Ten Electrical Upgrades For Your Jeep

Whether it is adding lights, removing lights, or adding LEDs, our Jeep parking and turn signal lights are in a constant state of flux. Next time your flasher dies, go down to your parts store and grab one of these solid-state replacements. They cost more than a typical flasher, but they can handle LEDs, burnt-out bulbs, or just destroyed taillights with ease. No more fast-flash or no-flash situations, these don't rely on resistance to flash. So if you've got one bulb or 100 bulbs, they will all flash at the same rate. They also handle the vibration and dust of the off-road environment better than a standard flasher.

At most auto parts stores, you can find power inverters for less than $50. Get the biggest one your budget and underdash or underseat space can handle. In a pinch you can run an electric drill, small compressor, Sawzall, or droplight off these things. You'd be surprised just how handy they can be once you've got one. The best part is that you won't have to scrounge for 500 feet of extension cord, or 12-volt-only tools anymore. Wire it off your underhood circuit breaker and have at it.

Another of those neat little tricks that we add to most any Jeep are these disconnects. They are popular now as winch disconnects, but we were using them exclusively for jumper cables way back when. Wire it directly into your battery, and then cut the clamps off one end of a set of jumpers and add the other connector to the jumper wire. Then you will never have to lift your hood in the rain or snow to jump someone or be jumped. Simply plug it in and go. If you've already got a winch, just wire these plugs inline with the winch cables and get an extra one for your jumpers.

In this day and age of cell-phone abuse, we almost always need more than one 12-volt receptacle under the dashboard. Forget about smoking because once you get your iPod, radar detector, cell-phone charger, skull light, and whatever else, you will find you are always one receptacle short of what you need. So when you are looking to upgrade, try to figure out just how many you can fit under your dash and get that one. Whether it is three plugs or 12, you will fill them up. Oh, and also wire at least one plug up to a source of constant 12-volt power. Save yourself the hassle of having to turn the key on all the time. There is always something that we want on when the Jeep is off.

Once you've put the circuit breaker under the hood, run the output wire straight into one of these auxiliary fuse blocks. Once you've done that, then you can start adding other things. With most any Jeep we've got, we add the circuit breaker, and then one of the three- or seven-circuit, weather-resistant fuse block kits from Painless Performance. They come with an isolator, relay, wire, connectors, and the fuse block itself. We've put them under the hood, but they work much better if they are mounted under the dashboard somewhere. If mounted under the hood, be sure and use dielectric grease in the contacts because water will find its way in. For the inside of the Jeep, face it, it will get wet and/or dirty at some point, so spend the extra money for the weather-resistant kit. This kit makes more sense in the long run due to being able to add to it, having all the fuses in one place, and all the parts are included. Inline fuse holders are a thing of the past.

Let's face it, if your Jeep has a removable top, odds are that you've wished for an interior light that actually worked. Another of those must haves for us is this simple interior light. The light can be found any number of local auto parts stores. Again, wire it into a constant power source and you can have light whenever you want it. We've wired it into the headlight switch in the past, as well as a dash-mounted switch, but the easiest is the best for this mod. Just run it constant power, and use the switch included within the light. The best part is that it lights up the whole interior with no problems.