Coophadley's Garage

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03-02-2015, 08:31 AM
coophadley

Coophadley's Garage

This XK is still a big project but a lot of progress has been made since the beginning. 2007 Jeep Commander - 109k When bought. 5.7L Hemi, QD-II, The full package. Nav, backseat "TV", however, no aux cord.. Hopefully a new stereo w/aux in the future. Don't have a pic from the dealer... But I do have some stock pics... I think..

(insert stock pic)

The jeep sat stock for awhile until about christmas when I ordered my OME HD kit from Kolak (great vendor btw). I also ordered Spidertrax 1.5" wheel spacers. Oh yea, before all that, I also got some JK Rubicon wheels for a steal (100$ for all 5)

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../3lPG260-1.jpg
Sorry for the phone pic.

Just recently, I sanded them down and ordered the charcoal (dark grey) Plasti dip exclusively from Dipyourcar.com.. you can definitely tell a difference between the black and the dark grey.

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../7o7plW5-1.jpg

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../zqrVJqY-1.jpg

I also ordered steel bumpers from Tactical Armor Group. If you are going to get steel bumpers for the XK, either order from steel armadillo or get your own custom made. TAG is a bad group to get involved with. I installed the bumpers when the lift was being installed also. Hopefully soon I can get them bedlined, but thats not a priority right now.

Here's how the bumpers installed: Thanks to NO guide on how to from TAG.

https://theultimatejeep.com/notfound.png

The bumper taken off. All of that metal bar between the two holes in the bumper will be cut off and sanded for the bumpers to be able to mount. If we had not cut that, then there would be no spot for a winch on the bumpers.

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../OY69tIG-1.jpg

Here it is cut and painted just for rust prevention. The black piece right below is where the bumpers mount to.
Here it is installed: https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../pbdNBCY-1.jpg
However we had some trouble, the hood wouldn't close since we removed the radiator support!. to fix that, we took one of the radiator support bars, heated it, bent it, and cut it. Thankfully, just one was plenty. I don't have a picture of it currently but I'll take one and post it soon. Once that was taken care of, the grill wasn't secure in the bottom. So we took a small metal rail and screwed that into the bumper, and it prevented the grill from moving, I'll take a picture of that too.
Rear Bumper Install:
This was much easier than the front. You get to keep the stock tow hitch so that was good. It came with mounting plates that you have to drill into to install underneath the car. Once it gets above 30 degrees, I will go out and take some pictures. Here's with the stock taken off.

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../WkDurhw-1.jpg

I still need to paint the white backup sensors and put them back in. I will post later how TAG intended for the back up sensors to be installed. I just havent had time to take care of that. It took awhile to figure it out though. I'm sure I'm forgetting something so let me know if you have any questions.
Coming Soon: Hood mount light brackets.. i've heard steel armadillo is making some. I also need Shackle D-Rings, and a WINCH! I'm currently saving up for all that. As a broke 16 year old it could be a while. New Cooper Discoverer STT's in 265/70/17 will be on hopefully sometime within the next two months.
Pics after the lift and bumper install:

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../xHSOUPV-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../YQX308y-1.jpg

Oh, and I still need to plasti dip all that chrome to black... Not a chrome guy at all.
*Side note on pictures*- Tried using photobucket since it is apparently more forum-friendly. When I uploaded the picture, the quality didn't seem as good as imgur. any tips on that as well are appreciated.
03-02-2015, 10:06 AM
Sal-XK

Looks good man! I've heard nothing but bad things said about TAG from everyone who has purchased their bumpers. As far as the photos I don't use that service I use Picasa instead. I don't get an option on file size for upload it just uploads the true image. I can however use links that display smaller memory pics if I want to but I just use the default settings and never had an issue.
03-02-2015, 11:49 AM
coophadley

Despite the bad business with tag, I am overall Happy with these bumpers. Can't wait for how its gunna look with the tires, winch, and lights. really excited for things to come... Just need to find the money to make all of it happen!
Also, I hopefully plan on going to Modified OME within the next few months. I am going to do what Omelet did and get another Rusty's .25" spacer and stack that on top in the front. As for the rear, I'm going to cut down an RRO spacer to 1.5". I still need to do more research. If you have any tips or warnings about that it would be appreciated.
03-02-2015, 12:32 PM
Matt

Just get 4" superlift springs for the rear... no reason to buy springs and a spacer... just need the springs.
03-02-2015, 09:01 PM
coophadley

might just have to save up for the whole superlift. We'll see.
03-05-2015, 05:15 AM
The_War_Wagon

Glad your bumper experience ended up working out for you!
03-05-2015, 10:43 PM
coophadley

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_War_Wagon

Glad your bumper experience ended up working out for you!

Yes, me too. Lets hope i dont have to have an experience like that again.
03-14-2015, 07:55 PM
coophadley

Got some bad news.. My tire fund has to be put away for a while.. While we got some ice and snow, I ran into a tree. A bmw cut me off forcing me to swerve off the road. Damage isn't as bad as it could have been. Here's the Carnage:
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../cdgKBm0-1.jpg

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../pomcS1o-1.jpg

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../bOx67W9-1.jpg

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../CAYxOsb-1.jpg

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../em3JLS9-1.jpg

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../jxwo3Nq-1.jpg

In one pic you can see where the turn signal is cracked. I was going to order black headlights anyway. I need to get my steel bumpers bent back, b/c if I don't then i can't clear my new tires. The dent isn't that bad. And while I'm at it I might get the bumpers line x'd.
03-14-2015, 08:19 PM
Roguecommander

That steel bumper definitely saved your azz from any real damage though! Good buy.
03-15-2015, 09:14 AM
coophadley

true that!
03-15-2015, 03:48 PM
Sal-XK

I was thinking the same thing. Without that steel bumper it would of been real bad. Did the BMW stop? Because they should be paying for it.
03-15-2015, 09:26 PM
coophadley

Nope, they didn't stop. I'm sure they didn't mean to run me off, but they didn't come back and I couldn't get a plate number. oh well. Thats just life.
03-16-2015, 08:11 PM
coophadley

Turned the jeep in today. My quote for the bumper and dent repair was 795.68. Not bad. Could've been way worse.
03-17-2015, 04:39 PM
Sal-XK

Quote:

Originally Posted by coophadley

Turned the jeep in today. My quote for the bumper and dent repair was 795.68. Not bad. Could've been way worse.

That's not to bad.
03-29-2015, 07:36 PM
coophadley

Flex'd a little on an old tree stump. Swaybars connected. Not bad. Still stuck with stock tires and wheels for a little longer....

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../e4K0e7j-1.png

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../mjvqyFD-1.jpg

https://theultimatejeep.com/images/i.../rdIUrFL-1.jpg
03-30-2015, 10:23 AM
lekmedm

Since you have the VES, you can play an Aux source through there. You just need the right cable.
03-30-2015, 10:30 AM
coophadley

I know, its just very frustrating to work with. And i actually had it set up but the wires broke off so now there are metal stubs in the inserts... Idk how to get them out
04-04-2015, 08:36 AM
Holiday Jones

Hey, what are the options if you only have the stupid nav radio if you want to use your phone? Is there a way to add AUX to the back, or is the only option but a new radio? I do not have an entertainment....?
04-05-2015, 02:45 PM
coophadley

I have the full ves screen and whatnot. The only way I have figured out to do it was by inserting a red/white/yellow cable into the ves part and then that cable runs into the headphone jack of my phone. Then I play music, turn on ves, hold the setup button in the back, and then on the ves screen it says "auxiliary device in use" or something similar. Then I hear the songs from my phone. Big pain to do. fun for long road trips.
04-07-2015, 05:27 AM
lekmedm

Quote:

Originally Posted by coophadley

I have the full ves screen and whatnot. The only way I have figured out to do it was by inserting a red/white/yellow cable into the ves part and then that cable runs into the headphone jack of my phone. Then I play music, turn on ves, hold the setup button in the back, and then on the ves screen it says "auxiliary device in use" or something similar. Then I hear the songs from my phone. Big pain to do. fun for long road trips.

That's pretty much how it's done. There's a dedicated iPod cable that you can install, but it goes in place of the Sat radio, so it's one or the other.
04-08-2015, 07:31 PM
Holiday Jones

I won't ever use the satellite radio. But I also don't use anything Apple. Can it be a AUX cord?
04-09-2015, 05:10 AM
lekmedm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holiday Jones

Can it be a AUX cord?

Not the OEM kit. You might want to investigate Parrot and see if any kit would work for you. The MKi9200 has an Aux in line, but the kit also has hands free bluetooth phone calling.