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General Forums => The Mess Hall => Topic started by: Bobknake on January 25, 2014, 12:38:11 AM

Title: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: Bobknake on January 25, 2014, 12:38:11 AM
Kind of hard to think about it now.....  But considering adding a/c to my '97.
Any thoughts?
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: Da_Skunk on January 25, 2014, 08:34:06 AM
Go Topless
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: Bobknake on January 25, 2014, 05:38:32 PM
Not sure I can convince my wife to do that :-)
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: Jeffy on January 25, 2014, 06:03:29 PM
Shouldnt' be too hard.  I've installed A/C in my YJ and the TJ is a bit easier.  Performance wise, you'll feel the HP hit when it kicks in.  It's not bad when you're cruising though.  You might want to turn it off when you wind the engine up over 4000.  On a 100+ degree day, it will pay for itself quickly.  For best results you'll want a hardtop with full doors.  You could also go with a halfcab/top.  Having a full soft top will work but it won't be efficent at all.

There are only a few places that sell Jeep kits though.  www.jeepair.com, who I bought mine from, www.ACkits.com and www.collinsbrosjeep.com (they don't do TJ kits though).  Keep in mind that all these kits use a non-oem compressor and an additional bracket that sits on the A/C mount.  Why they don't use an OEM style compressor, I don't know.  I piecemeal'ed my 'kit' so I could use an OEM compressor which made ordering a PITA but I've finally got it sorted.  The reason for this was because I use a OBA and it requires another bracket and spacers for the OBA compressor.  I didn't want to be stacking brackets on brackets when I didn't need to.  If you want to go this route, I can tell you which parts I ordered.

The second part, you'll have to do is have the system vacuum'ed out for a minimum of 45 minutes (I do it overnight but that's not possible if you have a shop do it.) Then the system will need to be charged.    The equipment is about $150-200 and the R134a cans are anywhere from $6-12 for a 1lbs can.  You need two.  A shop will charge around $125 for a vacuum and charge.
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: Bobknake on January 26, 2014, 08:05:04 AM
Thanks for the info

I'll keep this info handy
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: DanMarino on January 26, 2014, 08:50:44 AM
Adding air conditioning is the single best modification I've ever made to my YJ. 

For me the loss of power is really only noticed when going up a mountain or steep hill. 

I installed a system from jeepair.
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: jfrabat on January 26, 2014, 01:05:00 PM
Adding air conditioning is the single best modification I've ever made to my YJ. 

For me the loss of power is really only noticed when going up a mountain or steep hill. 

I installed a system from jeepair.

To be honest, loss of power is not really an issue with AC.  Want the power back?  Shut the AC down.  Want to be cool (mind you, it's cool, not COLD!), turn the AC on.
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: Jeffy on January 26, 2014, 07:22:40 PM
To be honest, loss of power is not really an issue with AC.  Want the power back?  Shut the AC down.  Want to be cool (mind you, it's cool, not COLD!), turn the AC on.
Hmm, mine goes down to 39/40* when it's 100* outside.  Anything lower and you'll get a lot of ice forming and a lot of condensation.
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: jfrabat on January 27, 2014, 07:12:12 AM
Hmm, mine goes down to 39/40* when it's 100* outside.  Anything lower and you'll get a lot of ice forming and a lot of condensation.

Well, Mine will cool nicely until the heat from the transmission tunnel starts coming through (and all the drafts my aftermarket hardtop has does not help either!).  Then it will cool into the low 70's maybe...
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: DanMarino on January 27, 2014, 05:01:10 PM
Mine is very cold too.  Always have the fan on low speed because faster speeds chill me out.  My glasses often fog up as soon as I get out of the vehicle after running the air conditioning in the summer.
Title: Re: Thinking about.... Adding A/C
Post by: Jeffy on January 27, 2014, 06:07:31 PM
Mine is very cold too.  Always have the fan on low speed because faster speeds chill me out.  My glasses often fog up as soon as I get out of the vehicle after running the air conditioning in the summer.
I have that same problem.  I never set mine over half on the temp side and usually leave the fan on low.  I actually wish it would have an even slower speed.