MrSimon

Awesome!! Thanks so much, and stay safe!!!

Personally, I'd find a stock XJ (96 or older) for about $1000 and buy it. Then I'd drive the XJ around for a couple weeks to make sure everything works as it should and the engine has plenty of power etc etc. Then I'd strip the entire engine bay and drivetrain form the MJ and swap in everything from the XJ. If you take your time, it's not that hard. Then I'd sell off everything that's left over and probably make the $1000 back. Bam. Free upgrade to 4x4 and H.O. 4.0L. Not to mention you might get upgraded seats, a full center console, AC, power windows and locks, etc etc.

I don't like that Zone kit at all. I don't like add-a-leafs and I don't like fixed length lowers, and I don't like leaving the stock uppers. It's a pretty crappy kit really. If you are going to go 4.5", why not go up another inch and do a spring over? It's a very simple, cheap, and strong way to get the rear lifted. Then you can spend the extra money to buy a complete set-up for the front. Your truck will ride and function WAY better.

I churn through vehicles pretty quick and usually have half a dozen at a time ..... so it's hard to keep them well stocked. My daily driver Civic has jumper cables and an umbrella. My tow rig and road trip Suburban has a full mechanics socket set, tie down straps, a come-a-long, wheel chocks, tire patch kit, couple quarts of oil, extra hitch balls, extra hitch wiring adapter, a bottle jack, and a lug nut wrench. My trail XJ has a bag of basic tools and a full socket set, plus spare tire and recovery gear. I try to stay light weight on the trail .... if something breaks, I just get dragged back to the parking lot and put it on the trailer. The MJ runs pretty well and I don't go far in it, so I just make sure to take my phone. If it does conk out, I'll just call a buddy. The wife's mini-van has blankets, umbrellas, jumper cables, a socket set. Also, when traveling, I always grab my jump box. It's come in really handy on many occasions. For me or for others. It's a thousand times easier than jumper cables, and you don't need another vehicle. I really should put together a "ditch bag" and take it along as well.

Mine took me to pick up Chinese food. Just driving it around town is so dang much fun! I love parking right next to a $50k BMW or Mercedes and laughing about how different people are from one another. I am blessed with a good job and could afford an expensive import, but I'd rather drive around in an old Jeep any day of the week.

I'm in the same camp as some of you .... a month of not shaving just makes me look like I was in a dirt fight with Pigpen, and lost. Besides, scratchy stubble means my "special time" with the wife isn't so .... special. :rotfl2:

That is a sharp looking vehicle! Congrats on the new ride.

To increase ride quality, I'd start with all new bushings in the front end (control arms and sway bar). Then make sure all your TREs and ball joints are tight with no slop. Throw on a good set of shocks and have the thing professionally aligned. It only costs a couple hundred bucks to do all that and it will ride like new. Replacing your rear leaf spring bushings can help a ton too.

I don't think it's worth doing a coil spring conversion on that Jeep. A good set of shocks and proper shackles with good bushings is the best place to start. The vertical shackle angle in the pic could contribute to a rough ride .... a little bit of angle helps quite a bit. If that doesn't do the trick .... just trade it for an XJ.

Are you dead set on a Jeep? Cause with a $20k budget, there are sooooo many great truck and SUV options out there.

Pretty cool Jeep! I love seeing what kind of cool ideas Jeep guys come up with ... especially when they execute them with such good attention to detail. I do agree that calling it a Comanche makes me wrinkle my nose a bit.

I'm parting out a 95 XJ right now. I should have it all pulled apart in a few weeks. If you haven't found one by then, look me up.

Don't laugh, but how about a Mazda Miata? Older ones are cheap, they are very reliable, and they get 30mpgs.

Leaf springs rarely give exactly the advertised lift height. They can be off as much as an inch in either direction. I would recommend getting your new leaf springs in place first, then level out the front, and then see how it works with the 32s you already have.

It all depends on price. These are my criteria - yours might be different. $500 and below .... buy it regardless of condition. $500 - $1000 .... it should move under it's own power, even if barely (or be really clean if it doesn't run) $1000 - $1500 ... it should run, drive, and most things should work - with not-horrible rust $1500 - $2000 ... it should be road worthy and have only moderate rust issues in fixable locations $2000 - $3000 .... Road worthy and almost all of the little things work, like lights, turn signals, radio .... should be inspectable in most states ... and maybe a few extras like D44, bucket seats, bed light, etc $3000 - $5000 .... Now we're talking about things like cold AC, shiny paint, low miles, etc $5000+ .... Fully restored or incredibly well preserved and in exceptional shape

Lunchbox in the front will be fine for on-road driving. You might hear some clicking at full turn in parking lots and stuff, but most of the time you won't know it's there. Detroit tru-tracs are fantastic. They have good road manners, and with a little two foot action on the pedals, you can get them to lock up just as good as any full locker.

Cherokees could be considered hatchbacks :thumbsup:

I've been where you are. Multiple times. I'd highly recommend the 4.56s with 33s, especially since you wheel regularly and will be towing a trailer. I wouldn't even consider 4.10s. The HP30/8.25 is a good sturdy set of axles. They would hold up just fine with 33s, even locked. I wouldn't hesitate to put the money into them for new gears. Regarding lockers, a lunchbox locker has good road manners and works well off-road. They are a fine option. HOWEVER, with deeper gears, 33s, manual trans .... you definitely up your risk of breaking shafts while wheeling. Saving up for some chromolly shafts would be a good idea too. But, with all that said .... I feel the best thing to do is be PATIENT and watch the forums/Craigslist for a set of used axles. I've seen lots of D30/D44 axle sets with gears and full case lockers sell for less than $1000. And don't be afraid to buy an entire Jeep just for the axles. I just picked up a two door XJ for $1,500 (it won't start) that has a D44/D30 combo with 4.56s and a rear ARB, not to mention a full 4" lift, York compressor, SYE, and lots of other goodies. I can strip what I want and part out the rest. Might even break even and end up with FREE axles. Think outside the box, and be patient.

My neighbor has a shiny new Ram with the diesel. I rode in it and was impressed. Quiet, smooth, and very nice inside. He is getting ridiculously good mileage .... close to 30mpg when he babies it. And it pulls his fishing boat like it wasn't even there. BUT, he paid $50k for it. A few years ago I bought a 2003 Suburban 2500 with 105k miles and the 8.1L big block. It's really clean, runs like a dream, has a full third seat, pulls like a mule, and has all the fix'ns like leather, DVD, heated seats etc etc. It only gets 10mpg, but I don't drive it every day. And the kicker, it only cost $9k. I could buy something like that every 5 years for the next 30 years and still spend less than my neighbor did for his truck. On a side note .... if the new baby duramax trucks were below $30k, I'd be first in line!!! I really like them.

I've had this same problem .... mine ended up coming in around the windshield. I took out the windshield trim and put a light smooth layer of silicone all the way around. Problem solved.

The new mid size GM trucks with a mini-duramax sure do look sweet. Four doors, decent sized bed, great mileage, great towing capacity, super stylish ... all with duramax diesel reliability and longevity. What could be better?!?!?!? But $50k. I just couldn't stomach that for a mid size truck.

3) Probably your neutral safety switch (NSS). It's located on the side of your transmission. It's easy to locate and remove. If you clean it out really well, shine up the connectors, and put in fresh dialectric grease, you should be good to go. There are lots of write-ups on how to do it. It's a great little project for a new Jeep owner.

Haha, thanks. What is the best way to find out what factory trim package the truck has. I'd like to know in case I want to get it painted and put factory graphics back on.

I brought home the new MJ on Saturday and I was very pleasantly surprised with the condition and options. Rear D44 Full skids including TC and gas tank Power windows Power locks Working AC Minimal rust (will need some attention eventually though) Current inspection Bucket seats Aftermarket stereo with nice speakers and USB jack 4x4 works well 4.0L runs well Nice trailer hitch Spray in bed liner in nice shape Sliding rear window I'm not really sure what I'll do with this truck yet. I'd like to say I plan to totally restore it and make it look brand new, but I doubt I'll ever get around to that. Most likely I'll clean it up a bit, drive it around and fix/upgrade stuff when it needs it.

It's almost two years from the last update. So what's going on in MrSimon's Jeep life? Well, I quit. Gave up Jeeps. Swore them off forever and bought a Honda Civic. I purged everything Jeep from my life and my garage. Yeah, that lasted about 18 months. So I bought this. Pretty nice build with a rear D44, ARB lockers, 4.56 gears and some other nice stuff. Problem is, it won't run. So, I bought this to swap everything onto. It runs great and is really clean inside. But, the AC compressor doesn't work. So I bought this. It has a good AC compressor, which I'll keep. The rest I'll sell. And somewhere in the middle, I bought this. I don't really know why. But do you really need a reason to buy a running Jeep for cheap? But I still felt empty inside. You know, like something was missing. Soooooooo, you guessed it ... picking up this tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned. Who knows what might happen.