Steve-Oh Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Whether you may or may not know I was trying to sell my Lincoln LS for about two years now. Just couldn't put up with all the non sense garbage related to that car any longer. Someone came along the middle of last October and offered me a deal I couldn't refuse. He was pretty fast paced about making the deal that I was caught a little off guard, wasn't prepared at all. So semi hungover on the Sunday after my 30th birthday party I'm at the title place doing the transfer. ADIOS! GOODBYE! SO LONG! The mad dash to find a replacement commenced! I had originally planned to buy a cheap, stock low mileage XJ Cherokee.... LOL what a joke. Every XJ I looked at was either super expensive with high mileage or super expensive and completely beat to hell. Bring on the frustration! Days and days of just looking through the same ad's on Craigslist, Autotrader, Cars.com and even Ebay motors. I e-mailed the guy with this blue WJ on a whim, thinking there's no chance he'll accept my low offer. To my amazement he accepted the terms and we made the transfer two days later. Just in time to as my sisters wedding was fast approaching and I needed to be able to get around. So here she is, still haven't decided on a name yet: It's in excellent mechanical shape, previous owner took really good care of it in that respect. The exterior needs some love, can probably bring back some of the shine but it's got scratches all over the exterior of the paint. I blame most of it on the fact he was an avid cyclist with the rack on the roof. I guess taking it on and off the roof was a little sloppy. More importantly is the pitiful light output from the headlights! I can't express my hatred for driving at night with this car enough, and now that daylight savings ended it's even worse. I tried to short term remedy this by attempting to restore the lights with some wet sanding and polish but the gains were mediocre at best as I tried demonstrating with the below collage: Solution? Ordered brand new headlight housings and a bi-xenon retro-fit kit from TRS this morning. CANNOT wait to get these in my hands and installed. I'm sure I'll blow up this thread with numerous pictures of them when they arrive so until then.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 *Reserved*Best first post ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Here is my suggestion for where this thread should take us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 lmao dan just ruins your excitement about a light bar by posting $400,000 builds in yo face! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 That's what posting a new thread with "*Reserved*" gets lol. The light bar is a good start...next step, tube frame! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 That's what posting a new thread with "*Reserved*" gets lol. The light bar is a good start...next step, tube frame! Dunnno what you're talking about .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Dunnno what you're talking about .... I still vote for building the above jeep, just blue lol. Retrofits will be awesome, you won't regret it. I retrofitted my Scion's headlights and it was night and day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 that's actually a good looking jeep though. def nice for the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 I still vote for building the above jeep, just blue lol. Retrofits will be awesome, you won't regret it. I retrofitted my Scion's headlights and it was night and day. Lol it would be sweet. I already have my friend breathing down my neck about lifts, wheels / tires, ARB front bumpers... You name it lol. ; I've been wanting to retro-fit the Lincoln for years but lack of interest in modding the Lincoln quickly overtook because I was too busy fixing dumb things and hating it. They've just made it so easy to retro fit now that it's basically a no brainer. that's actually a good looking jeep though. def nice for the winter. Thanks Tony! Needs some love, and some 20" SRT-8 wheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 mmmm, sounds sexy. what kinda tire would ya run on an srt wheel? nitto grapplers? i love those tires but they don't get much love in the wheelin community lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 mmmm, sounds sexy. what kinda tire would ya run on an srt wheel? nitto grapplers? i love those tires but they don't get much love in the wheelin community lol. Probably just an all season / touring tire. I wouldn't leave them on in the winter time so no sense getting anything too crazy. Although those Nitto's are pretty sick looking tires lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 that'll look good man. i love srt-8 wheels. reminds me of a beefy saleen wheel, or maybe a beefy iroc z wheel lol. idk but i like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supporting Member fiveohwblow Posted November 18, 2014 Supporting Member Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 Wait wait wait. I am unable to compliment your new purchase as I'm stuck on trying to understand what could possibly cost 400,000 on ANY jeep and who would actually spend even half that. Please tell me that was an exaggeration. Only after confirmation can I comment on the blue beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellogg Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 i use a buffer with a foam pad and a fine cut polishing compound on these headlights. lightly dampen the headlight and buff.. takes about 30 seconds a light. put a coat of good wax on afterwards. no sanding no scuffing.. works great. i have two of these wj's and i think the light output is much better than most vehicles on the road (with the exeption of factory high end hid projector lamps) yours being a limited with the chrome housings rather than the laredo with the black housings are better yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 Wait wait wait. I am unable to compliment your new purchase as I'm stuck on trying to understand what could possibly cost 400,000 on ANY jeep and who would actually spend even half that. Please tell me that was an exaggeration. Only after confirmation can I comment on the blue beast. It was def an exaggeration lol! i use a buffer with a foam pad and a fine cut polishing compound on these headlights. lightly dampen the headlight and buff.. takes about 30 seconds a light. put a coat of good wax on afterwards. no sanding no scuffing.. works great. i have two of these wj's and i think the light output is much better than most vehicles on the road (with the exeption of factory high end hid projector lamps) yours being a limited with the chrome housings rather than the laredo with the black housings are better yet Copy that! Already ordered new housings so I'm just gonna UV coat them after the retrofit and call it a day. that'll look good man. i love srt-8 wheels. reminds me of a beefy saleen wheel, or maybe a beefy iroc z wheel lol. idk but i like I was up in the air with which ones I was gonna use, I do like the WK2 (2012+) style SRT-8 wheels too but they're a little more pricey then the '07-'10 wheels. I'm gonna test fit the 20" wheels off my moms WK2 this weekend just to see the fitment. Looks like the wider rears from staggered set's hit the rear shock on mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 so you can just run the same size all around then right? think i read that....that is the best anyway with 4wd but not sure. it'll look great anyway imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellogg Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 ive got a 2" spring spacer lift on mine and wifes..theres not much room for clearance in those wj fender wells. ive got 265 75 16 on mine and 265 75 17 on hers which are basically 31x10.5's and i still had to trim the front bumper cover and inner fender to not rub.. im not sure of the overall diameter on the 20's with tires but it might be really close to rubbing without any lift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 The offset and back spacing of the wheels also has a lot to do with rubbingSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellogg Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 Yes offset does play a part.. and I've experimented with different wheel/tire combos..and on these particular year grand Cherokees (99-04).. The wheel wells just aren't well suited for a much larger than stock diameter without increasing ride height..I do have a set of 1.25" spacers that didn't work out for mine that I'd make a deal on..if intetested msg me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 The offset and back spacing of the wheels also has a lot to do with rubbingSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yes offset does play a part.. and I've experimented with different wheel/tire combos..and on these particular year grand Cherokees (99-04).. The wheel wells just aren't well suited for a much larger than stock diameter without increasing ride height..I do have a set of 1.25" spacers that didn't work out for mine that I'd make a deal on..if intetested msg me Zach, basically what he said above makes it kindof limited. The wheels I'm looking at were made for the next gen. Jeep GC and they aren't offered in different offsets that I've found. So I'm gonna try and do what Tony had said above and just run the same width wheel all around with an spacer in the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Zach, basically what he said above makes it kindof limited. The wheels I'm looking at were made for the next gen. Jeep GC and they aren't offered in different offsets that I've found. So I'm gonna try and do what Tony had said above and just run the same width wheel all around with an spacer in the rear. yea I gotcha I just wasn't sure if there was different backspacing offset from different models of factory wheels. Because like my factory sport wheels are 7.5 inches wide with a 5 inch backspacing and 0 offset, but a tundra wheel has a 4.5 back spacing and diff offset and there are a few other Toyota wheels at least with diff offset. So idk if Chrysler is the same way? But I know I can run 285 70 17 (33) inch tire and my sport wheels and nut rub the inner fender but it will rub the upper control arms, but the same size tire with a 17x9 with a 4.5 back space and -12 offset will rub the crap out of the inner fender at full lock. So idk lol just curious good luck getting what you want to fit.[emoji106]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 [emoji57] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmage Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 do some progress pics as you go along man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Psychorugby Posted November 19, 2014 Moderators Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 This makes me simultaneously smile and cringe. I love HIDs, but anything electrical scares the crap out of me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 i can't tell you how many times i've put together a shopping cart and then not bought a retrofit setup for the stang. looking forward to this install. definitely take progress pics Steve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Oh without a doubt I'll be taking progress pics. Should have the new housings by Frida.... Or today?! Just checked the tracking now as I was typing and the housings should be here momentarily. Bonus! Maybe I'll start them tonight lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Couldn't of been a more perfect timing, as I just sent that last comment this pulled up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellogg Posted November 19, 2014 Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Look how fancy...some words of wisdom for what its worth...if ur worried about not breaking the old housings make sure its warm when u pull them..there's a ball and socket hold down that u have to pry apart after u take the bolts out of the core support on top..they feel like they could break pretty easily.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 i was going to take a pic of the ups truck that brought my tires but the driver wouldn't stop fn staring at me hahaa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 i was going to take a pic of the ups truck that brought my tires but the driver wouldn't stop fn staring at me hahaa. Lol Fed-ex driver was in the back getting the boxes so I wasn't caught. Although I thought he was coming out at one point and quickly threw my arms down as if nothing happened ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 lmao! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blwnbyu Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Post that on the LS forum and watch the buthurt lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted November 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Post that on the LS forum and watch the buthurt lol Lol so true! I think LVC is worse than SVTP.... Just maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blwnbyu Posted November 24, 2014 Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Lol so true! I think LVC is worse than SVTP.... Just maybe. Dude.. Way worse. Those guys are Fucking delusional. I love my LS, but I don't trust the piece of shit, even with only 60k on it.. when a basic wear and tear item costs 1/4 of the cars value, you have a problem. Most of the guys on LVC are homos. Will be replacing mine as soon as I find something I like more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-Oh Posted December 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Small update: I got the first headlight apart 2 weeks ago and holy sh!t was that a pain in the ass so you can understand why I procrastinated on getting the second one apart. The new light housings are made from thin plastic making it difficult to pry apart with baking. The housing would just start to break apart and distort before the glue was soft enough to peel away. After much frustration on the first one I finally got it apart but not at the expense of the housing, I'll have to get creative with trying to re-structure it back together. The second one was slightly easier as I just used a heat gun and was able to focus the heat source much better than an oven, but there was still some housing destruction. I swear the glue they used was developed by NASA, this stuff was stubborn. This is the closest you're going to get at seeing them apart as I'm pretty embarrassed of the destruction. Thankfully, you'll never see it. As I looked at them, I realized to was able to dismantle them further and take the light pots out of the housing. This made things much easier for me as I had to open up the sockets to fit the projector mount. I ended up getting a better projector than recommended which knowingly required much more modification. When I originally saw the pots I thought they were cast, to my surprise they were made from fiberglass. Time to break out the air cleaner and face mask! Commence cutting: Ended up having to open it much larger than originally thought but whatever. Just had to now cut the stand-offs off to fit the projector jam nut. All done! One thing actually worked out pretty good which is the existing hole that was used to hold the old bulb cover in place can now be used to run the wiring through for the bi-xenon solenoid and halos Now I just need to fit the shrouds which are also significantly bigger than anticipated. No worries, they're just thin plastic and easily cut! Dude.. Way worse. Those guys are Fucking delusional. I love my LS, but I don't trust the piece of shit, even with only 60k on it.. when a basic wear and tear item costs 1/4 of the cars value, you have a problem. Most of the guys on LVC are homos. Will be replacing mine as soon as I find something I like more Man I can't agree with you more lol!! Highly recommend it, don't miss mine even the slightest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Great work so far, I wanna do another retro... time to buy a new DD so I have a reason lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Psychorugby Posted December 4, 2014 Moderators Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Great work so far, I wanna do another retro... time to buy a new DD so I have a reason lol. I'll send you mine if you're really itching to do some lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prokiller Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 pretty cool man. good work so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95riosnake Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 I'll send you mine if you're really itching to do some lol. Let me clarify... "I wanna do another retro for myself... time to buy a new DD so I have a reason lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Psychorugby Posted December 4, 2014 Moderators Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Let me clarify... "I wanna do another retro for myself... time to buy a new DD so I have a reason lol. Well shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...