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Started my mods- intake, cabin air filter, mud flaps, shorty antenna

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#1 ·
Well, I started the mod process to my 2007 GC Limited. I installed an Airaid Jr intake kit. I'm very pleased with the product and the sound. It was easy to install. I did have to cut a tab off the factory temp sensor to get it to seat into the grommet all the way. Otherwise it would tilt to the side and want to squirt out.

Next I installed the Mopar cabin air filter kit. It was very easy to do also. I didn't even need to remove the passenger side wiper blade. I was able to lift the plastic vent cover enough to slide the old screen out and slip the kit's filter frame and filter into place.

I also bought and installed Mopar molded mud flaps. They are a nice product and look great. They fit the contours of the fender nicely and aren't overly large. I wanted something that was molded to the body lines and offered additional protection against rocks and debris being thrown up against the fender & lower doors. These do the job well.

I decided to shorten my tall factory antenna. It was super easy and cost nothing! I unscrewed the antenna and taped up the end with the ball to protect it. I fit it into my bench vise with the ball resting on the light closed jaws. I added a nut to the bottom to have something to grab onto with pliers. I held the nut with the pliers and gave them a wack with a hammer. The ball popped right off. Then I marked the antenna mast 12" from the bottom, cut it off with a hacksaw and cleaned up the end with a file. Then I took the ball, placed it on a rag on the vice, inserted the tip of the shortened mast and tapped it on with the hammer. Reinstalled and it looks great!

Lastly, I installed the new cargo area carpet I bought.

Tomorrow I'm going to shave the "Trail Rated" and "4x4" badges.

My next mods will be an Addco rear sway bar and Magnaflow exhaust. But these will have to wait till spring when I have more $$$.
 
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#2 ·
I remember doing the CAI and Magnaflow and after a year went back to stock. Don't mean to bust your bubble, as one would expect spending $ hundreds on such items should improve performance, but with the Hemi that is just not the case. Noise is all that results, and throttle response and drivability has proven much better with the stock setup back on.
Sway upgrade is worthwhile, but get both front and rear, as with rear only, the understeer is HORRIBLE. I ran rear SRT bar only for about 6 months before adding the front, and the handling and ride was very unbalanced.
 
#3 ·
I remember doing the CAI and Magnaflow and after a year went back to stock. Don't mean to bust your bubble, as one would expect spending $ hundreds on such items should improve performance, but with the Hemi that is just not the case. Noise is all that results, and throttle response and drivability has proven much better with the stock setup back on.
Sway upgrade is worthwhile, but get both front and rear, as with rear only, the understeer is HORRIBLE. I ran rear SRT bar only for about 6 months before adding the front, and the handling and ride was very unbalanced.
Yeah, it would be nice if after spending hundreds of $$ that you would see a decent performance improvement. I realize the gains will be minimal, but I'm more interested in the sound and letting everyone know there's a HEMI under the hood.

Thanks for the pointer on the sways. I intend to do both, but was going to start with the rear. Maybe I'll just wait till I have both bars before installing.
 
#4 ·
Much better off getting useful upgrades llike a ported TB and Intune, which make it notably faster, plus run smoother and quieter with lots more low end torque. You Only gain noise with a CAI and exhaust, and actually lose performance, with loss of torque and worsened throttle response. Been there, done that bro. Also, get a catch can before anything else.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I 2nd dmsfun catch can and pcv valve maintenance is essential. If your jeep has a lot of miles I would check the tb and see how caked it is. If it is bad you can expect the entire intake manifold to be caked with oil even worse. Cleaning the intake is labor takes some time to get it off.. 1-2 hours. Remove the intake manifold, remove fuel rails, get the purple degreaser and a tub of hot water. Soak the manifold for a day and you will get back a lot of airflow. Make sure you get the fuel line disconnect tool which is like 5 dollar plastic piece. Before modding anything people should address the essentials first. My stupid intake manifold was ridiculously dirty. The hardest part of the entire process is getting the brake booster line back on when you reinstall. First mod to do is the muffler, because stock exhausts just suck for sound. Without a custom tune the extra airflow from an intake will loose you performance.

Saw an episode of wheeler dealers and they put a magnaflow exhaust and kn drop in air filter on a Subaru Wrx. They dyno'd it and it came out at like 202 horses, which is like 15 less than stock. After they tuned it, the dyno came back at 246... So they picked up 30 more than stock. If your not going to get diablo/superchips you will lose low end. Maybe replace suitcase with a flowmaster... I hear they don't flow as well as magnaflow so you won't get much loss for the sound you gain.

I had a 2001 gmc sierra 5.3 with gibsen shorty headers and dual 2.5'' exhaust. I didn't like the sound very much, and put the stock exhaust on and left the headers. The truck was much quicker from 0-60 with stock, plus headers, but slower from 60-100 mph than with the duals. Large exhaust just move the torque and horses higher up in the rpm range. Jeepcogman has said many times that the weak point is the log exhaust manifolds. If your looking for pure performance screw the exhaust and spend the money on srt8 manifolds. They are hard to get but so worth it.
 
#6 ·
Wow, I learned something.. I thought no matter what if you installed a performance exhaust that it would 100% get a gain in power .. hmm.. i hate thinking i know something about something only to find out it's been false information all along...

now to contribute to the thread.. thanks for the idea on shortening that darn antenna !! I might remove it altogether.. seriously.. I don't listen to the "Radio" anyways.. It's my IPOD or CD's 100% all the time.. I just can't STAND Radio.. Satellite has been a thought .. but in my eyes it's a waste of money because I like listening to the music i like.. when i like.. not having to suffer through a couple songs just to get to ONE i may kind of sort of like...
 
#7 ·
Today I added a BT catch can that I recently purchased used. It went on without any issues. It came with a home-made bracket and I used the rear most bolt on the upper strut tower to mount it. I'm curious to see how much blow by it catches. I pulled my PCV valve to clean it and it wasn't bad at all. The plunger freely moved and it had hardly any buildup.

I also installed a Sonnax line pressure booster, 44957-LB2. The process is straightforward, but access is very tight. I had to jack up the passenger side on jackstands to get enough space to get my arms & hands up in there to unplug the factory connector and install the Sonnax. I then took it for a short test drive. I only drove light to medium throttle per the instructions to let the tranny adapt to the higher pressures. The shifts do feel firmer now. I'll have to see if there is any further improvement after more driving and at wide open throttle.
 
#8 ·
Put on about 300 miles and checked my catch can. Had a little less than one teaspoon of oil.

Transmission pressure booster is working fine. The shifts feel slightly firmer and gear engagement is more positive. However, the improvement is subtle according to my butt dyno.
 
#10 ·
Actually the Trail Rated badge was also attached with foam adhesive tape (at least on my 07). It was a real b*tch to get off even using fishing line to cut through the foam tape. It kept reattaching itself as I sawed down through. I had to use a plastic wedge to keep it pulled away at the top, but I eventually got it off.
 
#13 ·
Reception- not so good. AM is all but gone. FM is sketchy. I don't live near any metropolitan areas and radio stations are far away. I'm not exactly in the 'sticks' but close to it:D But hey, it looks b*tchin'!
 
#15 ·
The reception on it is ok I live in northern va but the issue I have is depending on the direction of travel is what effects the clarity. I was going to return it and put stock back on but lost the receipt. It looks good but not the best. I got it from pep boys and I believe its about 6 inches.
 
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