Posts by GhostDakota

NADA is $4600. Price drop to $4000!

Found a 5.9 I want. Open to offers on this one. Thanks!

Year: 1996
Make: Jeep
Model: Grand Cherokee (ZJ)
Color: Champagne
Mileage: 104,000
Transmission: Automatic
Price: $3500
Description: Hello!
I'm selling my my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) Limited.

First - the bad: Paint is chipping on the hood only, minor headliner sag - can glue it prior to selling if needed, scratches and fabric holes on the headliner in a spot or two, sometimes the power mirrors don't go to the proper location when unlocking the Jeep.

About the Jeep: It has nice black leather interior, power front seats, power/heated mirors, only 104,000 miles, 4.0L Inline 6 cylinder engine, just installed JKS swaybar disconnects last night, Hella fog/flood lights, good tread on all 4 tires, factory sunroof, factory Mopar fuel tank skid plate, factory Mopar front sway bar skid plate, rear roll up tonno cover. No dents. I also installed injectors out of a Dodge Neon - these are a better injector than come on the Jeep. They provide a smoother idle, a bit better throttle response, and MPG has increased a little as well. The seats, mirrors, and radio station pre-sets are all built into the memory of the key fob. So every time you unlock it, everything goes back to the way it was "saved" when you program it. Pretty cool.

It's really my favorite Jeep so far out of the 7 Jeeps I have owned over the years. The only reason I am selling it is because I want a 1998 Grand Cherokee with the 5.9L V8. I'd like to sell it or find a 5.9L ZJ without transmission or engine issues for which to trade.

Headlights shown are NOT included. I'll install a set of stock headlights for whomever purchases the vehicle. Oil changed on 11/7/12. If sold to someone in PA it will have a fresh inspection.

I am asking $3500. Thanks!

I decided to replace as many bulbs as I could with LED's on the interior of my ZJ. I purchased them from VLEDs. The following are used...

Blue LED's:

White LED's:

And the dome lights are white as well - I'll add a photo later.

Green LED's: Turn Signals (Forgot to take a photo, will add later)

Video here - shot with my cell, though, at 800 iso, so pardon the huge amount of graininess!

Quote from GSE Nick

looks to me that one of his lights are just aimed to high. other one looks good. and dunno which is worst, temp blindness from a passing car or some guy doing a photo shoot while driving

I'm a Photography Major, I'm trained to take photos on the go Here's another good example of glare...

Stock JK housing versus HID in a JK - note the light above the cutoff, that's glare:

And what mine would've looked like, glaring like the sun, had I just dropped in HID's:

Speaking of that whole "glare" discussion, here's an example of HID's in a reflector housing. This was a slightly lifted JK on my way in to work this morning on 202 (Pardon the cell photo quality):

Mind you, this was only 45 minutes ago, and there was plenty of daylight. Picture this as being one of the only light sources around. I had to adjust my side mirror and flip my rear view just so it was not blinding me.

Precisely. HID kits dropped into projector housings are not only illegal but incredibly dangerous. I see it every night when I am heading home. Blinding glare. The only way you can really do this is by having an E-code housings with a very sharp cutoff pattern. Even then, there is still some glare and you can easily blind other drivers.

Quote

Halogen headlamps and HID headlamps require very different optics to produce a safe and effective—not to mention legal—beam pattern.

When designing the optics (lens and/or reflector) for a lamp, the characteristics of the light source are the driving factor around which everything else must be engineered. If you go and change the light source, you've done the equivalent of putting on somebody else's eyeglasses: You can probably make them fit on your face OK, but you won't see properly.

http://www.danielsternlighting…versions/conversions.html

Regarding aesthetics, I still need to dremel the outside of the Lexan to make it flush with the housings. That's step 1. Step 2 is in the works as well which will involve either a rubber or metal trim ring that will go around the housing/Lexan to clean things up. I literally got the housings back in the truck yesterday during my lunch.

Here are some other ZJ retro's I've seen as well (Good and bad!):

(Aftermarket housing):
[img width=1200 height=900]http://images.madrabbitt.com/SNC00067.jpg[/img]

Thanks Steven.. I found that out when I was initially cleaning it. Do they make any sort of wax or polish that will help with scratch prevention of Lexan?

Just out of curiosity, if you could do a projector retrofit on a ZJ housing how would you make it look? I enjoy other peoples input for future mods, especially if I get free time and start selling some of them lol.

Quote from Stafford

To be completely honest, I think it looks like crap. Not the light pattern or anything but the headlights themselves. Just my 2 pesos...

I could care less what they look like, hence why I just painted the buckets black and put the projectors in there. It's my beater so I am completely okay with the look. I just want to see at night. And now I can

Quote from deadfeat

Cool, but what happens if DMV decides these are not DOT approved?

Here in PA at least, we have individual Inspection Stations. If you have headlights that function on low beam and high beam that's typically all they look for. I was told the same by a buddy of mine who lives in DE. He said he drove to the DMV, pulled into the garage, they said "Turn on your lights, hit your high beams, left turn, right turn, hazards", etc., and drove out after that. Never been through a DE inspection so I can't say for sure how this would fare.

My Trans Am is getting a bi-xenon FX-R 1.1 & HID conversion over the winter. I figured I'd also do one on my winter beater since being able to see at night is fairly important. Believe it or not, the stock lights on my ZJ are WORSE than stock Trans Am lights. On to the photos! Pardon the crappy cell phone quality...

Here's my ZJ:

Just a taste of what's to come. These are 2 of the 4 projectors I have now. The left one is an FX-R 1.1 projector, the right one is a Morimoto MH1 projector w/ shroud. Two are going on the Trans Am, 2 are on the Jeep:

And here is my Lexan/Polycarbonate - new lenses:

I still need to dremel and do some other stuff but I think it looks great and the output is insane. Cost varies on the projectors used. $120-$500 depending on misc. parts and the projectors. I was going to use FX-R' 1.1's that I have but didn't have the right HID kit for them, so I just went ahead with the MH1's. I'll do those on the Trans Am. I'm very happy with this setup. I may make another set with better projectors soon and sell these ones. I'm always trying to one up myself with headlights.

Rotation needs to be adjusted, but thankfully all I have to do is pull the housings off the Jeep to accomplish this. May even be able to do it in the Jeep if I remove the battery on the one side:

Above cutoff:

Below cutoff:

Low beam (FAR more impressive in person):

High beam (FAR more impressive in person):

Sealing issue I will address shortly as well:

Sorry about the super late reply! I don't have any woods photos of the setup that I am aware of off the top of my head unfortunately. I'll try to see if I can dig up any shots!

My solenoid went 'cause I caked it in deep mud/water. If all you do are rocks, it should be fine, but I would honestly spring some more cash for a Warn M8000 or a Superwinch LP8500.

Quote from Keith_C

Might not be around much longer.

[url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-centralias-final-days,0,2343605.story?page=1]http://www.latimes.com/news/na…ys,0,2343605.story?page=1[/url]

Won't make a huge difference as there are only a couple buildings there anyway LOL, but at the same time it kinda stinks. I think the town is so widely known because of those people still "living" there. Once these people are removed, it's just a large plot of land with an underground mine fire. Not as "special" I think... Just my opinion at least!

Quote from shadyluke

I've been there a few time with some other boards. We stopped going because it is off limits. The quarry up there will sell you a permit to wheel but it is expensive. I drove through last year after a RC trip just to show some friends. There is a really interesting cemetary there. The people that still live there are squatters and there are signs specifically saying to stay off of the caved in section of old 61 where you have posted pics of your vehicle. They even built dirt mounds to keep people from driving on it. You had to drive over them.

Mmmhmm - Reading Anthracite sells a permit - $100 for the calendar year Jan 1st to December 31st.

Negative regarding signs to stay off the highway. There is not 1 sign stating to stay off that portion of the highway. The only signs that have been posted are WARNING you of the dangers of possible mine subsidence as well as the poisonous gasses. I've been to Centralia multiple times over the last several years and have not once seen at "No Trespassing" sign on either side of the closed portion of Route 61.

I just wanted to thank Neill for doing the clutch on my TJ. I was in a bind with school work & work work and he offered to take on the clutch task. Being one of MY vehicles, this isn't an easy job! But that didn't matter as he did a great job! The clutch pedal is so smooth it doesn't feel like I am driving a Jeep now. I'm rather happy. I recommend him for any Jeep work you need completed!

Sorry, man, I looked!! Good luck.

Quote from Artie

go answer a chat

I do, I do! It's all I know how to do!

There ya go. Artie to the rescue!