The Expedition Tank
03-25-2015, 08:10 PM
#1
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
The Expedition Tank
So I guess it's time to document this build. I'm not planning on doing anything special or innovative but maybe someone will get something out of my trial and error. 
So to steal a bit from my introduction post here's my Jeep history:
January 29th 1981 - February 13th 2015: I think I rode in a jeep once. That's right, 34 years.
February 14th 2015: Rented a 2015 Sport Unlimited, drove from Dallas TX to Waco TX and on the way back hit every dirt road and small country track I could find.
February 15th 2015: Did some city driving around Dallas in the rental.
February 16th 2015: Told my wife I needed a jeep.
February 17th 2015: Left Dallas at 1pm in rental jeep, arrived home in Georgia at 4am. 865 miles, 13 hours straight through in the rental jeep.
February 18th 2015: Drove to jeep dealership, purchased 2015 Sport Unlimited.
And now here we are. Some people call me compulsive.
I knew I wanted the Tank color, and I knew I wanted an Unlimited. Other than that I didn't care about any other options. I traded in a 2011 F150 FX4 that I had custom ordered that was loaded with every option available in 2011 except navigation and the step tailgate.
I do most of my own maintenance so I was tired of the endless computers and electrical garbage, worrying about maintaining the leather and the fancy electronics. I wanted simple. What I found is definitely that, only options added are the automatic trans and the 3.73 gearing, that's it. Here she is in her stock beauty (ugliness):
Next, on to the MODs.
So to steal a bit from my introduction post here's my Jeep history:
January 29th 1981 - February 13th 2015: I think I rode in a jeep once. That's right, 34 years.
February 14th 2015: Rented a 2015 Sport Unlimited, drove from Dallas TX to Waco TX and on the way back hit every dirt road and small country track I could find.
February 15th 2015: Did some city driving around Dallas in the rental.
February 16th 2015: Told my wife I needed a jeep.
February 17th 2015: Left Dallas at 1pm in rental jeep, arrived home in Georgia at 4am. 865 miles, 13 hours straight through in the rental jeep.
February 18th 2015: Drove to jeep dealership, purchased 2015 Sport Unlimited.
And now here we are. Some people call me compulsive.
I knew I wanted the Tank color, and I knew I wanted an Unlimited. Other than that I didn't care about any other options. I traded in a 2011 F150 FX4 that I had custom ordered that was loaded with every option available in 2011 except navigation and the step tailgate.
I do most of my own maintenance so I was tired of the endless computers and electrical garbage, worrying about maintaining the leather and the fancy electronics. I wanted simple. What I found is definitely that, only options added are the automatic trans and the 3.73 gearing, that's it. Here she is in her stock beauty (ugliness):
Next, on to the MODs.
03-25-2015, 08:43 PM
#2
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
Wheels and Tires
Go ahead and stare at that picture for a minute. No seriously, let it burn into your mind. Beautiful winter scene, a frozen river and a Jeep on stock 16 inch steel rims with 225/75 tires. It's a real shame honestly. No Jeep should have to run around on those tires for long so I hit up Discount Tire for some replacements. Found some take off rims on Craigslist and arranged to purchase them in the parking lot of the Discount Tire, that's convenient.
Went with Terra Grappler G2's in a 32" size.
I went with 32's because I didn't want to jump into a lift too soon without doing some research. If you're reading this now and nodding your head in agreement I'm here to tell you....I was wrong. I should have researched lifts, done the lift and then added larger tires at the same time. Everyone will tell you it's an addiction and you'll want bigger tires...they're correct. Don't fight it, just go with it.
That being said I'm setting this vehicle up to be a capable exploration vehicle to get the family and I out to some of the more remote camping locations in the region and do some trips out west. I'm going to be just fine with this setup for quite some time and when I finally wear the tires out I'll do a lift and some bigger rubber next time around.
03-25-2015, 08:49 PM
#3
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
Power door locks
So all of my pictures for this MOD are gone. 
Next time I tear the doors apart for something I'll grab some more photos.
Basically I grabbed a $30 kit off amazon that included 4 actuators, the linkage, two remotes and a control unit / wiring harness. I then took a Saturday and pulled all the doors apart, mounted up the actuators and linkage and prepped the in door wiring. The wiring harness that came with the kit was laughable at best and I replaced the vast majority of it with better gauge wire. I took a second day to run all the wiring and make things as clean as possible.
From the inside of the Jeep you'd never know they weren't factory (other than the lack of the lock / unlock buttons on the doors). The remotes have great range and it's a "smart" controller so if you lock/unlock the drivers door manually from either the inside or the outside it will lock/unlock the rest of the Jeep.
I bought another actuator that I'll be adding into the rear gate in the next week so I'll grab some pictures of the process then. Until then, here's a Playschool "My First Trail" picture:
Next time I tear the doors apart for something I'll grab some more photos.Basically I grabbed a $30 kit off amazon that included 4 actuators, the linkage, two remotes and a control unit / wiring harness. I then took a Saturday and pulled all the doors apart, mounted up the actuators and linkage and prepped the in door wiring. The wiring harness that came with the kit was laughable at best and I replaced the vast majority of it with better gauge wire. I took a second day to run all the wiring and make things as clean as possible.
From the inside of the Jeep you'd never know they weren't factory (other than the lack of the lock / unlock buttons on the doors). The remotes have great range and it's a "smart" controller so if you lock/unlock the drivers door manually from either the inside or the outside it will lock/unlock the rest of the Jeep.
I bought another actuator that I'll be adding into the rear gate in the next week so I'll grab some pictures of the process then. Until then, here's a Playschool "My First Trail" picture:
03-25-2015, 08:53 PM
#4
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
Floormats, hey, they count as a MOD!
Scored a full set of Rugged Ridge floor protection (front, back and cargo) for $120 on ebay. Was listed as "Open Box but new" and that's exactly how they arrived.
This will hopefully prevent my daughter (and wife) from ruining the now covered patches of carpet. Anyone have suggestions on seat covers or protection? Both my gals have a tendency to fling BBQ sauce around for some reason.
This will hopefully prevent my daughter (and wife) from ruining the now covered patches of carpet. Anyone have suggestions on seat covers or protection? Both my gals have a tendency to fling BBQ sauce around for some reason.
03-25-2015, 08:57 PM
#5
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
Tablet and GPS RAM mount
Added some RAM mounts to the dash for my tablet and GPS. I use my phone as a hotspot for the tablet for things like Pandora and Google Maps and when out on the trail I use either the 60csx or offline maps in Backcountry Navigator. Overall it's a good setup.
03-27-2015, 08:36 AM
#6
JK Enthusiast
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Schererville, Indiana
Posts: 333
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Congrats on the jeep! When I was shopping for a 4wheel vehicle it was between the F150 Tremor and a JKU. I ended up going with the jeep for two reasons. Top down, doors off was my first and my second was that long pole that shakes like hell in my right hand haha!
Subbed to your build, but I'd love to see a writeup on the auto locks and windows! I didn't think I'd mind, but rolling down those back windows can be a pain in the ass!
Subbed to your build, but I'd love to see a writeup on the auto locks and windows! I didn't think I'd mind, but rolling down those back windows can be a pain in the ass!
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07-01-2015, 07:00 PM
#10
JK Newbie
Thread Starter
12v power and a cargo cover
So I took a month off work to do a little traveling and some work around the house. One of the trips was a long overdue anniversary trip for the wife and I. We loaded up the Jeep and headed off to Chattanooga for a long weekend. This trip confirmed a few things:
1. The stock suspension mixed with my current tire setup is OK for running the interstate to get to more interesting locations. Not great, not horrible, just ok.
2. When the roof is down it's a pain in the ass to put it back up each time you stop somewhere. We weren't willing to leave everything we had tucked in the back just out in the open for someone to walk up and take. We needed some coverage back there.
3. There are not enough places to plug chargers in.
With a second trip planned that included our two kids and their endless amounts of electronics I decided to tackle the charging problem first. I picked up a sturdy three outlet charging solution with some illuminated sockets and a battery monitor.
Most folks should be familiar with these things, they're everywhere and they come wired with this:
Your standard 12v plug. 99% of people would plug this in to the socket inside the center console, pull the wire to the back seat and be done. Oh no, not me. I need to cut things and use heat shrink! So let's start by seing what this thing is rated at:
There's no way to get a picture of it with my cell phone but that fuse is marked as being 10a. If that's what the manufacturer figures their internals can handle then that's what I'll stick with, but glass fuses are so 1980. We'll have to fix that. First up I cut off that darn 12v plug and crimped/heatshrunk some new connectors.
When running new electrical stuff I find it's always best to pull new power instead of hacking into the wire harness on the vehicle somewhere. Manufacturers do some strange things with wire harnesses and it's easier for troubleshooting if I just run my own. I opted to pull another line from the battery and through the same grommet I had used for my power door lock install. It's on the drivers side of the engine bay and drops in just behind the dash but easily accessible from the footwell without pulling any dash parts.
I then took my new 12v source and tucked it behind the trim and under the carpet to exit just under the drivers seat.
Now before we go farther I'd like to say that one of the upgrades I have planned is a full fuse box with constant and ACC switched power under the hood to run future upgrades such as LED lights, better reverse lights, bumper lights, rock lights, under hood lights and maybe some lights. However I'm not adding that until a little later so in the time being I just kept this install modular and through a 10a blade fuse inline from my 12v source.
All you electrical engineers out there can lecture me on placing my fuse closer to the source another time. This is temporary. Let's move on. Next I mounted up my new three outlet charging station by screwing it into the center console just next to the cup holders. I angled it up a bit to make it easier to use and harder to kick anything plugged into it and dropped the rear seats forward to make sure there was clearance. Everything is good and we end up with this:
Let no cell phone or tablet go uncharged!
Some of you have made the realization by now that I have hardwired this thing to the battery. Others of you have read that sentence and have begun to piece together that this means it's always on and could drain the battery. Long term I'll be moving this over to the above mentioned fuse box I'm adding and it will be on an ACC switched circuit to only be on while the ignition is in the ACC position or the vehicle is running. For now there's so little draw it would take months to drain the battery.
So let's move on to a cargo cover shall we?
My wife is a bit of an antique nut and as we travel we stop at each and every antique store we see...even if they're a hundred miles out of our way. This usually leaves us with a cargo area full of antiques and the roof down when we stop for lunch or at another antique store. Putting the roof up and down is annoying. It's time to secure that cargo area and not spend $600 on an aftermarket solution.
Now I didn't take a whole lot of pictures while doing this but it's fairly straight forward. I purchased a 3/4" 4x8 sheet of oak (cause I like to over engineer things) and using several cardboard mock ups I cut two pieces to fit over the cargo area and use the hardtop mounting points to connect to the body.
Then I cut another piece to mount behind the seat just to make it take 30 seconds longer for a thief to get in there if they lower the rear seat. (We're really just keeping honest people honest here).
Then I threw on several coats of black paint because I thought it would make me happy.
It didn't. So out came the black automotive carpet. Matches the stock carpet exactly.
And there you have it, a cargo cover that's secure, can stay in place with the soft top up or down and looks OEM. I've added a couple of tie down points to secure items placed on top and I'll have to grab a couple of pictures of that. For now though I need to go pack as my family and I leave on another trip tomorrow morning.
1. The stock suspension mixed with my current tire setup is OK for running the interstate to get to more interesting locations. Not great, not horrible, just ok.
2. When the roof is down it's a pain in the ass to put it back up each time you stop somewhere. We weren't willing to leave everything we had tucked in the back just out in the open for someone to walk up and take. We needed some coverage back there.
3. There are not enough places to plug chargers in.
With a second trip planned that included our two kids and their endless amounts of electronics I decided to tackle the charging problem first. I picked up a sturdy three outlet charging solution with some illuminated sockets and a battery monitor.
Most folks should be familiar with these things, they're everywhere and they come wired with this:
Your standard 12v plug. 99% of people would plug this in to the socket inside the center console, pull the wire to the back seat and be done. Oh no, not me. I need to cut things and use heat shrink! So let's start by seing what this thing is rated at:
There's no way to get a picture of it with my cell phone but that fuse is marked as being 10a. If that's what the manufacturer figures their internals can handle then that's what I'll stick with, but glass fuses are so 1980. We'll have to fix that. First up I cut off that darn 12v plug and crimped/heatshrunk some new connectors.
When running new electrical stuff I find it's always best to pull new power instead of hacking into the wire harness on the vehicle somewhere. Manufacturers do some strange things with wire harnesses and it's easier for troubleshooting if I just run my own. I opted to pull another line from the battery and through the same grommet I had used for my power door lock install. It's on the drivers side of the engine bay and drops in just behind the dash but easily accessible from the footwell without pulling any dash parts.
I then took my new 12v source and tucked it behind the trim and under the carpet to exit just under the drivers seat.
Now before we go farther I'd like to say that one of the upgrades I have planned is a full fuse box with constant and ACC switched power under the hood to run future upgrades such as LED lights, better reverse lights, bumper lights, rock lights, under hood lights and maybe some lights. However I'm not adding that until a little later so in the time being I just kept this install modular and through a 10a blade fuse inline from my 12v source.
All you electrical engineers out there can lecture me on placing my fuse closer to the source another time. This is temporary. Let's move on. Next I mounted up my new three outlet charging station by screwing it into the center console just next to the cup holders. I angled it up a bit to make it easier to use and harder to kick anything plugged into it and dropped the rear seats forward to make sure there was clearance. Everything is good and we end up with this:
Let no cell phone or tablet go uncharged!
Some of you have made the realization by now that I have hardwired this thing to the battery. Others of you have read that sentence and have begun to piece together that this means it's always on and could drain the battery. Long term I'll be moving this over to the above mentioned fuse box I'm adding and it will be on an ACC switched circuit to only be on while the ignition is in the ACC position or the vehicle is running. For now there's so little draw it would take months to drain the battery.
So let's move on to a cargo cover shall we?
My wife is a bit of an antique nut and as we travel we stop at each and every antique store we see...even if they're a hundred miles out of our way.
This usually leaves us with a cargo area full of antiques and the roof down when we stop for lunch or at another antique store. Putting the roof up and down is annoying. It's time to secure that cargo area and not spend $600 on an aftermarket solution.Now I didn't take a whole lot of pictures while doing this but it's fairly straight forward. I purchased a 3/4" 4x8 sheet of oak (cause I like to over engineer things) and using several cardboard mock ups I cut two pieces to fit over the cargo area and use the hardtop mounting points to connect to the body.
Then I cut another piece to mount behind the seat just to make it take 30 seconds longer for a thief to get in there if they lower the rear seat. (We're really just keeping honest people honest here).
Then I threw on several coats of black paint because I thought it would make me happy.
It didn't. So out came the black automotive carpet. Matches the stock carpet exactly.
And there you have it, a cargo cover that's secure, can stay in place with the soft top up or down and looks OEM. I've added a couple of tie down points to secure items placed on top and I'll have to grab a couple of pictures of that. For now though I need to go pack as my family and I leave on another trip tomorrow morning.