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Adding Aftermarket Door lock Actuators

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Old 09-06-2007, 10:46 AM
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Default Adding Aftermarket Door lock Actuators

Ok this will be an ongoing thread as i will have to wait for cooler weather to do the drivers door and take pics. I finished the passenger door in 4 hours and the rear door in about half an hour, and also ran the wire up to the steering column area. If anyone wants i can include the installation of my audiovox 9275 keyless entry/remote start unit too. I will start by saying that if you didnt order your JK with power door locks and are about to install them...please kick yourself in the rear end

Anyways in the first picture you can see i have removed the access panel on the rear door and have already run the wires through the sleeve. I tried to keep them attached to the factory looms running along the passenger side of the JK. Take your actuator and push some small drywall scews through the mounts and use these to scratch the paint where you will be mounting it inside the door. I used a sharpie to help make it visible on the light colored paint. I would reccomend making it another 1/4" to the right than i made it but luckily it still works well enough.



Here we can see the linkage where you will need to attach to



Finished linkage



And here it is fully mounted from the outside

Old 09-08-2007, 06:22 PM
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Ok well i finished this project up tonight. Drivers side went alot smoother than the passenger side. Infact i had time to mount the remote start/keyless unit and run (but not hookup) everything. Got the power and ground and the keyless entry works like a charm.

Alright i am assuming you can remove the outer door panel. Its just 4 screws and a bunch of panel clips. Just give it a good tug from the bottom up.

Alright here is a shot of the inner panel...you will learn to dispise this sight


Once you remove the attaching bolts and clips, including the ones holding the wire harness down, shake jimmy and otherwise pry the panel along with the window up to this position. It doesnt seem like it will ever cooporate and then finally it just gives up fighting and complies with your requests


Notice i taped the window up because in the next step we will be removing the window from the regulator track thus leaving the window hanging by the tape. I used clear packing tape.

Now look at the bottom where the track hangs down a bit and you will see the bottom clip keeping the window on the track. Slide it over and it will pop out...If the window is unsupported here it MAY FALL AND BREAK! Thus the tape


Now repeat at the top, as you can see i already did.


Now this next part i didnt get a pic of because i only have 2 hands Reach in near the latch assembly and disconnect the wire harness and pull it back through the panel, along with pulling the lock cables back through as well, and then remove the inner panel!

Also note how i broke these little retaining clips off...who needs retaining clips!



Ok so there is the open work space...that should have taken about 2-3 hours

Now here is the place to attach the actuator



And after. Its a pretty straight shot...you can see i just marked the rod and bent it accordingly.



And the entire thing finished here

Old 09-08-2007, 06:31 PM
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Holy smokes! Good job.
The end of a longer story for me is that I bought a 2-door, dealer promised after-market power locks - installer could not deliver, dealer bought back 2door jeep. Now I've got my 4 door Saraha.

As you say in the opening, if you didn't order with power locks and you want them, DON'T BUY THAT JEEP!

I'm sure you could rent yourself out for these installs - that ain't easy!

Again well done.
Old 09-08-2007, 06:35 PM
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Yeah i dunno if i am getting better or if the drivers side just happened to be a lucky jinx...but the drivers side only took like an hour total, but the passenger side took 4 hours Guess the more you do it the easier it is...
Old 09-09-2007, 03:20 PM
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here is a diagram of the relays used to wire it all together



this is for negative output systems

edit oh this is for 2 wire actuators also
Old 09-09-2007, 04:06 PM
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I'm kicking my self in the rear.

Whats the website that sells those magical wireless gnome actuators? Maybe a trained monkey?
Old 09-09-2007, 04:17 PM
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Hey James, looks great!!! I beleive it was you who posted in another thread that i was able to tell you that i too had installed the locks after market. Looks like you mounted the actuators in the same spot i did. I'm glad to see it all worked out well for you. The only one i didn't do was the tailgate, as i wanted it not to work on power locks so that if i had my windows open, top down etc, someone couldn't unlock my doors, open my tailgate, and get into my cubby hole in the floor with my off road goodies. of course, its pretty unlikely anyone would. I just got my aftermarket power window kit yesterday, and while i didnt take pics of the lock install, i'll try to take pics of the power window install. From the looks of the kit its very complete and will work great. It will however be a total bear to do as there will be plenty of stuff to get into the door panels and plenty of wires to hide. Anyway, great Job! hopefully i'll have the window write up within a week or so.
Old 09-09-2007, 04:21 PM
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Yes i am the same guy, I forgot to thank you for the original help! I would not have attempted this without some feedback from you Please do the write up on the windows as this will be my next project too I will probably go with the factory regulators and get a wiring kit with universal switches etc. Do you have the cable driven regulators or the worm gear ones?

*edit* did i just help hijack my own thread
Old 09-09-2007, 05:58 PM
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They are the Cable driven kind that the motor can be mounted pretty much anywhere, and the cable part bends to make it easy to install. The kit is by a company named spy, and while the instructions aren't too great, the kit is very complete, and isn't that hard to figure out. everything looks to be of very good quality. Being that i still take my doors off, i'll be looking for a new door connector, a big one that i can put the factory connector, my aftermarket locks, and the window wiring through. Provided i can find desirable connectors i might just start the project tomorrow. I thought about factory regulators, but this kit is so complete and only 177 dollars shipped and it includes all the switches, wiring etc. and it came with four more lock actuators... though i wont be using them as i already did my locks. Anyway, the price was good, the product looks good, and i just assumed that the oem power regulators would cost a fortune. Being that i have a four door, i thought aftermarket was just the way to go. Anyway, stay posted this week for the write up, i'm usually not too good about taking pics, but i'll really try to take lots as i do this. wish me luck
Old 09-10-2007, 07:09 AM
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Thats cool. i know how hard it is to find time to A make money to pay for this stuff and then B find time to do it and then now C take pics for everyone else to see Not easy to do. My only concern with the cable driven regulators are i have heard bad stories of them slipping and jamming up quite easily...hopefully they have fixed this stuff as it was 5-6 years ago when i heard that. Keep us posted


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