Site Updated Oct 18th/2001

Off-Road Light-Bar

 
Mopar Light-Bar that I Installed on my Jeep

Installation Time:  2-1/2 hours

1. Assembling the lights & the bar was pretty simple, the bar is pre wired, so connecting the lights was just a matter of bolting them to the bar & connecting the quick disconnect wires.
2. The wiring harness from Mopar was great, it really saved me time.  I followed the directions when wiring except for one part.  The relay is supposed to connect to the under-dash harness & connect to the high-beam relay.  That Sucks!  When the high beams are on, they automatically interrupt the fog lights.  The way they wanted them to be hooked up is so they can only be turned on when the high-beams are on.  I wanted to be able to have the Fog, Headlights & Light bar on at the same time if I so chose.  I therefore wired the light-bar relay to the fog light switch so as long as I have the fog lights on I can turn on/off the light-bar.
3. The scary & time consuming parts of the installation was, drilling the two 3/4" holes through the window frame for the cables & hand cutting a hole in the dash for the factory switch.  Both jobs turned out great but there was potential for error.

Cost:    $ 605.00 CAN

Armor  

My Sahara came with 2 undercarriage skid plates.  (1) covering the gas tank & (1) covering the transfer case.  I knew that I need two more to properly protect the undercarriage of my Jeep.  (1) for the ridiculously vulnerable steering box that hangs below the front bumper & (1) that protects the oil pan & the majority of the bottom of the engine compartment.

Installation Time:    20 Minutes (max), very easy to install.  Remove two bolts securing steering box & the front drivers side torx bolt that attaches the bumper.  Position steering skid plate & re-attach bolts.  One small hole needs to be drilled into the bumper that allows one small self threading bolt to help attach the plate to the bumper.

Cost:    Too much!  $ 98.00 CAN, for one steel plate & a few small bolts.

Installation Time:

Cost:    $ 96.00 CAN, considering the size of the oil pan plate, this plate seems to be the best value

New Fog/Bumper Lights  

Since my Jeep is a Sahara, the factory fog lights came standard.  I liked, the fog lights, they looked good and worked well (55 watts each) and except for the fact that everyone has them, I had no complaints.  They broke, each in a different way, (1) I broke when I sunk my Jeep in a river, the hot bulb, hot lens & the cold water cracked the entire front of the lens diagonally, (2) A flying stone on my way to work from a tractor trailer, put a large stone chip in the center of the lens!!  LUCKY me, an excuse to replace them.  I didn't wan to spend a lot, but I wanted a nice light with good coverage that looked good on my Jeep.  Enter...  A pair of Hella 500's.  Same power rating as stock, so the factory relay, switch & wiring was fine, but a halogen bulb, with better lenses & nice covers to protect them from the fate of the stock lights.

Cost:    $160.00 CAN, I think that was a fair price, considering the factory ones would have cost about $115.00 to replace

ARB Bull-Bar Front Bumper & Warn XD9000i Winch

I've wanted a winch for my Jeep since I got stuck my first time.  Getting stuck and depending on others is not ever my plan.  I made the mistake of off-roading by myself once before & finding tow-trucks willing to come into a trail to rescue you is hard to do, not to mention expensive!!

I looked at the various winch options many times, and although money didn't permit, I decided I preferred electric winches as opposed to hydraulic.  In the electric winch market you have three real choices Warn, Ramsey & Superwinch.  I liked Warn & Ramsey the best, & I liked the 9000 lbs model from each manufacturer.  9000 lbs may be overkill for a TJ, however I'd rather be safe than stuck & you never know when you'll be pulling a Cherokee out of a swamp (sorry Dave).  To me the high speed models are not necessary, I'm not a rally racer, nor am I planning on getting stuck enough to warrant spending extra cash for a little more speed.  With this all in mind two model appear to be available...  The Warn XD9000i & the Ramsey Platnum 9000.  I was leading towards the Ramsey model but in Canada I could not get a good price, so Warn seemed to be what I would choose when the money became available.

Talking about being at the right place at the right time....  I went to Camp Jeep 2000 in the Virginia Mountains & I kept passing by this booth that had been set up by a vendor of aftermarket Jeep parts.  on the 3rd Day I was in Virginia I decided to stop in & take a look around.  Tada!!! A Warn XD9000i winch on sale!!  I looked at it & dreamed a little, talked to the sales guy a bit & watched as they were installing that same winch into an ARB Bull-Bar on a plain stock TJ.  The jealousy was killing me so I asked for a price.  I did the currency conversion in my head, then realized it would cost my $500.00 less (Canadian) to buy it there than at home, not to mention they were installing as you waited.  I needed to think about it, but oh NO, there was only one left!!  With a little coercing from my girlfriend Kathleen, I had to do the rational thing and BUY IT!!  They bolted on the new bumper, I wired the turning signals, the winch & re-wired my headlights & voila!!  I was a happy camper.  I just left my junkie stock bumper there with the vendor & luckily sold my stock front tow-hooks to some guys watching us take apart my bumper!!!

I supplied the shackles (from my tool box).  My Hella 500 Lights look great.  I'd like to thank Dave & Vince from OK Auto 4WD & Tire for helping me with the install & Chrysler TJ Electrical engineer John from Camp Jeep for helping me solve my little turning signal wiring dilemma!!  

Not even 15 minutes after it was installed people were asking me where I got it & how much it cost, any hesitation I had about the bumper was gone by the end of Camp Jeep as the compliment flowed!!

Cost:    $1395.00 USD installed

Garvin Wilderness Rear Swing-out Bumper with Trail Rack, Gas Mount & Shovel/Axe Mounts

O.K. let's face it.... other than looking cool a rear bumper replacement serves no purpose right?  WRONG.  If you have oversized tires (which I do), the factory tire mount won't cut it.  I should pre-qualify this by stating I tried to get away with out the expensive rear-bumper replacement by using a Tomken Machine spare tire re-location bracket and brake light lift kit for a year.  The Tomken product held up fine, however the stock tire mount (that it mounts to) eventually began to tear, not to mention the irreparable damage to my hinges (they look fine, but barely swing at all now).  So I finally decided to do something about it.  I was tossing around the possibilities for a new bumper/tire-carrier (Bulletproof, Currie, Durango etc...) when I happened to come across a newer manufactures product I was previously unfamiliar with at a 4x4 shop's open house (National 4WD).  The product was manufactured by Garvin Wilderness, and was installed on one of the show Jeep's.  I was impressed with it right away, built in tire-carrier w/capabilities of a full-size 35" tire, Hi-Lift jack mount, two "D" ring mount's and a built in Class III receiver hitch.  Additional accessories were also available, axe/shovel mounts, gas/water can holders & a trail rack that mounted above the spare tire.  To top it off, it was priced  (on Sale) to my liking, $700 Canadian :)  WAY cheaper than any of my other possibilities.  SO, without any rational thought I made the impulse purchase and was on my way.

The install went pretty smooth, aside from removing the stock piece of tin, and the stock tire mount, it was basically a bolt on install.  The Garvin bumper mounts to the four factory mounts, requires you to drill an additional four holes on the sub-frame assembly and has two lower frame tie in attachment points.  The only tricky part is the two additional holes on the drivers side, they require lowering the gas tank to attach.  The hinge for the tire carrier is very beefy, and the product seems to be nicely powder coated.  One feature I liked, that I've yet to see on other similar products is, a plate that attaches to the factory holes in the tailgate that has a stopper for the tire-carrier, limiting/preventing any unwanted movement.

More Install Pictures

Shortly after buying the bumper I decided to go ahead and get the trail rack, axe & shovel mounts and passengers side gas can mount.  Again all pieces were easy to install and seem to be very well made.  I was concerned about all the weight on the hinge, I emailed Garvin prior to purchasing the additional parts and they assured me that weight would not be a problem (BTW the rack is rated for 75 lbs), so far they've benn right even with a full tank of gas and my big tool box, the tire-carrier swing-out stays solid.

A footnote I might add, although there are two "D" ring mounts on the bumper, Garvin recommends not using them as tow/attachment points, recommending a WARN "D" ring clevis mount in the receiver hitch instead.

Cost:   

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Last modified: October 20, 2001