New KJ Owner looking for some help

[Mr. Clean TJ]

Hi Jeepers!

First time posting here! I've been a Jeep guy for a while now with my 02 TJ that I've built for crawling but over the summer I picked up my first KJ to daily for a year or two until I've saved enough to buy a newer truck.

Specs and a little background;
2005 KJ Renegade, 3.7, auto, green on gray, purchased with 111K on it. I got it cheap as it needed both upper and lower ball joints, tie rods, and front brakes. Previous owner didn't want to put any money into it and couldn't do it himself. A couple hundred bucks later I found I had a very comfortable daily driver that has gotten surprisingly good mileage for this kind of Jeep.

My questions for the masters here;
I've found it's actually a great jeep and there's very little that needs fixing besides what I already did so I wanted to address some minor issues to be even more happy with it and listen to any advice from long time owners....

First, I'm getting the blink of the TPMS every 10 min of driving. All the pressures are good and I had a friend scan the sensors and they are reading. I also deflated each tire one at at time, had the light come on and stay on, then pump the tire back up and the light went out. Thoughts? Does the spare need one? If the batteries are getting low will that cause the blink.

Second, the drivers seat has a small rip and the foam is coming out. The rest of the interior is surprisingly clean so I was going to swap the seat. TRM code is B5D5 and I can't find any matches in a salvage yard. What seats crossed between trim codes? I've got gray, manual, high back seats.

Third, in parking lots and every so often I get a clunk from the steering. It feels close to the steering wheel if that makes sense. I've had chevy's before and they've had the notorious intermediate shaft clunk.. do the KJ's have the same issue or is it the clock spring?

Lastly, at some point, someone messed up the drivers rear corner of the bumper cover. I was going to replace it but everywhere asks me textured or painted. Mine looks smooth but it's not painted...

Yes this is a lot to ask, I apologize, but these are the items I've been coming up short on. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Steve

 

[tommudd]

Hi Jeepers!

First time posting here! I've been a Jeep guy for a while now with my 02 TJ that I've built for crawling but over the summer I picked up my first KJ to daily for a year or two until I've saved enough to buy a newer truck.

Specs and a little background;
2005 KJ Renegade, 3.7, auto, green on gray, purchased with 111K on it. I got it cheap as it needed both upper and lower ball joints, tie rods, and front brakes. Previous owner didn't want to put any money into it and couldn't do it himself. A couple hundred bucks later I found I had a very comfortable daily driver that has gotten surprisingly good mileage for this kind of Jeep.

My questions for the masters here;
I've found it's actually a great jeep and there's very little that needs fixing besides what I already did so I wanted to address some minor issues to be even more happy with it and listen to any advice from long time owners....

First, I'm getting the blink of the TPMS every 10 min of driving. All the pressures are good and I had a friend scan the sensors and they are reading. I also deflated each tire one at at time, had the light come on and stay on, then pump the tire back up and the light went out. Thoughts? Does the spare need one? If the batteries are getting low will that cause the blink.
SO YOU HAVE NOT CHECKED THE SPARE YET?

Second, the drivers seat has a small rip and the foam is coming out. The rest of the interior is surprisingly clean so I was going to swap the seat. TRM code is B5D5 and I can't find any matches in a salvage yard. What seats crossed between trim codes? I've got gray, manual, high back seats.
ANY SEAT WILL WORK , EASIER OF SAME YEAR WITH POSSIBLE SENSORS ETC BUT ,..........

Third, in parking lots and every so often I get a clunk from the steering. It feels close to the steering wheel if that makes sense. I've had chevy's before and they've had the notorious intermediate shaft clunk.. do the KJ's have the same issue or is it the clock spring?
cOULD BE A NUMBER OF THINGS, EVEN SUSPENSION SAG, MEASURE MIDDLE OF WHEEL TO BOTTOM OF FLARE, FRONT, LEFT SIDE ON LEVEL GROUND TO START WITH

Lastly, at some point, someone messed up the drivers rear corner of the bumper cover. I was going to replace it but everywhere asks me textured or painted. Mine looks smooth but it's not painted...
COULD POST SOME PICTURES SINCE YOU CAN NOT SEE IF PAINTED OR ????
Yes this is a lot to ask, I apologize, but these are the items I've been coming up short on. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Steve

Thanks MORE INFO WOULD BE GREAT

 

[Mr. Clean TJ]

Thanks for the reply. Ok on the seat, the spare doesnt have a TPM only a conventional rubber valve stem. Didnt know if its supposed to have one because TPM was still kinda new. The clunk in the steering feels like its right behind the wheel itself in the column. Not sure if that helps. Ill try and get a pic of the bumper posted, its stock renegade stuff...

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I'm guessing the steering clunk is the steering rack bushings.
http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f202/how-band-aid-shot-steering-rack-bushing-40247/

Renegade seats were Renegade exclusive, if they're cloth.

 

[Mr. Clean TJ]

Thanks for the seat tip. Ill look into the rack. Coming due for an oil change so while im under there ill have a good look around.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

The driver's side bushing gets hit with oil from the filter draining, so it usually dies first. I put a plastic bag over the bushing when I do my oil changes.

 

[kejobe]

If the bumpers and flares are black (or supposed to be; grayed by sun) and are NOT painted, then they are textured. Very few manufactures actually paint textured plastics. I've only seen factory painted texture once and it wasn't Mopar.