Redirecting Floor Heater Vents to Point Upward

One of my complaints about the '87-'95 YJ is that there are no chest-level vents for the climate control system, just floor and defroster vents. This has been remedied on the TJ, but I suspect the CJ's suffer from the same ailment. As I began my third Nebraska winter driving my '95 YJ, I finally got sick of always having cold hands due to the poor heat flow, so I decided to redirect part of the air flow from the floor vents to point up toward the seats.

Since the outlet of the YJ floor vents is rectangular (about 1.5x2.5"), a circular tube can be placed over part of the vent while still allowing about half the air to blow towards your feet. I stopped by my neighborhood hardware store and bought two 1.25" circular PVC elbow joints and two end caps of the same size. I duct taped one elbow joint to each floor vent so that one end covered half the vent and the other end pointed up toward the front seats.

Since I may on occasion want all the available air blowing on my feet, I bought two end caps so that I can temporarily block off either or both elbow joints. My caps aren't threaded, so they just slip into the end of the elbow. Be aware that the cap will expand when it gets warm, preventing you from removing it from the elbow joint. You may want to sand it down a bit to allow you to remove the cap after the heater has warmed up.

After had tested my invention a bit and was sure it worked, I bought four 2"x1/2" metal mounting brackets and two hose clamps to mount the setup more professionally, then painted them and the elbows black to match the factory vents. Just screw one bracket to the top and bottom of each vent so that an inch or so sticks out past the end of the vent. Then stick the elbow up against the vent between the brackets and put a hose clamp around the brackets and elbow to hold it tight. It looks much better now, and the hose clamps make the angle at which the elbows are pointed adjustable.

The total cost for the project was under $10.