TREDSDERT JLU Willys Sport EcoDiesel – Destroying 70+ Years of Advancement, One Mod at a Time

[Tredsdert]

I don’t think you need to spend a lot on the speakers, though if people do then more power to ‘em. Infinity, Kenwood, and the mopar Kicker speakers out of a Dart or something are common go-to’s.

Sometimes expensive speakers don’t sound that great replacing stock because they need more amplifier power to drive them effectively. So if you’re not upgrading the amp and all that, which is a pain/investment in the wrangler, then it’s counterproductive to get big speakers.

That makes sense. I appreciate the info!

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[Tredsdert]

@eldiego

This just came in today from AliExpress!

All four of these with shipping was $8.11 USD.
Toggle switches which I will install at a later point and rig up with wires extending into the engine bay over by the auxiliary wires. The metal plate was supposed to be gold with a green light, but it kind of came out more like a rose gold/bronze. Complaining, it seems really nice quality. They had like 4,000 reviews with like a 4.8 out of 5 rating, with hundreds of orders and positive reviews in the USA.

The 5m long COB LED was something I received a while back, cost me $17.18 with free shipping. It's a 6000K bright white, and is 10mm wide.

The clear plastic tube is also 5m long has a 10mm ID, and a 12mm OD, with a total cost of $11.89.

The plan here is to cut the LED strand and the clear tube so that I have (2) 2.5m sections of each. Then to place each of the LED strands inside the clear plastic tubes. I want it to be fairly tight so it doesn't float around inside the tube, ie, The 10mm wide strand inside the 10mm ID tube. I haven't figured out what yet but I will cap off the ends so that nothing can get inside the tube. The plan then is to rig it up on the bottom inside of my rock rails, and attach it to my auxiliary 3 wires already inside the engine bay. I will use it as rock lights.

It's probably already pretty obvious at this point, but the point of the clear plastic tube is to keep rock chips and dirt and debris from damaging the LED strand so that it will last longer. If I have to replace the plastic tube at some point it's going to be a lot less work than having to rewire the LED strand.

 

[Tredsdert]

We don't get snow in North Texas very often.

Seems the snow's not going to stick, but looks pretty for now.

 

[Dr. RGB]

We don't get snow in North Texas very often.

Seems the snow's not going to stick, but looks pretty for now.

Might be my favorite mod so far!

 

[Tredsdert]

I took a day off work yesterday, and decided to put my soft top back on. It's something I've been meaning to do. I do love the look of the JLU without any soft top on it, but it's pretty practical to have the soft top on there and ready to use if I were to ever need it. To do this I had to remove the tinted polycarbonate panel I made. It's probably a good thing I did too, the screws I'd put in it turned out they weren't as good a quality of zinc as I was hoping, they were definitely rusting away. Last thing I need is that spreading to the roll cage.

I put the tinted polycarbonate to the side, I still plan on using it later this summer maybe. But I plan on doing more off-roading this summer than I have so far, and with me about to start installing some El cheapo rear seats, last thing I need is mud all over them too. So the soft top is going to be pretty handy when I'm getting the Jeep dirty this summer.

Kind of unrelated to this post, but here's the seat I ordered. Once it gets here I'm going to have to figure out how to install it as to I'm not going to purchase a aftermarket bracket right now. I'm going to make my own at some point in the near future.

I still want to put a basket in the trunk area of the Jeep, so I figured while I have them out and about, it would be good to make it so that my screws will still go into the hardtop threads.

I was honestly shocked how easy it was to break away this harder plastic. I just cut with a metal blade hand saw, and then used some needle nose pliers to snap it off and it was a pretty clean snap as you can see. I didn't even bother filing it down yet to round the corners.

I've only ever taken it off the one time, and this was the first time I was putting it back on, mind you with like a 6-month gap in between. So it took me like 6 hours to finish putting the soft top on, because I was trying to figure out how the hell to do it at the same time. Honestly if I had to do it now I promise you I could do it in like 30 minutes or less. Kind of crazy how that works.

I wrapped it up when I stored it.

I decided to put the brackets on the rear but later decided to remove the rear window trim locking bar you see there. But all the same I wanted to have the ability to close up everything but the tailgate at a later point if I choose to. So I had to edit the mesh tailgate and include a caribbeaner I had sitting around so that it would still connect on the top.

For whatever reason I just felt like without having the windows on the rear of the soft top and having mesh on the tailgate and that upper roll cage portion, it just made sense to me to have the smittybilt side pieces on there too.

I'm not a huge fan of the way it looks right now, it looks like a dude with his hair slipped back with too much gel in it and it's sticking out straight. It looks kind of dumb if you ask me. But it does serve a purpose so I guess that's worth something. I I had a fastback style soft top, that would look much nicer.
But I'm currently trying to save up about $1,000 to order something for the engine, and that's going to take priority over everything else at this moment.

So it was a pretty good Wednesday, overall. Anytime spent on the Jeep is good time if you ask me.

 

[Tredsdert]

Put the softtop rear windows on (kinda) yesterday in anticipation of this Ice Storm where about to be having in North Texas. I figure the less ice I get on top of the DEF tank the better!

The windows been the last year in a plastic tub so they aren't straight or flat, and I didn't allow enough time for them to flatten out, and it's not warm enough yet that leaving them in the sun will warm them up and help stretch them out. I'm hoping we get some warm weather, 60/70° sometime in the next week or two so that I can stretch it out and properly lock the rear windows in place.

For now it's not a huge deal, it's stiff enough that it's not going anywhere, and it's not like a Jeep's airtight anyways with no tailgate.

 

[Philly_]

Put the softtop rear windows on (kinda) yesterday in anticipation of this Ice Storm where about to be having in North Texas. I figure the less ice I get on top of the DEF tank the better!

The windows been the last year in a plastic tub so they aren't straight or flat, and I didn't allow enough time for them to flatten out, and it's not warm enough yet that leaving them in the sun will warm them up and help stretch them out. I'm hoping we get some warm weather, 60/70° sometime in the next week or two so that I can stretch it out and properly lock the rear windows in place.

For now it's not a huge deal, it's stiff enough that it's not going anywhere, and it's not like a Jeep's airtight anyways with no tailgate.

If you crank the heat in the Jeep full blast for 15-20 minutes that should help soften them up a bit too.

Used to do it when I had the soft top on in December in Michigan if I had to remove the rear window to get something in or out.

 

[Tredsdert]

If you crank the heat in the Jeep full blast for 15-20 minutes that should help soften them up a bit too.

Used to do it when I had the soft top on in December in Michigan if I had to remove the rear window to get something in or out.

I will try this, thank you very much. I was planning on going outside in a little bit taking off the rear window and bring it inside and putting it on a heating pad for a little bit. But if that works, I'll just do that. Thx Guy!

 

[Philly_]

I will try this, thank you very much. I was planning on going outside in a little bit taking off the rear window and bring it inside and putting it on a heating pad for a little bit. But if that works, I'll just do that. Thx Guy!

Probably won’t pull all the wrinkles out, but it will help loosen it up enough to close a little nicer.

As soon as you get some of that Texas sun again, any remaining wrinkles will fall right out.

 

[Tredsdert]

Probably won’t pull all the wrinkles out, but it will help loosen it up enough to close a little nicer.

As soon as you get some of that Texas sun again, any remaining wrinkles will fall right out.

That worked out beautifully, really appreciate the advice! Now I'm truly semi-winterized!!

 

[Tredsdert]

Finally got enough Amazon gift cards from my work to order one of my two rear seats. They're temporary seats until I put forth the money to buy proper Captain's chairs.

I primarily bought this one because it was one of the only ones I could find in as close to an army green as I could get. If it wasn't already obvious they are marine boat seats. Not sure it's going to pass DOT standards, but it's really not going to be used very often either.

My next steps will be to make my own aluminum bracket for it and to buy the lap belts I will be adding to it. I might not start that for a while though because I'm trying to save up for a $1,000 purchase. Not that I don't have the money, just that you try convincing your wife why you need to do something that will void your engine warranty before you even hit 20,000 mi. The end result for me was that I can only put $50 a week towards my thousand. And that got me a blessing.

 

[ForgottenTaco]

Finally got enough Amazon gift cards from my work to order one of my two rear seats. They're temporary seats until I put forth the money to buy proper Captain's chairs.

I primarily bought this one because it was one of the only ones I could find in as close to an army green as I could get. If it wasn't already obvious they are marine boat seats. Not sure it's going to pass DOT standards, but it's really not going to be used very often either.

My next steps will be to make my own aluminum bracket for it and to buy the lap belts I will be adding to it. I might not start that for a while though because I'm trying to save up for a $1,000 purchase. Not that I don't have the money, just that you try convincing your wife why you need to do something that will void your engine warranty before you even hit 20,000 mi. The end result for me was that I can only put $50 a week towards my thousand. And that got me a blessing.

Your Jeep is still has some sort of a warranty? Lol. Been following this thread since you started it. Definitely very interesting.

 

[Tredsdert]

Your Jeep is still has some sort of a warranty? Lol. Been following this thread since you started it. Definitely very interesting.

Thanks guy, appreciate the love!

There's another thread on here I was reading like a week ago and I'm pretty sure I've definitely voided quite a few warranties already. According to that thread just changing your wheels to non OEM wheels can potentially void your suspension warranty if you have any suspension claims. Pretty much the only thing I haven't touched so far is the engine. That's definitely about to change, big time!

 

[failsafe306]

Have you thought about CO buildup in the cabin with the soft top on? With the cut off muffler pipe and giant hole in the rear tub, I would be a little concerned, even with the mesh tailgate.

 

[mnjeeper]

I'm glad you are enjoying yourself.

I really feel like this build needs some chicken wire somewhere. Unsolicited opinion: I hate it. However, I admire your #TeamNoFsGiven approach. Most people will never enjoy a Wrangler to this extent. Subbed.

Hey now! Shelby used chicken wire and it was perfectly fine.

I forget if I've said it already, but I'm pretty sure I have in my first post on this thread, that my build end goal is going to be very common to pretty much every other Wrangler you see on the road, a pretty average looking vehicle with all of the expensive parts and such on it. But because that is an expensive goal, the process to get there will be the fun part of it. I'm probably looking at about another 6 years of just messing around with stuff on the Jeep before I finally get it to where I want it.

After I spent this whole thread I found today in WTF mode...I think I just got it. Nearly everything is reversible or can be covered up. One day this thing will roll out of the garage on 40s and tons and look mostly like any other Jeep. You are having cheap fun along the way to amuse yourself. Yea?

Also, this could have made youtube bucks entertaining and also pissing off thousands!

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