Geonovast

Weather's been kinda crappy lately so I've been working on this... JeepcoMJ and $500 MJ have seen it in person and they thought it was pretty cool, just wanted to see what you guys thought. Crank, Pistons, Cam, Belts, Distributor, Pushrods, Valves and even TB butterfly are all moving parts.

Hmm, I stand corrected. I thought I remembered seeing they were. Wouldn't have any first hand experience, only having the 3 shortbeds.

Hubcentric centers your wheel by letting the wheels center hole slip onto the hub. non-hub, or lug-centric centers your wheel by using the lugs. Yes, and MAKE SURE YOU USE THE LUG-CENTRIC LUGNUTS. Othewise, they WILL back off and your wheel could very well FALL OFF.

The motor has nothing to do with the leaf springs. 4wd ones sit about 1" higher than 2wd, and lwb leafs are longer than swb leafs. The other difference is the Metric Tonne package will have much beefier leafs, with a payload of about 2200lbs.

:hmm:

It should say in your owners manual which one's which. I know the 91+ systems have it printed right under the fuse/relay block cover.

All I know is it switches to run through the resistor after startup so it runs quieter. If it's grumbling, then I bet a bearing in the pump is dying and you need to replace it ASAP.

Or just build it to be jumped :thumbsup: That would be an option, very carefully cut the tube right at the diff. Axle's shot anyway.

Before or after I remove my ARB and R&P? Not sure, I was thinking an open diff. You obviously can't get the carrier out if the shaft's still stuck in it. Did the shaft come out at all?

May make it easier, but you don't have to. Either way, you have to swap the entire wiring harness, and just about everything in the engine bay. That being the case, I'd look for a 91+ for the HO motor, and an 89.5+ for the AX-15 if you're going with a 5 speed. If you find a 4.0 4x4 XJ, you can strip yours out and just move everything over. Only fab work you'll have to worry about is a little pounding on the firewall to make the 4.0 clear. The 84-86 firewalls are a little different, they changed it in 87 to fit the 4.0. Just make sure your gear ratios in your axles are the same. An XJ rear axle will go into an MJ, but you have to cut the perches and shock supports off and weld new perches on in the MJ location.

Since the driver's side is out already, you could take a long piece of metal, go in through the driver's side, and try to tap it out to at least get it started. :dunno:

Or donate the whole thing to the boneyard and get an XJ for a beater. :thumbsup: Hell, maybe they'd trade ya up.

Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't.. Some XJs/MJs used an additional L bracket that mounted on the top of the X-member, and then bolted sideways into the frame. That would give you 4 bolts on each side. Not all of them had this, and if it didn't come with them, you can't just throw them in, as the brake and gas lines on the driver's side won't be bent out to make room.

A 4.0 tranny will not directly bolt up behind a 4cyl. You can get an AX-15 behind the 4 popper, but you need an incredibly rare Dakota bellhousing. The BA 10/15 will not go behind the 2.5. The 4.0 and 2.5 did use the same automatic (I believe), but they did have a different bellhousing, TQ, and they're not completely identical. It will fit in, but they're tweaked for their respective motors.

XJ shafts are considerably shorter. You MAY get lucky with a 4cyl 2wd XJ shaft fitting in a 4wd swb MJ, but I'm not sure about that. You'll have to get measurements. What's busted on yours? You may be able to get it retubed.

It should, but you may need to adjust it.

Welcome to the club :cheers: You should throw up some pics of the truck! Finding parts is easy. Your best bet would be to find a complete donor XJ (Cherokee)that's the same motor, trans and 4wd. Preferably around the same year as yours, but pretty much any will work. Basic list of what you'll need. Front axle(Dana 30) that matches the gear ratio of your rear axle. 4wd transmission. (You didn't mention Manual or automatic) Transfer Case 4wd linkages and Shifter Front Driveshaft Shorter Rear Driveshaft The hole for the shifter is already there, just plated off. You will need to drill out 4 holes for the linkage bracket, but there are dimples there for you. Everything should be a direct swap. All the suspension components for the 2wd axle are literally identical to the 4wd one. You may need to swap brake calipers, however. Also, nearly everything from the seats forward on an XJ and MJ(Comanche) is the same. Very little was changed over the years as well. Example: My 91 2.5 MJ has a front axle from a 94 XJ, AX-5 Transmission and NP 231 T-case from a 93 XJ, Bellhousing and Clutch setup for an 86 XJ(for the external slave cylinder). If you ever need any front clip parts, like fenders, headlight bezel, header panel, etc. You can grab them from any 84-96 XJ and it'll slap right on. 97-01 will go on too, but you need the entire clip. Several people on here have done the conversions. All XJ/MJ hoods are interchangeable.

4.0 Starters are a lot easier to replace. You can get at both bolts easy enough, and there's no Torx bolts.

That's a good sign the starter is near the end of its life. It could be somehow getting heat soaked, but unless you've been running hot lately I doubt it. I'd replace it as soon as you can. You do have a slight advantage, however. If I were you, I would park facing downward on a hill whenever possible. That way, if it does crap out on you completely, you can at least pull off a push start.

:thumbsup:

And dissengage Caps Lock, please...

Welcome to the Club! :cheers: Looking forward to seeing some pics of the truck!

I've got a 92 Buick Century with the 3.3 and 4 spd auto, I'm sure it's the same tranny. Oil change place topped it off and now it sticks in first and second... so I'm interested to see if these things have common problems..

You're going to need the correct mount for crossmember to transmission. The manual mount and auto mount aren't the same.

I've never done it, but I imagine pulling a T-case without pulling the trans isn't high up on the "easy" list.