gogmorgo

I run Rotella T6 (synthetic) 5w40 in the winter, and usually end up switching out to a conventional 15w40 diesel oil in the summer if my wallet's hurting. Both my Jeeps and Lada call for 10w30, but I've noticed much quieter running in the Lada and more reasonable pressure in the MJ running the 40-weight. As far as the 5w vs 15w debate goes, the 5w40 starts up a hell of a lot better at -40 than the 15w, better cranking speed, less valvetrain noise on startup that goes away more quickly. I don't notice much difference in the summer between the two. If you're burning a bit of oil and emissions are a concern, the zinc in a diesel oil will gradually coat the catalytic converter, slowly decreasing its effectiveness. This will still happen to a lesser degree with an engine that doesn't burn oil, which is partly why gasoline oils have moved away from higher ZDDP content. . Ultimately though having clean oil of the proper weight is going to do more for your engine's longevity than which oil you run. Clean cheap oil running through a clean cheap filter is always going to be better than dirty old high-dollar oil through an old, clogged, bypassing, expensive filter. With regular maintenance the farmers out here get ridiculous age and mileage out of trucks running no-name oils and Fram filters, despite the abuse they sustain. Running a higher-quality oil is definitely going to make a difference in something you plan on keeping forever, but you could still be looking at 700,000miles instead of 650,000.

"Cherokee visor, does not fit Comanche."

Cup holders weren't really a thing until the early 80's (or later, I'd have to check), which is when our trucks were designed. I've used a boot in the passenger footwell, and I've also successfully juggled a cup in my Niva, either between my legs or in my hand, while driving stick with no power steering. It wasn't easy but you can do it if you set your mind to it... of course I may have spilled a bit. And yeah, that woman who sued McDick's, she got third degree burns from it. No, those photos weren't pretty.

I was just thinking about this. With the topper on my MJ I was thinking it might look good with a visor, so the post, and said "oh hey!" Then saw the price and said "hella nope!"

I'm aware of one sitting at a wrecking yard I occasionally end up at. I'll let you know the next time I'm around. I imagine they won't charge me much but I don't know what shipping would be from the frozen north. Also would I need to pull the dash to get at the harness? Not sure I want to do that until spring.

I was actually in Pittsburgh on January 31st. But it was still before you posted. What do you mean when you say the mounting point to the topper needs repaired? Is it an easy fix or would it be something even a skilled person might scrap the whole topper over? Like I said I don't want to pull apart a good one someone else might want. Can you post a photo? I'm hoping a local place might be able to help me get or make a door, however after almost a week of phoning and finding out there's only one guy who knows anything about truck toppers there, I went in in person (I say local, it's a sixty mile drive!) and only was given a time to call at today. I did that, and now I have a time to call on Wednesday... I'm getting less convinced this guy even exists, let alone works there.

And it did as expected. Nice.

http://www.frontrange4x4.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=21672&stc=1&d=1317363204 Also a test, didn't feel like starting a new thread.

Forgot to mention that as well. I've certainly *cough* never *coughcough* had the pleasure *coughwheezhack* of standing five feet away from interstate traffic dribbling gas into anything. Nope, never. ...gas stations are sometimes hundreds of miles apart around here, at least at night.

It sure would be convenient if the fill doors were always on the same side... The Niva's is on the passenger side. I put 5600 miles on it in the last two weeks, having not driven it for a while, needless to say I did have to think pretty hard a couple times, and did pull in on the wrong side more than once but realized my mistake before getting out. Then once I got home, first thing I did in the MJ was pull up to the pump on the wrong side. Herp derp. While having it on the driver's side may be more convenient, having it on the passenger's side forces you to walk all the way around, so you can get a visual on that side of the vehicle. This allowed me to keep an eye on a tire that picked up a nail without going out of my way. I wouldn't really have much other reason to look at that side of the car otherwise.

Supposedly the serial number is on a plate on riveted on top of the bed rail on the driver's side, but :dunno: Looking at stuff online, there's a "call size" for all doors, (IIRC its four pairs of digits?) but I have yet to find any indication that the numbers reflect any actual measurements, although supposedly it can be found on or around the rear door of "any" truck cap, per what I was reading, but again :dunno: Hornbrod measured his for me a while back and I've got the hole I can measure myself as well. But thanks for the offer. :thumbsup:

What's the chance you'd have a serial number or rear door size tagged on there somewhere? I've been trying to track down a door for the Leer cap I just picked up, but the local (well, nearest... 200 miles away) Leer dealers won't tell me anything without a serial number (all they say is they've got nothing for a Jeep Comanche) and those who have suggested they've actually got serial numbers on their caps haven't been forthcoming with the number. The only place I've found nearby that deals in truck caps apparently only has one guy who knows anything about caps and I'm not convinced he actually works there cause he's never there when I call...

Darn, I was just in Kansas City, could have saved on shipping. I'm in for a pair this time for sure, but looks like all 5 sets are spoken for?

Yeah. He was super impressed at the registration. Tweeted all kinds of wonderful things about us. :eyeroll: It definitely wasn't set up for spectating.

Yup, Bronco on 35's. I wound up finishing third in the rally. I've got to write it up myself but being back home and catching up on things I slacked on while busting @$$ to get it together is going to take a bit.

Yup. It also got spotlighted in the Roadkill article about the Rally. http://www.roadkill.com/lemons-winter-rally-retreat-moscow/

Sadly no. Not 100% positive which you're referring to, but as far as green things at the back go, from left to right, there's a Ram with bright green decals, an XJ with the feet stickers, a Bronco, and then a (not green and a 2006 Tahoe underneath) International Harrvester bread van right in front of the helicopter.

Saw another MJ just now. Maroon, parked in a driveway off highway 33 going through Bankhead national forest.

Literally every other time we stop. Lots of head snaps on the highway, :thumbsup:Even half the ridiculous people we're rallying with have never heard of it before. And when I say ridiculous... That helicopter at the back is an actual chopper body sitting on top of a Toyota minivan chassis with Audi Quattro running gear, and they were actually driving it before they toasted the transmission.

So I've been running the Lemons Rally in my Niva. So far she's been good...ish. Wheel bearing started going back around Grand Forks, couldn't find a suitable replacement in Fargo, but did in Minneapolis, and drove halfway to Chicago to where we met a friend with a trailer for the rest of the run. Chicago to Scranton PA was a long run with no issues. Day one of the Rally (to Pittsburg via Buffalo) itself we lost fifth gear a couple hours in, but cruising in 4th (4K rpm at 55mph) we haven't missed a checkpoint yet. Day two of the Rally ran down to Asheville. Again not much trouble from the Niva, although she was in for an oil change due to sheer mileage covered and a timing chain re-tensioning by the end of the day. Again no missed checkpoints. We were in second place by the end of the day. Day three ended in Memphis. We again hit all the scheduled checkpoints although we were a little delayed coming in and lost an opportunity for more points in a challenge. We've slipped down to P4 on the official standings but not all our points had been tallied yet. Day four is starting, we're heading down to Birmingham, AL, by way of Paris, TN. Half the reason I'm posting this is cause I've seen a few MJ's out and about and wondering if I've also been noticed. There was a light blue shortbed with a black topper under a portable garage, and then a short while later a brown longbed somewhere in WV, where exactly I couldn't say anymore, we've been through so many smaller towns that it's getting hard to keep track. We also saw a nice white longbed heading in the other direction just north of Asheville, NC, the other day. Yesterday there was a really nice dark blue truck that turned out ahead of us (going the other way) that I waved like hell at. Near Camden, TN I think. Thing looked sweet, the way I wish my would but doesn't after surviving 525,000km and 26 Canadian winters. If anyone else sees this thing on the road, give us a honk or a wave. We'll be at Barber Motorsports Park this evening, hanging out around Birmingham before starting the long trek back home (especially long at 55mph) on Sunday.

Mine are the same. Like you said, lots of space. Edit: I guess there's a chance it could be pointed the opposite direction, hard to say from memory, but definitely horizontal. If go out and check but right now I've got the Niva in Fargo, ND, trying to locate a replacement for the rear axle bearing. I spent a half-hour in an O'Reilly going through books with one of the grey-haired guys, and couldn't find one that matched the specs. Trying to decide to push on for Chicago tomorrow night or not. Doubt I'll make it to Minneapolis before bearing places close (the place the parts guy sent me to isn't open on weekends) and I'm not optimistic about Sundays anywhere. But I should be able to find something in Chicago on Monday, I'm just not super thrilled about driving that distance with it already making the roalf-roalf-roalf noise. I'm supposed to be in east PA on Tuesday morning...

Lots of them are ordering through the same place I am. From what I can tell their dealer/parts network has been reduced to about the same as ours, a couple small outlets that cost as much to ship from as Ukraine. They were sold new here too.

The Dakota 2.5 is the same AMC 2.5 in the MJ. The Dakota bellhousing is the easiest way to put an AX15 and a 2.5L together.

I always drain mine after I'm done with it. It doesn't see a huge amount of use so I'd rather not have water sit in it. And even with only having compressed a tank once just to fill a tire, I can always hear water getting pushed out the drain valve. I also have an inline water separator to keep water out of tools and tires, but it's got a plastic body so I'm less anal about draining that.

The oil filter? A/C on both my '91 MJ and '92 XJ doesn't come anywhere near the oil filter...