mvusse

...good tip...and if the oil is fuel fouled, what's up? Compression numbers are good at last check at or close to 135 across the board. Fuel is getting by the rings and into the crankcase. Leaky injectors are usually the cause. Have you done a fuel pressure test? See how long the rail holds pressure after shutting the Jeep off. This was my cause of fuel in the oil. By the time it was ready for an oil change it was so thin it wouldn't hold pressure idling after it warmed up.

One trip to Badlands Offroad Park with my long bed I was accused to driving mine like a mini truck. When I asked "How so?" the replied consisted of a number of photos, all taken at different spots, all with my rear bumper and trailer hitch dragging the ground. That was with 6.25" lift front, SOA rear and 33" tires. Since then the bed has disappeared, the front went up to about 7", the tires grew to 37" and the frame got shortened a few inches. Bumper and trailer hitch also came off. I still parked the rear of the frame in the ground on one occasion last fall. Sitting on level ground the bottom of the frame rail is 36" off the ground. Plan for the future is to leave the wheel base the same, but flip the rear spring around (long side forward, short side toward the rear) and hang the shackle off the bottom of the still to be constructed new bumper. This should move the back of the truck (bumper face) about 15 or 18" forward from where the frame ends stock and give me ~80 degree departure angle.

Droop could also be limited by the upper control arms hitting a little lip just below the frame side bracket. As for the track bar not fitting anymore, have a helper sit in the truck, and with their feet firmly planted on the break pedal so the front wheels don't want to turn use the steering wheel to shift the truck left or right over the axle until the track bar lines up with the bolt holes.

Sugar does nothing. It doesn't dissolve in gasoline, so the worst it can do is plug up the sock on the fuel pump if you dump enough in. Works no better than sand, salt, or anything else you can throw in.

The early cases had an internally lubricated slip yoke. In these the transmission fluid inside the transfer case lubricated the slip joint. The later cases are sealed, and the slip joint is lubricated with grease held in place by a rubber boot. But, since these are sealed, they are a good candidate for a inexpensive hack-n-tap slip yoke eliminator.

2wd/4wd makes no difference to the cross member, as it still mounts to the transmission. The transfer case just hangs in the air held up by the 5 or 6 bolts bolting it to the transmission tail housing.

From experience I know Dana makes or made two different 3.54/3.55 tooth ratios for the reverse cut model 30.

It doesn't matter. The difference is smaller than what unevenly worn tires will cause, even so little so that to the naked eye they look identical. The difference between 4.09 and 4.11 is less than one half of a percent. The difference between either of those and 4.10 is less than a quarter of a percent. For all practical purposed those ratios are equal.

It's gonna take work to break a 29 spline shaft in a locked 8.25". Doing rear wheel stand on 35" tires, bouncing up and down due to spring wrap doesn't do it. That stunt did cost me a driveshaft, though.

Torq Masters moved their production to the USA and changed a few details in the process. Lokka is the Australian company that used to make the Aussie for Torq Masters and are selling them themselves now. These are the same as the Aussies from yesteryear. I have had an Aussie in my 8.25" rear under my Comanche for a few years. Worked well off road, but didn't really like the road manners. Good thing that truck was not a daily driver anymore. I sold the axle complete with locker and disc brake conversion when I moved to one tons. AFAIK it is still happily going its merry way under the new owner's Comanche.

$%^&*$%#(^& NO MONEY!

The newer "Motion Offroad's" are Teraflex.

Steering linkage is identical between XJ and MJ. But if you will take it offroad, the thin wall hollow tube tie rod will be an issue. A solid tie rod out of a V8 Grand Cherokee 1993-1998 will be a direct swap and is much stronger.

D35 axle shafts are thin enough to bend quite a bit. And his spiders gears are probably hating him every time he moves it.

Did I post anywhere it wouldn't need new perches? Any axle that came out of anything other than a Comanche will need perches cut and new ones welded on in the correct location.

Seal part number in first post of thread linked in my signature. Block off plate can be made with a piece of 1/8 steel, a jig saw, a drill and using the cad housing as a pattern.

The nose on an 8.25" is one inch longer, he will have to look at the rust line on the slip yoke to see if he has enough play to handle that. If not it will need shortened adding more $$$. I would spend $50 on the D35, for a temporary fix. Then after the truck is back together start looking for an 8.25" for a more permanent solution. If you stay spring under, perches are cheap, less than $10 I believe. I used to pay $20 at a local welding shop to have two perches welded on after I used an angle grinder to cut the old perches off and ground smooth and also grind rust, paint and dirt off down to shiny metal where the new ones get welded on.

Manual transmission would require flywheel, clutch (obviously entire thing including pedal and master cylinder), brake pedal, and neutral safety switch bypass. AX4 and AX5 would be bolt on, AX15 could be with the correct bellhousing out of a 2.5/stick shift Dakota, but that sucker is a unicorn.

I'm drooling all over your floors!

I still suggest against D44. They are good axles, but the issues aren't strength. They are wrong width and bolt pattern (78-79 Ford F100), wrong bolt pattern (Isuzu, SJ), overpriced (XJ) or "they must think it is made of gold" overpriced so much it is funny (MJ). Not to mention the Rubicon 44. As near as might as well be identical in strength is a 96.5 and newer 8.25" out of a Cherokee. Correct bolt pattern, correct width, correct brakes (no mods needed for parking brake cable), correct pinion yoke, plentifull and cheap. I bought my first one for $100 before I learned to look better. Sold it to an acquaintance when I didn't need it anymore for $300 with a locker and a disc brake conversion, already set up correctly for a spring-over-axle Comanche I had no use for it as I moved to a Sterling 10.25". The second one (4.10 ratio under my daughter's Cherokee) was free. The third one which came from under a 96 Cherokee parts vehicle I had bought I gave to a buddy for free when he needed one, and the last one I paid $20 for will go under my daily driver Comanche as the D35 is on its way out. That $20 will need a new yoke ($12), though as one of the ears locating the u joint is damaged.

I'd go to the junk yard and pull one.

It will need to be spaced further from the frame. The stock aluminum spacer is not enough for the larger diameter. Also, if you don't mind opening it up you can increase the turning radius by removing a snap ring spacer on the one end and grinding a bit off the cover on the other end.

Those are half the price of the JKS, do you recommend those? Only if you want to replace the bushings every year.

The light, just like the gauge, goes off oil *pressure*, not oil level. The light comes on when your oil pressure drops to 0. IE, the oil pump is sucking air instead of oil.

Sloppyness of the stock bushings? New stock bushings are $5.99, are a simple press fit, and ride no worse than poly bushings. They last a lot longer too. I used to run "Motion Offroad" (Teraflex) lower control arms and was replacing the poly bushings every year. Rubicon Express got tired of replacing poly bushings under warranty and completely redesigned theirs.