KTI Off Road

If you had a chance (or need) to remove drive shaft in your Jeep you probably noticed how weak factory mounts are. And it’s not those thin [tag]straps[/tags] that cause the problem – it’s those tiny small bolts supposed to hold everything together. Last time when I was taking out mine I accidentally stripped one bolt’s head completely round. Fortunately I did it while fastening them so there was no immediate problem – it was holding good. But upgrade went on top of my list and I was constantly thinking about it.

Finally time to change the u-joints came. Remembering that one rounded bolt I looked for the upgrade and found that I can use u-bolt kit (originally Ford’s part).

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Technorati Tags: drive shaft, u-joint

Ever thought about some nice looking CB antenna mount for your Jeep ZJ? Instead of fabricating some brackets, mounts etc. go to any website selling Firestick’s products and pick up the MK204R kit. I picked up mine at Walcott CB for less than $30 and considering there is cable in the kit looks like quite cheap thing.

Now to the mounting part. I decided to put mine around rear left tail lamp. The thing is that I wanted it to be as less obstructive for tailgate and lights as it’s possible. Here is a picture how I manage to achieve that goal:

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Technorati Tags: CB antenna mount, Jeep, ZJ, Firestick

Electric winch can draw up to 500 amps of current and standard alternator on 4.0l Jeep Grand Cherokee is able to produce as little as 90 amps. Then you have to subtract from that current needed to run the car (ignition, lights, CB radio, fan and other). So for most of us one of the biggest worries is how long will out winch be able to work on the trail. Here is a little upgrade which makes those worries much smaller.

Recently my alternator started to slowly die so I figured out it’s a good moment to look not for simply replacement but also for an upgrade. I started to browse the Internet and I figured out that at the end of ZJ’s production they were offering optional 136 amps alternator both for I6 and V8 engine. As the difference in price wasn’t big (about $40) I decided that’s the way to go and went to local parts store to pick my new alternator up.

Whole replacement procedure is easy and quick so here I’ll post only some tricks that may help you to do it even easier and faster.

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Technorati Tags: alternator, Jeep, Grand Cherokee, upgrade, ZJ, 136 amps

Recently I installed electric winch in the ZJ. The obvious problem I stepped on was electric connection. As the winch can draw up to 500 Amps at the time it’s connection to the battery (and whole car’s electrical system) must be secure and reliable to avoid any surprises while on trail.

At the beginning I was forced to connect it to the clamps I already had there. Even though I tried it didn’t look good at all:

After a little bit of looking around I have found nice clamp made by SCOSCHE.

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Technorati Tags: ZJ, winch, battery, SCOSCHE