Gear's Baja JK Thread

[Gear]

7 Way Trailer Harness Installed

Once the Jeeperman bumper was installed I started in on the 7 way trailer harness for my Chaser #15. I went ahead and purchased the harness from the Jeep dealership and although it was expensive(just under $80.00) I think I got my moneys worth. Now that Jeep is using a CAN-BUS system the harness has relays back at the tail light complicating the harness.

First off remove the two inner screws from the driverside tail light. This removes the whole tail light.

Use a pair of wire cutters and snip all the zip ties holding the existing flat 4 way plug. Disconnect the plug at the light and unclip it from the bumper mount.

This zip tie at the bottom was the most difficult to get to.

Here is the removed flat 4 way plug.

Now simple clip the new harness to the tail light and feed the wires down to the frame, across the rear cross member and up the passangerside frame rail. Connect the positive and negative wires at the battery. Feed the blue and red(see below) wires into the cab. I went thru the firewall at the same spot I used for my sPOD install. Zip tie the harness along the way.

I decided to flush mount the plug into the rear bumper. Here is where I made the cut.

I used a 2" whole saw to drill the bumper.

Painted the raw metal and installed the new 7 way connector.


Important -- A note about the factory wire harness. It comes with the supplied blue wire for hooking up the trailer brakes. Unfortunately there is not a wire in the harness for a brake trigger. Jeep has one under the dash for this but it does not provide enough of a load to trigger the Prodigy brake controller that I have. So with this said I had to add a red wire(brake trigger) to the harness. Not difficult but time consuming.

Here is the red wire(brake trigger) connected to the white/yellow wire at the tail light.

And one more wide shot.

 

[Gear]

10# PowerTank Installed

Decided it was time to mount up my 10# PowerTank. Since I had the tank, bracket and hose fittings already I called up PowerTank and ordered there roll bar clamps and a hose for the back bumper.

Here are the goodies

10# tank installed with 2 roll bar clamps and bracket. Very secure.

5 1/2' of Superflexy hose is run thru the gromet at the top of the wheel well down to the bumper.

Drill another hole into the bumper and connect the hose fittings.

 

[Gear]

Painless Wire 7 fuse power center Installed

Went ahead and installed my Painless wire 7 fuse power center under the driverside dash. Pulled this from my 03 Rubicon so all I had to do was fabricate a small bracket. Used a sheet of thick steel and a piece of C channel.

Made the sheet oversized just in case I decide to add a couple of relays.

Here is the back side.

The C channel gives me clearance for the nut that secures the bolt in place. This makes it so I do not need to put two wrenches underneth the dash to take it out. I notched the C channel to fit over the ridges where it will be mounted. From past experience this bracket needs to be mounted securely while still being easy to take in and out.

Simple install the bracket and secure the one nut using one ratcheting 7/16 wrench.

Wiring the 7 fuses. One positive wire goes to the battery positive terminal. One of the bolt holes on the plastic case has a negative ground wire. I extended a second wire to the above bolt(center). Also you will need to give what ever you are powering up a ground(negative) wire. I simple took four 16 gauge wires approxiametly 16" long and wrapped them in one plastic sleeve. This was attached to the same bolt. Now all I have to do is quickly connect the ground wire to these easily accessible wires. I left the wires long so I can pull the whole panel down to work on it if necessary.

Now 4 of these fuses are ignition hot. So with Jeeps new CAN-BUS it is a little difficult to find an ignition hot wire. The only one I know of is the 12 volt power in the dash(left side of gear shift). Take the wire from the Painless box(very well marked) and run it under the steering column and using a coat hanger pull it up behind the 12 volt power source.

Now connect the ignition hot to the blue/pink wire using a scotch lock.

I am now ready to install my CB, 2M, flashlight, etc.

 

[Gear]

Streamlight SL-20XP Flashlight Installed

Mounted my Streamlight SL-20XP flashlight to the driverside seat bracket.

First off I made a small backing plate to hang the flashlight holder on.

Next I drilled two small holes into the seat bracket(none sliding side). Mounted the flashlight and ran the positive and negative wires under the seat up to the Painless wire 7 fuse holder. Attached the two wires and I now have a rechargeable flashlight in the Jeep.

 

[RunninRubicon]

Decided it was time to mount up my 10# PowerTank. Since I had the tank, bracket and hose fittings already I called up PowerTank and ordered there roll bar clamps and a hose for the back bumper.

Here are the goodies

10# tank installed with 2 roll bar clamps and bracket. Very secure.

5 1/2' of Superflexy hose is run thru the gromet at the top of the wheel well down to the bumper.

Drill another hole into the bumper and connect the hose fittings.

I truely like this idea. I still use a hose and have to open-up the back window when the vinyl window is dusty and hard to unzip. This is a much smarter idea having it plumped into the rear bumper. This will cut down on abuse my zippers take at the end of the trail when I'm ready to head home and blow off the dust....not carry it home! I am sure others will as well.

 

[LUISJG]

CO2 tank !! yeah! great idea...
stop it!! my pocket is already empty....

 

[Gear]

Roof Rack build - Pipe bending

Spent 6 hours this morning bending pipe for the roof rack. Just thought I would share some photographs.

Rear will be bolted to the Jeeperman bumper. The front will be welded to a second set of A pilar brackets that I purchased.

Nothing like bending 14' of 1 1/2" pipe.

Side shot of the Baja JK. That's Joe on the left.

Rear compound bend.

Many Thanks to Joe at Joehauler.com. He is the one working the machines.

 

[Mlachica]

Oh man, mighty fine job Justin! Everything is coming together so nicely. Can't wait to see the next update...

 

[Gray Matter]

Hey Justin:

Long time no see. The new Rubicon is looking great. I was wondering whether you were going to bring the Jeep back to Hunter to have a new rack made or procure one in Calif. Looking forward to the finished product.

Brian L.

 

[Gear]

Hello Brian
Good to see you found the Portal. Here is your friendly :wavey:. Now how about posting up some photographs of your Jeeps. Yes, John at Hunter Off-road does some nice work. I just needed to have it done a lot closer to home.

 

[MtnMan]

Gear,
Any more pictures of the roof rack? Looks great so far.

 

[Gear]

Here are two more shots with the side bars welded up. We are working on the cross members as we speak.

 

[LUISJG]

Looking great !!!

 

[JChatary]

One word.

WOW. :Wow1:

 

[ujoint]

That spare tire looks HUGE on the back of that JK!