87manche

don't buy rusty's buy ruffstuff instead. Dan's a pleasure to talk to and work with. www.ruffstuffspecialties.com $100 get's you all you need. my brother used this kit, and it's beef. http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/cat ... p-186.html

have you got the brace that goes inside the u bolt plate? without that I could see the plate bending very easily.

a few thoughts, from someone that's done a quick and dirty re-ring on a motor. Go buy a decent torque wrench, and by decent, I mean expensive. Harbor freight isn't gonna cut it, you NEED to have the bearing caps and head bolts torqued properly, or bad things will happen. Since the guy machinging the block is gonna put the rings on you shouldn't really have any problems. You'll need the tool for the rings anyway, you tighten it down and use a bit of motor oil/assembly lube in the bore, then tap the piston/rod assembly down into the block with a piece of wood, or the handle of a hammer. The pistons aren't the hard part, it's the cam and such that can be a pain. Is he replacing the cam bearings in the block when it's machined? You need a special tool for those. OTherwise the cam isn't terribly difficult, lots of lube, and slide it in. To set the timing, you need to get cylinder #1 at TDC, then line up the timing marks on the cam sprocket with the one on the crank sprocket. that's about all I can think of right now.

I forgot to answer the original question. You want to goto your local dealer, and have him order the mopar performance perches for a 3" tube. They'll need a bit of grinding to fit just right, but they're made of 1/4" metal, and they're about $10 for the PAIR. You'll need a spicer flange adapter for the 8.8 You'll be able to reuse your D-shaft, the extra pinion length of the 8.8 will compensate for the lift. You'll have to make shock mounts. There's a thread on the front page about those.

you guys have mistaken his posts. He's gonna do 150 coils up front, and j-20 leafs out back. it will definitely be a stiff ride.

you don't want the ranger axle. it has smaller shafts than the explorer, 27 or 28 spline vs 31. that said. The biggest argument to the 8.8 is c clips, as long as you don't break a shaft it's not a problem. I run mine with 34" swampers and have no fear of it breaking. anyway, the one you want is from an explorer, preferably with discs.

goto NAXJA. search "bastard Pack" it's about a 10 page thread with all sorts of combinations of leaves you can use and what lift you'll get. Most common was dakota's and S10s.

meh, it's entertaining for all the SWB guys when I follow them. There's a reason I have a gigantic power steering cooler now. but I'll climb everything they're scared of flipping over on.

likewise, it could be c clip or non. Correct, but I'll bet its a "C" Clip D35. 1989/90 was the break for the non "C" Clip so it could be either, but most 90's got the NEW "C" Clip axle. CW hard to say. My factory 87 axle was non, and the 90 axle I got was non. you never know what parts AMC was using that week.

2x2 box, cut, radiused to fit the tube, bolt welded through on the other side. that's my plan anyway.

my longbed rails were 78" long, and they were short of the rear wheel well by about 5". gives you an idea anyway.

formatt isn't making those anymore. in fact he's not making any of that stuff anymore. last I remember he was amazed the website was still up.

check out the muscle car scene. I vaguely remember some "universal" senders. It would be a PITA to get it to read proper, and you'll probaby have to take it apart a few times to bend the float at the right angle, but it would probably be a ton cheaper. http://www.tperformance.com/street_rod_ ... el_sender/

likely the rheostat is damaged. You might be able to get a rebuild kit for it. Which is basically the two wiper arms and maybe a spring or two. I'm sure that it's probably a GM part with an AMC part number. if you can't locate a rebuild kit for it, then yes, you have to buy a new sender/fuel pump unit.

I'll toss my hat into this ring. with my current tire size I would rate my 8.8 as nearly bulletproof. it is possible. Brad broke on in his rig: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=571982 but it was only after the ring and pinion in the front axle departed, and the entire weight of the rig came crashing down a waterfall onto the rear axle. carnage was impressive, and included a broken detroit. Anything can be broken, but I'm not worried about it. That said, how is this any different than any other Jeep out there? All the later model 35's were c clip. at least I'm not likely to break an 8.8 shaft. just another reason to not believe everything you read, until you talk with someone that's abused it. I bet that all of the offroad rag guys have never even used an 8.8 because it has c clips, so how can they accurately rate how strong of an axle it is? I'll just say that mine took a full throttle assualt up lower 2 just fine

likewise, it could be c clip or non.

yeah, the chevy shackles are the hot tip for getting another inch very cheaply. I think they cost about $25 from summit. ayway. DO you have a welder? do you have a friend with a welder? if so, just go and buy the 4.5" springs you want for the front, along with control arms and shocks of your choice. Goto the mopar dealership, get a pair of mopar perfromace spring perches. They'll cost you 8 bucks. do an SOA in the rear, lift the front to match. that rocky road kits has a few things that bother me. The firrst is control arms for up front. stock control arms at 5" is a bad idea. Stock control arms at any height suck if you wheel hard. secondly, tht bolt on SOA. Sure, that seems like a great idea, and it doesn't look unsafe in any way. If you wheel it will suck. Plain and simple. I can't wait to go SOA and removed the gigantic rock grabbing perches below my axle. Those will be no different, and you'll find yourself getting hung up on them all the time.

model 20 was only an option in 86.

just had the same problem. some white lithium grease in all of the linkage parts solved it for me.

you sure can. things like fuel pump voltage, and a myriad of sensors can be accessed right there. technically you need a DRBII but I've had good luck with a multimeter.

never seen a dually yota 8" axle. the post IFS ones are a bit wider, something like 63", would be a good width, but then you've also got the lug pattern issues.

they're not even rusted. how is that possible?

compression test, dry and wet. no sense doing all that nasty work if the blowby is a by product of worn out rings.

easy to tell what you've got under there. Round/oval cover it's a D35. angular diamond shaped cover and it's a 44. post a picture, someone will tell you in 30 seconds. as to upgrading to it, I wouldn't bother finding a 44. 8.8's are plenty available and are arguably stronger. Larger tubes, bigger gearset, the only downside is c-clips.

upgrade. I toasted my d35 after one trip with my 34's. ate the ring gear.