2014 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon HeliNomad Build
- Thread starter HeliNomad
- Start date
I think you mean LockPick. MyGig used to be the generic name for the factory touch-screen nav. LockPick is the cool third-party gizmo that plugs into the rear of the factory nav and enables features disabled by the factory.
If you can do a set of pictures of your air system, that'd be great. Your connector under the seat looks awesome.
Also, do the sPOD switches light up when not on? I've got an older one and at night, when it's dark in the cab, they don't light up which can make flipping the wrong switch easy until you get muscle memory for what's where. Love the sPOD even with that.
That's an awesome idea!
I believe Spod has ones that do light up when off - however I'm not 100% on that. My only beef with the SPOD is that I want to tie my forward lights into my high beams (well I want a on/off/on, where 1 on will be set up to trigger off the highs). However that means running a completely separate power feed to those switches. Not the end of the world... but it would have been so much easier had SPOD run an extra line in there initially.
dstock
Explorer
Got a chance to take this picture today. Arguably the two best overland vehicles in the world face to face...
View attachment 196664
Absolutely gorgeous!
brianjwilson
Some sort of lost...
I finally got them aimed halfway decent but the output to my is still really blocky, if that makes sense. Almost like an HID in a halogen reflector. The pattern is spread wide but its just spotty. I had to do a lot more than up down adjustments. First, the drivers side sat loose in the assembly and bounced around. Second, the head lights were cross eyed. There is decent overall output, but a funny shaped bright spot from each lamp that intersected in front of the jeep. I can't explain how obnoxious it was to watch the beams intersect and bounce around.
Anyway, once I finally got the lateral adjustments right it was much better. But the amount of light on low beams is still weak to me. I would like to aim the vertical part with the sharper cutoff, but you get the bright spots above that and they are really concentrated. The high beams looks amazing, I have zero complaints about them on high.
I do have the truck lite anti flicker harness, and I wonder if they produce a voltage drop to even out the signal. I may have to test them when I'm home next time.
I haven't seem the jw speaker head lights in action, but as I said I am very impressed with the fogs. Very wide pattern, full light, great cutoff. The two of them work well together but driving on a dark rainy night with just the truck lite head lights was awful. Well, it was awful with just the stock head lights on too.
Oh and currently I'm just flying Bell 407 and 206 offshore (gulf of Mexico). Flir would would be cool for weather but also for detecting flaring gas etc. We don't fly single engine offshore at night, but flir produces some amazing images in the dark, particularly in mountainous areas. Most operators just use night vision goggles for that now though.
dstock
Explorer
I also have the Truck Lite anti flicker harness but saw no drop in output. As far as the looseness on the driver's bucket, I ran into that on my 2010 but not on my 2013. One piece of electrical tape on the bucket where the tab sits solved the issue for me. I am not sure about the spotty issue, don't experience that myself.
brianjwilson
Some sort of lost...
I hope you don't mind me posting this in here for anyone looking at the truck lites. I just felt like they are so over hyped that I was not that impressed when I saw them in action.
Here is a comparison of the truck lite and jw speaker fog/driving lights. Just skip to 14:00 in the video.
http://youtu.be/kbfkeGhOLDQ
If you watch it all, the jw speaker puts out over 3x the lumens. This also clearly shows the difference in output between the reflector and projector style LEDs. No comparison. Jw speaker has a 6145 model that bolts into the JK bracket and retains factory adjustability.
I haven't used the jw speaker head lights (they look horrible IMO and are crazy expensive), but the JW fogs were $315 shipped and I think worth every penny.
I'm running the truck lite head lights and jw fogs and it works well for the price, and they look good together in my opinion. You will not see me buying the jw head lights for $800 any time soon.
Here is a comparison of the truck lite and jw speaker fog/driving lights. Just skip to 14:00 in the video.
http://youtu.be/kbfkeGhOLDQ
If you watch it all, the jw speaker puts out over 3x the lumens. This also clearly shows the difference in output between the reflector and projector style LEDs. No comparison. Jw speaker has a 6145 model that bolts into the JK bracket and retains factory adjustability.
I haven't used the jw speaker head lights (they look horrible IMO and are crazy expensive), but the JW fogs were $315 shipped and I think worth every penny.
I'm running the truck lite head lights and jw fogs and it works well for the price, and they look good together in my opinion. You will not see me buying the jw head lights for $800 any time soon.
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dstock
Explorer
I'm running the truck lite head lights and jw fogs and it works well for the price, and they look good together in my opinion. You will not see me buying the jw head lights for $800 any time soon.
I wonder if your coverage is being affected at all by the crossbar on your bumper? I notice quit a bit of reflection off of it in the photo above. Just a thought.
Nice rig by the way!
I don't mind anyone posting in my build forum. I want this to grow to a forum crashing size. Anyway here is my worthless uneducated theory on the JL vs TruckLite. I think the JL speakers only appear brighter in these non-real world tests but in real life are actually poor performers. I would like to present the following "real world" video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygvYo7Zjq1M) showing the JL lights actually in operation. Sure they look bright but so does my 10 year old mag light with 6 month old batteries when the focus is closed in as tight as it goes. The JL's have these projector based optics but are clearly poorly optimized. The Truck Lites end up putting more light where it's needed. This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyehcOie5TE) shows the Truck Lites in a real world test and I think you will agree that the light is impressive and where you expect it to be. Point made...BOOM.
brianjwilson
Some sort of lost...
Haha I just wanted to share my personal experience, not intended to argue in any sort of way, or prove any point. I'd like to be able to compare both side by side but I'm still not buying $800 jw speakers.
That jw speaker head light video looks like the coverage is really poor. On the other hand, it is a wide angle video while the truck lite video is just the opposite. Unless the camera position and conditions are the same (side by side) it's hard to compare.
My truck lite head lights do have a wide pattern. But as any of the videos show (including the one you posted) the light output isn't that even. It isn't the end of the world, just not what I expected for $400 head lights.
My jw speaker fog lights (again the head lights may be different) have a very wide beam (wider than the truck lite head lights), and simply put more light on the ground as I see from the drivers seat. No scientific evidence, just driving around a lot at night switching between head and fog lights. I would put the fogs up against most any low beams.
I'll have to put up a driving video of the two sometime when I'm back home.
Either way it's nice to have some options!
Question on the snorkel, did you notice any performance decrease or change after installing?
That jw speaker head light video looks like the coverage is really poor. On the other hand, it is a wide angle video while the truck lite video is just the opposite. Unless the camera position and conditions are the same (side by side) it's hard to compare.
My truck lite head lights do have a wide pattern. But as any of the videos show (including the one you posted) the light output isn't that even. It isn't the end of the world, just not what I expected for $400 head lights.
My jw speaker fog lights (again the head lights may be different) have a very wide beam (wider than the truck lite head lights), and simply put more light on the ground as I see from the drivers seat. No scientific evidence, just driving around a lot at night switching between head and fog lights. I would put the fogs up against most any low beams.
I'll have to put up a driving video of the two sometime when I'm back home.
Either way it's nice to have some options!
Question on the snorkel, did you notice any performance decrease or change after installing?
jscusmcvet
Explorer
Incredible build. Great attention to detail. This is the beauty of the jeep thing, that hopefully jeep will never lose sight of... every dedicated jeeper wants to make his/her jeep capable in their own way for their own needs. I think your build reflects what a lot of folks would do if time and $ allowed. As you pointed out in a post earlier, makes for a great discussion.
Following with interest.
John
Following with interest.
John
Here's a little update. So the JK is at my local dealer getting its Mopar 7 pin wiring harness installed and a new rear drive shaft boot. As far as dealers goes my local dealer is one of those Chrysler, Dodge, Kia, Volvo and oh yea Jeep dealerships who wasn't created with all of its essential chromosomes. The people who work there act as if they are just waiting out some eternal purgatory hoping for a swift and painless end. To keep things as simple as possible for them I told them to please just charge me whatever they needed to install the harness and boot right. I went over with them in detail that the CHMSL third brake light that AEV installs is very simply tied into the brake lights and that it won't interfere. I also explained that my back up camera is very simply grabbing power from my back up light inside the tail light assembly. We went over the pictorial instructions in grade school detail and left assured that they had a handle on this. As I was leaving the service manager tossed out the famous "we have never installed a 7-pin harness on a Jeep and have never even heard of AEV." I was doomed.
Sure enough just about 3 hours later I get a call from the service manager and he tells me that it's going to take 7 hours to do the install and the quote he never provided me wouldn't stand. I remind him that I said it could take as long as he needed and just to charge me. Of course though he hadn't even started so we are 3 hours wasted into the day. 2 hours later I get a call from the tech who is now telling me that he need to rewire the entire tail light assembly. Now a little bit frustrated, I tell him I'll be right there. Upon arriving from 20 feet away I see the issue. He is in the wrong tail light assembly. I show him the pictorial instructions and we pop off the driver side, plug the harness and the tail light in within minutes. The truck of course is there overnight disassembled and I feel like I just left my child getting getting surgery in a third world country. I'm sure it will be fine in the end and everything can be fixed but man I need to find a better Jeep shop.
Is this an issue with most Chrysler dealerships? Call me a snob but coming from Land Rover sure the service center would rape you if you ever needed anything off warranty from them but in my opinion the quality of service and support was on another par. I'm figuring out that not all Chrysler dealerships are created equal. The two near by me look like a desolate wasteland of used cars with tacky window stickers, used car sales men with all the tricks, and just generally feel run down. I wish Jeep would just charge 10% more for their products and carve the brand out to make a more upscale support and sales experience. If you ever call Jeep customer support they are wonderful and are truly helpful people. Sadly though the brand suffers from the lowest common denominator which is the dealer experience.
Sure enough just about 3 hours later I get a call from the service manager and he tells me that it's going to take 7 hours to do the install and the quote he never provided me wouldn't stand. I remind him that I said it could take as long as he needed and just to charge me. Of course though he hadn't even started so we are 3 hours wasted into the day. 2 hours later I get a call from the tech who is now telling me that he need to rewire the entire tail light assembly. Now a little bit frustrated, I tell him I'll be right there. Upon arriving from 20 feet away I see the issue. He is in the wrong tail light assembly. I show him the pictorial instructions and we pop off the driver side, plug the harness and the tail light in within minutes. The truck of course is there overnight disassembled and I feel like I just left my child getting getting surgery in a third world country. I'm sure it will be fine in the end and everything can be fixed but man I need to find a better Jeep shop.
Is this an issue with most Chrysler dealerships? Call me a snob but coming from Land Rover sure the service center would rape you if you ever needed anything off warranty from them but in my opinion the quality of service and support was on another par. I'm figuring out that not all Chrysler dealerships are created equal. The two near by me look like a desolate wasteland of used cars with tacky window stickers, used car sales men with all the tricks, and just generally feel run down. I wish Jeep would just charge 10% more for their products and carve the brand out to make a more upscale support and sales experience. If you ever call Jeep customer support they are wonderful and are truly helpful people. Sadly though the brand suffers from the lowest common denominator which is the dealer experience.
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dstock
Explorer
That sucks! Glad you got them straightened out before they caused a worse mess.
I install the majority of my aftermarket stuff myself. I just don't trust most places to do it right and the back and forth to the shops to get things sorted ends up being more frustrating, and more of a time suck. Plus I find I really enjoy it, even get my kids in on the action. I guess it's my kind of therapy. Granted not everyone has the do-it yourself option.
I do have the lifetime warranty on the JK, so I have been very careful about what I have installed, keeping the systems separate from the factory wiring. My dealer builds some crazy JK's so they are mod-friendly which also helps.
I install the majority of my aftermarket stuff myself. I just don't trust most places to do it right and the back and forth to the shops to get things sorted ends up being more frustrating, and more of a time suck. Plus I find I really enjoy it, even get my kids in on the action. I guess it's my kind of therapy. Granted not everyone has the do-it yourself option.
I do have the lifetime warranty on the JK, so I have been very careful about what I have installed, keeping the systems separate from the factory wiring. My dealer builds some crazy JK's so they are mod-friendly which also helps.