MrSimon

I know you said you want to keep your MJ nice .... which is great. But, if they are easy miles to and from work - it won't hurt your truck at all .... in fact, it might be good for it. And, once you factor in the cost of the DD car, insurance, registration, yearly inspection, and general maintanence ..... it might actually be cheaper to drive the truck. But, if you really want a DD car, you just can't beat an older Civic or Corolla (Prism). Or, what about a motorcycle. You can get a cheap 250 that gets 75 mpg for $1,500. If you just have to have something with some "cool factor", look at the Civic Si. They are fast little buggers, and a LOT of fun to drive.

SOA with your 2" leafs will give you about 7.5" of rear lift. Thats a LOT! If you want to match your front (assuming about 4") you'll really need different leafs for the rear. Sticking with your wish for a better ride .... you could consider just buying a nice set of 4" SUA leafs.

Bass Boat!!

found the pic

x2 on what Pete said!!! Do a lot of research before buying anything. There are about a dozen different ways to run 4-5" and 33s. Some good, some bad. Take a few days and read through some of the build threads .... you'll learn a TON! First off though - check your rear axle. If its a D35, you'll need to replace it or the 33s will break it pretty quick. And if you are going to replace it, it would be a good time to do a Spring Over for the rear.

I agree, looks to be about 4". The back looks like its maybe 1" higher than the front. If you plan to put anything in the back like a spare tire and tools, it might level right out. If not, a spacer up front will do the job nicely.

Pull the washer fluid resevoir (three small bolts I believe - don't need to empty it or remove hoses - just undo the bolts and set it aside) and you'll see this: Shouldn't have any trouble from there.

I changed the UCA axle bushings over the past few days. It took a lot of time and frustration to figure out a good way to remove the old ones and put in the new ones. After trying many different methods from just beating on it with a small sledge to using threaded rod and pipe to make a "puller", the best way was to: Drop the axle and remove the springs - removing the springs allows to fully swing the hammer. Drill multiple holes in the rubber bushing surrounding the metal sleve. Pound out the metal sleve using a deep well socket or something else that works. Pry out the rubber part using a long screw driver - this is pretty easy. Use a sawzall to cut through the outer bushing sleve - try not to cut into the housing. Pop the sleve out. Clean and grease housing. Pound in new bushing. I found that a 2lb sledge and a 2" pipe cap is perfect for this. Using this method, you can do the whole job in about an hour. I put everything back together, but my pinion angle is still a bit too steep. My wheels are centered nicely so I don't' want to just shorten the LCAs. I'm going to pull it all back apart, lengthen the UCAs and shorten the LCAs a bit. Hopefully that will just rotate the axle enough to fix the pinion, but not move the axle backwards.

When I did it in high school, I used a cardboard box with a piece of my mom's panty hose stretched across the inside. In side of the hose I stuffed some tissue paper, then the egg, then some more tissue paper. That way if the box landed on its end, the tissue paper would hopefully absorb the impact. Luckily, the box landed on its bottom and the egg just bounced up and down in the hose and was fine. It took a handful of test drops to get the tension and positioning right, but it was easy and didn't take long.

Hey man, if thats how you roll .... go for it. Nothing wrong with it. And thats pretty much exactly what I did when I bought my 3" Motion Offroad kit. However, now I realize that if I had done a little more homework I could have spent less money, had more and better components, be running 33s instead of 31s, and have a much more capable truck.

I'll give my standard response for the classic "how should I lift my MJ?" 1. You can lift an MJ for anywhere from $100 to $2500. KNOW YOUR BUDGET UP FRONT!!!! The worst thing is to be half way in and run out of money. 2. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!! There is a lot more to lifting an MJ than you think. Make a list of all the options, price them out, weigh the pros and cons ..... think some more .... read some more .... ask more questions ..... think some more ..... THEN buy. 3. Do NOT fall into the trap of thinking, "Oh, I'll just lift it a few inches now and can always go higher later if I want to." Trust me, from personal experience, just do it right the first time. So with those rules out of the way, IMO, you get the best "value" by doing a spring over in the rear and then buying separate components for the front. You can search up all the info you could ever want on the SOA and all the front stuff. Also, you can make a list of everything you need then watch the clasifieds for a few weeks. You can most likely put together a very capable lift for a lot less than the kits out there.

x2 on the spacer. If you do run into any dirvability issues, you can always just take the spacer back out.

Well, you're gonna have to wait a bit ;) I want to do my body work and paint BEFORE installing the bumpers and sliders. And before I do that, I want to finish up the front suspension, do the SOA, install the Aussie, mount my skid plates ...... sheesh, the list is never ending. BUT, NACFEST (NAXJA wheeling trip) is in early June, so everything needs to be done by then.

Well, I answered my own questions. I called Rock Krawler ... the little opening is where I need to add some basic 3 in 1 oil and put the plug back in. And they purposefully make the axle end of the UCAs wider for easy fit over the bushings. They said to just torque it down and everything will tighten up. Also - I still don't know if my bushings are good or bad - so I ordered new MOOG ones through Advance Auto Parts. They were $14 for a pair and they will be at the store tomorrow morning.

You sound like you really want to do this, so I say go for it man. For very little money you can get some used 2" spacers for the front and get an AAL for the rear ... or even get a junk yard pack and make your own AAL. Throw on the new tires and drive it. If you are happy with the ride, great!! If you run into any of the issues listed here, you aren't out that much money ..... and we'd all be happy to help you try something different. I think we can all understand that a there is a certain amount of trial and error that goes into modifying old trucks.

I bought the carpet kit from JC Whitney. The quality of the carpet is pretty nice, and it was about the right shape. I still had a bit of trimming to do and it still doesn't fit quite right. I put down some heavy duty mats and you don't notice it. If you are a perfectionist .... you won't be happy with 99% of the carpet kits out there. If you realize that this is a 20 year old truck that cost less than a nice bicycle .... you'll be thrilled.

I have the same wheels and 31s on my truck (4WD). Here is a pic of what the 31s looked like with stock 4WD suspension. I couldn't even drive around the block without some major rubbing. Here is the same set up with exactly 3" of lift. No rubbing with normal driving, but some rubbing offroad. I have an auto and 3.55 gearing and the truck is a dog. Sure, it will get up to speed .... you just have to be patient ;) Since you have a stick, you MIGHT be ok with 3.07s and 31s. It really does come down to preference. And, you'll never know how it really drives until you try it. Regarding lift. If you really want to run 31s, I'd recommend a 3" lift .... and do it properly the first time or your ride will suck and you'll get all kinds of vibrations. Spend some time reading this site - tons and tons of lift ideas for all different price ranges. PS - where do you live? I need a set of 2WD leaf springs, and I've got a nice new set of 3" lift leaf packs that would be perfect for you. Maybe we could work something out. PM me.

An update and some questions. Hmmm, wonder what this could be. What are these screw holes on the ends of my new UCAs? They came with a plug in them. I thought maybe they were for grease fittings, but I bought some standard fittings, and they don't fit in the hole ... threads are different. Any thoughts? I ground down the plates so the LCAs have more room to flex. I also ground the little tabs down up by where the UCAs connect to the framerail (no pic of that one). My UCAs are wider than the axle mounts. Can I just put some washers in there? And how do these bushings look? I'm thinking I should replace them??

Take the opportunity to flush the cooling system. Be careful to not strip any of the bolts. Let your RTV seal set up overnight before running the truck - you don't want the pressure causing a leak because the seal isn't solid yet.

Is the housing broken where one of the bolts goes in? That looks like it could be really really bad.

Have you thought about burning new shock mounting tabs onto the axle? That way you could cut off the old stuff to get more ground clearance. And, since the new tabs would be 3-4" higher than the stock ones, you might be able to use your current shocks.

Last night was one of those nights where nothing seemed to go right, and I barely got anything done. To start, just my sliders arrived .... no bumpers yet. And, M.O.R.E. only sent me one spring perch when I ordered two. They were super nice when I called and are shipping the second one this morning. I wanted to lengthen my UCAs, adjust my track bar, and get the front end back together all last night. Well, I succeded in removing my UCAs and that was it. I tried to take them off without removing the tires or jacking anything up ... there ended up being too much tension on the bolts and one got twisted and lodged pretty good. What a pain. Oh well, its all torn apart now so I'll use this opportunity to grind down the plates where the LCAs are hitting ... and I noticed the tab on the frame where the UCAs hit too .... more grinding. Here are some pics. MORE Spring Perch & Shock Mounts JCR Stage 1 LWB Rock Sliders The truck is overflowing with stuff .... I need more time to work on the Jeep!!!!

My wife just called and said the UPS truck backed down the driveway and delivered a very large package from JCR Offroad. I believe her exact words were, "As soon as you get home, I want you to get that package and all your other Jeep crap out of the driveway....its starting to look like a junk yard around here .... we aren't Sanford & Son you know." I told here those were some of the nicest words she has ever said to me. I'll try and post pics of the bumpers and sliders tonight.

Looking good! More details and pics on the painting process would be great!!!!!

Couple comments: 1. Rescuing an adult dog from a shelter/SPCA is a great idea. But remember, if you have kids at home, you don't know the dog's history or what might trigger it to hurt your kids. For me, I'm just not willing to take a risk with my kids. Sure, the majority of the time, the dog will be fine ..... but it only takes one second for a dog to really mess up a little kid. 2. Puppies are really cute and cuddly .... but we all forget what a PITA they are for about the first year. Its worth it, just be prepared!!!!! 4. If you haven't had a dog before (or in a long time), be warned that they are very dirty. They track mud in from outside, they leave dog hair all over everything, and they usually don't smell good. Again, its worth it, just be prepared. 3. I have a black lab, and she is GREAT! She weighs about 70 lbs so she isn't huge. I've watched my 1.5 year old grab her ear with both hands and pull as hard as she could .... the dog just layed there. I would highly recommend a lab (any color) ... especially if your family does outdoor things. We take our lab camping with us and I think she enjoys it more than we do. They have a lot of energy for the frist two years, then they just lay around for the next decade.