pingpong

When I have a mysterious noise that is only intermitten, I start by going over the basics... I Check oil pressure, the do a compreccion check. Then it is on too the visual inspection. I check to make sure nothing is loose in the engine compartment, or under the vehicle. Patrick

I am in the design phase of building a stronger crossmember to function as a belly skid as well. My Plan is to use 3/16 2x4 tubing, drill and notch for the mount. Since the MJ has 4 mounsting holes on each side of the frame at the X-member I plan on using them all. I also plan on mounting it.. int eh same location as stock, for the simple fat that my rear pinion, and t-case linkage are all ready set for that location. Patrick

I am going to make MY own using 1.5x1/4 DOM tubing. Save myself a few headaches. The alumi flex sytem is a quality part, but it just isnt up to the abuse I deliver. I have a theroy.. everything under my jeep should be a skid plate or a ramp :shock:

I wil say that my Long arms from Terra Have held up awesome to 2 very abusive trail rides :-D They are deffinately scarred, but seem to be holding up. The reason why I didnt go with Rusty's set-up was... A guy in the club I wheel with, had issues with his after only a yr of Moderate use... Rusty's did replace them, but it took a few weeks for the trans action to take place... and that is just too long for me to be down, cause of a part that You pay that kinda money for. Patrick

here is a link to my Webshots with Pics of Pong at Paragon, I only have about a 1/3 of the pics up, I am working on getting more of them up. http://community.webshots.com/user/cj7xjmj Patrick

nice pic.... it might help ppl visualize it. Also Jegs sells a set of universal seat pedistals that could be modded to work on the MJ. Patrick

I think with that AX5 and that gearing you will have issues... I don't know, cause I don't wheel a 4 popper. Patrick

Eagle, I hate to rain on your parade.... The ratio for auto equipped Xj's with the 4.0 is 3.55, with an optional 3.73 if you did get the factory towing package. If you have the 5spd xj with 4.0 you have 3.07 gears. Patrick

IT got preety tweaked :roll: BUt the other issue with the setup is.. it limits some of your turning radias. I took some insane lines this past week end, and it got hit a few times. Patrick

It depends if you want to be able to lug around at 300 rpm or lower :shock: Also depends on what tyoe of wheeling you do... rock crawling it would be great for, but if you mostly use it to run sand dunes.. I think it would be a waste Patrick

IT is that alum flex stuff that is suppose to give, and return to its original length. It came with the hi-steer knuckle, and my last set up was bent as well :shock: so it was that or a Rusty's tie rod conversion that was bent, and doesn't work as well either. Patrick

Inetira rings are awesome if you want your engine to be able to lug way down in the rpms. Mostly you see them for vehicles with extreme gearing. I run an auto so I don't have this problem. I would do it if I had a stick, and did a lot of crawling. Patrick

Well now I have 2 rides on my current set-up I wil comment on how everything worked, and what I think. My terra long arms worked great. I did Have some tire rubbing issues on them, but for a 4 link setup... they worked great. MY alcan springs also worked great, except they kept twisting apart, I am going to call them to see if there is a fix for it. My stock t-case skid worked great, my home fabbed rock rails, and rear bumper worked great as well. MY lca skids did an awesome job too. ON to what didnt work... The terra flex aluminum tie rod setup. It reduces your steering, as well as bends real easily and does not straitghten as easily as you would think. I do not recomend this, unless you want to have some issues. Not running shocks in the rear... is a bad idea. Not running doors when they are calling for rain is a bad idea Patrick

Mkae sure all the vacum liners look in decent shape. Also check the front end for play. I don't know if the state youlive in does a state inspection, but if it does I would make the dealer get a new one. Also take it to your mechanic, if you don't know what to look for as far as it beiung in bad shape. Patrick

Okay you have several option when it comes to perches. 1 make your own. Find a piece of 2x4x1/4" and 45 the ends and have the center drilled or cut to your liking... Cost just about free if you have the tools. Scrap steel in my area is .25 a LB 2. go to an after market off road store and the will well you what I just described in number 1, but you might get a sticker 3. You can go down to advance :shock: ask to see the Mr. Gasket catalog, and pick out a set of d60 spring perches for 20 bucks. 4. find a modification friendly Jeep dealer and order your parts from them, but be prepared to take it.. cause they are going to ream you. Personally if it wasn't for the fact that I make, or fab up 90% of my parts in my garage, I would not have bothered swapping out my D35 until I broke/ bent them. I went through 2 seperate housing before I finally went and got an 8.8. Both D35 I replaced I bent the tubes, never broke a shaft. You didnt offer my option which is to swap in an 8.8 with discs. You get more gear choices, more locker choices, and you can find them with 4.10's and LSD's which are pretty good, for a factory unit. Then when/if you decide you want more gear, you still have a LSD or you can swap in a locker. Did I mention, you can get the whole axle relitavely cheap... the Pick a prts in my area sell them complete for 130 Patrick

If you have anymore questions concerning the swap, and what problems I ran into.. just holler. In my area very few ppl lift their MJ... I was the only one at the VA4WDA annual run, and there was 250 vehicles there :shock: I guess that means I am special or just down right crazy for bashing my rig :twisted: Patrick

Actually the 8.8 is almost an 1.5" narrower. On the front wheel bearings, Jeep for what ever reason designed these around 5" of BS. So anything less then this puts an extra load on the bearings. This is why they don't last as long as the older style ones where the load is spread out over a larger area. Add heavier and bigger tires, and they just don't stand the extra stress and sheer load. I have spent over 600 bucks this yr on wheel bearings. The local auto parts store don't honor their warranty cause of "how" I use my rig :evil: So needless to say I found a more off road friendly store to do buisness with. Now I have yet to break anything this one has sold me. Patrick

Thats cool. I almost always have an empty passenger seat :cry: I havenb't figured out why yet. :? I am wondering if it is cause of my driving style. :twisted: My motto is " gas is on the right" :wink: and "Parts breakage is God's way of telling you to upgrade" :shock: The club I belong to, wheels some easy trails. I don't know if a MJ will make it even on the easy stuff with out possibly some damage. That is just because of the lack of break over angle. Our club does a Tellico ride in the Spring,, we also do a Winter camping trip. Patrick

Pull the gears and carrier out of it. I have severeal sets of 3.07 and 3.55's that I was going to turn into modern art and weld them all together along with broken axles and other parts. 3.73 and 30 or 31's is a perfect cobo for any newbies out there. Patrick

The 258 and the 4.0 head are different. Mostly it is a compression difference, and where the wter jackets are. The HO head mostly just flows better the the regular 4.0 head. That being said. If you go to use the HO head you will need a special valve cover gasket. Personally I would just port my stock intake to minimize headaches down the road with adapting parts. Keep in mind that the early heads have an EGR valve on a smog tube going to the exhaust. Patrick

I am running the 8.8, and I had to use wheel spacers in the rear. I went with spidertrax, cause at the time they were the only game in town. Ihear trail sport makes some nice one for almost 50 bucks less. Make sure you use loc tite on all the bolts, and torque everything to what the instructions recommend. AS for the d30. I am currently wheeling 33x12.5 bfg MT's the old style ones. Up to this last rebuild I could not go on a trail ride w/o busting u-joints. or axle shafts. I ended up buying chromo shafts with 760 joints :roll: Yeah I spent some coin on the d30, and I probrably could have built a d44 or maybe a lowbuck d60 for the front the coin I spent on it. I don't know what your utlimate plans are, but if you wheel your rig hard.. I suggest getting the hub conversion from warn or Mile marker. I would have been money ahead if I don't that. I am on my 3rd set of bearings this yr. But I also wheel my rig frequently. Patrick

Actually I am from Middlesex county... a lil further out in the woods :shock: BUt I am sure if you see us you will recognize my trail rig :D Kinda hard to miss a flat black pick up on a trailer being towed with a truck with the plate that says "J33PHLR" and a trailer whose plate is "4MYJP" :D Seriously we need to hook up and go wheeling. We almost always stop at the rest stop on the other side of richmond when we gop wheeling, wo if you want to go with us.. just let me know. Our club normally does at least one ride a month.. some times more depending on who, where and when :twisted: Patrick Patrick

Believe it or not.. My dogs ate my USB cable, and I have yet to replace it :( I am sure I wil have some pics of mine after I get back from Paragon :D , but as of right now... I don't. Patrick

I almost always by my tires and rims of the internet. I also give the local guys a chance to beat the price. Most can't even come close, but if they are within 25 bucks I will buy from them, just cause I hate sending my money away to big corparations. Also when you need your tire fixed, are you going to send it back to BFE to get it done. Most AT tires are just slightly different then your MT's. I have had good luck with the Pro Comp AT's, and Kodiak Gillette AT (these are made by Dunlop) Wear on them has been great. Off road they do great if aired down to about 15-17psi. Down side is the sidewalls bruise easily on both makes. Currently I am running BFG MTs on both of my rigs, and they are the OLd style TA's. Problem with these is thay have weak sidewalls as well. I just tore one, and had a lil trouble finding a place willing to tube it and put an inside patch on them. Found a place. Only reason why I did it was cause the tires have 80% tread.

Well as the title says some of us from the Club (MPJAI) I belong to are headed there this Thursday. We will be leaving the Gloucester/Yorktown area around 9AM. WE figure on an 8 hour trip up, and we will be wheeling Fri, and Sat. WE will be staying at the Moyers camp ground, so if you want to ride along with us, you are more then welcome. We are planning on running as difficult a trail as they let us :twisted: So come prepared. Patrick