MrSimon

Yes, it can be done. I put a 99 XJ motor/trans/TC into my 87 MJ and didn't change a thing in the interior of the truck. I kept the same gauges and column shift. The wiring harnesses had to be merged together, a few relays added, and most of the sensors needed switched out. Unless you are really good at this kind of stuff, I'd recommend you find a good shop to do the swap for you. That's what I did and it was worth every penny. I'm pretty sure the computer and everything else electrical was swapped over from the XJ ... so the truck thinks its a 99 XJ. I'm not completely sure, but I think the old sensors and sending units (cooling, oil pressure etc) had to be moved over from the Renix to the HO so the original MJ gauges would work properly.

Don't forget that anything you buy from Craigslist is cash and carry. No warranty is given or implied. You could easily end up with a $2,000 paper weight in a few months. I like to look around at the small mom & pop used car lots. They often have trade-ins and cheap stuff for sale that the big dealerships send to auction. Those small places will usually give you a 90 day warranty and a fresh inspection sticker. Those two things could be well worth spending a bit more. Also, small dealerships usually get cars like that Civic you posted for $500 on a trade-in .... meaning you might get the same car from a dealership, WITH a warranty and inspection, for less than on CL. It's worth checking around.

When looking at old cheap cars with high mileage, brand is not as important as care and maintenance. A well cared for Neon could be a much better car than a beat on Civic. You'll have to sort through a lot of junk before you find a suitable DD in your price range .... but they ARE out there. And why not a Cherokee? You can easily get a nice XJ in your price range. You get 4x4, excellent dependability, and they are super easy to work on. Not to mention good re-sale value. A $2k XJ right now will still be worth about the same in a few years if you take good care of it. Clean, good running XJs kind of bottom out at $2k. Gas mileage isn't that great, but gas is cheap right now and I'd bet you don't drive all THAT much to really feel the difference.

You never recover from Comanche sickness. Ever. It's a good thing they are kind of rare, or I'd have a dozen non-working $500 MJs in my back yard ..... and big plans for every one ..... all while I drive my Honda back and forth to work cause it's actually dependable ;)

So really I could go either way with the interior. The xj I picked up has super nice interior which is why I was leaning that way, but having to run all of the wires seems like a real PITA. At least now I know that it is possible to do it either way. Thanks! Just to be clear, it probably is easier to just swap everything over, including the dash, gauges etc ..... but you don't HAVE to.

This is my truck when it had 33s, about 5" up front and SOA in the rear (about 5.5). You can see how I cut the front fender ... and I still had just a tad of rubbing in certain flex situations, but overall It worked great. A lot of it depends on how you plan to use the truck. You could easily run 33s on 4.5" with no trimming if you keep it on the street .... but you'd definitely beat up your fenders if you wheel hard.

You don't have to swap out the interior/dash/gauges. You can if you want to, but it's not necessary. I put a 99 XJ motor/Trans/TC into my 87 MJ and didn't touch the interior. You have to get creative with the wiring harness though, and you need to add in a few relays here and there and swap out a few sensors. Personally, I liked the original interior of the truck and didn't want to change it.

I want to get a very clean and completely rust free MJ to build for my daughter when she turns 16. She is only 8 right now, but she loves working on Jeeps with me and I thought it would be awesome to spend a few years working together with her to build a nice clean MJ. Anyway, the only major criteria I have is that it has to be rust free and straight, and not an 86. Running and driving (to some extent) is preferable, but not required. I can come pick it up and I'm willing to travel to some extent. PA, NJ, MD, DE ... and maybe even VA, OH, NY.

Oh man, that's crazy. $7k is a lot. I would have been tempted. Good for you for not selling though!

I hear you, but very few MJs still on the road will be as stout and capable as yours. If I read your sig properly, you've had the truck since new, and I assume you've taken good care of it. Add in that you have the metric ton version and other mods .... you kind of have the holy grail of MJs.

5,000 pounds is a lot to tow with an MJ, even with all the necessary upgrades. Back and forth to a boat ramp a few times a year would be fine, but prolonged towing is going to really stress your trans, motor and brakes. Additionally, lifted MJs are worse for towing than stock ones. The higher COG and softer spring rates make it less able to control heavy loads. A nice used Chevy/Ford/Dodge half ton pick-up (or comparable SUV) would be a much more capable, safer, and more comfortable alternative for towing that kind of weight.

My advice is to spend the first year with your truck doing regular maintenance and repairs. Unless you have a four leaf clover growing out of your head, you can stay busy for a year chasing down issues with cooling, electrical, fuel, brakes, etc etc. And if you get bored, you can always fix rust, replace bushings, clean the interior, polish lenses, or even preemptively replace brake and fuel lines. Then, once the truck is tight and solid (and you've thought and read about modifications for a year) you can take it to the next level. But of course nobody ever does that .... we all just cobble cheap lifts together and spend the following years re-doing everything two or three times .... then get frustrated and annoyed cause the darn thing won't run and drive properly and we sell it. Point being, if you do maintenance first and mods second, you will be much much happier with your truck in the long run.

Looks like swapping anything between those two Jeeps would just be a waste of time .... maybe an inch difference, at most. I'm assuming the front end of each Jeep weighs about the same. If one is a 4 cyl. that could make a difference.

Jump over to NAXJA and PM a guy named MDXJ He has my old bench seat sitting in his shed. I had it reapholstered and its in very nice shape. He might be willing to part with it.

Exhaust cloud... it's cold out. Whatever ... Its a ghost.

Generally its good to leave gears in their original housing. They can certianly be swapped into a new diff, but there is a chance they won't mesh together the same way, possibly causing noise, vibrations, or other more serious issues. Preparing an XJ axle to go under an MJ is relatively easy, but does require grinding and welding. Edit: I'm sure you've heard this before .... but if you are going to all this trouble, it would be ideal to use a stronger axle than a D35. I'm assuming you are sticking with the D35 because you have 4.10s in it (them), and that makes sense. Its just a shame for you to do all this work and still have a D35.

I don't know what your budget is, but you can buy brand new WJ control arms from Rock Auto for $25 a piece .... and they come with bushings. If they didn't work, you could return them and only be out the shipping cost. But for $50, you could probobly search up a set of well used rims with less backspacing ... and maybe sell your stock rims to offset the cost.

I love the Specialized sticker .... I ride one.

Uh, you have three girls ages 11, 12, and 13?!?!?!?!? I think we should take up a collection and get YOU something for Christmas. You deserve it.

I really like your MJ .... always loved white trucks with black accents and tires. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the dash. Its certainly a cool idea and looks good so far.

I have to admit, I love reading ridiculous internet drama ... and this little love triangle between Oyaji, Cruiser, and JEEPCOMJ is quite entertaining. Its like watching a train wreck ... its horrible, but I just can't turn away. Anyway, since I don't know either of the three love birds, I did a search for the last 50 posts made by each of them. As a completely unbiased, third party observer, here is what I found: OYAJI = A good-hearted, long winded pontificator who clearly writes posts with the intent to help others and share knowledge. His posts are well written and polite. From what I've read, his advice and knowledge are sound. However, he does have the tendency to babble on about barely related things and philosophy. He does not make personal or rude comments. I kind of like him. Cruiser54 = A straight up RENIX encyclopedia. He has clearly invested a lot of time and effort into this forum and has done us all a great service by cataloging and documenting TONS of good MJ info. I have no idea why, but he does have an OYAJI sized burr up his butt. However, for the most part, he refrains from rude comments and apparently keeps most of the drama in PMs. Lastly, he does give the impression that he thinks too highly of himself. I also kind of like him. JEEPCOMJ = Well, frankly, he seems a bit rude and tends to draw conversations toward negativity. He is the only one out of the three to directly and consistently resort to name calling and personal attacks. If he were a part of my famiily, I'd put him in the time out chair. But, he is obviously passionate about MJs and this forum .... and he makes me laugh. I think we all would benefit if he would follow the old saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then just post pictures of MJs". I like him less than the other two, but I'd still wheel with him. So that's my $.02 based on their most recent forum activity. I say put them all in one MJ (with a bench seat of course) and make them drive cross country together .... with a video camera mounted in the corner of the cab.

Why are those stripes so wiggly?

If you seriously want to build a truck that is KOH capable .... those are not the axles for you. Realistically though, do you really have the $100k+ that it takes to build a truck and run in KOH? If you just want a nice truck to wheel on 37s, then those axles will be just fine. But be ready to put a few grand into lockers, shafts, joints, bracketry, steering, brakes etc etc etc. PS - I agree with the posters above that might be a low pinion pass. drop ..... but honestly, its hard to tell.

The look on your face is priceless!! Go get yourself a stake dinner .... you earned it!