There’s no question that the outside of a Jeep that gets everyone attention and does the heavy lifting. But, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the inside. From creature comforts to sheer necessities, choosing the right interior accessories for your Jeep is a big choice. We’ve narrowed down some of the things that are nice and some that are necessary in the following article. Lets take a look!
Floor Mats
Right off the bat, one of the smartest things you get for the inside of your Jeep, weather new or older, are quality rubber floor mats. I can speak from experience in my older 1999 TJ that the carpet mats aren’t worth anything. If you have any desire to maintain the inside of your Jeep, then throwing out the stock mats and putting in some good rubber/washable mats is a smart move.
Hitting the trail can result in pounds of mud and dirt being tracked into your Jeep and getting all over the place. And unless your Jeep is solely a dirt driver, most of us like to somewhat protect our vehicle.
Not only do mats keep dirt and grime off your jeep tub they also help with some heat protections from the undercarriage and excessive road noise by providing a dampener. Some of my favorite options for high grade durable mats are the Floor and Cargo Liners put out by Bestop. They are superior quality and hold up to the Jeep lifestyle just like their soft tops do.
The alternative, that many Jeepers end up doing, is removing all carpet in the Jeep and bed-lining the floor and any where there was carpet. While this is a very convenient and worthy upgrade, having floor mats even on the bed-line is smart because its much easier to clean day to day grime by just spraying the mats off and they also provide the comforts from heat and road noise mentioned above.
Communications
As we mentioned in my article 10 Essentials Every Jeep Owner Should Have, you hands down need to invest in a quality communications setup for your Jeep.
What’s awesome about adding a CB/HAM radio to your Jeep, is the fact that there are so many cool setups depending on what you are wanting. Some people have their radios completely hidden except for the hand help mic part (which gives it a sleek “built into the Jeep” feel) while others have a head unit above and between the two front seats that looks like operations center.
Just because it’s a “necessity” doesn’t mean you can’t make it look awesome or have some fun with it. Trust me, it looks awesome when someone opens the door to climb into your Jeep and it looks a full on command center ready for anything.
Storage
Jeep owners understand the true value of storage space and how important it is to utilize every available square inch of your rig. And fortunately, many companies have capitalized on this need and come up with some amazing products.
From under seat slide outs, lock boxes, racks designed to fit inside, overhead mesh, or anything else you can think of, invest in some kind of storage. My personal favorite method to interior storage is to have something that makes everything “disappear”. I like everything I carry hidden and out of the way.
There’s no doubt that four door Jeeps have an easier time than my two door Jeepers out there, but you’d be surprised to find out how much you can store with the proper set up and organization tools.
One tip to extra storage that many people over look is to get some roll bar storage bags or straps. The Rightline Gear Roll Bar Storage Bags are a brilliant way to utilize a space in your Jeep that often gets overlooks and sits empty ready to hold your stuff.
On top of nifty compartments like the one above, storage units that make use of any spare surface, like the interior of your tailgate can prove to be invaluable.
There are several products out there that turn your tailgate into a fold out table/workbench and there are others that, you guessed it, turn it into a great place to store things. Products like this Smittybilt Gear Tail can be modular and carry all sorts of tools and necessities in a covert hidden manner thats out of your way.
The options for Jeep storage are near endless. Once again, it comes down to how YOU want YOUR Jeep to look. So be creative and make it your own.
Seat Covers/Seats
Conveniently following our storage recommendations is seat covers. Because of the environment imposed by the great outdoors, protecting your seats and their appearance/condition can be simple with some sort of seat covers.
However, no one said that seat covers have to be JUST seat covers. Turns out, seat covers can actually be an amazing way to store stuff. One of the many ways companies have capitalized on Jeep storage needs is to develop modular seat covers like these that allow you to strap storage pockets, bags, and tools on the back and side of your seat covers.
While these covers add to the functionality and “military” look of your Jeep’s interior, they aren’t for everyone.
However, I still suggest finding some way to protect your seats from the mud/dust/water that can find it’s way easily into your car. Neoprene seat covers like the ones offered by Rough Country here on Amazon, are nice and form fitting to the contour of your Jeep seats. For people who like a sleek and non-invasive look, you can’t even tell there are covers on your seats with something like this.
Even if it’s just something you slip on and off before and after you go off-roading, you’ll be glad you took the time to keep things nice.
Grab Handles and Handle Bars
Most Jeeps come standard with a pretty solid bar above the glove box to give the passenger something to grab onto while you maneuver your way over treacherous territory. But one bar won’t cut it when you have more than one traveler.
A very simple add on to the inside of your Jeep is the addition of extra grab handles and places for people to hold onto for dear life.
And as is the case with almost anything Jeep, you can find whatever style you like for these handles. One of the most common kind you will see are simple and attach right around the roll bar like these on Amazon. No extra hardware is required. Simply take them out of the box and wrap them around the bars and you’ve done it.
Another option, that is a bit more sturdy are grab bars like these from Xprite that bold into the Jeep itself right inside the door. These serve not only as a grab handle when getting jostled around, but for a great place to hold onto while hoisting yourself into your ever growing rig.
You’ll find that as you ad things to your Jeep, many will have multiple functions as your go on. By investing in more sturdy products like the Xprite Grab Handles, you’ll find yourself with extra tie points or places to mount small items like interior lights or whatever you come up with. That’s one side to being a Jeeper is making the absolute most out of everything you find important enough to take up space in your Jeep.
Navigation
Kind of the whole point of the “Jeep Life” or being a “Jeeper” is taking your vehicle and going/doing things that normal cars can’t do. The other side of that, is that if you are going places where most people can’t/don’t go, then chances are that your average daily GPS app won’t get you where you need to.
Fortunately for us, there are several products and apps that do have trail maps and can be quite handy. However, what this section is more about is how you might consider setting up your navigation panel or “control room”.
One of my favorite set ups is from TrailRecon on YouTube. He likes to run an awesome set up with his iPad attached to a mounting bar that runs across his dash. You can check out his set up in the video below.
Not only does this set up hold whatever navigation tool you want, but can also be used to mount a number of other things.
If you have a new Jeep, navigation might not be as big a deal for you because you have a pretty nice set up built into the Jeep through your radio and entertainment center. Jeep has made the efforts to add extras literally called “Trail Maps”. So adding an extra thing like an iPad or GPS might just take up room that you don’t need to.
However, if you are like me and aren’t quite up to date on Jeep Technology, you have another option to adding a mounting bar, and that is installing a new entertainment center yourself. There are several convert kits on the market that allow you to install a nice big screen where your radio is and make your own built in navigation system.
In today’s time period there really isn’t much reason NOT to have some sort of GPS, whether on your phone or something else, when out and about in the wilderness.
But if you are insistent on keeping things old school and can’t be bothered, there are places to get a great paper trail map before you head out. Just google trail maps for whatever your location is and there should be several options. Having something is definitely better than nothing.
Switch Panel
When you start to add all these accessories to your Jeep like light bars and winches and air compressors and so on, they don’t just magically run themselves when you wish upon a star. All that wiring has to go somewhere to make it when you flip a switch you can turn it on.
While Jeep sometimes offers a couple extra flip switch spots to wire in your own things, you’ll often find that it just isn’t enough if you get into serious off-roading.
That’s why we suggest that another interior “accessory” you look into adding be a quality switch panel.
There are ways to make your own and if that is what you like to do then I think thats awesome and all the power to you.
I like to keep my interior neat and organized and therefore I like a control panel that is compact, well contained, and looks like its meant to be part of the Jeep and not some funky add on.
One company that has established a strong foot hold in this sector is sPod (check out their Amazon page here) who has developed a clean and effective way of wiring all your accessories to your battery with their “The Source” and then having that all controlled by your choice of switch panel.
Going with something like sPod offers is a hefty investment but in my opinion well worth it. If you aren’t worried about having something like “The Source” then there are definitely cheaper ways to get the style switch panel you want. And you guessed it, it all comes down to your preference and style you are looking for.
Some sleek designs I like include the Rugged Ridge Panel Kit (or similar for different models) or the Apollointech Pillar Panel.
My personal preference is something more along the lines of the Rugged Ridge Panel Kit due to it’s design that makes it look built into the Jeep and not an added future.
Upgraded Speakers
This next upgrade is definitely a personal choice. I don’t know about you but quality tunes are a must whether cruising around town or out on the trails.
The sound upgrade department is vast and plentiful for every model and year of Jeep on the market. While the newer Jeeps most definitely come better equipped than the older ones, it never hurts to add a little extra.
My personal upgrades include replacing my stock sound bar speakers with Pioneer 6.5″ pods that required nothing more than drilling a couple extra holes.
If you are a bass and sub enthusiasts, custom boxes made to fit specifically in your Jeep are available my many manufactures.
Because Sub Boxes take up a lot of coveted space, you can always add something like an this Select Increments Intra-pod that adds a small sub to the back end of your middle console.
Pair this with some tweeters up front and upgraded stock speakers and you’ll have plenty of bump for the trails.
Whatever you think your audio needs might be, speakers are a simple and easy upgrade that doesn’t have to cost you much.
I guarantee that anyone you bring along for the ride will enjoy clear music to cover up the sound of those tires rolling on the pavement. But that’s just the Jeep life right?
Conclusion
As with all our content on Siberian 4×4, we only like to make our recommendations and provide you with our own experience and knowledge of what we believe works best and has been tested. We hope you enjoy our interior upgrades suggestions and as always, keep the wilderness on your side.
