful not to do more harm than good if you don’t have spare switches on hand. I find switches at the salvage yard and keep those for spares.

Dirty, hard and worn window wipes (also called beltline molding and glass seal) and felt channel runs can result in additional friction on the glass and make it harder for the motor to move the window. Lubricating the lift mechanism can also help.
.

 

Thankfully it's not an intermittent issue on most of my doors (and really, they work quite well now) but the driver side rear door is very weak still on both the windows and locks. So I'll look into this. I'm suspecting it's another broken wire but it could be this.

And yup! I've gotta lube the window seals/ wipes as well as the door mechanisms. I replaced the seals when I bought the Jeep and lubricate them and door lock mechanism probably every 2 years but should probably do it more often. I think that'll help a lot now the wires are fixed.

 

Figured out the door chime and instrument light issue. It was a short on the brake fluid level sensor circuit, which blows the PARK brake fuse, which is upstream of the instrument light fuse.

Disconnected the brake fluid sensor fixed the issue, but this seems to mean I might have a brake fluid leak (probably from replacing front brakes a few weeks ago).

Unfortunately the instrument lights are still dim (only right side turns on consistently) but that was always a problem I chalked up to low voltage (possibly due to running it thru the headlight switch dimmer) and me having LEDs in there.

 

Check that leak out, you don't want brake fluid sitting on your paint.

 

Yup! Not driving it until it's fixed. I can't have my pregnant wife driving around with a brake fluid leak. Especially one big enough to trigger the level sensor.

Onthe way back from our last trip I saw evidence of a leak on the front tires (but didn't get to investigate ). I'm annoyed I didn't register those wet spots on the tires was brake fluid. But so far it doesn't seem to have gotten on any paint.

Brakes were done at a shop around the corner from my house. Good shop but missed this. I suspect brake lines since our back ones were rusty and needed replacement a few years ago (first brake job since buying the Jeep) and the front brake lines were not replaced when the front brakes were done a few weeks ago.

Since he missed it, and it's an honest shop I'll limp the Jeep a couple blocks to get him to fix it. More money but I'm certain he will undercharge me since he missed this.

 

Buttoned up the kick panel wiring today.

Got it all tidy, wires wrapped and labelled. Repaired some wires with butt connectors (at least until I can get back to my friends house to solder some more) and heat shrink.

I also added a ground wire from the dash ground point to the M8 studd behind the kick panel to improve ground.

I also managed to get the kick panel actually installed. Took a bunch of time to get everything routed tidy but it makes me happy. Photos to follow.

Took the Jeep to the shop so they could fix the brake leak. I'm told it'll be done ASAP Monday. We are going hiking in a week so I'm hoping it'll be given a clean bill of health in time.

Edit: Photo from when I was inspecting the headlight switch. Used my camera to double check the switch was plugged in.



Cleaned up kick panel wiring. Kick panel actually installed. The red wires on the floor lead to an unknown inline fuse that I need to still figure out what it is used for.

 

So I got the Jeep back from the shop a week or so ago and they assured me it wasn't a brake fluid leak, but a front axle seal leak and that we were low on differential fluid. When I first brought it in, I brought up the possible brake fluid leak and they were all on board, but then after they looked through it they realized it was the axle seals causing the leak on the tires and not brake fluid. This threw me off - I mean it's good it wasn't a brake leak but it just made so much sense.

I never did pop open the master cylinder to check before I brought the Jeep to them but this is a solid shop and is operated by the owner. He is NOT hurting for business, so there is no reason to mislead me. And the leak is repaired so I got results.

So my axle seals were replaced, for honestly less money than I was expecting. The shop also popped the dash out, looked around, replaced all my instrument light bulbs, and put it back together. The fuse no longer blows now. Something they touched caused the short to go away. They did go through the brakes, so it could still be the brake fluid level sensor. And that makes sense still because the fuse only blows when I plug the level sensor in. If the short was on the hot side of the sensor, it would always blow. If on the ground side then the sensor would need to be "on" (or closed) due to being low on brake fluid. Since it's not low on brake fluid, if the fuse blows when plugged in the short must be within the sensor. So I'm guessing there is something intermittent with the sensor or connector itself.

I was looking through old parts and tossing out some old battery cables and stuff, and found a blown 15A fuse and remembered this fuse was blown when I bought the Jeep. But it never did blow since we bought it. So I wonder if there was something intermittently wrong with the sensor or connector that just.. flipped one way due to the vibrations on our last trip. That access road was bumpy as **** - you could feel it through your spine. So I might honestly just hedge my bets and replace the sensor and/or the connector to cover my bases. I hate just replacing parts.

I went to start wiring up my auxiliary power fuse box today but realized I was missing the blade push on terminal to connect to the relay. I found ones that fit 8 and 10 AWG cables via TE.com; Bought those and should get them next week. Then I can wire up the fuse panel.

 

Made some progress on the auxiliary power fuse box. I did more than the photo shows - but not quite finished.

This week I will finish the other harnesses (signal for the relay, USB power harness - both are almost done) and install it in the Jeep. The fuse box will go just above the kick panel under the dash. Ground will be to a stud behind the kick panel that I already tried to the dash ground.