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Project CRD MJ is born:

In newer Jeeps there is some of the wiring in them used for the heated seats.
Runs up to underneath the passenger seat.
Putting them in my Jeep was easy.
Just needed the rest of the wiring harness. The 2 heated seats with the power seat bases.
When a Jeep has heated seats both sides are power.
And the SHIM (Seat Heater Interface Module) and a relay that are located on the passenger seat base. Plus a 25 amp circuit breaker that goes in an open slot in the Junction box.

Thing is heated seats in an XJ are a really bad design IMO. The heated seat element is actually a wire sewn into the seat cover.

So I have been wanting to see if there was a way to improve that. Using a factory switch with an aftermarket set up that comes with its own harness.
Maybe just using the heating pads themselves with the factory harness. Etc.

Might want to check this out:

https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?p=246702654#post246702654

I pulled some heated leather seats and the switches over a decade ago, been sitting in my basement. Decided I’m not a fan of leather so I’m sticking with cloth.

I used the pass side power seat plug to power my dual power seat bases. I snagged a circuit breaker from the junkyard and use a spare Efan plug to power the seats.

I already installed an aftermarket heater in my drivers seat, but I need to swap covers my current one has cig burns. And I still need to install the heater in the pass seat. So I’ll be pulling them out this fall and finishing the swap. At that time I’ll make the factory heated seat wiring and controller work with the aftermarket elements.

I’d like to find a plug for the heater controller so I don’t have to cut up the wiring in my leather seat. I tried several random plugs I have around but they don’t have the right pin count, not sure where I can find that plug from junkyard vehicles. The heated seats where a very rare XJ option and I have only ever seen the one set I pulled at the junkyard.

I’ll see if any junkyards will pull and ship the wiring and snip the plug off of the controller, they should be willing on a set of trashed seats.
 
Maybe, maybe not. There is a long overhang on the MJ, but generally I don’t do stuff that would have such a departure angle to do that. Keep in mind this is a LWB Jeep with moderate lift and a heavy topper. It’s meant to be a camping/over landing rig, not a hardcore wheeler.

Now you could make the argument that the long overhang means it’s even more likely to drag compared to an XJ and I can’t disagree with that, but if it really becomes a problem I’ll figure out something else.
 
Spent the weekend in ouray breaking it in. Rattled a bunch of stuff loose and retorqued a bunch of things. Two small casualties, sway bar disco nut rattled off, and exhaust kept coming loose at header and then eventually broke off the forward hangar arm leaving a gaping exhaust hole.

Time to go back to exhaust shop.
 
Ok so without the A pillar seal there is an incredible amount of wind noise that comes in. So I figured a way to use the newer seal without a ton of work, I grabbed a 4 foot peice of small aluminum angle. And then used double sided 3m foam tape to hold it in place. Initially I was going to rivet or screw it to the factory holes, but that didn't work out, and the 3m tape seems to do good.

Ive known this was something else with the 97+ swap for years, and I'm honestly surprised by how simple it ended up being. And its sooooo much quieter with the seal in place.

Measuring on my yellow jeep where the lip is:
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Which is also where the metal ends here:
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and you can see the metal is the perfect size to replicate the lip:
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There is a slight arc to the window, so I bent the aluminum channel a little bit, and then did a couple of layers of thin foam tape, thicker tape would be better:
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And then put the seal on:
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And with the door closed:
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I also drilled more holes in the painters pole I picked up to use as support legs, one hole every inch to give lots of adjustment range.
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So then I went to Ouray for the holiday weekend:

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Had to do some clearancing on my dads CRD pinch seam:
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Then down to telluride and over to Ophir:

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And then the next day we ran to the top of black bear:
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Ive been leaving the rear camera on when driving the trails, here it is waiting in traffic for the temporary light on 550:

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Back at camp:

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The novelty of the 00 interior in an 88 has still not work off for me:

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Started on stickers:
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With tailgate down:
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Diesel ready for bed:
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And then the smoke moved in:

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Managed to snag some badges:
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Good stuff, I love the whole Ouray area! My screensaver......
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