New tires were a MUST HAVE!! After 32,000 miles and many close calls,
a few at slow speeds in the rain, the Goodyear crap that came with the Jeep
had to go. A friend runs the Radial Rover RV tires and loves them.
I found my local Sears had a passenger grade Radial Rover that was
cheaper and still had the aggressive tread I was looking for. I highly
recommend the Dunlop Radial Rover tires for anyone as a quick fix from the
Goodyear garbage. I also went up a couple of sizes (from 205 to 235).
This impacted performance a little, but mostly because my speedometer
and odometer are now 10% too low.
Why a cheap stereo? If someone takes it, I'm not out any big money. The remote control is nice for sitting on the beach and still having control of the volume and station.
Some say they are decoration, other say they are useful. I installed nerf bars for a little bit of side impact protection. Rocker panel guards will never be a sturdy as nerf bars. And contrary to popular belief, nerf bars don't reduce ground clearance. They mount above the skid plate on the frame.
The front tow hooks are the only true decoration I've put on my Jeep. I'm sure they might come in handy some day, but for now they just look cool.
Wranglers have very little cargo space. A 2" box hitch was necessary to use a hitch mount carrying basket that I borrow from a friend.
Cruise control is one of the best features I have applied. With the 4 cyl. engine, I had to get the additional $10 vacuum canister, but who cares. The cruise is great for traveling those long distances. And every little bit of fuel economy helps.
The second best upgrade on this list has to be the 15 to 20 gallon gas tank conversion. The price is also the best. FREE.
Hard tops are nice, but not worth the money. The after market hard top upper door halves don't fit very well and the whole mess leaks and is noisy. In the snowy winter, the hard top is nice. But between April and November I like to keep my soft top on so I can open the windows and let some air in. If you get a hard top, tint the windows.
Tinted soft top windows are also great. They keep the inside rather private and a little cooler. They look real spiffy, too. Get tinted windows when you have to replace the old, scratched stock windows. You won't be sorry.
I'd rather not have a CB in my Jeep, but it is handy on the long highway trips to talk to the truckers. (I like to draft behind trucks to reduce wind resistance. Most don't mind if you ask.) Also, all my Jeeping buddies are too lazy to get their Amateur Radio license, so we've settled on CB as a way to communicate.
Amateur Radio is the real way to communicate. I selected the IC-706 because it receives everything from below the AM broadcast band to 200 MHz. It transmits on all the Amateur Radio bands within that range. The AH-4 makes it real easy to switch bands without having to switch antennas. I'd like to upgrade to the IC-706mkIIG and have 440 MHz band coverage, but I can't justify $900 for a new radio to add another band that isn't very popular around my area anyway.