Jeepman

Thanks. It's been fun.

Thanks and yes I say so. It is my truck after all.

Yes I know what I installed and it's not an issue.

Well the front took me about a week to do in days but I only spent maybe 3-5 hours a day and the rear took me 2-3 days and again I only spent about 3-5 hours each day working on it. Obviously still not done and a few kinks to work out and the e-brake cables go on tomorrow morning.

As with all our Comanche's this is a labor of Love and creation for me, plus it is also used to test new products I sell in my shop... As for the Welding Question, Normally I use my big 220V Mig but its in storage so i used my 120V Flux Core Mig which works fine for welding especially if you know how to weld... Yes it is Bare and must have dropped 75lbs in just brackets... My Next MJ build I may keep the axle coil sprung instead of cutting off all the brackets... Not going with SRT8 Wheels, I am going with these Wheels... Image Not Found

As with everything to each thier own but these wheels are temp wheels from an 08 JK as I need to drive the truck till I Sort out exact wheel offset i want/need if any, then order my wheels which will be a 5 star type alluminum bullet style wheel and 33 or 35 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ's... I havent decided exactly on the size yet but I am not in a real hurry since the wheels will take some time to order in so offset is my primary concern and I still have to measure that up and decide how much tire I want at or ouitside the flares and I am not really a huge fan of too much tire outside the flare... As it sits now with the new axles are wider then the stock axles and the wheel width is a about where it was on the old axles with a 4" backspaced rim so I will not likely go too much wider stance but again I havent sorted all that just yet... As for the 18" size well I only wanted to go as large as 17's but there is NO way to fit anything smaller then 18's with the Brembo brakes so 18's it is... The RC Kit is not a very good system and the arms are right where they should be, any farther forward which is not a good idea because the upper arms don't adjust well and the axle can't be pivoted to correct for the coil spring... I will be fabing New arms in the near future to adjust the axle center better but its just fine as it is now if I wanted to leave it as is...

The rust there is minimal and I will be fabricating full length custom Frame Rail/stiffeners in the near future...

OK Now that the Front is Done here is what I did to the rear a Few Months later... Took a little drive to Cleveland to pick up this Gem... An 08 WK SRT8 Rear D44 with Brembo Brakes Now to the removal of the rear ZJ D44a.. New Axle all cleaned up and ready to roll under... New OE Rear leafs instllaled for a SOA... Temp New Wheels as the 16's I already had will not fit the SRT8 so a Minimum of 18" Axle Rolling under with the new wheels... Axle installed and ready for some brake lines and Shock mounts... Rear Axle allmost done and sitting on the ground with a little more lift then I had ever expected... All sitting on the ground and Done just need the Rear Driveshaft and Shocks installed but done... Needed to add ACOS spacers in the front for now to bring the front up 2" but good enough till I order in some new Coil springs for the front and I figure 6" coils should do it... I am pretty Happy with it at this point and the ride is now much smoother then before the Long arm upgrade and SOA and will be better when I get the new front coils and Better Shocks all around which will be Bilsteins for sure...

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Yes I have a Spartan and It works just fine and there is nothing wrong with it, But I have locking hubs so the locker has not seen enough use to get it worked in properly and that maybe why I feel it more then others.. Remember just because something works one way for one setup does not always mean it will work the same for all others as No too jeeps are the same... Glad you made the decision and it is a decent product for the price point...

A non disco front axle swap is easy to do. For me I went with the spartan because it was cheap and I expect to swap out the axle to another so I didn't want to spend too much money on the old D30. The full time locker is ok but just not nice in the corners when the wheels are more fully locked as the u-joints bind up and cause a shake otherwise in 4wd it works great but pulls unpredictably in either direction. The selectable lockers are not much more then a full carrier locker. I would probably go auburn e-locker for the front if I were to keep the D30.

Well maybe with the axle Disconnect you won't notice it but If you do not have the disconnect you will and it is not safe at all on the road when it gets slippery out. I would never weld the spiders or ever suggest someone do it but that's me I prefer to do things properly but it is a very cheap way to go if done correctly. I am pretty sure If your truck had the 231 then you will have the disco but if you have the 242 then it is non disco. I installed the non disco axle in my truck when I did the 4x4 conversion. For me and my setup I am not at all happy with the front being locked with any lunch box locker so it is not a Spartan locker issue as I love the one in my rear D44a but just not for the front. I will be removing it as I would rather keep my locking hubs over the lunch box locker. But then again I will be going to different axles in the near future so I may live with it this way for a little while longer.

If You can Go Selectable... I have the a Spartan in the Front and Rear and If I didnt have the Front Alloy USA Locking Hub Conversion I would have removed it RIGHT away but I have a NON Disco Axle...

Now I understand why and knowing how to weld is important but you could have had someone weld them in for you like your Paint and Body guy... My Only concern would be if the air bags go off without proper attacment to the Firewall I would be worried that the dash will get riped off with the airbag deployment... They were designed a specific way to distribute the forces of an air bag deployment and if you have ever seen an air bag deploy you will know what I am talking about... I am a worry wart when it comes to stuff like air bags which is definately why I welded them in for my 97+ conversion but I too have seen others bolt them in and rivet them in but I have never seen anyone just not install them... As Is the Truck Looks Great ill be building another on in the near future as my current build got canceled due to no time to work on it...

Great Build as It reminds me of my 97+ conversion I did 2 years back... Any Reason why you did not install the proper Dash Brackets? I see you removed the Old style MJ ones but you did not re-install the New XJ ones which would have helped you to Properly align the dash where I seen that you said nothing lined up for the dash mounts and that is because you did not install the proper Dash Brackets... Id Post a link the my pIcture of the Proper Brackets installed but my Webshots account is all screwed since they changed over thier system...

The Firewall does not need much modification.... A few brackets get cut off and a few new ones get welded on, a few holes get drilled and some slight trimming around the Steering column otherwise it is fairly simple...

No They are proper Stamped Rockers and I know first hand because I used them on my MJ after buying the $#!&ty Cheap ones... They are XJ/MJ stamped Rocker Panels for 2 or 4 Door that you just cut off the access length and if you have ever used the old crap rockers you will be happy to pay the extra money for the stamped rockers... As for a Link... Sorry I do not have one as I order them from my distributor so anyone that needs them should just ask for late model XJ because they are the same thing and they also Have stamped Inner rockers available too...

Perfect fit Stamped Rockers are available aftermarket but nothing yet for Cab corners...

No Sorry I have nothing to update on this project and I am Actually Now selling it off as I do not have the time to get back to this and I do not have the extra Space to store it till I have the time...

So Far we only know that you have an 18.5G Tank and that you traveled 190 miles till the fuel light came on but you didn't say how many gallons you put back in the tank when you filled the Truck back up... The EPA says a Stock 92 MJ should get: 4.0L 2WD Auto MJ - 14 MPG City and 19 MPG HWY 4.0L 2WD Manual MJ - 16 MPG City and 20 MPG HWY 4WD 4.0L 2WD Auto MJ - 14 MPG City and 18 MPG HWY 4.0L 2WD Manual MJ - 15 MPG City and 20 MPG HWY So roughly 14MPG for a 18.5G tank should be somewhere around 250 miles so I would say your probably right on the money but without knowing how much fuel you put back in the tank it is only as guess based on the EPA Specs...

Very Cool Idea... I will keep this in mind when I finish my Next 97+ conversion

Thats great and I am sure Your Dad Only saw a 1.5MPG gain because of the Axle Disconnect so it would have been a larger gain if his truck never had it... Anything with the axle disconnect will only net half the MPG gain of an axle without the disconnect... I will post up my numbers once I run a few tanks of fuel and see how much I improve, but I am not nice to my truck so it will be hard to behave with it...

I own and operate a 4X4 shop so my cost is better then retail. The kit as mentioned in the first post Is the Alloy USA hub conversion kit with chromoly shafts both inner and outer purchased thru my distributor who owns Alloy USA. The kits MSRP is around $1500.00US but can be had for closer to $1300US and regardless of the nay Sayers fuel mileage will be the greatest advantage of a hub conversion not to mention the wear and tear on the drivetrain and the lockeris happier and has better road manors when the hubs are unlocked. I did the conversion for many reasons. - fuel savings - less wear and tear - less stress because of the lunch box Spartan locker - to be a demo to customers - to get real world fuel economy numbers since there is always a debate - because I can I have ran it with the hubs locked and am glad I have the ability to unlock them because the front axle locked is loud and uncomfortable so a quick unlock and she is driving manors are back yo before the locker otherwise I would pull the locker and replace it with a selectable. The fuel savings alone will pay for the kit all by itself, how long it takes is up to how much you drive and have to fill up.

OK I Got her All Buttoned up Today but No real Test drive yet... Hub and Rotor All Presed together Hub And Rotor Installed Locking Hub Installed New Calipers Installed Wheels Back On Tomorrow I will Fill her up with Fuel and Start testing the Fuel savings...