MrSimon

Looks like a nice truck for sure ... but Atlanta is pretty far from me, and I think his asking price is a bit high.

Thanks, but swapping a motor into an 86 is a big pain. I'm looking for 87+

Agreed, it might not be necessary, but following those break in procedures sure can't hurt anything. Although I don't think the cooling down stuff makes any sense.

You've already gotten some great advice, but I'll add my $.02. SOA is a great idea, but it gives different amounts of lift depending on the condition of your leaf packs. Usually it gives 5"ish of lift give or take and inch. In my opinion, its perfect for 33s and you won't need to go any higher. You might have to tweek the front to get things level, but a 4.5" front coil usually matches up really well with a rear SOA. If the rear sits a little too high, you can add a coil spring spacer up front to level it off. Adjustable lower and upper control arms is REALLY nice. It allows you to dial in the geomoetry of the front end to get your pinion and caster angles balanced out nicely. An adjustable aftermarket track bar is a must to recenter your axle. Personally I think 4.5" is about the max you can go without a longarm conversion or a set of drop brackets. And frankly, if you can scrape together the money, going longarms from the start is absolutely the way to go. They will give you a much smoother ride, much better offroad performance, and the ability to really dial in your angles. I started with fixed short arms, then went to adjustable short arms, then went to adjustable short arms and drop brackets, and finally went to long arms. I REALLY wish I would have gone lang arms in the beginning - would have saved a lot of money in the long run. Heavy duty aftermarket extended brake lines are a GREAT idea. Upgrading your steering is also a great idea, but that can wait until phase 2 if money is an issue. Also, have you thought about axle and gear upgrades? 33s can put a lot of stress on a rear D35 and the truck will feel sluggish with stock gearing.

I'm looking for a stock, rust free MJ with no dents in the bed or cab corners. This will be the base for a full restoration so I'm going to be really picky. It has to have a clean and transferable title. No half done projects or anything like that. No 86s. Don't care about motor, trans, 2WD/4WD, SWB/LWB, color or anything like that (running would be preferred, but not necessary). I live in SE PA, but have a truck and trailer and would be willing to travel quite a ways to pick up the right truck. I'm very aware of what fair prices are on these trucks and am willing to pay slightly higher than fair price to get exactly what I want. I currently have two XJs sitting around if you are interested in trading. PM me here or text me at 484-886-984seven

Just read through your thread .... good stuff. My advice (based on real life experience, not just internet reading) is pretty simple: 1. Work hard and save up enough money to buy a truck in good running condition. It doesn't have to be perfect, but DON'T BUY A FIXER-UPPER. I guarantee you a $400 MJ will cost you another $2,000 before it can be called reliable, safe, comfortable, and legal. Paying more up front for a good road-worthy truck that has been maintained is money well spent. 2. Unless you have the money, work space, skills, and time to lift your truck PROPERLY, then leave it stock. I can't tell you how many young kids cobble together a lift and spend years dealing with a harsh ride, bumpsteer, horrible driveline angles, bent steering components, poor fuel economy, and a whole bunch of other annoying issues. Sure, I suppose its kind of a right of passage to drive a lifted POS for a while (I did all through college), and you will learn from it, but its a huge waste of money. 3. Once you get the truck, spend your time and money working on maintenance items. Focus on dependability and comfort. You want a truck that you wouldn't hesitate to drive to California and back. If there is something about your truck you don't trust, find it and fix it. A good running, dependable MJ is straight up awesome!!! You will love that truck more than your own mother. A beat-up MJ that runs bad will suck the life and money right out of you.

Thanks guys. This truck has been an adventure for sure, but I've loved every step of the way. I've learned a TON about working on Jeeps and have made plenty of mistakes, but its all worth it. For the bed, I spent months researching, looking at pictures, drawing, and even holding pvc pipe up against my truck to figure out what I wanted. Once I had it all figured out in my head, I went up to FullCircle with about 20 different pictures with different stuff circled on each one. I couldn't find anything on the internet with top loading storage boxes, so I just had to explain that to them. Once I gave them the design, they ran with it. The tailgate was completely their design, as well as the removable mud flaps, highlift mount, toolbox lid/latch system, and a few other things. They obviously did great work, but I was more impressed with how easily they understood what I wanted and built exactly what I wanted. Lots of shops would have taken liberties and made the truck to their liking. I thought I'd be done with the truck after the bed, but I've already got a to-do list that includes: Install the doors I got that have vent windows, locks that work, and don't have the four mirror mount holes Install the non-crunched front right fender thats sitting in the garage Install the non-crunched header panel thats sitting in the garage Sand, prep, and paint the cab Bumpstop the front Traction bar in the rear And eventually I'd like beadlocks and a winch Thanks again for selecting my truck for this month .... its an honor!!!!

Thats kind of hard to answer. I also had them do hydro assist, WJ brake/knuckle swap, custom steering, York OBA, rockers, and a few other things .... and I had the bed powder coated .... and I had them do lots of little things like removable mudflaps, air fittings, LED lights etc etc etc. All that cost me a small fortune. Worth every penny in my opinion. Using a lot of aluminum also pushed the cost up, but the weight savings is really nice. Now that he has the basic design template all figured out, I'd say a simple version of the bed would start around $1,000 and go up from there.

Here are some more pics of the bed. It was made by FullCircle Performance & Offroad in Pottstown, PA. I can't say enough about how pleased I am with their work!!!! I highly recommend them for any and all fabrication work.

I went wheeling with NAXJA last weekend. It was awesome!! Here is a cool shot of the new bed.

Finished product! I think it turned out great!!

Yup, there will be locking hatches on the top .... basically making four separate storage boxes.

Truck should be coming home from the shop with its new bed, hydro-assist steering, and York OBA. Here is a teaser pic that the shop sent me last week. They still need to put the outside panels on the bed along with the tailgate and a few other things. Once its home, I have a decent list of things to do that include paint the cab, swap in bucket seats & center console, install stereo and speakers, and give it a good old fashion cleaning. Once I finish all that, dare I say it, the truck will be done.

If you are only planning on light wheeling, and mostly DD duty, a budget boost might be the most bang for your buck. Get some 1.5" to 2" springs (V8 Grand Cherokee coils and a small spacer is cheap and easy, or used Old Man Emu 2" springs) Get a used set of MJ leafs, cut the ends off the main leaf, and insert it under the main leaf in your pack - extended shackles if you need more ... or maybe just the shackles Get some used sway bar discos Leave the control arms, steering, brake lines, track bar, shocks, bumpstops, and gears alone .... if you end getting vibes or having issues, then you can start upgrading all those parts. With a 1.5 - 2" lift, you can easily run 30s and be quite capable for easy wheeling. You could even trim the fenders and fit 31s or 32s if you want, but then the stock gears might bother you. I always think its better to do a very inexpensive budget boost to get your feet wet .... or spend the time and money to do a good quality 4.5"+ lift. The in-the-middle stuff seems to get expensive and not hold up well .... causes more trouble than its worth.

I purchased the motion offroad kit and ran it for a year. It was ok, but not great. I was not happy with the overall quality of the kit. In my opinion, it is not strong enough if you are doing moderate or harder wheeling. My trackbar broke and the threaded design of the control arms was weak, in my opinion. Personally, I would recommend putting together your own 4.5" kit. 31s or 33s will look and fit fine with 4.5" If I had it all to do over again, I would have bought the following .... and most likely paid about the same as a 3" kit. SOA in rear using stock leafs and shackles $50 for new spring perches and shock mounts Used 4.5" coil springs $75 Used heavy duty adj. trackbar $100 Used, but quality long arm kit $500 New Shocks $200 Brake lines $75 Steering kit like Currie or JCR $300 That totals $1,300, but its a complete kit that will be very stout. The long arms and upgraded steering will give you enough adjustments to guarantee a smooth, wobble-free ride. If you are going to run rocks, you will be a whole lot happier with something along these lines than a 3" kit with short arms. My 3" kit basically fell apart after a year of wheeling. I ended up replacing everything from that kit with the items I listed above. The kit ended up being a complete waste of money. Here is how it looked with 3" kit and brand new 31s. 4.5" with the same 31s was a great set-up: The same 4.5" with 33s rubbed a bit ... nothing some trimming couldn't fix.

The funny thing is, any decent fab shop could make the exact same rear bumper for less than JCR was selling them for (not that their price was too high or anything). With the right tools and the right skills, its a very basic design.

Haven't dropped the crossmember yet, so not sure where to jack from. I'm sure I'll find something that works.

I was up at the shop today and got some pics of the progress on my truck. They have the WJ steering & brake swap done and just need to hook up the ram and hydraulic lines. The tube bed looks amazing .... I can't wait to see it done.

Just a heads up that NAXJA is having the NAC annual three day wheeling/camping trip NACFest on June 23-25 at Rausch Creek. Plenty of info over on NAXJA. There should be about 5 or six really nice MJs there .... we'd love to have more!!!!

These are the only two pics of the LWB JCR sliders and rear bumper that I have.

I see you live in Bristol. I just saw the following craigslist add .... its for what looks to be a great truck at a good price .... best part is its in your town. http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/ctd/2265404154.html

Some pretty cool photos taken during our fishing trip to Canada last Spring.

got anything?

lol, no, I cut them off. There is a lot of overhang back there and they were getting banged up.

Just read through this whole thread. GREAT work. When I saw the first few pics I thought, "that guy is nuts ... that truck is toast." But you proved me wrong. Keep up the good work, we are all having a great time watching your progress.