Rock Hard 4x4 Parts Jeep TJ Ultimate Sport Cage

Jeep TJ Wrangler Sport Cage

Post Installation Notes

A word to the wise, always make sure you have all the tools you need before you start a project. I didn't have a tamper resistant Torx T-50 and was kicking myself once I realized that I couldn't do anything else without it.

Another thing I can't stress enough, resist the urge to tighten everything up before you need to. If you do, this easy to install sport cage can turn into a real bear. Also, if you have air tools, pick up a 1/4" allen bit for it. Trust me, your fingers and hands will thank you for it later.

Last but not least, if you have a hard top like me, you will find that the ridges in the center of it will practically be touching the center roll bar clamps. This will cause the two to vibrate when driving and is really quite annoying. To solve this irration, I place a piece of craft foam between them and haven't had a problem since :)

I will be sure to post more updates if I can think of anything else.

Rock Hard 4x4 Parts Ultimate Sport Cage

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32. Lift up the carpeting on the passenger side of your Jeep. Then, using a flathead screwdriver, remove the rubber drain plug from the floor pan.	33. Lay your carpeting back in place. Then, using an X-ACTO knife, cut a line in it from the corner edge to the center of where your Jeep's floor pan drain hole is located.	34. Using your X-ACTO knife and your Jeep's floor pan drain hole as a guide, proceed to cut a hole in your carpeting as shown above.
	35. Take the Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage floor mount leg, lift it up under your dash so that it lines up to the floor mount bar and then insert the foot through the hole you just made in your carpet and into the drain hole in your Jeep's floor pan.
	36. Using a 3/4" socket and ratchet, attach the Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage floor mount leg to the bar now attached to the body of your Jeep using the bolts that came with the kit. Make sure that the lower bolt has the steel spacer in place between the leg and bar.
	37. Loosely thread the large floor mount foot bolt through the floor pan drain hole on the bottom of your Jeep and then apply a thin bead of silicon or RTV to the washer as shown in the pic to the left.
	38. Secure the Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage floor mount foot bolt to the bottom of your Jeep using a crescent wrench.

39. Repeat steps 29-31 on the driver side of your Jeep.	40. Repeat steps 32-34 on the driver side of your Jeep.	41. Using a phillips head screwdriver, remove the 2 screws securing the ECM plug to the bottom side of your Jeep's dash.

42. Using a pair of pliers, bend the ECM plug mounting bracket down. This is done so that the Rock Hard Floor Mount leg can be installed.	43. Again, take the Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage floor mount leg, lift it up under your dash so that it lines up to the floor mount bar and then insert the foot through the hole you just made in your carpet and into the drain hole in your Jeep's floor pan.	44. Repeat steps 36-38 on the driver side of your Jeep.
	45. Bend the ECM plug mounting bracket back up as far as you can and reattach the plug. Or, you can cut this bracket off completely and remount the ECM plug on another location near by.
	46. Position your Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage dash bar so that it is level and then using a 1/4" allen wrench, tighten the bolts closest to the windshield on both sides of your Jeep leaving approximately a 1/8" gap between the dash bar and clamp ends. Leave the other side loose for now. 47. Fold you windshield back up to its normal position and secure it tightly in place by re-attaching the side support bars and the bolts on the outside bottom corner of the windshield frame. 48. At this time, you should proceed to tighten all the Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage clamp bolts as evenly as possible. Please note that the clamps will not come completely together when done and this is normal.
	49. If you purchased the optional Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage rear bar, place it approximately half way around the corner of the Jeep rear roll bars. The actual width between the driver side and passenger side vary about 1"-1.5" and so Rock Hard 4x4 Parts intentionally makes their rear bar on the shorter side. There for, you may find it necessary to use a ratchet strap to assist you in pulling your Jeep's rear roll bars together a bit so that you can install the rear bar.
	50. Secure your Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage to your Jeep's rear roll bars using the 2 large clamp ends and bolts that came with your kit. You will need a 1/4" allen wrench to fasten the bolts.
Sound Bar Modification 1997-2002 Jeep TJ Wranglers Only Unlike the sound pods on a 2003-06 Jeep TJ, the sound bar in a 1997-02 Jeep TJ is a single unit that extends from one side of the Jeep to the other. And, in order to make it still usable with the optional Rock Hard 4x4 Parts Ultimate Sport Cage rear angle bars, it will need to be modified. Below are instructions as to what I did to make mine work.

1. On the driver side of your Jeep, lift open the velcro flap on the bottom of Jeep's sound bar and unplug the wiring harness .	2. Using a Torx T-30 bit, remove the 2 bolts on either side of your sound bar securing it to your roll bar. Then, remove the sound bar completely from your Jeep.	3. Lay your Jeep sound bar on a clean working surface and remove the speakers using a phillips screwdriver.

4. Using a flathead screwdriver, carefully pry open and remove the dome light cover off your Jeep's sound bar.	5. Using a phillips screwdriver, remove the 2 screws securing your dome light fixture to your Jeep's sound bar.	6. Flip over the dome light fixture and unplug the wiring harness.

7. Unzip and remove the cover off your sound bar. Then, place it back on your Jeep.	8. Using the Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage rear angle bars as a template, mark out where you will need to trim out the Jeep sound bar.	9. Place your Jeep's sound bar back onto a clean working surface and proceed to cut the neoprene insulator using an X-ACTO knife.

10. Peel the neoprene insulator off the Jeep sound bar.	11. Using a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade, cut out the exposed section of your Jeep sound bar.	12. Using a Dremel with a grinding bit, clean up the edges of the Jeep sound bar so that it doesn't snag or tear the cover once it's back on.
	13. Do a test fit of the sound bar back on your Jeep. If necessary, trim more of the sound bar in order to make it fit correctly.
	15. Reinstall the sound bar cover, dome light and speakers. Then, mount it back on your Jeep and reconnect the wiring harness plug. The fabric cover should simply wrap around the the Rock Hard Ultimate Sport Cage rear angle bars.
That should be it. You now have a well built and rugged full sport cage installed in your Jeep TJ. Help Support 4x4xplor.com If you have found this write-up to be helpful to you, I would be grateful if you could please let Rock Hard 4x4 Parts and/or the vendor you purchased your Ultimate Sport Cage from know. Thanks! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me by e-mail. Thanks, Eddie (wayoflife)
Additional Photos

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