WahooSteeler

It should store in the factory spot no problem, especially if you only mount up a 235. I have seen several posts on here about guys mounting aftermarket wheels and late model 15x8s like these with 30s and even 31s on them with no problem. Sending you a PM on price, didn't know you were in Martinsburg so we are only a couple hours away. When I lived in Pittsburgh for 4+ years, Martinsburg was one of our two regular stopping points for food, gas and taking a leak whenever we came home to VA.

what's your zip? do you want the tire too or just the wheel?

Looking good, coming along nicely. Do you need/want a spare Gambler? I've got one with or w/out a 30" Pro Comp A/T if interested.

I've got the same setup on the front along w/1.75" spacers. Most people will tell you if you are willing to put on a cut down main spring or even shackles that they would recommend that over an AAL due to ride quality and a short life of the spring providing any lift. That being said, there might be a 1-2" AAL out there, but the only ones I've ever seen are "advertised" as 3". The main spring as you probably know will be of the same arc and spring rate and therefore would be the best way to go IMO. I don't know what your timeframe is, but I picked up a set of true 3" coils for my front and when spring hits will swap out the ZJ coils and pucks, so if you don't have a set yet I will be selling mine in a couple of months.

if you really only want 1-2", you could consider a shackle lift. shackle lifts are generally frowned upon but, again, if you are only looking for 1-2" MAX (if you ever decide on more lift, you don't want that long of a shackle), they are an easy and inexpensive way to accomplish your goal. the best setup that seems to work is to pick up a pair of chevy drop shackles. you can get a pair off of ebay for $40-50. you could then do 1-2" coil spacers up front for a true "budget boost". or, you can research for budget boost kits, there are several out there. keep in mind though, as i learned from here, many of those kits say they are for XJs AND MJs but the XJ shackles are shorter therefore you will only get 1/2 the advertised lift. i.e. if it says it will lift a cherokee 2", you will only net 1". But, that could be just what you are looking for. up front, it's all the same so if it comes with 2" spacers, you'll get the true 2". a lot of people prefer a little extra lift in the front anyway to take some of the rake away, i.e. give the truck a little more level stance. And, if you really want to keep that helper spring on there for that extra bucket of mulch, it shouldn't be a problem if you go the shackle route. oh well, there is my nickels worth, which 90% i learned from here and just regurgitate.

#1

chico is probably either working or sleeping. he took on that other job to make ends meet and probably is at the pizza joint when he's not on the other job.

Dude, I'm there. I think Pong's got the call, keg for sure and a chow down!

Friggin classic ------- great write-up, love the side notes (Brady Bunch, awesome!)!! :rotf:

i guess if i paid more attention to the photos i would have recognized the first one as your truck Pete, and would have known they weren't stock. :doh: :yes:

sounds to me like you want to do some offroading but nothing hardcore etc. as the true gurus have said, you should probably stay at 30" tires in relation to your gearing and having a 4cyl. bumpstops are what keep your axles and/or tires from stuffing all the way in to your fenderwells and possibly damaging the sheetmetal and other things. if you go 3", which you said you've already ordered the kit, and plan to wheel it you should get some extended bumpstops so at "full flex" the axle is actually stopped from stuffing further in the wheelwell and causing damage as noted above. as for tires, you'd be suprised, in my opinion, the difference in size from a 235 metric to a 30" or 31". go to a tire store and stand 3 of them side by side. the 30" is not a dramatic difference over the 235, but IMO I was suprised how much bigger a 31" looked when standing beside a 30". anyway, unless you plan on swapping in a 4.0 later, from what i've learned here and what you seem to want out of your truck, 2-3" of lift, 30" tires, and then start saving for the #1 modification on Pete's list: gears, gears, gears. The experts can tell you what is best to run, but if your truck is also your DD, 4.56's are probably the fair balance between wheeling and performance/MPG as a DD, maybe 4.88's actually. if it is just a wheeler you could probably go higher.

well both of those shots show 5 leaf packs which are the Metric Ton packs from the factory. if yours look different it sure sounds like an aftermarket helper spring. if the truck is original to your family, is there someone you can ask if they put on a helper spring at some point? maybe it was dealer installed when it was first bought. definitely need pics to tell for sure what it is.

Ha Ha, attaboy Don! About damn time! Amazing what only 1.25" will do. To be women weren't as easily satisfied! Seriously though, I think that it looks fantastic and definitely gives it a more balanced look. I will be following that mod by this summer for sure. Oh, and while I'm not a Sox fan, the plates look great too! A truck like that needs vanity plates of some sort. Mine just came in about 2 weeks ago, I'll get a picture up. :brows:

Nah, I meant pics from Hornbrod!!

got all excited for pics when i got an email for a new post to this thread. :doh:

Pat, glad you finally made it home. Just to add my 2 cents worth for future reference, if you've got a "frozen" diesel, plugging in a block heater after the fact might get you started 1 out of 100 tries. When I ran a commercial rental fleet in Pittsburgh for 4+ years, it only took my first winter there to figure that out. Now, don't get me wrong, still plug it in because in my experience if you've got any chance of starting without some shop time, you need all the help you can get. The number one thing you can do is get a strong charge to BOTH batteries. As you ultimately determined, one battery apparently was shot. Even when you can get hooked up to both batteries, they've got to be able to charge for 20-30 minutes MINIMUM, preferably 45 mins.+, to get enough juice to turn the engine fast enough. If we couldn't a charge source to each battery, like out on the road etc., we'd hook the positive to one battery and negative to another and give it a good hour or two before trying to get a start. If that doesn't work and you can't get heat to the engine, you've got to change out the fuel filter if you want any chance of getting a start. Oh yeah, and keep the tank topped off or at least 1/2 full. When our trucks, or more precisely our customers had 1/4 tank or less when they shut down the night before, condensation occured and then gelling and frozen lines.

Damn, I've been away for a little while and thought for sure you'd have some pics up by now Don! :dunno:

unscrew the armrest first. unscrew door handle but leave attached, i.e. don't disconnect rods. take a screwdriver or preferably a prybar or something similar and go around perimeter of door panel and gently pop out the plastic "push pins". be gentle so they don't break off and you can re-use them. lift up on door panel to release from the top and then start to slide it back a little. At this point you work the door handle assembly through the opening in the door panel, and once you've done that the panel comes right off.

It takes about an hour and 15 minutes. An hour on the first one and 15 minutes on the second one. At least that's how it went when I did mine with my stubby little fingers LOL. :D

If anyone has an open Carfax account and would be willing to run a VIN for me, 5FNYF18646B017443, that would be great. Thanks in advance for any help.

its the same count on the table and on the truck. look again? ahhh, correcta-mundo! if you look at the lower right corner of the pic, since they are not connected yet the main leaf seems to be hanging down a bit and I only saw 6. But in the middle of the pack I see the 7. Ok, then double-wow!

They both have HD versions, check the load rating on both as I don't think they are the same. Check with Hornbrod on who he got his springs from. I know they have a high load rating, but what you'll need to check is if they have a 4.5" version as his are 3". FYI, Tom from HellCreek is a member here too, so you can just PM him, MO, and Hornbrod for some quick info. Keep us posted..........

Unbelievable. I doubt the "Power of Parcells" will never be questioned again. And who is this Tony Soprano guy coaching? Sounds like a mobster's name. :D

Awesome work. I love this project. :drool:

A belated Happy Holidays fellow MJ and Jeep lovers! Been pretty busy filling the days and evenings jumping back and forth between my family and the wife's. Her brother was in town, her sister just got back from 4 mos of being the Admin Asst. to the Dean of Students on "Semester at Sea", and my oldest sister was in town. So just getting on here other than a couple quick visits the last week. Oh, and Santa was up til 5am getting things ready Christmas Eve.......errrr, Christmas morning. So, Happy New Year and I hope 2009 will be prosperous for all in these tough times.